AFCO

Kranuan

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:07:46 +0700

Since Cambodia, I have been traveling with the Aggies For Christ in the Orient for about 3 weeks. After Cambodia we flew to Bangkok for one day and then went to Kranuan. We took a bus and it took about all day to get there. We have had a team of Aggies go there last summer so this trip was a bit like a follow up.

We arrived at our hotel in the evening and it blew all of us away. It was built by a British man and he had made a resort-type hotel in this little village. There was a huge pool with sand around the edges, acting like a beach. There were little cottages and we could fit 4 people in each. The area surrounding the sleeping area was surrounded by wildlife. There were many ducks, fish and peacocks!

We settled in and some of us swam and ate. At 8 we had a devo and we had 2 of our Aggies share their story with the rest of the group (this is a tradition on AFCO so people can get to know each other).

The next morning was church so we went to the building. It was a growing church, very new, so there wasn’t too many people there. We had service which Kelly D. translated, and we had lunch together. I got to see many people that I had met before at a camp called Cha-Am where there is an annual gathering of the Thai Christians all over Thailand. It was good to see them. Many people obviously think that I am Thai, but when I open my mouth and say something, they are very surprised to find that I am American and I can’t speak fluent Thai. So far, I have been told that I took either Thai, Laotian, Japanese or Singaporean. No one has thought I looked Chinese.....

So we had some free time in the afternoon and many of us swam again and I got to take some fun pictures with my waterproof digital camera!

That night we returned to the church building for another lesson and a cultural exchange. Some of the women from the church showed us traditional Thai dancing which was beautiful. Then we sang for them and had fellowship after service with the brethren there.

The next day we went to the school where our fellow Ags taught at and would be teaching at in a few weeks. The grades ranged from Kindergarten to high school. We sang some silly songs with all the students that had assembled out in the courtyard. Then we divided up into teams of 3 and went to the classrooms to teach English. I was on a team with John and Ariel. We taught them “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” song and played a math game. Then we switched to a different class and did the same games.

After that, we went to a snake farm! We had some of the teachers come with us so that was fun. It began to rain on our way there so when we got to the place, we were the only people there.

Some of the Aggies got to dance with pythons around their neck and we watched 2 Thai snake charmers charm the King Cobras. It was so much fun! We learned that a man had actually died there about 11 years ago. He got bit by one of the snakes he was trying to charm. So this was a real show, not fake.

The place had many other animals, such as a neck bear (I had never seen one before coming to Thailand), crocodiles, and many many different types of snakes.

After that we ate lunch and again had some free time. The place had internet so I caught up on emails ect.

We had to leave the next morning around 7 a.m. for Ubon.

Cambodia Take 2

Sun, 8 Jun 2008 19:39:52 +0700

Well after dropping Drew off at the airport on the night of the 20th, John and I continued with planning for our trip with the Aggies to Cambodia which would take place in the next 2 days, since we were the leaders of the trip.

The Aggies arrived on the night of the 20th. We left that next morning at 5 a.m. on a bus to the Thailand/Cambodia border. After about 4 hours, we reached the border, ate some lunch and crossed on foot over the border. Some of the Aggies mentioned that it reminded them of crossing the Mexico border so that may help you get a picture in your mind.
After crossing, we took another bus to Siem Riep. I had been worried since we left Thailand since the hotel where I had made hotel reservations online, hadn’t gotten back to me and confirmed our 10 rooms. But on our bus, we had a Camai with us who let us use his phone to call the hotel in Siem Riep. After talking to them, they had room for the majority of us. We had about 30 people who were going to be in our group; 2 girls from ACU, 3 from Harding but doing an internship in Singapore, and we eventually met up with 7 other people who were with YWAM.

We arrived and John and I helped divide people up and put them in rooms. After people got situated, John and I ran to the orphanage that was about a mile away. It had been raining so it was very muddy. We talked with them and made sure that it was ok if our group came the following Monday. It took a few moments for us to find someone who could speak English, but we did, and his name was Dina. He said that they would be very happy to have us. The orphanage was actually established by a Christian organization so as we left, they said, “God Bless You.” It was very encouraging to us.

We had a short orientation and singing practice and had dinner on the street. The “leaders”, including me, went to dinner together to discuss some plans. We were planning on going to Angkor Wat the following day so we wanted to make sure that we had everything prepared.

After talking with our hotel, they were able to provide 50 sandwiches, (we got extra to give the kids out at Angkor), and 2 vans for transportation for the 27 of us. It was a bit stressful, but we did it.

The next morning, Saturday, we were ready to go around 9. So we loaded up and headed off to the 3 temples, Bayon, Thom and Angkor Wat. We spent about an hour at each place. We had a huge surprise when we got inside the second temple. We found some fellow Aggies. jason Dolan and his family were visiting Angkor Wat area the same day we were. They were the ones who would be our hosts in Phenom Phen. Jason went on AFCO 2004 and 2006. So it was amazing to find them there.

We ate lunch outside of Angkor Wat, on the grass in front of the entrance. John and I both were worried that we would be unable to find any kids out at Angkor Wat. We were planning on having a camp out there the next day, so how can we have a kid’s camp if there are no kids. But it only took a few minutes. We sat down to eat lunch, and Kelly actually found some of the first ones and offered them some of the extra sandwiches we had. We got to tell them that we were coming back tomorrow for a kids camp and hoped that they would be there.

We took a group picture with the children who were there in front of Angkor Wat. We were going to get copies of that picture and return the next day with them for our “craft” for the activity.

After lunch, we went inside Angkor Wat with the kids being our tour guides. On the way out, it started raining really hard! So we gathered everyone up (luckily, everyone was done seeing the temple anyway) and headed back to the hotel for singing practice, dinner and a short devo.

The next day, we had church service and were joined by our friends from YWAM. After service, we ate lunch and prepared for the day. We had split everyone up into 3 groups; games, crafts and songs. Everyone was going to participate but we had people doing the planning of those certain activities. We arrived out there around 1:00 and when the kids saw our vans, they came running to greet us! I was so happy that they were excited to see us.

We moved farther down from where we were the day before and began to sing songs in order to attract some more attention. The kids remembered some songs from before and they really got into those. Songs like, “I’m all wrapped up, tied up” “Give me a “J”’ and  “If your happy and you know it,” and “I love the Lord Messiah, deep down in my heart.”

After a few songs, we played some games. We had brought with us some balls that were used in many of the games. After that, we had crafts where the kids decorated picture frames with glitter, stickers and makers. After they were dry, some of the Aggie girls in charge of the crafts glued in our group picture of the day before. Even though some of the kids weren’t there the day before for the picture, they still loved it.

We sang more songs and played more games and had free time. We had jump ropes, bubbles, balls, and frisbees. We played until around 4 when we had to say goodbye. There were some tearful goodbyes with the kids and the Aggies. Then we loaded up and headed back to the hotel.

That night we did about the same schedule as the day before; we had singing practice, dinner and free time for group bonding.

The next morning, we left for the orphanage around 9 a.m. Luckily it wasn’t as muddy as the day before so the walk was nice. We arrived and began by singing songs to get the kid’s attention. Some of the children went to school in the morning and came back in the afternoon, and some of the kids went to school in the afternoon. So because of that, we were going to do the same program in the morning and the afternoon so that both groups of students could play with us. We sang songs and then split up into 2 groups; older and younger kids. With the older ones, we played soccer ect, and with the younger kids we had plato, bouncy balls and bubbles for them. Around 12 we had a group picture. We wanted to get it developed that day so that we could give it to the orphanage. Then we returned around where our hotel was and ate lunch, and sent the group photo off to get developed.

We returned that afternoon to find that many of the kids had had so much fun with us, that they didn’t want to go to school. So we played many games and had a great time with them. None of us wanted to leave. We presented them with T-shirts, and the toys that we had used; the jump-ropes, bubbles ect.

It was about 4 p.m. and John and I had decided to give everyone some free time to do whatever since this was their last day in Siem Riep since we were going to Phenom Phen the next day. So everyone went their own way. Some people returned to Angkor Wat to see the kids out there. Diana Graff, one of the Aggie girls, returned later to tell us that one of the kids ended up asking her how we can just love them (the kids) for no reason. So she was given the opportunity to witness to her a bit and tell her about our Lord and Savior. Praise God!!!

John and I went to pick up the group picture, bought a frame for the 10X12 picture that we got for Dina, and returned to the orphanage. We had also ordered 50 small pictures which was perfect since there was about 46 kids living at the home. One thing I learned is that many of these kids are not orphans at all. Many of them come from homes where they have bad family lives. Some of them are abused so they find sanctuary at the orphanage.

We did not stay too long since we were having dinner in a few hours. By this time, I was starting to get sick. I’m not sure if it was from stress, or lack of sleep or what, but I was having flu-like symptoms. That night we had a huge meal cooked for us by one of the hotels where Dave Hogan and the Harding people were staying. But unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling up to it so I opted out. But I heard that it was amazing. Many encouraging words were spoken and it was a good way to end our amazing time in Siem Riep.

We left that next morning for Phenom Phen and I still wasn’t feeling so hot. So when we arrived a few hours later at the Dolan’s house, I spent the next 2 days at the house, trying to get over whatever i was fighting. The Aggies got to go to villages and hand out food that were packed with vitamins, and play with children. I’m not sure of what all they did since I didn’t go, but all in all, Cambodia was a huge growth spurt for me. I had to trust in God to take of everything and He did.

Nearing the End

Sun, 18 May 2008 00:29:44 +0700

Well, today was my last Sunday morning as an apprentice here in Chiang Mai Thailand. And we had some great news on Friday! Our fellow apprentices, Chris and Casey Allison, welcomed a new member of their family into the world. A healthy baby girl named Melanie was born, weighing 7.3 pounds. She has an older sister named Maggie who is almost 2 years old, and such a joy at the Zone. So that is some blessings that has been happening here.

The Aggies have finally arrived in Thailand! They got here May 13th. Unfortunately we were not there to meet them at the airport. We are all, Drew, John and I, are going to leave at the same time. That time being Tuesday, May 20th. Drew will return to the states, and John and I will stay a few days in Bangkok, preparing for our trip to Cambodia. The Aggies will meet us in Bangkok, along with 2 girls from ACU who will be the new interns here at Payap Christian Zone.

We had a group get the chance to go to Burma and help out there. P Pui, Gahn and Wah, 3 Christians, are in Burma for 1 week to try and set up more opportunities for people to go there and help. Please pray for them, seeing as Burma does not like foreign aid right now. (Pictures are posted on my pictures link)

Sunday night was our last big group gathering. We went to the Reagan’s house for dinner. It is one of our favorites called Moo Gatda. You cook over coals, grilling meat with vegetables surrounding the sides, making a soup. It was so good.
After dinner we had a few games, and then they put all 3 of us, individually, in the “hot seat.” People would tell us why they appreciated us and our time here. It was very encouraging. Pictures are also posted from that night.

I will be with the Aggies until we return to Chiang Mai on June 13th where we will have many activities here.

To sum up my time here:
There are a few things that I would change, but not many. I would have started my ladies’ bible class a few months before. I am teaching, “Captivating” by John and Stasi Elderidge (who also wrote “Wild at Heart). And since I started so late in my time here, I was unable to finish the book. However, Casey may pick up the rest of the lessons of the book.

I feel that I have grown in many ways that would not have been possible if were in America. For instance, I am very self-conscious when I pray aloud. Yet in equipping times, which we had twice a week with P Robert, we would all go around the circle and pray. This made me get over my fear of praying in front of other people. Also the equipping times we have had have made a huge impact on my spiritual life. We have studied about spiritual disciplines, like meditating, fasting, praying, worshipping, celebration and so forth.

This experience was an amazing learning experience and I am so blessed to have this opportunity. Thank you to all the people who have supported me spiritually, and financially. The impact is more than any of us will ever know.
God Bless

p.s. This isn’t my last entry, but more like a summary of my time here.

Church Camp at Doi Inthanon

Tue, 6 May 2008 18:41:21 +0700

We headed out Friday night around 5:30. We had some people cancel at the last minute, but we still had about 35 people committed to going. This was a combined camp with our sister church, CMU, and our church, Payap. It took about 2 hours to get up there and it started to rain. I was sitting in the back of our truck (it has a cover on the top) so it got a bit chilly. We were at the highest point in Thailand, a huge mountain area. It was so beautiful.

One major encouragement to me was that my student, Pleum, actually came on the retreat! I teach her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She is a non-Christian, but has started to come to the zone even on days when I am not teaching her. She started coming a month ago and helped cook with Poi, one of our Thai Christians, for cell group. Pluem is very shy and so she didn’t come to her first cell group until last week! Then she signed up to go on the retreat!! It is so encouraging to see that bridge/magnet analogy playing out. At the retreat she made friends with people from both of the churches. I am so proud of both of the churches reaching out to her.

On Friday night, we ate dinner together and had a devotional time of singing and fellowship. I am getting to the point where I can understand about 50% of what is said. Which to me is pretty good.
That night, we played a favorite game of ours called NERTZ!! I played this growing up with my family, especially my cousins Brandon, Calvin, Luke and Marshall. SO much fun. We had a competition going, CMU vs. Payap. We played at least till 12 midnight I think.

Saturday morning we had breakfast and some of the youth group cooked pancakes! and we had “jopb” which is a type of rice porridge soup. Then we had a short lesson led by John, and had quiet time. The whole time it has still been raining. It would change from a hard rain, to a misty sort of rain. For quiet time, I walked up this trail and found a spot that was under some huge fern leaves. It was still raining, but this was an ok shelter. The water just dripped off the leaves onto me. Eventually it began to pour again but it was about the time that we were supposed to be back at our meeting place.

We played some games like CHUBBY BUNNY which was hilarious. It is a game where you stick marshmallows in your mouth one at a time and each time you put one in, you try and say, “Chubby Bunny.” We had 4 girls go, 4 guys go, Sean Todd and Robert Reagan (missionaries) and 4 of the youth (The Allen family’s two girls, Robert’s son, and The Todd family’s son).

We then had some a lesson by Robert and had some encouragement time. We broke up into small groups of 4 or 5. We started with one person, and everyone would go around and say encouraging things to them. Then one person would pray for them and so forth. Well, since only a handful of us spoke English, we thought it best for us to be in the same group. Drew went with the youth group, so John and I sat with Marvin (a former intern from Australia) and Michael from the CMU church. They all said some very encouraging things that I didn’t realize about myself.

Then we ate lunch and had some free time for about 3 hours. Since it was raining the entire day, it changed our plans a bit. We were planning to play some games at the waterfall, but it was dangerous and there was a flash flood warning. so we stayed at our camp. John and I took this opportunity to plan for the Cambodia trip we are leading with the Aggies on May 23. It took almost all our free time. But the rain was very relaxing. Loved it.

We ate dinner, and realize that there was no electricity. It was a bit chilly so that meant no hot tea or milo....o well. After dinner we had another devo and it was by candlelight. I’m not sure if that was planned since we had candles on standby, or if it was just because the lights were out. We had the testimony of P Malee who is battling cancer right now. She talked about how much closer she is to God and that she is not scared because of her faith. This was good for Pleum to hear I think.

After that, we had some free time. The youth made a small, small fire outside the girls’ room on the tile, and roasted some left over marshmallows. It was hard to play games since the lights were off, but people tied up their flashlights and still played NERTZ and Phase 10 and other games. I went to bed though because I was tired.

Sunday morning we had church, and the weather was clearing up. We had a lesson by Sean Todd, and had some more quiet time. Then we packed and cleaned up the campsite after lunch. On the way out, we decided to see the waterfall since it was now sunny by this time. It was over 100 meters!! It took a few minutes to hike up there, but it was well worth it. it was beautiful and there was so much water from all the rain.

It was a great weekend! On Tuesday Pleum said that she really enjoyed camp. And today, Wednesday, she came to our movie night at the zone. Please pray that she continues to come around and strengthen those bonds that she has with the people here.

I only have about 2 weeks left in my apprenticeship. I have learned so much and I would not change anything. What a blessing this experience has been.

The Hump

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:05:19 +0700

Well, I have hit the “hump.” That thing when I feel that I cannot go on anymore. With my mom being here, and many activities and no break, I think I was stretched too thin. We were traveling a lot and I wasn’t 100%. I was starting to have flu-like symptoms. It was hard for me to concentrate and do my responsibilities.

Being an intern is hard for me sometimes, since so many people are watching us all the time. Sometimes I just have to push things away and not think about them.

After taking my mom to Bangkok, I decided to stay another day in order for me to rest and refocus. I feel like I have been so involved in ministries, that I haven’t had time to be with God. I’m not sure if that makes any sense. But I felt so empty and I have nothing left to give. I didn’t want to be a hinderance on our ministry in Chiang Mai, so I needed to do what was best for me. Robert was gracious enough to allow me to get some rest and stay in Bangkok.

I slept for 12 hours today. I have had time to listen and speak with God and call on him for help, since He is the only one who can help me in this situation.

I am so grateful for this experience though. Even though it is difficult, I would not want to change anything about it. I feel like I am growing so much spiritually.

Keep praying. (Sorry that this entry jumps around a lot).

Mom Adventure

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:42:28 +0700

After a great vacation in Phuket and Phi Phi Island we returned to Chiang Mai. It felt great to be home! We got to eat at our favorite restaurant (It had been closed for the Songkran holiday) and we could take our moms to all the places we talk about so they could experience what we did. Drew preached Sunday morning and did a great job. After that, we had lunch at Krua Panoi, AKA “caddy corner” and then went to Doi Suthep, a temple. This was our first time to go there since we got to Chiang Mai. My mom was baptized in a waterfall below the temple when she was a little girl. It was so cool for her to go back. We walked up many steps and entered the gate. So many people were burning incense and offering flowers and gifts to the statues. It was a bit uncomfortable sometimes.
We then went to Walking Street that night and shopped. I helped my mom bargain and since I was talking in Thai, the venders thought that I was Thai and said that they would lower the prices for me. So we got many good deals.

The next morning, Monday, we took them to Nam Tok Jet Sii, the waterfall you can walk on. They had a great time. They had heard about this waterfall before and were so thrilled to go. We stayed for about 2 hours and returned because Drew and his mom had to leave about 5 p.m. since they were riding the night train to Bangkok. Mrs. Bowen and Drew left later that night and she flew out that next time to America.

Tuesday my mom and I went to the Mesae Elephant Camp. It was about 40 minutes away and P’ Pui was kind enough to drive us there since I didn’t know the way. John stayed behind and took Thai lessons. At the show, we arrived a bit early so we got some coffee and my mom bought a few more gifts. We went in, and got to take some pictures with the elephants. Some were old, and some were young. The youngest was one named “Payap” that was 2 years old. SO CUTE. They had been taught to sit, and put hats on people. We got many pictures. Then they all took a bathe in the river and that was fun. The elephants seemed to really enjoy that. There was a couple of elephants that were laying next to each other and were kicking one another out of the way since each was in the other’s space. So funny. Then the show began. They painted pictures, played soccer, threw darts to pop balloons and danced. Elephants are so smart!

We bought some souvenirs and headed back to the zone.

Wednesday we ate dinner at the Allen’s house and played some ’42. It was fun being with fellow Aggies. We played Green Weenie and I lost so I had to write my name on the box lid, right under some fellow losers of Green Weenie, Bob and Myrt Davidson. HA!

Thursday we had some visitors come in. Wasaya is a girl that we kept in America as a foreign exchange student in 2006. She is from the northern part of Thailand and she brought her mom all the way to Chiang Mai. 17 hours on a bus! We had a good time with them. I had to teach still, but they helped my mom cook for cell group. We had Mexican Pile Up! Some of the Thais liked it, and some didn’t. John taught the lesson and Wasaya really enjoyed it and asked some questions. She is not a Christian, but she is interested I think, and asks us to pray for her often. Her mom also commented that she thinks Christians are different from Buddhism. We do what we say. For example, we believe that getting drunk is wrong, and we don’t do it, but she said with Buddhists, they still do it even if they know it is wrong. This was encouraging. The Christians at the zone do a very good job of living out a Christian life.

That night we went to Night Bazaar and I sat at a coffee shop while they shopped for more gifts for people.

Friday was my birthday! I turned 21. I got to open some gifts from people that had sent my gifts with my mom. Thank you to all of you by the way. That night, we ate at a place called The Whole Earth. This is the house my mom used to live in when she was a little girl that was now an Indian restaurant. There were about 15 people there. We went back to the zone and had some banana pudding my mom had made, and 2 cakes! So yummy.

My mom and I left on Saturday evening and I dropped her off in Bangkok. We made some good memories.

Phuket and Phi Phi Island

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:11:02 +0700

After having a great two days in Chiang Mai, we again found ourselves in the airport, but this time, flying to Bangkok and then ending up in Phuket. We met John in Phuket after some long delays and problems with our airlines. We had to recheck in our bags and ourselves when we arrived in Bangkok, barely making it to our connecting flight. They held the plane for us and we were running in the airport. John was not so lucky. Since he was flying a different airline, they would not hold the plane for him. So we waited in Phuket a little bit longer but it was ok because we were after all, in Phuket!

P Lek from Phuket helped us with getting a contact, named Prasat from the Phuket Church of Christ, who would help us out when we arrived in Phuket. He was a Christian and a government certified tour guide. He met us at the airport and asked us what we wanted to do and he made it happen. We stated the prices we wanted to pay and he took us to that hotel. He also showed us around Phuket and some awesome views. We spent one night in Phuket right next to the beach. We played and swam in the waves. It was so beautiful.

That night we saw a show called “Fantasea”. It is a hug tourist attraction, kinda like the Disney Land of Thailand, but not as big. There was a buffet which was Drew’s favorite, and a show that had told the story of a prince and his magic elephant. There was acrobats, pyrotechnics, and many trained animals including elephants, tigers, goats, chickens and doves. It was amazing, even though I had already seen it. They had the traditional Thai dancing and different representations from the North, South, East, and West parts of Thailand since they each posses something special. We slept well that night.

The next morning we left for Phi Phi Island. We had to take a boat but Prasat arranged everything for us, and for someone to pick us up after the hour long boat ride.
When we arrived to the island about 9 a.m. I saw my name on a cardboard sign held by a girl. She took us to a dive shop that was also combined with a touring place. They set us up with a hotel after we named our price that we wanted to pay. We then booked scuba and snorkeling the next morning. We change at our hotel and we went to the beach. The water was very shallow and there were many rocks and coral from where the tsunami had destroyed everything. Drew brought this goggles so he could see the fish but John and I couldn’t do much so we decided to go kayaking. I bargained the price down (since I look Thai I guess) from 200 baht an hour to 300 baht for 2 hours. We took off and tried to go around the island to explore. We found this awesome cove so we pulled our kayak on shore and took some pictures. Then we kept going till we saw this cave. We parked there and decided to climb up. It was almost a 90 degree angle. I’m not much of a rock climber, but I decided to try. We were almost all the way up and then I got really scared. I was gripping on to dirt and it wasn’t too sturdy. The rocks that I would grab would move so I didn’t want to go much higher since I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get down again. Many other kayaks and boats stopped to watch us...So since we had a time limit on our kayak we had to get back. So we spent a lot of time trying to get back down, with John coaxing me down because I was kinda freaking out. The pictures don’t do justice of how high we were.

We returned the kayak just in time. We showered, ate, and returned to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a bit cloudy so we couldn't really see it, but it was a good day.

The next morning, we left our hotel around 8 a.m. The guys, since they are not scuba certified, were going to have a short lesson on scuba theory. Well the place was crowded so they didn’t get too much instruction. Drew had taken a SCUBA class before, but John hadn’t yet. So I think it was a bit scary, not knowing too much.
We took a speed boat out, and were placed into groups by the type of dives we were doing. Since I am an open water diver, I went with that group. There were only 4 of us. 2 dive masters, and another girl named Vicki from London.

Our first dive we saw a shark! A beautiful black tip reef shark. They are supposed to be harmless, but I was still scared. It was swimming in front of us, and then it swam around us. Our dive master got some really great pictures. We saw so many fish and 3 sea turtles! Also, a flounder and many pufferfish. It was gorgeous.

We ate lunch on a small beach, since we had to wait for the nitrogen to leave our bodies in between dives, and returned to a different spot for our 2nd dive. It was almost as beautiful as the first one and we swam with a sea turtle again.

That night we were exhausted so our group of 3 watched some episodes of “Lost” and our moms read and went to bed.

We caught the morning boat out around 9 and headed back to Phuket where Prasat picked us up. Mrs. Bowen wanted to see some wildlife so we went to a place where there are many wild monkeys. I don’t like them too much but everyone else did Prasat had brought peanuts and they loved those.

We returned to the Phuket Church of Christ to see P’ Lek and ate some ice cream at Swensons and the headed off to the airport. What a great holiday!

Bangkok with Mom and SongKran

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:24:02 +0700

So you know the HOT Texas heat? Well right now its the hottest time in Thailand. So it is also New Year and to celebrate, the whole country of Thailand has a water fight!! Can you believe that? Old people and children shooting water guns at each other and throwing buckets as they drive by.

We returned from Cha-Am Sunday afternoon to Bangkok. Drew and his mom left around 9 a.m. to fly back to Chiang Mai. My mom and I repacked and ate lunch with Benny and Benita. They were my granddad's first people to become Christians in Thailand. Also, their daughter got her Master’s in electrical Engineering at A&M so we are very close with their family. After lunch, I took mom to one of the nicest malls in Bangkok called the Siam Paragon. We took motorcycle taxis which my mom is deathly afraid of but she did it anyways because I insisted. At the red lights, people put the white powder on her face, but no water was thrown. Benny told us that its illegal inside the city because its dangerous. People would throw water on motorcycles driving by and knock them off and they would get hurt or die. Also the roads are slick so its difficult for the motorcycles to turn. So we arrived at the paragon and my mom was blown away! This place is nicer than many in America I think. They sell the expensive clothes like Dolce ect. I don’t even know how to spell their names, but there are Lamburginis parked inside. I wanted to take her to see a movie because a movie is an experience in itself. We bought our tickets and then went to Siam Water World I think thats what its called. But its a huge aquarium! There were sharks and stingrays ect. We watched “Vantage Point” and my mom liked it.

We left around 6 for the airport and ate dinner there. Our favorite restaurant, Orange Chair/Mama’s, was closed for Songkran holiday so we had to make do. We arrived in Chiang Mai around 9:15 and got back to the church around 10:00. My mom was out like a light.

The next day we went to our sister church, CMU, and met P Robert, his kids and our friend Gahn. We walked to Kad Suen Kaow, a mall with a huge open plaza, for Songkran. People were all over! Many people were just in the back of their trucks with a barrel of water and throwing it at other cars as they passed by. People lined the streets with water guns, and bowls of water they would throw as we passed. They aimed for the white people, called “farang” which was everyone but Gahn and I. (Since I apparently look Thai..) It was awesome because people, young and old, were throwing water at each other. There were bands playing and foam and water squirting from everywhere. It was so much fun since it was so hot.

We walked from there to around the mote area. The water was brown, but there was more of it. The traffic was bad! Cars just lined up, tons of people in the backs of trucks, running from one to another throwing water. We saw many have 2 feet long, 2 feet wide, ice blocks inside their barrel to make the water freezing cold. Brrr! It was a shock when it hit. I bought a bucket and got some water out of the mote and started to play. Since my camera is water proof, I got some great pictures! They should have this holiday in Texas. A 4 day water fight!!

Bungy Jumping!

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:48:34 +0700

It had been awhile since it was just us 3 apprentices hanging out together on our day off. So we decided that we would have just a team day. We decided to go to this place called Xtreme Centre. It has bungy jumping, off-road buggies, go-karts and paintball. We all wanted to bungy for sure but we didn’t know about the other stuff. It depended on the prices.

So we had never driven there before so we found a map and were able to make our way there in about 30 minutes. I had been there before with AFCO in 2006, but I didn’t drive so I didn’t really know where to go, but I did recognize it. It looked like it was about to rain again so the weather was nice, not too hot, not too cold. I wasn’t planning to jump since I had already done it twice. Once by myself, and once with someone else. So I was there to take pictures and give moral support. Also, John and I decided to split the price of Drew’s jump for his birthday which was April 4th.

The boys signed consent forms (you have to be over 20 to jump) and Drew volunteered to go first. The weighed him, and started taking pictures. The lift began to take him up the 50 meters and I kinda got scared for him. John and I were waiting down to the side where we had a perfect view. We heard the Thai guy count, 3-2-1, BUNGY! and Drew plummeted towards the earth and went waist-deep in the murky water below, head first. (that is what he wanted) He loved it!

Next was John’s turn. He went through the routine of being weighed and went up the lift. Drew and I watched from the sidelines. He ended up screaming a little.......but its 50 meters up, and he also hit the water as well. It doesn’t hurt too bad, just to clarify.

So we were all fired up about jumping. The videos and pictures were great. So we asked the people in charge how much it would be to go a second time. Turns out, its cheaper. The more times you go, the cheaper it gets. The fourth time you go its free! (But we didn’t do that.) So Drew wanted to go again, and then I decided to go with John. I actually think it’s more scary going with another person because there are more factors involved, but it’s a lot more fun.

So Drew goes a second time, and I try and get pictures of him entering the water instead of a video like last time. I didn’t really get too good of one but o well.

Then John and I go, and Drew gets a video. I ask not to be dunked in the water since I am wearing a white shirt. Instead of doing the traditional the “hug hold” where we are both just hugging each other and we fall off sideways, John and I both want to do the sideways “hug.” That way, an arm from each of us is outstretched for a sweet picture that makes a cross. The pictures that were taken were awesome! We plan on taking the Aggies there when they come in June.

We then ate lunch and talked for about 2 hours, just catching up with each other. It began to rain and it made a very relaxing atmosphere. It was a good day.

Rafting

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:07:56 +0700

Since Mondays are our days off, we decided to go out and have some fun a few weeks ago. We went with our friends, P’ Pui, Gahn and Un. It was about an hour away from our home, so some of us slept in the back on the way there...

It looked like it was about to rain. So when we got to the rafting place, there weren’t too many people there. So no line. We left our shoes in the truck and paid. One raft could fit 3 people which was perfect since we had 6. I was with John and P’ Pui on a raft and Drew was with Gahn and Un.

The water level varied. Some places it was shallow, and some it was deep. We had a little trouble steering, well I did..John and P’ Pui not so much. We almost ran into trees and we did run into rocks and I feel in once... So fun!

Luckily, my camera is waterproof so I got some great pictures!

There were random wildlife scattered throughout our 2 hour long raft. You could stop anytime and admire the scenery and/or swim if it was deep enough. We saw elephants alongside the bank and Drew saw some snakes. We also stopped at this part in the river where there was a type of rope swing..only problem is when Drew went and dropped off, the water was only to this waist......but at least it was sandy.

We went though many turns and twists. Towards the end, there was a huge drop off and our raft overturned...
Around that area was a place where there was a huge cliff you could jump off into the water. The only problem, for me, is that I couldn’t see the water below so I didn’t know how deep it was. Well Drew went first, and it was deep enough for him. Then John went and then we decided to do a team jump, just to get a good picture. I hit the bottom...but it was sand and it was kinda deep, but not deep enough. But it was fun. Then the boys did a “wy-ing” picture as they jumped off. Its so funny!

It was at the end of the river so we returned our raft and ate lunch. Sticky rice and chicken! Yum! We were above the river and from there, we could see other rafters as they went down. We just happened to sit at this place where there were rocks in an “S” shape so many, many people hit those. And some people fell off. So we had some entertainment during lunch.

After lunch, we took some “jumping” pictures since Un brought her new tripod that she bought that weekend. But since the pictures were timed, it was hard to get it right on time. The picture are hilarious. Enjoy.