The Far Land Thai Trip

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

2006-09-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-09-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-09-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-08-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

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…

2006-08-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

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.

2006-08-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

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!

having fun online

2006-08-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I was enjoying an evening off tonight, and I discovered the website where I post my photos also has group photo sites, so I made one up for us.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/sanctuary_thailand/

Right now it only has my photos on it, but if you have the desire to throw one up, join and do so!!

I have kids here asking about So.Cal, and it would be cool to be able to show them some photos of where we come from and who our fam and friends are.

Love ya lots!

You ready for a long one?

2006-08-16T02:51:00.000-07:00

Jonathan and I both wanted to write this time! He's being a gentleman and letting me start.

Someone recently asked when we are coming home. Well…

There’s something we’ve been meaning to tell you all….

We do really like it here and we’ve decided to…..…

Just kidding! Jonathan’s coming back on the 29th and I’m heading home on Sept. 10th. Though we do love it here, we miss you all (and our dogs). Thailand is incredible, but it just isn’t home. Besides, we have work to do at home. Things like jobs and looking for jobs and U-turn Men’s Advance and… maybe a Christmas play! Maybe. Let me say it again… maybe. Ok here’s a Thailand tip that’s not really G rated, but it shouldn’t offend… I hope.

If you’re easily offended, please skip the next paragraph.
Thailand Tip #14: When using the squatty-potties, you generally have to hold your pants off the floor so they don’t get wet, so the question arises, how do you hold onto the TP before it is needed? My solution is to tuck it in your collar. I know, maybe too much info, but the last thing I want to do is drop my precious wad of TP into the puddle on the floor while I’m dealing with my pants and trying not to slip on the wet porcelain. Or you could just do as the Thais do and skip TP all together. They have a spray nozzle on a short hose instead. Sometimes. Don’t ask me what they do when there’s neither spray nozzle nor TP.

Ok, is everyone back with me? Good. I have to admit that my reason for writing this is rather silly. I’m excited because we saw our first elephant yesterday. (We saw some at the Zoo, but that doesn’t count. You can see elephants at the zoo in any country.) This elephant was standing on the side of the road, with a scruffy looking man sitting on its neck. We were on the motorcycle so it seemed even bigger than it would have looked in a car. The man was talking to someone, and the whole thing was right outside a Thai bar. We must have been gaping as we drove past. Jonathan was nervous, because the elephant looked nervous. We don’t know if those things spook like horses do, but we do know they’re really big and really strong. As we drove past, it seemed to shy away from us. Turns out it was just relieving itself.
Let me say I’m glad I don’t have to clean that up. Anyway, to me, the most remarkable thing was that the Thais didn’t seem to think anything of it. There was one or two people talking to the Mahoot (the guy on its neck), but no one else in the bar seemed interested at all.

Please pray for the divine comfort of the Zoe Family, who is dealing with some unexpected loss right now. Thanks for understanding that I can’t give more info.

I guess that part of this update wasn’t so silly. Exciting things are happening at ZOE this week, and I think the enemy is trying to do all he can to stop them. ZOE is about to make a huge step forward in a certain area, and I could understand how that step would leave Satan very pissed off. I’ll find out if I can tell you about it.

If you haven’t yet, check out the photo page (the link is on the right, near the top) I’ve just uploaded another hoard of pictures. I realized that I haven’t really described our settings. The pictures show mostly the outreach trip to a hill tribe with the SFV team. These are not the conditions we are living in. Far from it! We live in a literal mansion. The boy’s home is one mansion; the girl’s home is another. The reason is that mansions are the only houses big enough to accommodate so many kids. The boy’s home is smaller than the girl’s, partly because the girl’s home houses the little kids of both genders. The boy’s home has only the teenage boys and the male Bible school students. (Yes, they have a small Bible school here!) Anyway, to give you an idea of size… there are 16 bedrooms in the girls' house, 3 wings, 3 stories. Really big. But when you have 60+ kids, plus house parents, plus Bible students, plus a few missionaries and geckos; you need the space. (Some of the missionaries rent their own houses. You wouldn’t believe how cheap rentals are here.) The houses are kept very clean, and everything is run very professionally. We are on the outskirts of the second largest city in Thailand. This is truly a country where old meets new, you have McDonald’s and iPod ads right next to street vendors selling wares they have sold for hundreds of years. (i.e. weird food things I can’t describe other than say they’re weird.) So, the area we are in is much more modern than the photos you’ve seen. I suppose we haven’t taken many pictures of the city we’re stay in because it doesn’t look too different from cities you’re familiar with at home. Dirtier maybe. I do hope to go around and take pictures of the sites we see every day. I’ve started with some pictures of the children’s homes. Check them out!

Oh, and I just found out: Anna and the King is not taboo conversation, but the Thai people didn’t really like the movie either. I guess any time anything at all negative is said about the king, it’s bad. (Remember the execution scene?) Apparently they wanted to film the movie in Thailand, but the Thai government was opposed to it for some reason. I'm told there isn’t one Thai actor in the whole thing. They’re from Burma. I guess the actors all have Burmese accents when they speak in Thai. Word is that the movie was inaccurate and that’s why Thai people say they didn’t like it.

Jonathan here.
I’ve been reading the red type in the Gospels recently, and came across Jesus saying not to be like the Pharisees who love to be called “Rabbi”. Jesus said not to let anyone call you teacher because the only teacher we have is God. That really hit me because the students call the missionary staff “ah-jaan”. At first, I had thought that this meant ‘religious teacher’ or ‘master’. Actually, the dictionary just says it means professor. So it doesn’t have the ‘master’ connotation we were concerned about.
However, I still need to check myself for enjoying the title of respect too much. Most of the Thai staff are called by the title “Pea” (respected older sibling), unless they have been to bible college, in which case they get “ah-jaan”. When I learned that, my head swelled for a while. I wrestled with that last week. Part of the culture shock is just that they respect everyone so much.
Sometimes the house parents are just called ‘Ma’ or ‘Pa’. Small world, ain’t it? One of our books says that the world wide roots for those intimate names are Sanskrit.

That's all for now! We love you and look forward to returning next month.
Jonathan and Kelley

Did you miss me?

2006-08-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I’m not going to break with my mini-tradition, so I’ll start off with some Thailand Tips:

#12
Don’t dog the king. Ever. Don’t make fun of him, or talk bad or even condescendingly about him. (This includes talk of the old movie ‘The King and I.’ Apparently that movie is highly offensive because of the way it portrays the king. That king was historically an incredible man, and they revere him and his son as some of the best kings they’ve ever had. I don’t know about the more recent remake ‘Anna and the King.’ I’ll try to find out, discretely.) They LOVE their king. I’d heard this, but I didn’t know how true it was until I arrived. There are portraits of him everywhere, and wherever you look someone is wearing yellow in his honor. It’s actually kind of cool to see people who actually like their monarch. (Apparently the corrupt government happens at the local level, but everyone adores the main man.)

#13 If you are shopping for a shirt for a man’s XL or larger, start praying now. All the clothing sizes run one (or more) size small. If you buy a Thai XL, you’re really only getting a large. And on top of that, they shrink! So really a Thai XL is more like a medium after you’ve washed it once. I guess my solution to this problem is to suggest you buy a watch instead.

Sorry that it’s been a while. We’ve been busy. Nothing incredibly earth shaking, just the day in, day out life on the field. Jonathan’s doing the English thing, and I’m covering a lot of ground on the computer. We did have a day yesterday though. It was the Queen’s birthday and a national holiday, very similar to our Mother’s Day. All over the country, everyone it seemed was wearing light blue shirts in the Queen’s honor and doing nice things for their own mothers. (Instead of the normal yellow to honor the king’s 60 year reign this year.)

Anyway, I spent the day at Carol Hart’s (the founder of ZOE) home, helping her prepare a beautiful dinner that we gave to the Thai house mothers.

An aside: The way ZOE children’s homes work is that the missionaries are there to support/train/EMPOWER the Thai staff who live with the children and are their ‘parents.’ Yes the missionaries interact daily with the children, but it’s the house parents who are the real front lines In countless ways, they accomplish what the missionaries cannot and should not do. They know the language, culture, country, subtlies and intricacies of Thailand, things it takes a lifetime to learn. . And these people are so sweet, so caring and so loving, I know that they are doing an incredible work by helping these kids.

So anyway, we set out to honor them, specifically the mothers. We prepared a formal dinner, making sure we ordered food they would like and we served them. (‘We’ was myself and the other women missionaries. We did make two of our missionaries sit down to be served because they were mothers also. We had to lovingly force them not to help.) Afterwards we asked if they would like to go and get their feet massaged, and after a few minutes of discussion we discovered that most of them had never been shopping at Night Bizarre. We were in shock! Night Bizarre is one of the first places tourists go to, it’s a conglomeration of shops and vendors, selling everything from throwing knives and weird instruments to shirts (see above Thailand tip) to baseball hats made out of Heineken cans to idols to delicate flowers carved out of soap. Basically, everything a tourist could ask for, and just a lot of fun.
We asked them where they would rather go, and they all said Night Bizarre. (Two later changed their minds and got massages anyway, but the massage place was at Night Bizarre so it wasn’t a problem)

They had a blast (I think. It’s hard to tell sometimes. ) The whole night really blessed them, we could tell. They said they had never been served by ‘the adjans’ before. (Adjan means teacher, master or headmaster, and that’s what they call all the missionaries. ZOE Missionaries asked not to be called that but the Thais said it would be culturally inappropriate to not use that term.) It was beautiful to be able to serve people who are so used to serving themselves, they didn’t know what to do. They were so grateful and I do hope, pray and believe they were blessed.

That night Jonathan was at the children’s home holding a sort of seminar on how to write a sketch. When we were first getting to know the kids, they discovered that our background was theater and they practically begged us to teach them new skits. We asked if they had ever written their own and they fell silent. Apparently the idea had never occurred to them before. We told them that they were better equipped to reach their people, and they would know how to communicate to them than we would. After talking about it with the people over us, we scheduled a night and spread the word.

Only about ten kids showed, but Jonathan said any more would have been too many. He went over plot and characters, conflict and resolution. He also spent time on themes (the idea behind the sketch or skit) and then had them start writing. We gave them the freedom to write in groups and in Thai, so we have only a basic idea of what they wrote, but it seemed to go very well. We’re going to get one of our friends to translate it for us, and then discuss what our next step should be.

At this point all I know about what was written is that one group wrote a skit containing five characters: a doctor, three missionaries and a Buddhist monk. I’m curious, just knowing that.

Well, my brain just stopped working for some reason, so I think I’m going to go take a nap. Days off are great, aren’t they? I’m going to try to get a bunch of pictures up in the next few days. They’re ones I took at the beginning of our trip, but just haven’t been able to get up yet. I’m hoping to show the inside of the children’s home, so you’ll be able to better imagine our surroundings. Let me just say that we haven’t been suffering.

We love you all and hope things are going well on your half of the world!!!

Just an update

2006-08-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

I'm still not feeling 100%, so we're wondering if it really was food poisoning or if it was something else. Part of the problem is that I was afraid to eat anything, so we went to a western grocery market and bought stuff I wasn't scared of. When all is said and done, I'll still eat the food from over here, because being sick isn't that bad, it's just annoying and uncomfortable.

The good part is I lost the few pounds I'd been trying to loose since last Christmas. Missions work is great!

A few more Thai tips:

#9 male A showing affection to male B (holding hands, playing with hair, cuddling) does not equal/is not congruent to: they're gay.

This is taking some getting used to. At home, it's common to see girls leaning on each other, playing with one another's hair, just being physically affectionate in a totally innocent, sisterly and childlike way. But boys don't touch each other because it would mean they were gay.

Here, it isn't wrong. We've talked about this with the long term missionaries. It's a cultural thing. When the long term Americans arrived and saw this, they thought the boys should stop, but the Thai Christians assured them repeatedly that it was not wrong or unscriptural or sinful. They are just showing one another healthy love. (PM, I know you are lovin' reading this!)

Anyway, it's still surprising to turn and see one teenage boy playing with another's hair, or to hear of them holding hands with fingers interlocked. But, if anything, I think our culture's the one that is a little messed up in this area. We have made something innocent into a taboo because some people have twisted what God intended.

If you are wondering, there is a large homosexual population in Thailand, and it is much more culturally accepted here than in the States. Yet even with this fact, the male affection is apparently unrelated.

#10
Always keep toilet paper with you. Kinda like the parka thing. Even if you're going to a developed area. Sometimes they charge for TP.

#11
This one comes from the Aussie pastor of the church we're attending. I told him I was sick from the food and he said in his great accent: "you should go eat a dog, that'll fix stomach problems." I haven't tried it. I still don't know if he was kidding or not.

Ok, a little about the ZOE kids without giving too much away. (Due to the nature of their backgrounds, I can't tell too much about them because it would endanger them. A very real and scary thought.)

I would say that 2/3 to 3/4 of the kids here are teenagers. There are some that have graduated and are attending ZOE's small Bible school. But these most of these guys are teens, pure and simple. They're the most responsible group of teens I've ever worked with. (Sorry U-Turn teens, but they have you beat. You know I love you still and miss you incredibly, right?)

They LOVE music, of any form. They like to sing all the time, play guitar, base, drums, keyboard, anything they can get their hands on. Including an annoying recorder that someone brought out at about 6am this morning. Like I said, responsible or not, they're still teens. They have their own worship team, that one of the Thai Staff leads. From our perspective, a different teen leads the singing each meeting. We could be wrong about this though.

They also love sports. At least the boys do. I think the girls do also, but I don't live at the girl's home, so I don't know. They are such incredible athletes; they worked Jonathan in a game of soccer. Jonny Mac has met his match. This is a country of Jonny Macs. (I will say for his sake that he never played soccer before, and they play every weekend almost, and practice whenever they have a free moment.) They also love volleyball and have a cool came called Tac-craw (closest English spelling I could come up with) It's played on a volleyball type court, but the net is only chest high. And you don't hit the woven wooden ball with your hands, you kick it or head it, hackey-sack style. So, it's kinda a mix between volleyball and soccer. I haven't seen them play yet, but I've heard it's incredible.

One thing I've noticed about the ZOE kids and Thailand in general, is that everyone is very polite. Even the street vendor who's trying to rip you off is still really really polite as he does so. (Try to bring a long term missionary or Thai friend with you on market trips. Bartering is the name of the game.) Something that goes along with the politeness is that they are often pretty quiet.

I was standing in line at the airport in Bangkok, watching people about their business, trying to imagine a group of people from our church invading the place. I couldn't help but smile. We are so loud and boisterous and... well... just American to the fullest. There's no way we could ever blend in and disappear into the crowd. There's nothing wrong with that, but I found it incredibly funny.

I have sense seen the ZOE kids really having a blast, and realized that they are as noisy as any other nation; you just need to see them interacting with each other and having fun. This is a video of family game night. The goal of this game was to not have any 'snowballs' or wadded up pieces of paper on your side of the room at the end. Which is a fancy excuse for having a paper wad fight. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql4v836v9js

The little kids are just that, little kids. Jonathan was trying to teach them to juggle during free time. Of course, the little girls were nicely throwing the ball as Jonathan instructed, the boys were throwing it at each other's faces. Boys being boys. They learned the English word 'gentle' that day.

Well, the computer with Photoshop that I've been waiting for just opened up, so off I go. Love to all!!

Now I'm a real Missionary

2006-08-04T21:16:00.000-07:00

It's official. I have become sick off the 'native' food. Ok, so it wasn't that native. It was just a donut type thing from the Wal-Mart-y store. I think. It could have been the water, or the fruit, or the wanna-be-pizza or... the list goes on. Whatever it was it cleared out my stomach in a hurry. Thank God it only took me out for a day. I'm feeling much, much better now and I'm back at 'work' at the Girl's home.

Just a note, not one person (that I'm aware of) got sick because of food from the SFV team. Someone did have a little issue with car sickness, but you can get that anywhere. So that should encourage everyone, right?

I'm taking it easy and eating mostly Ritz crackers. (There is a box of Cheez-its on the desk across from me, tempting me. I'll be strong. Or I'll tell you about my failure to resist in my next post. One of the two.)

*update... I failed. But at least I got permission first.*

I bet you're wondering what I'm doing over here. Well, frankly I'm doing whatever I'm asked. My jobs here are more hands on with the missionary staff than the kids. I'm helping them create photo packets, designs for play rooms (think of the Reign Forest room) designing and creating their Christmas brochure and card. I spend most of my time on the computer and did regret it for a little while. I was telling myself that I could do this from home. But then the missionaries reminded me that I probably wouldn't have time at home, and that because I am here, I am accomplishing in a few days what it would take them months to do. This is because I have experience on the programs and also because they have many responsibilities on their plate, while I do not.

I also help with odd jobs whenever I'm asked. The other day I went with some of the long-termers to the Night Market and helped them pick out 500 pairs of chopsticks. (They will be gifts to ZOE donors in the US or something like that.) That took a while.

One of the most enjoyable jobs that I have is to come up with designs for a children's fort/playhouse/jungle gym and matching puppet house. I know I don't have the time to build it, but it would probably be better to farm that job out to a local, because labor is so cheap here. But if I can do all the design work, and make up good plans, it should be easy for anyone with some experience to build. At least that's the hope. You can imagine the fun Jonathan and I are having with these projects.

Well, I need to go shoot some kids (with a camera) for a graphic design thing I'm doing, so I'll sign off. Love to all!!!

ps - I've reposted some of the pictures that were too dark before, that's why they may look familiar. I've found a computer with Photoshop!!! YEAH!!!

'Jonathan makes an entry' or 'fording the mighty road?'

2006-08-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

May I make a quick request? If you've dropped by the blog and haven't left a comment yet, please do. From our perspective it looks like only ten or so people have seen the blog. (Or you could just drop us an email which would be faster: newpaen@hotmail.com ) Thanks for understanding!! We miss you all.

Onto Thailand tip #8
This is an incredibly modest country. Even though there’s an invisible cancer of prostitution and sexual immorality, for the most part, it stays invisible. So, how does this affect us as missionaries? If the general Thai populous is modest, then we as missionaries and representatives of Christianity must be even more modest. This is all about the ladies. Girls, no tight shirts. Period. Even if it is just close fitting, loose is best. Shorts must be at least at the knee, calf length is better. After people watching at the local mall and then the Wal-Mart type store, I saw that this ‘extreme’ modesty really is the norm here. Girls wore loose polo-ish shirts and long shorts. Even the stunning ones. I would say one in fifty had on a tight shirt or short skirt. It was amazing. So remember, loose is good, tight is not.

And finally, a full entry from Jonathan. Enjoy!

A day in the life at the Boy’s Home:
These guys are really well trained and very respectful. Most of them wake up around 5:30 am and start certain chores around the house, (and singing. That’s how I know they’re up). They often have group singing and devotions at 6, breakfast at 6:30 and the high schoolers leave for school at 7. Bible school students often lift weights and exercise at 7, eat at 7:30, do chores at 8 and start class at 9.

After a full day at school (arriving home at 5 pm), they eat around 6, do their laundry, homework and have a little fun, but in no particular order. They do their own laundry, by hand in big buckets of cold water. They even bathe in cold water! One night, I wandered up onto a somewhat secluded roof to find out where all the water pouring past our windows was coming from. About six of them were out on this patio running the hose fully open. Two were washing clothes; some were bathing, most wearing speedos, others in boxers. The culture is very modest but this group of guys has lived like brothers for years.
We’ve come home at 9:30 several times to find them in the meeting room working on homework. Many times we’ve joined them to help with their English studies. Things get quiet around 10 and then the whole process starts again the next morning at 5:30.

I’m experiencing some culture shock, having been raised in the desert; I hate to see water running down the sidewalk. But this is a tropical plain, and the water table seems to be 12 feet down! This house has its own well and the nearby Ping River is flooding its banks right now. Speaking of the water levels, please pray for Chiang Mai. They’ve been sandbagging all week. And that leads me nicely to the next section.

Tuesday, Kelley and I rode the scooter into town. (We have rented a Honda 125 for 5 weeks for $75!) What an adventure! We left at 5pm hoping to get back before dark. In a car, with a driver who knows the roads the trip should take about 15 minutes. We took a route we’ve only seen twice because it seemed direct; never mind that we didn’t know it very well. We headed north and jogged left at a Y. As we approached the river we came to some vacant lots and remembered hearing “This is usually a day market crowded with cart and venders.” That day it was under a foot of water and no one was around.
This time the lots were still underwater, but the market had moved to the road! Scooters could still make it through the crowd but I doubt a car could. It was just like all the pictures we’ve seen of a crowded marketplace in Asia. Meat venders had some innovative little spinning machines for keeping the flies off their merchandise. After riding at a pedestrian’s pace for 5 minutes, we left the bazaar and came to the bridge over the Mae Nam Ping. The brown water came up within 3 feet of the bridge! (We are not in any danger at all from this. Breathe easy, Mom. I had to pick the most extreme picture I've taken so far. You understand.)

Apparently the river floods every year, but has gotten worse in recent years. It’s regular and expected, so I don’t know how much it threatens human life, but it sure makes a mess of things and breeds mosquitoes. (The soccer field at the Girls’ Home is a swamp right now.) So we rode North for a while following the river and found we were not the only ones taking pictures of the swollen flow. Thais were also shooting down from bridges. Sandbag teams were still working to keep the streets from flooding. That was desperately needed. Several times, we held our feet up as high as we could and the bike waded through knee deep streets. We didn’t see any cars going through. Only scooters were fording the floods. It made me wonder is the cars knew something I didn’t...

This road put us out on a 6 lane highway with a median and no U-Turns. Of course we were headed the wrong way, and ended up riding all the way around Chiang Mai. At 6pm, we arrived at the night bazaar, finished our business and returned home a different way with a new set of adventures; more flooded, one-way streets not taking us where we wanted to go. I turned down a little soy (alley) hoping to make 3 left turns and come out on the proper one-way highway. However, it turned out to be a dead end driveway guarded by a ferocious poodle. The scooter could barely outrun it as it snapped at Kelley’s sandaled feet! It chased us until an old lady called it off. Finding no other way to get onto the highway we wanted, we jumped up the curb, and rode on the sidewalk until we were at speed and could safely hop down onto the roadway. Thankfully, there was no traffic that night, and traffic laws here seem to be pretty loose. We arrived home after dark, but well before our next appointment.
One more note about their Zoe kids’ chores: they work without being nagged! I wouldn’t understand the words if they were being nagged, but you can usually tell from the tone and context. These kids (I’ve seen it at the Girls’ Home also) clean up after themselves, sweep floors, wipe down tables after every meal... It’s amazing! Carol Hart showed us the chore rotation they have in place which is posted on a wall. Everyone’s job changes every week or two. I’ve never seen a house of any size run so smoothly! I’ve never heard any arguing or complaining. I’m sure much of this is the general Asian respect for others, but I also see great leadership here at Zoe Children’s Homes.

English classes are going very well. I haven’t had any lesson plans bomb yet. The students are very motivated and eager, and that makes teaching a joy! I’m teaching vocabulary through praise tunes in English. Anyway, they already know some of the tunes in Thai.
Please pray that God will continue to bless my efforts learning the Thai language. I had been overwhelmed about learning it when I came, but the Thais have been so helpful and gracious, it’s been easier than I expected. They seem thrilled to see a farang (foreigner from the west) trying and their smiles make the process fun. I am learning vocabulary, but I can’t really put together a sentence yet.

This one's short, I promise!

2006-07-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

More videos and pictures.

Use the links on the right side bar to get there.

Our first adventure (in Thailand that is)

2006-07-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to brag that the weather here has been delightful, about 80 consistantly, and when it gets hot, it is usually followed up by cooling rain. But then I found out that there are a lot of heat related deaths in California, so I'm truly sorry that you guys are having to tough out 3 digit temperatures.

On to Thailand! More pictures at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20359761@N00/

Let’s start with Language tips:

If you’re a girl, you end sentences with ‘ka’ which has no English equivalent. It’s just the polite way of speaking. If you’re a boy, you end with ‘krop’

So...

Hello is ‘sa-wa-de (ka/krop)’ (Boys, that sounds like "so, what the crap?"

Thank you is ‘kop-koon (ka/krop)’

A little is ‘nit-noy’

Not spicy please is ‘my-pet (ka/krop)’

Toilet is ‘soo-am’

Generally most people speak at least some English but they really open up if you try to speak Thai. Jonathan has tried to order all of our meals in Thai, and it usually ends with both parties laughing.

And now general Thailand tips:

#6 Wear socks everywhere, even with sandals. They are protection against whatever invisible little critters may be crawling around the ground. In Thailand, it is expected that you will take off your shoes whenever you enter a home, so slip-ons or sandals are best. But if you’re in a remote children’s home (not Zoe, they’re clean and healthy) it would be best if you keep some socks on. It offers mental comfort if nothing else. The challenge comes with the fact that floors in Thailand are usually wet, especially in bathrooms, so soggy socks are a danger. Walk carefully to keep from sliding across wet tile.

#7 Always carry a poncho. No matter how sunny the day is.

Which brings me to our first real adventure here in Thailand.

So it was a beautiful, sunny day on Wednesday. We had traveled with the San Fernando Holiness Church team to the Golden Triangle, which is where three countries meet: Thailand, Laos, and Burma. After spending the morning doing touristy things, we drove to a children’s home to spend the afternoon and evening ministering. This home was up on a hill top, about a two mile drive from the village below. The road is new, meaning that it is a narrow dirt road. The old way of getting to the home was to simply hike it. Fortunately the hike takes a different route and is a lot shorter than the drive.

Jonathan writes:
Patty Colpepper is up near the border of Myanmar, way out in the sticks! We were expecting to have to hike up to her house because rains often make the road impassable. It was sunny when we arrived so we parked the vans in a safe spot and the drivers stretched out for a nap. The team was ferried up the muddy road in two trips each of a 4 wheel drive Toyota and Patty’s old Nissan. It didn’t take long to tour her hilltop. What a view! The town lay a mile off to the North West and the northeast was crops and wilderness. To the south was a grassy hill making a luxurious home for Patty’s pair of cows. Her cinderblock house is guarded by a leaking cistern at each corner. They catch rainwater and collect from her well. She recently built a pair of toilets, one western and one Thai style.
When the children came home from school we gave them Frisbees and ran 3-legged relays, played tug-o-war and steal the bacon. They enjoyed a rare feast of roasted chicken while the team ate PB&J sandwiches; (Another example of laudable priorities with limited funds). I’ll restate that I was not a part of this team, just an observing guest. After dinner the team helped them with some crafts and tried to get the Frisbees off the roof with ropes and bamboo. Corrugated aluminum roofs can’t support a man’s weight.
As night approached, the team presented a puppet show and bible lesson about using praise as a weapon against fear. When asked what they fear, the children answered “ghosts”. This is symptomatic of the spiritual bondage which is so prevalent in this part of the world. Animists and spirit worshippers believe that just about everything has some sort of spirit which must be kept satisfied. Shrines and offerings to long-dead ancestors are common. Nearly every property has a Spirit-House in one corner. We have heard that areas affected by the tsunami are reporting frequent ghost sightings. Please pray that God will break through and bring relief from demonic oppression.

Now back to Kelley in the studio:
The afternoon went wonderfully, we spent a lot of time just loving on those kids, playing games, jump roping, teaching them Frisbee, getting the Frisbees off the roof, it was fun. The team had discovered that the kid’s favorite meal was roast chicken, so they had provided a whole roast chicken for each child. When dinner came around, the children were surprised with their favorite meal, reminded that they didn’t have to eat the whole thing that night, and then ushered inside for the service. I think this group of kids were the most responsive of all the groups we’ve been to so far, except for the Zoe kids.

After service the team began working on crafts with the kids, and Jonathan and I were standing outside watching, helping if a need arose. But we were a little distracted by the heavy clouds and the darkening night. We had always expected to hike down the hill in the dark, but there was a new variable: lightning. A lot of it. We have learned that it usually gets windy right before it starts to rain here, so when the wind came we stuck our heads inside and let the team leaders know the rain was close.

It came a lot sooner than anyone expected. Within minutes it was pouring. The team scrambled, gathering stuff and shoving it our truck. (Kurt, to his everlasting credit, stuck with the kids and helped them finish the craft.) One of the full time Zoe missionaries had come with us on this trip and brought her 6 month old baby Nathaniel with her on his first outreach. Our first priority was getting the baby and the truck down the hill before the road became too muddy to drive. The Toyota was loaded with key people, including the baby, an LA Sherriff, and the 2 oldest boys from the home. They left and we prayed.

Patty advised us to wait until the rain eased up a little so the children sang worship songs in Thai. It was a memory that I will always cherish, those little kids, singing their hearts out while it crashed and roared outside, reminding us of the message we had just taught them: don’t be afraid, God is with you.

The rain kept pouring down and we just waited, hoping it would lighten and preparing for the hike down. Ponchos were exchanged, men giving theirs to the women. Suddenly, Dave the Sherriff and his children’s home ‘guide’ appeared out of the darkness, completely drenched. He had driven the truck safely down and hiked up to get us. He said the hike wasn’t that bad at all, and we could easily make it. He told us that Carol Hart (one of the founders of Zoe) made it halfway up the hill without any problem. We all jumped up and made the final arrangements for the trip down, but were surprised a second time when Carol stepped out from behind the building, soaked to the bone, panting but still full of contagious energy. She panted out “Ok, it’s just water, folks. And if I can make it up that hill in ten minutes, you can make it down!”

So down we went. Dave and his guide leading, myself and Jonathan bringing up the rear with the two Thai boys. Just as we began down the hillside, another surprise met us: Tom, our dear guide. He has accompanied the team everywhere because he is in charge of the rental vans we use. He was out there in the downpour, up the hill to make sure we all made it down ok. With an umbrella! He was diligently holding it up to help keep us dry, but we all motioned for him to put it down. He looked confused for a minute or two until one of our interpreters told him about the dangers of lightning and umbrellas. It seemed like there was four of him on that hike, he was running back and forth, helping here, pointing out a hole there. He must have hiked that hill three times with all the running up and down he did.

For those of you who have been on night hikes in the rain with us, this trip really wasn’t that eventful. And I thank God for that. It was a pretty straight shot down the hill. The part that freaked me out was that the first half was through a field, under power lines with lightning all around us. And it wasn’t lightning like we know it, with a good one every five minutes or so. It was a good one every minute or so. But everyone made it down just fine. God had mercy on us and made the rain lighten up as soon as we started down. There wasn’t one twisted ankle or scraped knee. A few slips in the mud and a surprised water buffalo (he just appeared out of the darkness in a flash of lightening, this massive, black, horned animal. Thankfully he just stared dumbly at us, wondering what these stupid foreigners were doing in the rain.) All and all, it was a blast, from our perspective. A little adrenaline is good, and in a way this adventure completed the SFV’s mission trip. It’s easy to say that God is protecting you, but after going through something like that night, it builds one’s faith to have experienced His protection.

I want to thank each member of the SFV team; you guys are awesome and I have much to learn from your humility, your joy, your servant's attitudes and willingness to do whatever is needed. Thank you again for allowing the McFarlands to enjoy this trip with you. I pray you have a safe journey home and I hope that you will remember our time together as fondly as I do.

Pictures!!!

2006-07-23T18:24:00.000-07:00

This is us at a hill tribe church in the middle of the jungle.

Let me start off with some more Thailand Tips:

#2: try everything offered to you. Our best meal so far was the one the missionaries warned us not to eat. It was sooo good! (Just remember to pray really hard after eating tribal food. We haven't been sick yet, praise God.)

#3: Use a clean toilet when you find on, even if you don't have to go that bad. The squatty potties are not as bad as they seem. And they're only in remote/removed areas. Hotels, shops and resturants in Chiang Mai, and Zoe houses have real toilets. Cherish them.

#4: Bring ear plugs on Team overnighters. Communial sleeping rooms aren't always fun, or very quiet in the middle of the night.

#5: If you get motion sickness, come prepaired. These roads through the jungle made the Sierra roads seem like freeways. But getting there is half the fun, or at least that's what someone who'd never been car sick said.

Well, I have so much to say I don't even know where to start. The zoo was fun, mostly because we could have reached out and touched the animals they were so close. (Yes, we did a few times. I pet a deer fawn the size of a cat, and Jonathan fed a giraffe.) Thankfully, the dangerous critters were further away.

Except for the giant spiders. Those guys surprise you. We would be walking along, looking at a bird or tiger, look up and see a huge spider hanging above the walkway. (A reminder for everyone reading this: we look for stuff like that. Most people won't ever see this part of Thailand. We do because we're on the look out for it.) So, here's a video of one of the spiders. The brown thing is Jonathan's hat. I'm grateful he wasn't touching this one with his hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxbttNFeqSQ

Now onto the spiritual stuff. We have recieved our 'list' which outlines the stuff Zoe would like us to accomplish while we're here. I'm very happy to say that it's our S.H.A.P.E. exactly. They pegged us pretty well. This past week we've been doing a lot of observing and learning. Part of our purpose for this trip was to check out what a short term team looks like. And it looks pretty good. Zoe really looks after the needs of their guests, short or long term. What our Sanctuary trip will look like depends a lot on who goes and how adventureous they are.

Thais love to worship!!! The few (4 I think) services we've seen have all been filled with worshipers. I've put a few videos of worship from different places.

Zoe Children's Home Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC48N_OLx_k
Corin Children's Home Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vbVBpunvKY
Corin Church Worship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rbW8hvfqAw
And fun with kazoos that the SFV team gave to the kids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJSoSmbtC9I

You may be wondering about the language issue. Well, we're just quick studies and we're can communicate perfectly.... Ok, not really. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand (population = Santa Clarita), and a major tourist destination. Because of that, most Thais in Chiang Mai speak at least some English. The Zoe teens have been learning English for years, and a few are actually conversant. They all help each other and there's lots of laughter, creative hand motions and sound effects. All said, it hasn't been a huge frustration. If you can though, learn as much Thai as you can before you come. It will help greatly and they love that westerners care about them enough to learn some of their language.

Now what you've been waiting for... pictures!! Unfortunantly, I'm going to redirect you to another site that's specifically for pictures. I have so many that I didn't want to bog this one down. Please remember when viewing, that we like gross things so that's why there are so many bugs. Most people won't see these guys. (Unfortunantly, I only have 6 up so far, many more to come though!! Please be patient, thanks!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20359761@N00/

We love you all!

Just a quickie.

2006-07-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Thailand Tip #1

In rainy season, do not wear pants that touch the ground. They will soak water up to your knees.

Ok, I have to tell you the cool/gross story first. Yesterday we visited a Hill tribe village and were able to wander around for a few minutes while the SFV church ministered to another children’s home. (This one was not affiliated with ZOE, just friends of ZOE) While we were exploring, it started to rain and we ducked into a half built house to wait out the rain. I was just looking around when I saw this grayish thing on the ground and realized it was a bug. A bug nearly the side of my hand. I motioned for Jonathan to come over and we got closer. It looked like a giant fly. Jonathan thinks it was a moth, but it’s wings were perfectly clear. It’s belly was about an inch in diameter, and it’s body was 4” or so long, with the wings extending further. Of course he touched it. Of course he tried to pick it up. And of course, the Thais eat those suckers and wanted to know where we found it. Apparently Greg, one of the missionaries has eaten one, but hadn’t ever seen one so big. Yes Pastor Marty, we’ll bring you one.

Needless to say, we are having a blast. But I guess it would be good to say that Thailand isn’t really a gross country. We were looking for gross stuff, because that’s just what we do. The people are sooo nice here, everyone smiles. Oh, I gotta go, my ride just pulled up. I’ll try to add more later. Today is our Anniversary, so we’re going to the Zoo and doing touristy things. May God comfort all you people who wish you were here.

Oh wait, I’ve uploaded a video of the super fly on YouTube.com

Here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSEL-je6g5M

And if that doesn’t work, our user name is mcthai06, hopefully that will help you find us. I'll try to put up more stuff later. Love ya lots!!!

Thailand!!

2006-07-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

For starters, ignore that date thing at the top, the time really is 6pm, Wednesday. 16 hours ahead of you guys. It will be fun when we try to call.

We are safely here, after having discovered that the Pacific is really big. I know that sounds obvious, but you gain a different perspective after seeing nothing but ocean for 12 hours.

This was bizarre: our plane left LA at 2 am Monday morning, was in the air for 12 hours, and arrived at DAWN in Taiwan. Dawn on Tuesday. How's that for science confusing things?

Well, Thailand is beautiful. The weather isn't too bad, not very hot but sticky. The country reminds us of Belize or Tropical Mexico; lots of poverty right next to wealth. The main difference between those places and here is the visible presence of Buddhism everywhere. There are temples on every corner it seems and little spirit houses (shrines) on nearly every property.

ZOE is taking very good care of us, we have just confirmed that we will be staying in a detached room at the Boy's Home (which is a 10 minute drive from the Girl's home) and we will be buying a motorcycle for our transportation, then selling it or leaving it for ZOE when we go home.

I'm trying to post pictures, but it isn't working at the moment, so maybe we'll get a few up on the next try.

Tomorrow we will be joining a short term team from a San Fernando Valley church as they go minister to a Hill tribe. We hope to send another update soon!! Much love to all!

2006-07-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hello to all!

So here's my first post on our Thailand Blog. Today, I send in our Visa Application. Exciting. Ok, not really, but it was a very important step in the process.

Here's the lowdown. We leave on Monday the 17th, at 1am. That won't be fun. After the 17 hour or so flight, we will arrive in Bangkok, then take another hour and a half flight to Chiang Mai, where we will be staying.

Please pray for a safe trip there and for God's mercy in getting everything finished before we go.

My next post will be from Thailand!