My trip to Thailand is what movies are made from! :) Honestly it was better than I dreamed possible. For those who didn't know, Matt went to Thailand for the month of February as part of an away rotation for medical school. I stayed behind for the first few weeks and then left the kids with Matt's parents in Utah so I could have an unforgettable time with Matt in Thailand alone. We've been home over a month now and I've been trying ever since to figure out how to share our incredible adventure with everyone. There are so many pictures and experiences and how am I supposed to organize and post it all? I have finally concluded that the only way people are going to really understand how amazing this whole trip was is if I type up my journal entries from the trip and then add the appropriate pictures. The only catch here is the fact that these are MY JOURNAL ENTRIES so they are cheesy, emotional, and more often than not they don’t make complete sense. Just consider this “Reality Blogging” at its finest. I know that if I try to edit my journal I will end up having to re-write it all and the true emotion of it will be lost. Plus, a month has already passed since the trip and I have two crazy kids running around the house non-stop so I am just going to have to type it all up as is. Having said that, all the “. . .” and the “hee hee”s are actually what I have written in the journal. Any extra explanation or added detail to my journal entries will be noted by the customary [ square ] parenthesis. So take it or leave it but please don’t judge it!! Whether you read the whole thing or only take snippets at a time, I hope you are able to sit back and soak in a bit of our dream trip to Thailand. :)
PS There are some many seperate posts that you have to continue to click the "Older Posts" button on the bottom right when you scroll down to the end.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Journal Entry Dated Feb. 22, 2010
“Stanford is still pricking my mind but there is still fear and hesitation to take the plunge. The main concern is the work hours. . . Matt would have to work so much more . . . not to mention that we would have to rent and live in an apartment . . . Ugh. I can’t wait to be with Matt to talk about all this in person. I am sitting on a plane right now in San Francisco, CA waiting for departure to Tokyo, Japan and after that 11 hour flight I will have a 4 hour lay over and then an 8 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand where I will then have a 7 hour lay over before the hour and fifteen minute flight to Chang Mai where Matt is. Matt has been in Thailand for almost 3 weeks doing a medical rotation and 5 have just left the kids with Matt’s parents so that I can join him there for 11 days – it is actually only 8 days because of the travel time. It takes about 32 hours to get there and fifteen hours of just layovers!
Feb. 23, 2010
KENSUKE – Ken
That is my Japanese friend from my flight to Japan. Different cultures are so amazing. He is 23 yr. old but you should have seen him eat his food- it was so proper and he was so humble and polite and apologetic about everything. He seemed so innocent – trying so hard to speak to me in English. He was so eager to learn. He wants me to come back to Japan to his home and to learn Japanese – at one point he tried to get me to promise. I know someone in the future might read too far into this saying “oh this 23 yr old wants you to come home with him” but it was nothing like that. I felt like I was talking to a sweet 8 yr. old that wanted me to be his pen pal. Complete innocence and pure excitement to learn the language and life of an American. I was a novelty to him of sorts. It was sweet and tender and I met his mom and she took a picture of me, Ken, and Cloase – the other man on our row that was retired and is now traveling the world. – Cloase was a very happy man that I’m glad I met as well. Corey is another man I’ve met on this adventure. He’s who sat by me on my leg from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. He’s a family doctor and probably 10 years older than me. I really enjoyed talking to him and we talked about everything from what was going on in the newspaper to residency programs to family and my fear of bugs and water to whatever else. We could have talked or not talked for hours and it was completely comfortable. There were never awkward moments and it was just nice. I love meeting new people. I love the chance to give a first impression and to get to know other people’s stories. What totally threw me for a loop with Corey is that after we got off the plane and said our goodbyes he shook my hand and slipped me a hundred dollar bill. I almost couldn’t breathe. I was so shocked and speechless. I can’t even write how stunned I was. I of course tried to object but I was stumbling over everything like me head was spinning. I knew we got along great, but you don’t just give someone $100! He told me to go get a taxi to go see Stanford (we had talked about that on the plane). I still fought him but he practically scooted me away saying that he was sure someone had helped him along the way too and that I had better hurry because my layover time was ticking away. I ended up staggering away stunned and confused. I managed to find a taxi but I was still in shock over what had actually happened and I had never really taken a taxi by myself and so I felt like a complete little girl standing there in front of the bustling line of taxis. I ended up telling my WHOLE story to this random woman standing on the sidewalk and she took me under her wing as she began checking with the taxi drivers about how much it would cost to go to and from Stanford and how long they thought it was going to take. She found out that time wise I was going to be fine, but that it was going to cost $180 dollars to go there and back! Matt and I don’t have the $80 extra dollars for the trip. I had no clue what to do. Corey had given me the money to use on the taxi and now if I didn’t take the taxi what was I supposed to do with his money. I had no idea where he was and if I did find him he would probably try to give me the $80 more dollars to go and I didn’t want that either! I felt disloyal or something all the way around. I still do! The $100 bill is still burning a hole in my pocket as I lay here on a bench in the Bangkok, Thailand airport. Speaking of the airport and friends I have made another friend here who I’ve banned up with to watch each others stuff while the other goes to the bathroom or gets something to eat. He has blonde curly hair and a beard and seems to be on a world trek without a shower :) He is way nice though.
Speaking of Bathrooms, in Japan I experienced my first authentic badae. A.K.A the bum squirter. This is honestly the picture outside the bathroom door.
A public sign is a picture of a naked bum being squirted. Inside the stalls there is the super high-tech looking toilet with all of these digital type buttons that you can push on the side. One button changes the water pressure of the squirter and there was a button with musical notes on it that didn’t play music but rather it made a fake flushing sound to cover up the sound of you going to the bathroom! Isn’t that crazy!! Then there on the stall next to me there was a sign like this
“Stanford is still pricking my mind but there is still fear and hesitation to take the plunge. The main concern is the work hours. . . Matt would have to work so much more . . . not to mention that we would have to rent and live in an apartment . . . Ugh. I can’t wait to be with Matt to talk about all this in person. I am sitting on a plane right now in San Francisco, CA waiting for departure to Tokyo, Japan and after that 11 hour flight I will have a 4 hour lay over and then an 8 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand where I will then have a 7 hour lay over before the hour and fifteen minute flight to Chang Mai where Matt is. Matt has been in Thailand for almost 3 weeks doing a medical rotation and 5 have just left the kids with Matt’s parents so that I can join him there for 11 days – it is actually only 8 days because of the travel time. It takes about 32 hours to get there and fifteen hours of just layovers!
Feb. 23, 2010
KENSUKE – Ken
That is my Japanese friend from my flight to Japan. Different cultures are so amazing. He is 23 yr. old but you should have seen him eat his food- it was so proper and he was so humble and polite and apologetic about everything. He seemed so innocent – trying so hard to speak to me in English. He was so eager to learn. He wants me to come back to Japan to his home and to learn Japanese – at one point he tried to get me to promise. I know someone in the future might read too far into this saying “oh this 23 yr old wants you to come home with him” but it was nothing like that. I felt like I was talking to a sweet 8 yr. old that wanted me to be his pen pal. Complete innocence and pure excitement to learn the language and life of an American. I was a novelty to him of sorts. It was sweet and tender and I met his mom and she took a picture of me, Ken, and Cloase – the other man on our row that was retired and is now traveling the world. – Cloase was a very happy man that I’m glad I met as well. Corey is another man I’ve met on this adventure. He’s who sat by me on my leg from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. He’s a family doctor and probably 10 years older than me. I really enjoyed talking to him and we talked about everything from what was going on in the newspaper to residency programs to family and my fear of bugs and water to whatever else. We could have talked or not talked for hours and it was completely comfortable. There were never awkward moments and it was just nice. I love meeting new people. I love the chance to give a first impression and to get to know other people’s stories. What totally threw me for a loop with Corey is that after we got off the plane and said our goodbyes he shook my hand and slipped me a hundred dollar bill. I almost couldn’t breathe. I was so shocked and speechless. I can’t even write how stunned I was. I of course tried to object but I was stumbling over everything like me head was spinning. I knew we got along great, but you don’t just give someone $100! He told me to go get a taxi to go see Stanford (we had talked about that on the plane). I still fought him but he practically scooted me away saying that he was sure someone had helped him along the way too and that I had better hurry because my layover time was ticking away. I ended up staggering away stunned and confused. I managed to find a taxi but I was still in shock over what had actually happened and I had never really taken a taxi by myself and so I felt like a complete little girl standing there in front of the bustling line of taxis. I ended up telling my WHOLE story to this random woman standing on the sidewalk and she took me under her wing as she began checking with the taxi drivers about how much it would cost to go to and from Stanford and how long they thought it was going to take. She found out that time wise I was going to be fine, but that it was going to cost $180 dollars to go there and back! Matt and I don’t have the $80 extra dollars for the trip. I had no clue what to do. Corey had given me the money to use on the taxi and now if I didn’t take the taxi what was I supposed to do with his money. I had no idea where he was and if I did find him he would probably try to give me the $80 more dollars to go and I didn’t want that either! I felt disloyal or something all the way around. I still do! The $100 bill is still burning a hole in my pocket as I lay here on a bench in the Bangkok, Thailand airport. Speaking of the airport and friends I have made another friend here who I’ve banned up with to watch each others stuff while the other goes to the bathroom or gets something to eat. He has blonde curly hair and a beard and seems to be on a world trek without a shower :) He is way nice though.
Speaking of Bathrooms, in Japan I experienced my first authentic badae. A.K.A the bum squirter. This is honestly the picture outside the bathroom door.
A public sign is a picture of a naked bum being squirted. Inside the stalls there is the super high-tech looking toilet with all of these digital type buttons that you can push on the side. One button changes the water pressure of the squirter and there was a button with musical notes on it that didn’t play music but rather it made a fake flushing sound to cover up the sound of you going to the bathroom! Isn’t that crazy!! Then there on the stall next to me there was a sign like this
So I stuck my head in to see a porcelain hole in the floor with a little back splash and drain for you to squat on the floor and pee in. This is a public restroom at this big nice modern airport!! It is so crazy! This world and life can be so crazy and fun!
The wee hours of Feb. 24, 2010
Yes, it has taken 2 days to travel and I am still not with Matt. I left Monday the 22nd on a 6:35am flight out of SLC and I land in Chang Mai at 7:50am on Wednesday the 24th.
There is a little boy on this flight that has to be close to Noah’s age. I almost started crying. . .I miss them so much and I worry that they are so sad without me. As Quin would say though – I’m not nearly as important as I think I am. :) The kids probably don’t realize I’m gone! Ugh. Is that good or bad? :) I certainly can’t imagine it. I hope this isn’t selfish of me to leave my kids to spend this time with Matt. Will they forgive me? Will they understand? Will they be completely scarred and never trust me again? Do they cry themselves to sleep at night? Oh I’ve got to stop thinking about this – I’ve got to start focusing on Matt. I am about to see him for the first time in 3 weeks. The longest we have ever been apart. I wonder if I should record the cheesiness and impracticality of what I am doing? . . .he he . . .I am still laughing at myself! In Bangkok during my 7 hour lay over I went in the bathroom, washed my face and put new make-up on and redid my hair. I then put on this “little black dress” and these pointy black spiked heals!! I can’t even tell you all the looks I’ve gotten. “That crazy American girl! Who does she think she is? . . . or IS she someone I should know??” :) And I am doing all of this with the hope that I am going to just knock Matt over when he sees me. I want to totally blow him away and get this second honeymoon started off right!! I feel like such an idiot though – stumbling in these heals with my luggage and all dressed up like a movie star while everyone else is sleeping in PJs on the benches . . . all for the sake of love :)
The wee hours of Feb. 24, 2010
Yes, it has taken 2 days to travel and I am still not with Matt. I left Monday the 22nd on a 6:35am flight out of SLC and I land in Chang Mai at 7:50am on Wednesday the 24th.
There is a little boy on this flight that has to be close to Noah’s age. I almost started crying. . .I miss them so much and I worry that they are so sad without me. As Quin would say though – I’m not nearly as important as I think I am. :) The kids probably don’t realize I’m gone! Ugh. Is that good or bad? :) I certainly can’t imagine it. I hope this isn’t selfish of me to leave my kids to spend this time with Matt. Will they forgive me? Will they understand? Will they be completely scarred and never trust me again? Do they cry themselves to sleep at night? Oh I’ve got to stop thinking about this – I’ve got to start focusing on Matt. I am about to see him for the first time in 3 weeks. The longest we have ever been apart. I wonder if I should record the cheesiness and impracticality of what I am doing? . . .he he . . .I am still laughing at myself! In Bangkok during my 7 hour lay over I went in the bathroom, washed my face and put new make-up on and redid my hair. I then put on this “little black dress” and these pointy black spiked heals!! I can’t even tell you all the looks I’ve gotten. “That crazy American girl! Who does she think she is? . . . or IS she someone I should know??” :) And I am doing all of this with the hope that I am going to just knock Matt over when he sees me. I want to totally blow him away and get this second honeymoon started off right!! I feel like such an idiot though – stumbling in these heals with my luggage and all dressed up like a movie star while everyone else is sleeping in PJs on the benches . . . all for the sake of love :)
Feb. 25, 2010
My first day in Thailand is over and I feel like a bus has hit me! Head spinning, body aching, eyes stinging and yet I yearn to run out into the city for more! :)
Yesterday in heals and a dress I greeted Matt at the airport who had a white rose and a tender kiss for me. I wanted to hold on to him and never let go. Matt put my luggage into a taxi and I held on tight on the back of his scooter – side saddle – while we road through the town to our apartment. It was exactly as I dreamed it would be. It has all been some crazy dream – better than the movies. I felt like a princess – a movie star – with everyone watching and smiling. At the apartment Matt paid the taxi driver as I hopped off the scooter. Everyone bows as you pass and the laundry man told me in broken English that I was beautiful. It was all incredible. As tradition, Matt and I kissed in the closed elevator until we got to the 7th floor – rm 4710. I opened the door to a small room with white rose pedals sprinkled on the bed and a vase filled with 2 dozen + roses and a few incredible iris’ . . . well, the door closed and the rest is history.
After getting a little settled Matt and I jumped back on the scooter and went out to breakfast. Here the food is so cheap that almost everyone seems to go out for every meal. There are food stands EVERYWHERE. I had fried rice and Matt had cashew chicken – FOR BREAKFAST! There is some sort of meat and rice present for every meal. The food is incredible though. I never thought that I would like it so much. I woke up this morning craving cashew chicken for breakfast! What happened to my cold cereal?!
So after breakfast we sat and tried to plan out our short time here in Thailand, then we jumped on the scooter to get everything going. Ah man, I can’t tell you how much I love riding on the back of that scooter. It is so exhilarating and I love just holding on to Matt – trusting him entirely –as I try to take in everything around me. Again, I fell like a princess here being totted around – the luckiest girl in the world. Matt is a complete natural on the scooter too. Driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic. It feels so good to have it be just the two of us out in the world together. Just to hold on to each other and focus on just each other again. For a moment – the only two people in the world.
From breakfast we went to this big mall on the corner of town. Here in Chang Mai there is a moat going around the center of town making it a square. The mall is huge and several stories high and seems to have everything in it. We went there to first send our rank list for residency – Stanford is #1 with Michigan and Duke following. And then secondly we used the internet to co-ordinate our bus, train, and plane tickets for all of our travel plans and to figure out hotel stuff. The reason I’m writing all this is because it was during this trip to this great mall that I had to use the little girls’ room The Tokyo Airport had me a bit curious as to what I would find here in Thailand – but I was still shocked with what I had before me as a public restroom. Matt had to walk me through. First I had to buy toilet paper from a machine outside the bathroom and then once inside my ONLY option was a squatter!! That is all there was in every stall! I about died because I had to do more than tinkle! So these squatters were porcelain like a toilet but only about 3 or 4 inches out of the ground and instead of a toilet seat there are little ridges on the side for you to stand on and then you just squat down and do your business. Like this . . .
All I have to say is I WANT A SQUATTER!!! Ha Ha! I am serious too! That is the way to do it! It is so much cleaner! Your bum isn’t touching anything anyone else’s bum has touched! It is cleaner and more comfortable and I am converted! :) Yes I did just write that!
After the mall we met up with Emelda – one of Matt’s converts that arranged everything for Matt’s apartment and scooter and has really taken care of Matt. [Below is a picture from when we went out to dinner with them right before we left Chang Mai. The girl in the dead center was actually just a friend of Emelda's but everyone else this picture is part of this beautiful family that Matt taught and was able to baptize. They are still very active.]
I started crashing at this point and Matt took me back to the apartment to sleep a bit. Matt ran errands while I tried to sleep. Man – trying to wake up from that was nothing but painful. Matt and I had plans to go out that night so I had to force myself up but it was no picnic. Matt and I then showered which was another fun experience because the bathroom IS the shower. There is no shower curtain or anything. The drain is just in the middle of the floor with the shower head on the wall. The toilet and everything else gets drenched. [Here is a blurry layout of our apartment]
My first day in Thailand is over and I feel like a bus has hit me! Head spinning, body aching, eyes stinging and yet I yearn to run out into the city for more! :)
Yesterday in heals and a dress I greeted Matt at the airport who had a white rose and a tender kiss for me. I wanted to hold on to him and never let go. Matt put my luggage into a taxi and I held on tight on the back of his scooter – side saddle – while we road through the town to our apartment. It was exactly as I dreamed it would be. It has all been some crazy dream – better than the movies. I felt like a princess – a movie star – with everyone watching and smiling. At the apartment Matt paid the taxi driver as I hopped off the scooter. Everyone bows as you pass and the laundry man told me in broken English that I was beautiful. It was all incredible. As tradition, Matt and I kissed in the closed elevator until we got to the 7th floor – rm 4710. I opened the door to a small room with white rose pedals sprinkled on the bed and a vase filled with 2 dozen + roses and a few incredible iris’ . . . well, the door closed and the rest is history.
After getting a little settled Matt and I jumped back on the scooter and went out to breakfast. Here the food is so cheap that almost everyone seems to go out for every meal. There are food stands EVERYWHERE. I had fried rice and Matt had cashew chicken – FOR BREAKFAST! There is some sort of meat and rice present for every meal. The food is incredible though. I never thought that I would like it so much. I woke up this morning craving cashew chicken for breakfast! What happened to my cold cereal?!
So after breakfast we sat and tried to plan out our short time here in Thailand, then we jumped on the scooter to get everything going. Ah man, I can’t tell you how much I love riding on the back of that scooter. It is so exhilarating and I love just holding on to Matt – trusting him entirely –as I try to take in everything around me. Again, I fell like a princess here being totted around – the luckiest girl in the world. Matt is a complete natural on the scooter too. Driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic. It feels so good to have it be just the two of us out in the world together. Just to hold on to each other and focus on just each other again. For a moment – the only two people in the world.
From breakfast we went to this big mall on the corner of town. Here in Chang Mai there is a moat going around the center of town making it a square. The mall is huge and several stories high and seems to have everything in it. We went there to first send our rank list for residency – Stanford is #1 with Michigan and Duke following. And then secondly we used the internet to co-ordinate our bus, train, and plane tickets for all of our travel plans and to figure out hotel stuff. The reason I’m writing all this is because it was during this trip to this great mall that I had to use the little girls’ room The Tokyo Airport had me a bit curious as to what I would find here in Thailand – but I was still shocked with what I had before me as a public restroom. Matt had to walk me through. First I had to buy toilet paper from a machine outside the bathroom and then once inside my ONLY option was a squatter!! That is all there was in every stall! I about died because I had to do more than tinkle! So these squatters were porcelain like a toilet but only about 3 or 4 inches out of the ground and instead of a toilet seat there are little ridges on the side for you to stand on and then you just squat down and do your business. Like this . . .
All I have to say is I WANT A SQUATTER!!! Ha Ha! I am serious too! That is the way to do it! It is so much cleaner! Your bum isn’t touching anything anyone else’s bum has touched! It is cleaner and more comfortable and I am converted! :) Yes I did just write that!After the mall we met up with Emelda – one of Matt’s converts that arranged everything for Matt’s apartment and scooter and has really taken care of Matt. [Below is a picture from when we went out to dinner with them right before we left Chang Mai. The girl in the dead center was actually just a friend of Emelda's but everyone else this picture is part of this beautiful family that Matt taught and was able to baptize. They are still very active.]
I started crashing at this point and Matt took me back to the apartment to sleep a bit. Matt ran errands while I tried to sleep. Man – trying to wake up from that was nothing but painful. Matt and I had plans to go out that night so I had to force myself up but it was no picnic. Matt and I then showered which was another fun experience because the bathroom IS the shower. There is no shower curtain or anything. The drain is just in the middle of the floor with the shower head on the wall. The toilet and everything else gets drenched. [Here is a blurry layout of our apartment]
Dinner and Dancing
We sat on cushions on the floor at these low tables while the dancing went on around us. During the last song one of the Thai dancers had me get up and dance with him. All the dancers combed through the audience to get the tourists up to dance with them. It was embarrassing and fun, but I really wish they had gotten Matt up there instead of me.
After the dinner and the show they set off these Huge paper hot air balloons with a ball of fire fueling it. It was absolutely nuts and I don’t know how they don’t set the whole city on fire with them.
You would light them and the heat of massive flames would send them flying and you just watch as the sky gets filled with floating fire. Crazy.
After the dinner and the show they set off these Huge paper hot air balloons with a ball of fire fueling it. It was absolutely nuts and I don’t know how they don’t set the whole city on fire with them.You would light them and the heat of massive flames would send them flying and you just watch as the sky gets filled with floating fire. Crazy.
After that excitement we went to the night bazaar - a huge market that fills the streets every night. We wandered around and bought trinkets for us and the kids and Matt got measured for some custom made shirts. Then Matt introduced me to the Thai treat called “Roo Tii” – which is HEAVEN ON EARTH! It was so insanely good. It was also midnight before we got home to the apartment. We were both beat. The best part is that even though I was painfully tired, I laid there cuddling next to Matt trying everything I could to keep my eyes open just because I didn’t want the day to end. Everything had been so perfect and better than I could have ever dreamed. I knew Matt would have to wake up early and go in to work today too and I wasn’t ready to let him go. In fact, even though I tossed and turned all night long I still got out of bed at 6:30am to ask Matt if I could go to breakfast with him on his way in to work – just to have more time with him. I love being with the man I love and I love Thailand.
President Prot and Sister Aun
Feb. 26th, 2010
I don’t know what I am going to do when this dream is over. Yesterday when Matt got home from work we threw on our backpacks with everything we would nee for the next couple days and we jumped on the scooter for another adventure. It was a surprise and Matt wouldn’t tell me where we were going. It was so exciting to be on the scooter with our backpacks riding into the night to who knew where. To me it didn’t matter where we were going or what we were going to do – it was going to be fun. Our bike could have broken down, we could have gotten lost – anything but nothing could have disrupted the fun of the adventure.
So we rode into the night and out of the city. Everything grew more rural and more sparse until it was all gone and we were on a winding road in the jungle/forest going up a mountain. The hill tribes were burning the hill sides to make their mushrooms grow better so all around us there was this fiery serpent weaving through the hillside. I don’t know how they kept it all controlled.
As we traveled it got colder but even the chill didn’t touch my high spirits. We would both let out random outbursts – “Yee Hoo!”, “Yaow!”, “Wah Ha!” – to relieve the tension that would build up in our bodies from the cold. Matt also became my human shield from both the wind and the bugs.
Pealing off onto a dirt road and crossing a stream we arrived at our destination. President Prot (and his four dogs) were waiting for us out on their porch.
His wife (Sister Aun) had made us dinner and we all ate there on the bug infested porch :) Ah, the mission memories :) The mosquitoes and gnats would land on my food and get stuck so I would discretely separate them out. The food was good – different and at times questionable but nothing disgusting. I can’t believe how many different plates there were for one meal and Matt said that was normal. There was rice (of course) – home grown rice no less and then there was a chicken and cauliflower dish, a laab (spicy pork dish), a vegetable dish of what I thought was spinach and other stuff, and an empanada looking thing, but the outside was all egg and the inside was pork, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Then there was also cut up guava and “rose apple”. All of this for one meal!!
President Prot and Sister Aun
[At this point my journal entries became a lot of bullet points because I was always too tired to write all the details of everything that we had done that day. Even now it is too overwhelming to try to write all the details of everything that we did so the bullet points will have to so, but hopefully the pictures will help.]
*Will never forget Sister Aun walking with her masheddy in hand to lead us through the rice fields and over to their Jeep that we were going to borrow for the day. It ended up not working, but I didn’t mind a bit because I LOVE THE SCOOTER!
*Everything here is made of cement (walls, floors, stairs and even counters) And the scaffolding for building these cement buildings is just bamboo rods tied together – literally.
*Pulled over at a market - plucked chickens hanging with feet and heads still attached. SO many new smells and sights. Absolutely nothing is familiar.
*Hot Springs – the walk in the garden and soaking our feet
I don’t know what I am going to do when this dream is over. Yesterday when Matt got home from work we threw on our backpacks with everything we would nee for the next couple days and we jumped on the scooter for another adventure. It was a surprise and Matt wouldn’t tell me where we were going. It was so exciting to be on the scooter with our backpacks riding into the night to who knew where. To me it didn’t matter where we were going or what we were going to do – it was going to be fun. Our bike could have broken down, we could have gotten lost – anything but nothing could have disrupted the fun of the adventure.
So we rode into the night and out of the city. Everything grew more rural and more sparse until it was all gone and we were on a winding road in the jungle/forest going up a mountain. The hill tribes were burning the hill sides to make their mushrooms grow better so all around us there was this fiery serpent weaving through the hillside. I don’t know how they kept it all controlled.
As we traveled it got colder but even the chill didn’t touch my high spirits. We would both let out random outbursts – “Yee Hoo!”, “Yaow!”, “Wah Ha!” – to relieve the tension that would build up in our bodies from the cold. Matt also became my human shield from both the wind and the bugs.
Pealing off onto a dirt road and crossing a stream we arrived at our destination. President Prot (and his four dogs) were waiting for us out on their porch.
His wife (Sister Aun) had made us dinner and we all ate there on the bug infested porch :) Ah, the mission memories :) The mosquitoes and gnats would land on my food and get stuck so I would discretely separate them out. The food was good – different and at times questionable but nothing disgusting. I can’t believe how many different plates there were for one meal and Matt said that was normal. There was rice (of course) – home grown rice no less and then there was a chicken and cauliflower dish, a laab (spicy pork dish), a vegetable dish of what I thought was spinach and other stuff, and an empanada looking thing, but the outside was all egg and the inside was pork, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Then there was also cut up guava and “rose apple”. All of this for one meal!!
President Prot and Sister Aun
[At this point my journal entries became a lot of bullet points because I was always too tired to write all the details of everything that we had done that day. Even now it is too overwhelming to try to write all the details of everything that we did so the bullet points will have to so, but hopefully the pictures will help.]
*Will never forget Sister Aun walking with her masheddy in hand to lead us through the rice fields and over to their Jeep that we were going to borrow for the day. It ended up not working, but I didn’t mind a bit because I LOVE THE SCOOTER!
*Everything here is made of cement (walls, floors, stairs and even counters) And the scaffolding for building these cement buildings is just bamboo rods tied together – literally.
*Pulled over at a market - plucked chickens hanging with feet and heads still attached. SO many new smells and sights. Absolutely nothing is familiar.
*Hot Springs – the walk in the garden and soaking our feet
*Pulling over on the side of the road for an unplanned 2 HOUR body massage.
-hearing cars go by and the sounds of the chickens chatting and scratching just outside while the Thai music plays and the Thai massagers chit chat.
-it was just a row of pads on the ground
-there was an incredible warm breeze that would flow through that just called out for laziness
-the bathroom there was just three walls with a curtain, a squatter, and a bucket of water that you dump in afterwards.
*Chickens running around our feet at lunch at the little roadside “restaurant”
*We just cruised around video taping all the odd things from the scooter
*Reality hit – stomach problems sent us back to the house early and we had to call it a day :)
Me (sick and wearing Sister Aun's sweats) and Sister Aun getting the Thai BBQ ready for dinner
-hearing cars go by and the sounds of the chickens chatting and scratching just outside while the Thai music plays and the Thai massagers chit chat.
-it was just a row of pads on the ground
-there was an incredible warm breeze that would flow through that just called out for laziness
-the bathroom there was just three walls with a curtain, a squatter, and a bucket of water that you dump in afterwards.
*Chickens running around our feet at lunch at the little roadside “restaurant”
*We just cruised around video taping all the odd things from the scooter
*Reality hit – stomach problems sent us back to the house early and we had to call it a day :)
Me (sick and wearing Sister Aun's sweats) and Sister Aun getting the Thai BBQ ready for dinnerFeb. 27th, 2010
Yesterday was the 7 year anniversary of my mom’s death . . . How could that be? I tried to tell Sister Aun about it yesterday when she was asking about my mom while we swept dirt with branches and Matt was trying to get the jeep working. I don’t know how much Sister Aun understood though. Sometimes I am amazed at how well I can speak and understand the language and other times everything just seems to be on the tip of my tongue just out of reach. I want to learn Thai so badly and I want to come back here to serve and help the church with Matt. I feel like there is so much we could do. Just last night we sat for 2 hours around the Thai BBQ that Matt had told me so much about and just sat talking with Brother Prot and Sister Aun and we seemed to get such an insight with what is going on with the church here and what their needs are and I immediately want to run to Elder Scott or someone to give them the update straight from the members . . . there is such a need here.
Anyway, yesterday I got to write of our arrival here with the Prots, but I didn’t get to explain the conditions of our stay here. Go to our home videos for the real details – but Brother Prot and his wife are here in a small home on the property of his sister’s. He is here watching her very nice SECOND home here in the mountains. This vacation home of hers is where Matt and I have stayed alone for the past two nights and I am currently sitting out on this extensive porch over looking the valley and rice fields and hills and canals and cows and dogs and chickens. It is all misty and completely unreal. You have never seen anything so beautiful and so utterly peaceful.
Yesterday was the 7 year anniversary of my mom’s death . . . How could that be? I tried to tell Sister Aun about it yesterday when she was asking about my mom while we swept dirt with branches and Matt was trying to get the jeep working. I don’t know how much Sister Aun understood though. Sometimes I am amazed at how well I can speak and understand the language and other times everything just seems to be on the tip of my tongue just out of reach. I want to learn Thai so badly and I want to come back here to serve and help the church with Matt. I feel like there is so much we could do. Just last night we sat for 2 hours around the Thai BBQ that Matt had told me so much about and just sat talking with Brother Prot and Sister Aun and we seemed to get such an insight with what is going on with the church here and what their needs are and I immediately want to run to Elder Scott or someone to give them the update straight from the members . . . there is such a need here.
Anyway, yesterday I got to write of our arrival here with the Prots, but I didn’t get to explain the conditions of our stay here. Go to our home videos for the real details – but Brother Prot and his wife are here in a small home on the property of his sister’s. He is here watching her very nice SECOND home here in the mountains. This vacation home of hers is where Matt and I have stayed alone for the past two nights and I am currently sitting out on this extensive porch over looking the valley and rice fields and hills and canals and cows and dogs and chickens. It is all misty and completely unreal. You have never seen anything so beautiful and so utterly peaceful.
Tigers
Feb. 28th, 2010
I am on a bus to Korat so excuse the hand writing.
*People wear medical masks here everywhere
*Long hairs growing from moles are signs of wisdom. Young, good looking people have these long hairs growing from a mole on their face!
YESTERDAY:
*Laid with TIGERS – must see pictures!
I am on a bus to Korat so excuse the hand writing.
*People wear medical masks here everywhere
*Long hairs growing from moles are signs of wisdom. Young, good looking people have these long hairs growing from a mole on their face!
YESTERDAY:
*Laid with TIGERS – must see pictures!
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