Good-bye beautiful country of spice and smells, Hello home!

Well… this is it. My last entry from Thailand. Soon this country will be McFarland-less.

I will miss this country. Not because of the food or the atmosphere or the smells… but the people. I’ve made true friends here. The missionaries are all absolutely incredible. Some of the kids I’m really going to miss. (I would say all, but it’s difficult to have a heart to heart with the language barrier so undeniably present.)

A few of my favorite Thailand memories for you. Some you’ve heard, others you haven’t.

Lightning bugs. (They glow green here!) They're just darn cool.

Lightning storms. (And I did see green lightning. That was a trip. The whole sky flashed green. Jonathan and I hitched a ride home in one of the trucks that night, the motorcycle seemed a bit foolish at the moment.) I will never call one of our wimpy California storms ‘intense’ again, no offence.

On the way back from one of the villages, I looked out our truck and saw a little girl, she must have been two or three, squatting in a pile of trash with two older boys. But this is a mind tweaking memory because she was one of the happiest children I’ve ever seen, her entire face was pulled into one massive smile, her eyes mere slits on her muddy face, her hair sticking in every direction. She waved franticly at us ‘farongs’ and jabbered at us delightedly. I only saw her for a split second, but the image is burned into my memory.

Staying up late and talking with Ari (one of the Zoe kids) about the weird dreams she has. They were funny and we bonded. Only a few nights ago she opened up and told me about some stuff that’s going on at school. It was very cool.

Language lessons with the Bible students at the Boy’s Home. This was them teaching us Thai, not us teaching them English! It was very entertaining for all involved.

Laughing with April. That’s all I’m going to say about that. If I tried to tell the stories they would A: not be as funny as they were the first time and B: take too long to tell. Let me just say that you missed some good times.

Queen Esther. I'll explain when I see you. Or ask Jonathan.

The utter delight I felt the first time I understood how much something cost when the vendor told me in Thai.

Thai Massages. ‘nough said.

Doing a good job on the projects I set out to accomplish for Zoe.

Riding with some of the House Parents and talking about the tiny frogs as they hopped across the street before us. I said that we have big frogs in America and they said Thailand only has little ones. The very next thing they asked was if we eat them.

Watching Jonathan teach English.

Walking along at the Night Safari with April and having two little Thai boys walk up behind us, shouting back to their parents, not because the animal in the cage was cool, but because there were a pair of ‘farangs’ up there!

(A small side note, our adventure with the lion cub was completely on our own, I'm sure ZOE International would not have approved if they had know what we were doing. But it was on our 'off time' so we felt it was ok to take some risks. I just wanted to clarify, that was not a Zoe sponsored event in any way shape or form!)

I could go on and on, but I’ll save some of them for when I actually get to see you face to face. Tomorrow I’m going to be out all day, then I’m spending the night in a hotel (mainly so I can have a sleep-over party with April) and then going to the Airport early Sunday morning. So this is officially the last time I will write from Thailand. At least for this year!

Let me finish by saying that Zoe is doing an incredible thing here. Now that I know these kids, I can’t imagine them in the horrible position they were once in. It breaks my heart now more than it ever did, because the numbers and statistics have faces, names and personalities. They’re lovely, mind soul body and spirit.

Some of you have asked what will happen to this blog… I think I’ll just leave it up, and maybe post info about the upcoming trip in February (or is it January?)






In the mean time… check out our next project. Stille Nacht!! The Sanctuary’s Christmas show.

http://silentnacht.blogspot.com

We will be focusing all of our time and energy on this, so I thought it might be fun to keep a blog up about it. If you have any desire, enjoy reading it! Maybe you’ll get the urge to jump in and help! Yes that was a shameless plug.

Lions 'n Leopards 'n Life-Long-Memories!

Ok. I have officially had an experience I will never forget, for the rest of my life. (Yes, Thailand as a whole has been absolutely amazing, but this one was a little further off the beaten path. And you too can travel that path when you come, if you’re willing to risk it!)

Allow me to build up to it.

Today was my last official day off before I head home, a fact I briefly mentioned on the last post. April and I had been talking about doing a photo-journey, where we essentially just wander around all the cool places and pretend we are tourists. Or rather, just succumb to the fact that we are, or at least I am, a tourist. (How I loathe the word.) So we grabbed our cameras and rented a song-tow (Thailand's version of a taxi) for the day.

Our first task was finding a bar-b-que place called 'Hell's Kitchen' which somehow seemed like a very appropriate place for missionaries to go to. The food was good, the owner a great guy and the price wasn't too bad. A little spicier than I prefer, but we all know how picky I am. Most people would have probably loved it, I give it a thumb and a half up. (Duke's ribs, on the other hand, get two thumbs up, and two big toes also. They weren't kidding when they said: meat falling off the bone. Best ribs I’ve ever had! Too bad the restaurant is over here.)

So after we had eaten (this was on purpose) we headed to the Day Market, and played tourist. We us busted out our cameras and wandered around, trying not to look too lost. We had a lot of people condescendingly smiling at us as we asked to take pictures of our food, but they were all very friendly about it. A few times we had some Thais laugh aloud at our foreigner antics. (Especially when we were grossed out for any one of a number of reasons.)

I did get a lot of pictures, some cool, some just ok, from the Day Market. If you are wondering, this is NOT where I buy my food. I'm too much of a chicken. However, the house parents at ZOE buy their food from here. The Thais don't get sick on their own food, and I do trust the house parents completely, so I know they aren't going to buy from a shady vendor. I have eaten the food that they've cooked, food that they bought from the Day Market. But I do have to admit, I am very grateful for the normal grocery stores where I do my shopping.

After the day market we decided that we needed to relax and make sure we didn't get too tired and ruin the rest of the day, so we went and got a foot massage. This will make some of you drool: an hour long foot massage (which also includes a little shoulder and neck) is less than $10, including a generous tip for the masseuse. And that's at one of the nice places, too! To top off our relaxing break, we went and bought Starbucks (price for 2 Starbucks drinks = price for 1 massage!) then went to a shopping center to wander for a while and get an early dinner.

So here comes the good stuff!

After dinner, we went to a place called 'Night Safari.' I had heard mixed reviews the whole time I've been here, or I would have gone earlier with Jonathan. It's not as cool as it sounds; it’s really only a zoo that's open at night. But they do have a lot of predators, so that was very cool!

For example:

We were walking along and we came up to the pen that said 'black panther.' As we approached the glass, I saw a leopard stretched out on a log, about 50 feet away. Feeling silly, I waved my arm at it and told it to get up, much as one waves at a garage door and says ‘open sesame.’ Almost immediately I jumped back from the glass because a black streak had shot towards me, jumping six feet up the glass divider wall, only about three feet from my face. It turns out there were 3 panthers in that pen, and one was very tired of being caged. It was a still cub, though mostly full grown.

Of course, being mature adults, we tried to get it to 'play' with us. I don't think it was playing though. We did get it to jump at the glass quite a few times, which I caught on video for your benefit. It was truly amazing. We did start to feel sorry for it, and realized that we were really just teasing it, so we stopped. Maybe we were being cruel, but it did get some good exercise, and that was very incredible to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw-VpRXt_Uc Hopefully you'll have mercy on us if you think we were too cruel.

April had an interesting moment watching the turtles, but unfortunately what they were doing was too graphic for me to describe here. …Turtles can be pretty racy, you know. And this is Thailand.

Moving on then…

So it was your typical Zoo experience, but cooler because most of the animals were awake and moving around. We rode the tram and enjoyed ourselves. April got to see the giraffes, and that made her a very happy person.

But here’s what made it a life long memory:

In third world countries, they allow you to do things they wouldn’t dream of letting you do in America. (For instance, we got to ride dolphins in Mexico on our honeymoon.) I had heard that at this zoo, they have a ‘photo room’ where they take your picture holding some sort of animal. So I was thinking it would be a monkey, herbivore or snake, or if we were lucky a croc or a very young predator of some sort.

When we arrived, they had two options, both of which blew my mind: either a black panther cub, or a male lion cub! How can you choose between two of the coolest predators on the planet? Well, the choice actually came pretty quickly to me, because the panther cub was so little, it looked like just a black cat. The lion cub on the other hand, was as big as a good sized dog.

You can guess what I picked.

There was no one waiting, so April went to the lion to pet it and I went to the panther. I actually got to hold it for a little bit. Though it was all black, you could still see the pattern of the spots on its fur, and you could tell by its paws that it would grow much larger than any house cat. I heard them say it was three months old. It was somewhat sedate, but we could see even at that young that this was not a domesticated animal.

The lion proved that fact for us. It was much older than the leopard and I don’t think it really liked its modeling job. It was playing/fighting with the keeper (both of these animals were in the enclosed room with us, two keepers and the photographer) and it wasn’t calming down. Someone produced a milk bottle from somewhere, and the keeper began to feed it. April jumped on the opportunity immediately and asked if she could feed it. They smiled and sat her down, slowly transferring the milk bottle to her hands and stepping just out of the camera’s view. It was standing on its hind legs, with both paws on the bottle, which was resting on April’s knee. The photographer started to snap away. Then suddenly, to the surprise of us all, the lion swiped at April’s face!

The keepers were instantly there, but April said she was ok and calmly stayed there with the cub. It worked on finishing the bottle and was pretty calm. After a little while April moved away because it was my turn next.

The bottle was finished, and the cub still wasn’t calm. I sat down to wait for him to calm a little, and I must admit that I was seriously having second thoughts. I didn’t have anything to sedate it like April had. The cub was still playing/fighting with its handler, and now seemed even more aggressive than before. The keeper must have been used to it, because there were moments where his hand was in its mouth, and it claws were unsheathed many times on his arm. He never once jerked away though, and I didn’t see any blood or even any scratches. Maybe I just wasn’t looking hard enough.

They gave it a towel, which it instantly grabbed and gnawed on, picked him up and brought him to me. I though ‘what the heck,’ and reached for him, pulling him onto my lap, something that April had not done. The handler let it keep the towel, placed one of my hands under its chest and the other on its shoulder, then carefully took the towel away.

You know, I could just stop writing right now, and force you all to wait until I get home to hear the rest of the story…



…But I’m such a generous person that I won’t. Don’t you love me?

The camera snapped away and the keeper kept shaking the towel to keep the cub’s attention. Imagine the towel was just a big cat toy and you’ll get the idea. After a little bit April sat down beside me so we could both be in the shot together.

Then the cub turned and snapped at my face.

I think April nearly wet herself, but I can honestly say that I wasn’t that scared. I was actually more afraid of the claws than the teeth. (I suppose that’s not quite logical) The keepers sprung and made sure the lion didn’t do anything. They wouldn’t have been able to stop him from biting me, but would have been able to prevent any real damage. Thank God they didn’t have to. They saw the lion was interested in the towel again and backed away.

Then the lion snapped at my face a second time.

A few seconds longer and I decided I was finished. I passed off the cub and stood up to see that April had two red welts on her face where he had scratched her. I hadn’t thought that he had actually connected. I was suddenly extremely glad he hadn’t hurt her any worse or been able to bite me. …On my face.

April on the other hand, was absolutely delighted she had been scratched. Not because she delights in pain or anything like that, but how many people can say they’ve been scratched by a lion? Now she can. The marks are already gone as I’m writing this, but still, it happened! She called and told everyone she could in the first five minutes after we left the photo place. And she was telling everyone that I almost got my nose bitten off.

I think I’m a little calmer about this whole thing because I was holding him pretty firmly, and his neck could only reach so far. ‘But he’s a lion!’ you say.

Yes, but he was only the size of a dog, and I’ve been around, fought and wrestled with dogs all my life. He got within 8” of my face, but I’ve had dogs snap within 2”. He would have done about the same amount of damage as a dog.

Still, I guess that could have been a lot of damage. If he would have spazed, then I would have been in trouble. But that’s what the keepers are there for, right?

Anyway, I’m extremely glad he didn’t spaz, glad April got her adventure without any permanent damage, and glad that I was able to have an experience of a life time.
Go and check out the photo page for more pictures, including some blurry ones of the lion snapping at me. And if you’re wondering, lion cubs are not as soft as you would think. Fluffy yes, but not soft. It felt kinda like sheep’s wool. And no, they didn’t smell at all. The milk that leaked on April’s pants did, though.

Greetings.

I'm writing this post to thank everyone who put photos up on the group pix page! (including the random person from Bangkok)

I was able to finally show some of the Zoe kids, and they were thoroughly engrossed. There was a lot of 'why are they doing that' questions though. And lots of laughter. It was amazing to them when I said that the ocean water is cold, and showed them the picture of me and my mom at the beach wearing winter clothes.

I can see how that would be confusing. We live in a desert that doesn't get enough rain, and is sunny almost always, but the water is too cold to play in comfortably without a wetsuit.

Anyway, I feel like I'm on the home stretch. I have one week left to get everything done, and that doesn't feel like enough time. I'm really not worried, because I know that these projects aren't entirely dependant on me. And one of the wonderful things about Graphic Design is that I don't need to be here to finish them.

Well, I also wanted to direct you to a few new videos I've uploaded. They aren't really new, just new online. I decided to upload the Thai slap dancer, (wow that sounds bad) even though I shot it sideways. Just laugh at me then move on. Or I guess you could set your moniter on it's side, but that's up to you.

This one is some of the boys saying hi! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiWjmutW0Tk

This is the Thai funeral that we were offending people during by videoing it. We didn't realize it was a funeral until the coffin was right in front of us. Oops.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tH4dTqLQiw

Thailand tip #19
in Thai culture, the head is sacred and the feet are defiled. So, don't touch someone's head, and don't kick people either. And never kick someone in the head, unless you're a Muy-Thai-Master. (However, most of this does not apply in the Zoe homes, because they've been around foreigners for so long. See the degrading effect we have on them? - I mean the touching the head part, not the kicking the head part.)

Thailand tip #20
When coming to Thailand, don't bring boots or any type of shoes that take a long time to put on or off. If you go into a home, you're expected to remove your shoes, and this can get very tiring if you're constantly lacing and untying, then relacing and retying. Slip ons or sandals are the way to go.

Thailand tip #21
Ice is a beautiful thing in tropical countries. However, the ice may have been frozen using water that isn't clean, which is a scary thought. The way you can tell is this: if the ice has a hole in the middle of the cube. That way you know it was made by a machine. Crushed ice may have just been crushed on the ground out back.

The funny thing about all of these tips is that I really don't follow them anymore. I drink whatever's put before me in resturants, (providing the facility is clean and recomended by the locals) I constantly forget to bring TP, then I have to pay for it, I don't carry a parka... And as I'm walking down the street, soaking wet, I remember the little tips I've left for you here. I'll bet when you come, you'll remember all of these things and wonder why I don't follow my own advice.

Well, I hope I can at least amuse you with my silliness. And if I complain, you're allowed to duct tape my mouth or something.

It's my last day off before I head home on Sunday, so I'm going out with April to explore a little, hit the last few major tourist destinations that we haven't been to yet. I'm hoping to come back with lots of cool pictures. Love ya lotz!

Just saying hi!

Did you know...

In Thailand, you can have lightning without thunder? It's the most bizarre thing. There can be six or seven flashes of lightning in a row, then there's a little rumble far off in the distantce.

I also discovered that in a thunder storm, a large pillow does not replace a husband, as far as the comfort factor goes. You may think I'm childish by that last comment, but you haven't heard the thunder in Thailand. Those of you who have know what I'm talking about.

Also, frogs like to sing in the rain! I had a chorus of about a million last night... though I may be underestimating. At least I was able to wrench the windows shut. (They're open most of the time because it gets too hot with them closed.)

Alright, I guess I'll stop complaining. I hope you found my ramblings entertaining. Nothing really special happened today. Except that I think I accidently set my watch an hour early. (I can hear Jonathan saying 'getting up an hour early is good for you!) Yeah.

April and I are furthing our relationship by trying to get each other to watch movies they wouldn't normally watch in our off time. She's a 'chick flick' person and if any of you know me, you know that's the last type of movie I'd ever watch. The score so far: Kelley-1.5, April-0. (Let me translate that, I've talked her into watching two of the movies I like, and she hasn't talked me into any yet. I know my time is coming though, pray for me.)

I said 1.5 because the DVD we bought of Hero (an incredibly artistic martial arts movie) was scratched and we couldn't finish it.

...Yep, I just found out. My watch is an hour fast. Oh well.

On a sad and more serious note, it poured rain all day yesterday, so the Sports Day on Sunday is canceled. I'm actually really bummed. They will reschedule, but it will be on a day that I won't be here. But I guess that's ok. I wasn't assigned to a team or anything. The kids don't seem disapointed at all. When rain is the norm, I suppose you come to expect things like that.

Then on a silly note: yesterday April and I talked about taking a bonzai run down to one of the tropical islands because the sports day was canceled. We had heard that plane tickets would only be about $30! To say I was excited would be an understatement. Then we found out that it was $45 for a one way ticket to Bangkok, then another $30-50(one way) for the trip to the island. So our $100 weekend quickly became a $500+ vacation. I didn't think Jonathan would go for that, so we dropped the idea.

We will find other ways to entertain ourselves, believe me. I'll let you know about them once we figure them out.

Well.... I think I'll stop being silly and let you get back to your lives. I've been reading Lewis Caroll and thoroughly enjoying it, but I find that he's rubbing off on me. So if my word order seems a little archaic or silly or just plain wrong, it's his fault.

And with that mature and articulate comment, I'll talk to you later!

Jonathan is now home, safe and sound…

So I went shopping after he left, like any good wife would. (Don’t worry Jonathan, I was very frugal – I got the fabric we were talking about for 18 baht a meter. That works out to less than $0.50/yard. I’m a happy camper.)

Though I already miss my man. I suppose we’re pretty inseparable. I’ve moved into the girl’s home, and I have a great room overlooking the soccer field/front yard. The missionaries gave Jonathan a really nice send off, though he celebrated by dealing with the only time he’s been sick from the food on the whole trip. Bummer, but we still really enjoyed another’s company. The Thais wished him a very fond goodbye, and gave him a card covered with thank you notes (both in English and Thai). One of the Thai house parents gave him a beautiful hand woven Koren shirt.

Aside: the Koren hilltribe is a minority group that Zoe has ministered to and with. Many of the Zoe children and house parents are Koren, though the founders don’t want Zoe to become a strictly Koren home. Yet because of the amount of people who are Koren, there is a big influence in the mannerisms, food and clothing. So even though we’re in the city, we’re still working with the tribes. Kinda cool, I think. But I’ve always liked all things tribal.

With the exception of the frogs in the middle of the night, the girl’s home seems to be a lot quieter than the boys. Maybe it’s because I’m just a little more removed from the action here. My ‘quarters’ are in the south (I think) wing of the house, upstairs and away from the main area. At the boy’s house, we were pretty much in the thick of things.

Don’t get me wrong, that was fun! But it did get a little old hearing them singing really loudly as they walked past in the wee hours of the morning. A proverb was brought to life on this trip: A blessing shouted early in the morning is a curse. So true, so true. Oh well. I love them anyway. And what would you say? Please stop praising God because I’m sleeping? I don’t think so. Better to either deal with it, or get up an join them! I can’t say that I did the latter, but I’m pleased to be able to brag that Jonathan did.

So I think I have 12 days left over here. On Sunday the third, Zoe is going to have a sports day, providing that it doesn’t rain. They’re really excited about it. They will play soccer, volleyball and tak-row. I think I described that on a previous entry. Someone let me know if I didn’t. I’m really hoping we don’t get rained out, because I haven’t seen tak-row yet. I really want to get some video for you guys.

Oh, this was fun, someone from the States pulled out a hacky-sack the other day. The Thai teens had no idea what it was, so we showed them. It literally only took a few seconds for some of the boys to get the idea, then they were showing me up big-time. Unfortunantly, we only have one hacky, and there’s 60-ish kids. Therefore, the hacky stays in the office because it will just disappear if we put it out somewhere. One of the rules here is that you can’t give a gift to just one or a few of the kids. If you want to give something, it has to go to all of the kids.

Speaking of gifts… My apologies to the Gentry family! I didn’t let you know what happened with the beanie-babies! The Gentry family donated, last minute, 80-some beanie-babies which we crammed into our packs. Those were distributed to the kids and loved and loved. We were a little surprised when they were handed out, so we didn’t have our camera ready. But know that they were incredibly appreciated. Thanks so much!!! Could someone please make sure the Gentrys get this message? I don’t have their email or I’d do it myself. Thanks!

So now that you are all aware of the trip next year, does anyone have any questions about Thailand or things they are curious about? If you want me to find something out for you, I’d be glad to. You can leave a comment here or email me at newpaen@hotmail.com

I’m very curious to see who will go on the trip when it comes!

As far as day to day life goes, things have pretty much settled into a routine here. That’s why I haven’t been writing as often. When the SFV team was here, I had too much to say, because we were doing something new and exciting every day and all of Thailand was new to us. It’s like the first time you go into a forest, every boulder, bird, bug and bush is a discovery. But when you’ve lived in the forest for a month, the discoveries don’t come as often. (And you'll run out of 'B' words after a while.)

Here's a story for you. Yesterday, I had one of the most uncomfortable experiences I’ve had yet. We were out shopping, practicing Prov. 31, being wise and frugal... Really, I promise we were... Anyway, it was our day off, so we were having fun. (‘We’ is myself and April – one of the long term missionaries.) I wanted to get something from a specific booth at the Night Bazaar, but it was only 4:30, so it wasn’t set up yet. So we bought Starbucks. And it still wasn’t set up, but at least the vender was there. We wandered around for a while, trying to kill time, exploring a little. When we came back, the vender had only laid out a blanket on her table. Very prettily, yes, but it took her fifteen minutes to do it! Amuzed and slightly annoyed, we sat down to wait and people watched. (People watching in Thailand, especially in tourist season, can be extremely entertaining!)

While we were waiting and the vendor was re-adjusting her tablecloth, a man approached us and started a conversation. He sat himself right next to me and asked us where we were from and how long we were in Thailand. April, being very happy that she wasn’t the one sitting next to him, dropped some subtle hints to not tell him too much. So we insinuated that we lived in Thailand, had lived there for a long time and weren’t leaving any time soon. (All of these things were true for April, and kinda-not-really true for me.) So the man continued to chatter and after a while he began to ask us for money. ‘Great,’ I thought and poked April who was hiding her grin. She was very, very happy that she wasn’t the subject of the man’s attention. I was.

It was your typical story, he said he needed money for the bus. ‘What the heck,’ I thought. ‘I can give him bus money, 20 baht, no problem.’ That’s only 50 cents, but it goes along way here. It didn’t feel right though, and I didn’t want him to see how much money I was actually carrying. Then he started asking for three times as much, and when I said no the first time, he started to say that he was an orphan, knowing we worked at a children’s home, and that I didn’t have a good heart. (Yeah, that’s the way to get money from a stranger.)

At that point I decided not to give him anything. We told him we worked with little kids who can’t get a job themselves, not just any orphan, especially an adult. We said that he could get a job, and a good job too because he spoke English so well. And I’ve seen the beggars around here, he was no beggar. He was far to clean and well fed. And too many teeth. So when it became clear that I wasn’t going to give him anything he moved on, towards the lobby of a nearby expensive hotel. I pity the next tourist he hits up.

I told April to stop laughing at me. (She laughed because she’d been in that same horribly uncomfortable position many, many times, and it really was laughable to watch me struggle through it.) The vendor we were waiting for had set out three whole necklaces on her table, so we decided to just ask her if she had what we wanted. She did, found the right box and allowed us to buy from her before she was entirely set up. Thank the Lord for little miracles.

It’s hard to know when to give to someone who asks you for money. Do you give every time you’re asked? Do you give to charities and direct the beggars there when they hit you up? I’m here to be an ambassador for God, did I do the godly thing? I don’t know, and it’s still bugging me. I could have easily given him what he wanted, but it could have been the price for a beer for all I know. We have been generous here, giving to the true beggars. (There’s one place that we go to where blind or mentally retarded people sit on mats and sing in the hopes that someone will give them change. We’ve given to them.) But what do you do when a man who’s fit and intelligent asks for money. How can we be good stewards in those situations, wise as serpents and innocent as doves?

I guess just do your best and pray that God directs your steps. Maybe I made the wrong choice. I don’t know. I think I made the right one, that guy could have landed a job anywhere. And on top of that, we had seen him earlier, asking other ‘farongs’ where they came from. Scam artists are as thick as the bugs around here. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. I'll never know.

It’s kinda fun and kinda depressing being Caucasian here. You walk into a store and they are immediately aware of your presence. You can tell they’re thinking ‘money has arrived.’ The nice part is you get really good service. But it’s also sad because you know that’s all they’re thinking, and you know that you won’t get nearly as good of a price as the Thai person sitting across from you. It was strange for me, the first few days we were here. Some of these stunningly gorgeous exotic Asians girls, with their perfect skin and hair, were telling me I was ‘sooo beautiful’ and not listening to me when I tried to return the compliment. That was a trip.

Then I discover things like ‘white is beautiful’ and they have things like face-whitening-cream, and they avoid the sun because they don’t want to get any darker. It’s common to see Thais, especially the female version, walking around under umbrellas on a sunny day. I was telling one of the Zoe house parents that in America, everyone wants to be tan. It’s interesting that we always want what we don’t have.

Another bizarre and slightly disturbing thing was that in the Wal-Mart-ish store, in the lady’s undergarment section, there was not one picture of an Asian model. They were all Caucasian. Only one looked like she may have had a little Asian heritage in her background, somewhere. Now if that doesn’t reveal what Thais think beauty is, I don’t know what does. It’s sad, because I see beautiful faces, male and female, all around me.

Well, I think I’ll tie it up with a Thailand tip or two to conclude. (I couldn’t think of a ‘T’ word for ‘finish’) Much love to all, and I can start saying ‘I’ll see you soon!!!’

#17
All Thai snakes are poisonous, except one, and that one looks exactly like a poisonous one. Do I need to explain this one further? Don’t touch things that slither.

#18
‘Antiques’ are usually antique only in that the metal on the molecular level is old. Most everything you’ll buy in any market or store is an aged replica. If it’s a real antique, it will be really expensive, and the Thai government won’t be too happy about you bringing it out of the country. I was looking at coins once (for our beloved Pastor) and I found a US silver dollar from 1822! I was momentarily excited, thinking maybe that they didn’t know what they had. Then I found another one with the same exact date. Then another. So I could have bought a cool looking replica of a coin from 1822. Or three. But I don’t think that’s what coin collections are all about so I didn’t. (PM, I’m still on the hunt for a cool key for you though! Antique or replica.)



Is anyone still reading these other than my family....? I hope so. It's hard to tell, half-way around the world. I love you all anyway.

Cool things happen when you work for God.

So I can’t say that it was anything miraculous, or even spiritual, just cool.

Every day we drive from our room at the Boy’s Home, to the office at the Girl’s home. Between the two, there is an onion shaped shack that caught my attention the first day we drove past. One day when we had some time, we stopped at the shack and explored further away from the road.

It was a really cool hotel/restaurant thing. I say ‘thing’ because it looked more like a conglomeration of aging wooden buildings, built around a very small lake (or very large pond). We explored a little that day, but were cautious because we didn’t see anyone about and knew we were trespassing. We didn’t know if they were still open, closed for the season or if the whole complex was abandoned. We didn’t think it was abandoned because there were still signs for Visa around. So we looked around and found a business card.

If you’re wondering how we got in, remember this is Thailand, the buildings didn’t have locks, mostly because they didn’t have doors.

Once at the office we pulled up their website and thought ‘wow, this looks pretty spiffy.’ They rent out ‘suites’ for $80-100 a night, which is extremely expensive for Thailand. And they do a dinner theater thing with traditional Thai food and dancing. So we sent them an email and didn’t ever receive a response.

I had been meaning to stop by there again with a camera to shoot the place, and this morning we had time. We pulled in, expecting to find the place empty, as it had been every single time we drove past, but there were people there!

We cautiously walked in and met the owner or manager who spoke excellent English. He told us they were closed for the rain season, and that they were preparing for a garden festival in November. But he did say they had a tour group coming for lunch today, and invited us to join them.

Knowing how expensive their suites were, Jonathan wisely asked how much lunch would cost for the two of us. Then the generous host told us we could come for free, that we would be the guests of the group. Without hesitation we agreed to come back in a few hours.

Now I can say, the food was good (and spicy! Jonathan enjoyed the food a little more than I did)and the environment was amazingly beautiful. It was beautiful in the way an antique is beautiful. It isn’t perfect, there were well worn chairs and moss on the walkways, but it added to the ambiance. I think it was one of the most Thai meals we’ve experienced. (Aside from the adventures with buying from the street vendors.)

A half clothed young man came out and performed a traditional Thai dance. Thais from the main group motioned us to come and get a better view, and I must say that his dance was very cool. It involved clapping, but he didn’t just clap with his hands. He would smack different parts of his body, all choreographed into the dance. I would love to show you the video I took, but, like an idiot, I had the camera rotated 90 degrees, and I don’t have the tools I need here to fix it. SORRY!!!! I’ll see if I can find someone who has the right program.

Anyway, he only did one song, but that was fine. One Thai lady said ‘sexy’ to another when the dancer came out. The other Thai lady answered ‘Sexy boy!’ and laughed, looking at us. We laughed with her, because we were surprised to hear English from them. Those were the only English words that we heard from the Thai touring group. It’s kind of sad that those English words are somewhat universal.

Well, we got a free meal and show. I was able to take some pictures, but they don’t do the place justice. I have no idea how expensive it is, but I’m going to give the restaurant info to the missionaries here. Maybe, if it isn’t too bad, ZOE will take teams there. It didn’t see too touristy. A little perhaps, but their target audience seemed to be other Thais, not Westerners.

So check out the new pictures and I’ll try to figure out the video thing for you. Love to all!!

Jonathan's Birthday Excursion

So Monday I turned 30.

Birthdays can be a drag if one doesn’t like their environment. Or if he feels he hasn’t accomplished what he wanted to by then…

But thank God, that wasn’t the case for me. The morning of my birthday I was asked if I had moved closer to my life goals. After a moment of thought I answered a whole-hearted “Yes”. We are doing what we are supposed to be doing, and that’s a great feeling. I think God is pleased.

Time to set bigger goals…

Monday I taught two classes of English, and they were more fun than previous classes due to some successful games. I still cannot think of a better way to spend a birthday. Around 9pm, we set off towards town hoping to find a room in a nice-ish hotel. We like staying at the Boys’ Home, but they start singing at 5:30 in the morning as they clean the house…(blessing?) and Tuesday is our day off, so we planned to celebrate then. At the first hotel we tried, God gave us an adequate room on the 8th floor for only $25. I say adequate because the plumbing was audible whenever anyone used it.

I shall never forget sitting in that pleasant room reading aloud The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll. One of the ways my wife loves me is to give me an audience. I love reading stories and poetry in character voices and she seems to enjoy hearing them. If you’re not familiar with this poem, may I heartily recommend it? It uses much of the “new” vocabulary Carroll invented for the Jabberwocky and their use in this lengthy poem lends much to the context for understanding fumious emotions and slithey toves.

I am becoming an avid fan of the father of Alice in Wonderland. Kelley bought a copy of his complete works out here at the Backstreet Bookshop. The shop looks just as it sounds. Located on a little Soi (very narrow street) near the biggest Starbucks I’ve ever seen, this paperback palace enjoys a brisk trade with the many tourists and ex-patriot residents. Next door is a delightful Italian restaurant called Stefano’s which presents a great collection of Comedia del Arte marionettes. It has wonderful food and a theatrical atmosphere. (Right up my Soi!)

After a late breakfast, we saddled up our Honda 125 and headed north towards the Mae Sa waterfall. We had heard that it was beautiful and I was itching to get out into nature again. For the last 3 weeks we have stayed in town working and haven’t seen many tropical critters. After close to an hour at 40mph, we entered a national park and began exploring. The brown river tumbles over ten sets of falls, the largest of which was about 20 feet tall. But the plants and insects made the trip worth its investment. We hiked for three hours and photographed butterflies, spiders and a lizard. The riverbed was some form of granite and it occurred to me that plants and animals change, but rocks are the same the world over. Many red and black beetles were feasting on fallen fruit. (Go see the pictures!)

The trail was mostly concrete and certain viewing stations were made of hardwood planking, but both were covered in wet moss and we slid around quite a lot. It didn’t help that my boots are old and smooth. (They’re great in the desert at home!) The return hike (skating downhill) was fun and eventful.

We ended the day with a trip to the Day Market, which is a wonderfully confusing maze of vendors and smells. This is a place for Thais, not tourists, so we stuck out horribly. Knowing that I wouldn't be here too much longer, Kelley wanted to head once more into the breach, hoping to get some more team shopping accomplished. We were victorious. But our feet were understandibly tired, so we landed at an American-ish resturant for dinner and enjoyed some great food. Then back to the Boy's Home for a relaxing evening, arriving minutes before it began to rain. All and all, it was a wonderful 30th birthday.


Kelley will close with a few more Thailand tips:

#15 – Don’t pet the dogs, cats or what ever other furry critter you come across. They may be bringing other critters along with them that aren’t so cute. Another reason to avoid them is that you never know what may be wrong with them. April, one of the long-termers here said that she was petting an adorable Golden Retriever puppy when her finger penetrated his fur and entered a huge hole behind the puppy’s ear. Cute? Yes, but look with your eyes, not your hands.

#16 – This is more of a preparation than anything else. Thais are not ashamed to pick their noses right in front of you. Some even keep a fingernail long for the purpose of…well, you’ve been warned.

More pics at the photo page!! Check them out! Thanks to those who have joined the group photo site! It's wonderful to see your silly faces! The missioaries here are in awe of some of those pictures. I haven't been able to show any of the Thais yet. Hopefully soon!