Elephants, Bowling, Temples, and Bamboo Rafting

Sorry these pictures are a little out of order. They capture a random assortment of the activities that keep us busy in Thailand when we are not writing lesson plans, renovating an old school building, teaching our kids, driving, and living our normal day to day life.

This first picture is from the Maesa Elephant camp. It was great fun to see the elephants close up.

This is Brittany and I at the Elephant Camp.

Brittany and I eating our delicious ice cream cones with sprinkles from Dairy Queen.

Elephants are actually really prickly.

This is a picture of a bamboo raft from our trip. It really is as rickety as it looks.

This picture is from our bamboo rafting trip awhile back. We ate in a hut at the bottom of that steep hill. They sent the food down in a basket using a pulley system. This was when we went bowling for Brittany's birthday. We listened to old remixed American songs and bowled with our opposite hands. It felt for all the world like we were back in the States.

This is from the White Temple on the way to Burma. It is a beautiful structure. These sculptures are underneath and beside the bridge that leads to the temple. The hands are supposed to represent people reaching out of hell. It was very haunting.

This is the White Temple. It was absolutely stunning and really sparkled in the sun light.

Praise!

I apologize for not writing recently. I have not known what to write because things change so rapidly. However, life is sort of settling down. (I'm a little afraid to say that.)Things still change day-by-day but most really important things are staying stable. One new terrific thing has happened though. Amy is here!!! Amy is the teacher who will take over one of my classes. We have not yet decided who will teach which grade. She has moved into my tiny room and we are adjusting to having to maneuver around our two fans to get anywhere. Even though they are inconvenient the fans are necessary and will not be moving. :) Please pray for her as she has a lot to get used to and big challenges to overcome.

Also, I wanted to say a big thank-you for all of you who are supporting me. I have not clearly communicated how grateful I am for all of your love and support. This would not be possible without you. Life here is definitely stretching and growing my faith and I am really enjoying being involved in our team and community here. We know that God is with us and is working in ways we cannot see. Our hope is that our perseverance and struggles now will pave the way for a Christian school that will change lives of children in Thailand for many years. We are committed to not giving up because we believe that God has brought us here for this purpose. So thank you for being a part of this battle.

Unpredictable

So life in Thailand continues to be unpredictable. One day this week was especially crazy. It began with a game of musical vehicles. Our car was used to drive one of my roommates to the preschool. The sixth grade teacher (Gordon) came over so he could go with one of my roommates to immigration but it began to rain so he and my roommate took the borrowed car that we were planning on using to get to school. Which meant that Brittany and I were left with the Gordon's mode of transportation, a motorcycle. I told Gordon well we have to get to school so show me how to start your motorcycle. (We were going to leave a little while later so it had time to stop raining.) After a little while, Brittany and I gathered up our big bags and walked out to the motorcycle. I pushed the bike out of our driveway because I had no idea how to make it go in reverse and as it sat in the middle of the street Brittany and I just looked at it and prayed that God would keep us safe. We climbed on and took off down the street. It is a very good thing that the way to school is mostly straight with a left turn, right turn, and then left turn. I almost hit a car the first turn, a wall the second turn, and a wall type thing the third time. I don't think Brittany will ever ride on a motorcycle with me again. Turns are quite tricky with more than one person on a bike. That day continued on with several odd things happening and ended with Khruu Ooy's car breaking down. But it was a dramatic breakdown because as it was dying she decided to pull a u-turn. Yes you guessed it. The u-turn left us dead in the middle of the road blocking both lanes of traffic with cars coming towards us. Brittany and I jumped out of the car and pushed it off the road just in time. (Thai drivers don't really slow down much for objects in their way, they just assume they will move). After that we walked home. Our favorite guard (Smiley) was on duty. He tried to talk to us and we tried so hard to understand him but I think he must speak Northern Thai because it didn't even sound familiar. Right after that a random Thai girl came running up and spoke to us in English. You never know what to expect in this place.

This week I am thanking the Lord for my 78ish students. I have counted at least 78 but some are absent and some are hiding outside. ;) Next week I will be thanking the Lord that the other teacher from America is scheduled to arrive here on Wednesday. Praise God.

Thankful

I am in a terribly bad mood and have decided to write some things that I am thankful for here in Thailand.

My kids (and the additional sixty some I will be teaching for the next few weeks)
Our team
My roommates
Ice cream
Smiley (the guard in our neighborhood)
Air con
School Supplies from the states
Not (our language tutor)
Mangostein (a fruit)
Dinner at Joel and Marvel's
Vente (our car)
Letters
The beautiful green land
The fact that you can drive stupidly and it doesn't matter because it is normal here
Ant spray
Music
Internet
Spring Rolls
Speed bump (one of the many dogs in our neighborhood, who is usually on the speed bump or right next to it)
Chicken with cashews (a safe dish no matter where you are)
Tortilla chips and apple pie from the little restaurant near our school
Phii Pot (who has recently started washing my laundry)
Skype
Fans
Dewberry cookies
Whenever we have a school building with walls
Napkins (Thai people don't use napkins while they are eating)
Bananas
Elephants
Bamboo rafting
Hot springs
Chicken sauce
Night markets
Praysanii (post office)

Sometimes it feels like everything is falling apart (okay most of the time). However, there are many things to be thankful for and there are many things I enjoy about this country. I am trying to focus on being thankful rather than focusing on the inconstancy of our circumstances.