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.