My travel advice

One piece of travel advice I live by is know that your there are going to be SEVERAL snags in your plans. Just expect it and go with the flow. It's gonna happen and if you don't adapt you'll go nuts. I mean, sure. Its frustrating. But you can't do anything about it. So accept it.

So...it turns out my flight wasn't just 2 hours behind. Its (hopefully I should say since I'm still not on the place) 18 hours behind! Thankfully I got put up in a pretty nice hotel here in Bangkok. And was given another meal voucher. Since I didn't get in until after 4am, I slept until 10am, read, ate lunch. And now at 1:30pm I'm thinking of taking another nap before we leave back for the airport at 5pm. Exciting extra day, right? Actually chilling in a comfy hotel robe in a king size bed isn't all that bad.

Sasha was suppose to pick me up at the airport in Nairobi at 6am this morning. As to what she is doing now, no idea. Hopefully she'll be there tonight when I arrive. If not, same as above. Just go with the flow. Plan B

The Land of Smiles-final thoughts

There is something about the smell of Thailand-it’s a pleasant smell. And its definitely food related (this culture is totally centered around food!) I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. I kind of think it’s a mixture of the spices and the smell of the rice too.
Bangkok is definitely more developed than I expected to see. It is SO large! People everywhere. And boy are they overly stimulated visually. Beyond billboards and TV screens, even at a checkout line at a drugstore, there was a monitor on the counter for people to watch some advertisement. They constantly have to be watching something.
This language is confusing to say the least. Its tonal-not sure exactly how many tones. But there are like 40 some consonants and vowels. 3 consonants just for S. To show what a difference the tone can make. The word kow can mean: rice, to enter, news, white, him, horn, or mountain all depending on the tone. Ufta! I think you kind of have to learn the words thinking of them visually as mountains and valleys-kind of helps (but still hard!)
A couple other observations: Motorbikes are a way of life here too. Everyone has one. They are iced coffee (and sweetener) fanatics! Its everywhere-which I’m not complaining in the heat for a pick-me-up. Because there is no Thai word just for brother or sister (in Thai it all depends on if they are older or younger than you) at meetings when they call on ones they use the English words “brother” and “sister”. Kinda cute 

So my last week in Trang (pronounced dtrong, the city where kate lives) was quite nice. I was able to settle in one place for a bit, made myself quite at home in Kate’s room . I was able to accompany them in the ministry most days. I went on a few studies with deaf people, which was a lot of fun. I showed them some of my pictures of Ecuador and the deaf there, even a few videos of them signing. They all seemed to enjoy that! Learned to give my tract out in Thai and also call out at a door for someone to come (although I learned this from a Korean sister and I’m told I sound like a Korean speaking Thai ). The ministry is such a great way to really get to see what the people are really like and what life here in Thailand is really like. Family is really important in their culture.
As you saw, I got a cooking lesson in Thai food as well. So much of the food here were things I had never seen before. With Kate’s help, I tried to try a wide selection of typical dishes. Can’t say there was anything I didn’t like. All good!
I also managed to squeeze in a VERY reasonably priced spa treatment! Kate told me its part of the experience and she didn’t have to twist my arm much to convince me to try it! It was wonderful-reinvigorated my skin and muscles. And something I probably wouldn’t afford in the states.
My last day in Thailand was spent up at a mountain resort eating. Gorgeous scenery-a nice last memory of my stay here.
Well, signing off from Asia. I’ll be back again from Africa!!!

The Hostess’ With the Mostest

So my host(esses) in Thailand were some awesome girls! Made me proud to
be a single lady in my 30’s (if only I could be more like them). With their attention to students and the deaf, taking care of the hall, and their healthy eating. The 2 of them managed to keep our group of 13 well organized and fed, even though one of them had a terrible fever during the trip. Kate, she really took care of everything for me on my trip. It was like having my own personal planner  (what will I now do without her???) She catered to and anticipated any need I had! Thanks for the great trip girl!

Patacones!

Mientras que 2 mujeres tailandeses me ensenaron cocinar algo tipico de aca, yo les ensene hacer algo tipico de la costa de Ecuador-patacones! Bueno, no tienen aca platano entonces tuvimos que usar guineo verde. Pero el sabor casi fue el mismo. Y al principio me vieron como era loca (talvez si soy :) Pero al final, si los comieron. Y les gustaban :)

While they were teaching me to cook Thai food, I made a snack/side dish we eat a lot in Ecuador-patacones. They are fried plantain.

Finished product-glass noodle salad :)

I really tried to post the rest of the videos. There were 5 short segments of like 30 seconds each But to no avail. So I'm just gonna show you what the finished product looked like. And for those of you interested, you'll have to see me personally to find out the rest :)

Thai cooking lesson Part 1

I got a lesson in making glass noodle salad tonight :)

"Jon"

 

Maybe some of you remember the experience of the Asian brother who had a successful career in computers but decided to give it up to sell icecream outside where he used to work so that he could dedicate more time to Jehovah in the ministry teaching others. And then he ended up making more money with the ice cream anyway. Well, this is the man. They call him Jon (Kate told me his Thai name, but yea. That didn't stick in my head at all. These names here are a bit tricky as is the whole language)Now he works at the branch office of Jehovah's witnesses in Bangkok. They decided to take advantage of his skills and he is happily serving there now.

Bangkok sign language

A deaf brother from Japan in the Bangkok sign language meeting. (el hermano es un sordo de Japon)

Sign language

So as most of you know (or probably all of you :) I was involved in sign language in Ecuador helping the deaf to learn Bible truths. So naturally I have a special place in my heart now for the deaf and was looking forward to visiting the sign language group here in Thailand and to accompany them in the ministry. I have a picture here of the group in Bangkok. They have all their meetings separate there which is nice although they still aren't a congregation. The hearing meeting was going on upstairs. And the other picture is of me "helping" with the Kingdom melody at the meeting last night here in Trang (where Kate lives in Southern Thailand). There was one deaf student that showed up last night but on Sunday they usually have around 4 that come. (like my nice water spot on my shirt from just finishing washing the dishes? I thought it added an extra touch :)

Sunrise and Sunset

Yellow watermelon! (sandia)

Dragon fruit

It tastes like kiwi but look how beautiful it is!

Komodo dragon

I thought especially of Xavier and Titus. I'm gonna get a few better pictures from friends to show you when I get home. They were all over the island where we stayed. The guide told us to put our food away in a tent at night beacause of the "dinosaurs". And he wasn't kidding! The dragons will come and eat your food if you don't have it hidden. There were a lot of them around.

Our Island

Koh Rok

Here we are heading off to the island Koh Rok (I'm pretty sure that's the name of it :)on vacation. 13 of us went from Monday morning to Wednesday afternoon (3 Korean couples; 4 American sister, 2 of which live here; 2 Japanese sisters; and 1 Aussie sister-actually all but 2 of us americans live here) We camped there and only about 10-15 others were there at night so very nice and peacefull. Power was only available 6-11pm. And we also brought our own food ergo so much stuff that we brought :)

Snorkeling

I went out snorkeling for the first time. And if it weren't for my burnt back side I'd still be out there doing it if I could. Unbelievable. For all of my friends that are into scuba and such, I get it now. Completely. My first impression was that it looked like a cartoon. The vibrant colors and variety looked almost animated to me. (And Harrison, I saw Nemo and his family living in the anemones. He's so tiny :) NEON fish. It was so spectacular! Such a beautiful world down there. I couldn't help but think of the designer of it all. The group of 13 of us on the trip talked about God's creations and especially the creatures of the sea for our family worship that night. "Survival of the fittest" just doesnt explain all the diverse fish with these unusual characteristics. You can clearly see a creative artist wanting his work to be appreciated. And I hope this won't be the last time I'm able to do that. I'm hooked!

Train to Trang

 
 
We took an overnight train that was suppose to last 15 hours but turned into 18 (thankfully as many of you know firsthand, I'm an excellent travel sleeper, especially when as in this case, I've drank one beer and took a dramamine. Wowser did that knock me out!) Anyway, they came around around 7pm and converted our seats into beds. So they are sleepers which was pretty comfortable. Or maybe I was just that tired!

1st eastern toilet

 
So I've been waiting for this moment and it presented itself when I needed the bathroom at a small restaurant yesterday. The eastern (or squat) toilet. And I must say, this one was quite clean. And presented no problem for me. I can't say I was so fortunate my next occasion with one (you'll have to ask me about that if you care to hear)

No Durian allowed!

 
These are the restrictions to ride the metro in Bangkok. If you look at the 2nd from bottom on the right my poor little durian is not allowed down there. Man, the prejudice of stinky smelling food.

Chatuchak

 

The HUGE Thai weekend market. A shoppers dream. SO much stuff. It was good I was limited on budget and time. But I was amazed by the variety of stuff. You name, they got it!

Preaching to the deaf in Bangkok

 
 

I was able to go in the ministry with the sign language group in Bangkok Saturday morning. A worked with a Japanese sister named Iya. We were doing search work. And since I speak no Thai, my friend gave me a card to present to the ones I met asking if they knew of any deaf. The second picture is of Julie and a young deaf girl she met last week. Julie is the sister we stayed with in Bangkok. The deaf girl was a hoot-made me miss some of my former Bible students in Ecuador.

 

Bethel Thailand with my tour guide Carol who has been serving with her husband in missionary work since 1963 in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand.

 

Ran into an old friend at Bethel today-Sarah Anderson. She and I were good friends when I lived in Crookston and she was Kate's former roommate here in Thailand. And she just so happens to be visiting Thailand with her husband at the same time I am! Lovely coincidence

 

The night bizarre in Thailand. Truly the shoppers Mecca! It has about a bit of everything. Had I brought more money and had not been having the worst chaffing experience in my life I think I could have stayed there all night!

 

 

The riverboats in Bangkok. They are actually a lot faster than the buses and sometimes taxis too because of congestion.

 
 
 
 


The city of Bangkok!

 
 

 

 

 

 

More pictures from the Grand Palace that we toured on Thursday. As you can see, there are a few dozen different buildings-halls and temples- alongside the palace. Too many details to describe here (and especially presently when I'm getting a little sleepy). But quite stunning.