New Favorites and Old Favorites

Here are some new things that I've come to love and some old things that I am SO glad are available here....even if they do look different. hehe


Passion Fruit.....absolutely delicious! Now I can understand why it's called PASSION fruit. :-)

Old favorite....Cheetos! Haha....Thai style. Actually no. If it were Thai style it would either be fish flavored or have flames on the outside.

Passion Fruit Jam! (Can you tell I like this fruit? hehe)  No I did not make this.  A lady from the village made it.

New favorite.....riding on the motorcycle. Don't worry....I don't drive. But riding is very fun!

Old Favorite.....Starbucks. So glad they have this place here. And it tastes the same!

Old favorite......Spoons! (Check out the Whidbey Island cards)  An old favorite played with new friends. So much fun!

Hanging out with my new little buddy.

A beautiful red dragonfly we spotted walking home from the office.

New favorite......Spring Rolls from the Vietnamese restaurant right around the corner.

Me and my passion fruit jam! :-D

Doi Suthep

I apologize about my lapse in writing.  I have been very busy, then I was sick for a few days.  I've also been really pondering how to write this post because it's something that was so.....eye-opening to me.   I don't think that anything I write here could really help you picture it as well as you would experiencing it yourself.  But I will do my best.

Last Saturday Pookie took me to the top of the mountain here in Chiang Mai to visit the Doi Suthep temple, one of Thailand's most famous temples.  This mountain (I don't know the name) sets a sort of background for Chiang Mai. It's a different sort of mountain than what we experience in the PNW, but a mountain nonetheless.

Because it was a Buddhist holiday weekend, we were not the only visitors to the temple. NO! Hundreds of people flocked to the temple to pay their respects and to worship their Buddhist idols.  As we entered the temple it was very obvious that tourism has it's part.  Farang (foreigners) are charged extra! Upon receiving our ticket we were also given a list of "Do's and Don'ts" for behavior in the temple.  Shoes are not allowed in the main area of worship and if you are wearing shorts you are given a long skirt to wear over them.  Needless to say, they respect their idols! I cannot even begin to convey the sadness that filled my heart as I watched each person walk around the grand center three times with their lotus flower and candle praying to Buddha to take away their sins.  Do they not see that there is no hope in this idol worship?  The feeling reminded me of Paul in Acts 17:16- Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.  How will these people ever know about the hope that lies within me?  How will they know about the salvation that can truly set them free? WE must tell them!

Then I began to think.  America is not too different.  America's idols are not as obvious, yet they exist.  What are they? Well, they exist in the form of computers, music, sports, anything that replaces God. Granted, you don't usually see people bowing down to worship their computers (maybe sometimes music stars) but their actions indicate their bondage.  How will THESE people ever know about the hope that lies within us?! I hope that we will consider the need.  Not all of us can hop on a plane to Thailand to reach the Buddhist.  But each of us have neighbors, friends, coworkers, classmates.  THEY need Christ just as much as the Buddhist.

I didn't really intend for this to be a "Serious Only" post, but thinking about such things can be very sobering.  I don't think I can really help you gain the same burden that I have acquired since coming to Thailand (unless, of course, you come yourself!) but I hope that I can provoke some thought.

Practical Lessons for Living in Thailand...(Part 1)

At least.....these are things I have learned in the short time I have been here.  Granted, these won't apply to everyone, but here it goes:

Number One (or......Nung): Always put your contacts on BEFORE getting into the shower. You never know what you might encounter (bugs) and you do NOT want to be blind for it.

Number Two (song): When everyone around you is speaking Thai and you suddenly hear your name then laughing, immediately seek out a translator. If there isn't one around, just laugh with them.

Number Three (sam): It's only a good idea to ask "How much is it?" in Thai if you can actually understand their answer... (note to self....learn numbers better) :-D

Number Four (see):  It's ok to drive like an American (on the right side of the road).....but only if you're on a motorcycle. (eeek!!)

Number Five (ha): The meat section of the open air market is not for the faint of heart.

Number Six (hok): Always have pretty feet.  You never know when you will be going barefoot. In a store, at church, at the office, etc.

Number Seven (jedt): Sticky rice tastes so much better when accompanied by pork on a stick.

Number Eight (bahd): "Ped mai ka?" means "Is it spicy?" VERY important thing to know....

Number Nine (gao): Google translate is not an effective way to communicate between Thai and English.

Number Ten (siyp): If a Thai person tells you the food is not spicy, do not assume that the food is not spicy.  Brace yourself for the possibility that it WILL turn your mouth into flames. Just a suggestion. :-)

More to come...

Verses

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth: and with my song will I praise him.

Psalm 61:1-4
Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.  From the end of the earth wil I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.  I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.

Psalm 63:1
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psalm 118:14
The Lord is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

Psalm 119:50
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.

Psalm 138:3
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

Friends and Bugs

You might be wondering how those two things can mix.  Me too. Well....here's how it goes. :-)

Monday night we had a celebration at mine and Pookie's house.  Technically it was to celebrate the 4th of July but being such a multi-cultural group we had a pretty multi-cultural evening. Wonderful food from several different countries and SO many fun games! We played the longest Jenga game ever. I think it neared an hour. Whew! Then switched to Rummikub. Then...(drum roll please) we switched to Spoons! Almost no one had played before and once we started no one wanted to stop!  We played for about three hours then had to call it quits due to working the next day. My side was hurting so much from laughing. Good times!

Onto the bugs...you knew this was coming. I think it was the very next day that Ahn Ahn gladly took himself off to the market and brought back (With a smile!) a bag full of bugs. Varieties of bugs. Big bugs. Small bugs. Black Bugs. Brown bugs. ICK! It took a while to convince me to eat any. To be honest, I knew I wasn't getting out of there that day without eating at least one. So.....I did it. I ate them. I only ate two....and a half if you count the big grasshopper legs. I just had to laugh as everyone stood around the plates eating them like candy. ICK!  Well, I hope you enjoy the pictures. And don't worry....I will NOT be bringing back bugs as souvenirs. :-)


My homemade Chocolate cake. I baked for the first time in a toaster oven and I was so surprised at the results!

The evening's spread.

Pookie making her famous KFC (Khemjira Fried Chicken). :-)

JENGA!

Some awesome background music. :-)

Love that concentrated look....

Enjoying a game of spoons.

One of many....

The rule was if you lost a round you had to drink a cup of water.  Needless to say, Bro. Jeng Lang lost this round... :-D

And....Bro. Somsak lost THIS round. haha

Here goes nothin....

Nooooo!!!!

Nasty....

Even worse!

"Kaw....don't do it!"

Yeah....I ate that little guy.

Kinda chewy...not expecting that.

Pookie....that's sick.

Aaaiieee!!!

Eating it like candy!

Working. Yes....I do that sometimes. :-)

About as close as I can get to Mt. Dew over here. :-(