Last night Jodie and I travelled to the night Bazaar. This place has hundreds of little shops full of Thai treasures. Jodie went for lunch there and shopped for hours. One of my favourite stories of the evening involved Jodie trying to show off her Thai to a store owner. She said, tail ry ka (sp?)
which means "How much does this cost". A look of bewilderment swept over his face, so we both just assumed that we had pronouced it incorrectly. He replied by saying "I don't speak Thai", the look of shock on our faces I'm sure would have been priceless. This type of thing has never happened to us, it was quite the role reversal.
Jodie and I living in such close living and working corridors has finally taken its toll. Jodie is feeling the effects of a cold, which I had a week ago. She attempted to buy some cold medicine at a local drug store in the market but we changed our mind when the pharmasist attempted to negotiate the price on us. We just didn't like the idea of bartering for drugs in the market, can you blame us?
Since I don't have much else to say, I will share some interesting facts about Thailand with you
Here are some Facts of the day about Thailand
-All children wear uniforms to school, even university students.
-The military and the gov’t here are run separately. In Thailand’s history, military coups often occur. In the last few years, the military staged a coup against the previous president because the Free Press here in Thailand exposed the Presidents corruption and as a result the President was sent into exile. He has recently returned from Britian which has been big news here in Thailand.
-There was an election here yesterday, and on Election Day, no alcohol is served! It is believed that people could use bribe votes with alcohol.
-The King of Thailand is EXTREMLY important and Thailand is currently morning the death of his sister. They have morning for three months and as a result everyone is supposed to wear dark colors. It is not overtly visible to the naked eye, but if you look closely, you will notice most people wearing a lot of dark colors and quite a bit of white. Not a lot of bright colors are worn.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Yesterday we spent the day relaxing, hanging out at Mercy Centre and catching up on our blogging. Later in the afternoon, we went shopping and embarked on an infamous Thailand adventure. We had planned to met the girls we were shopping with at 5:30 at the entrance and Jodie and I didn't know that there were two entrances......so to make a long story short. We waited at the wrong entrance for over an hour. In frustration, we decided to make our way home and grab some supper. We ate at a Japanese restaurant and took the skytrain home. We eventually met up with Si Jie later in the evening. The moral of the story, make sure you cell phone is fully charged when travelling away from well-known territory. Today is lesson planning and movie editing day. Above are some more pics from the weekend. Enjoy.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Safari World Pics
MONKEYS!! Tiffany, you would have loved this!!!
Elephant! Much smaller than African elephants.
RINO!!!!!!
Pics
Thai children sometimes wear this powder to keep them cool
Mother and baby came on a trailor pulled by the father on a motorcycle
June, a volunteer from Australia holding one of the babies at the milk run
Mother and Baby
Gangsta' Baby
Lovely Sister Joan holding one of the babies at the milk run The last couple of days
Sorry I have been falling behind on my blogging. I do write it up each night, but I haven't had access to the computer to post it so here's what we have been up to for the last couple of days. I also apologize for grammar errors, its too hot to profeed!!! haah
Wednesday was spent working with Dew, Boong and Lek. From now I will refer to them us our scholarship prep girls. Dew and Boong have up coming exams, so we did not work with them on Thursday and Friday. Our other teaching sessions will start on Monday.
Nitaya’s mother died on Wednesday so we attended a wake service for her on Wednesday night. Nitaya is the volunteer coordinator here at the Mercy Centre. We have been working quite closely with her during our time here. Her mother passed away on Wednesday. In Thailand with a death occurs, family and friends experience three days of mourning. You are supposed to wear dark colors as a sign of respect during those three days of mourning. We attended the wake late Wednesday night. The ceremony was much longer than a wake in Canada. We attended Mass for an hour and then there was a prayer and singing time which was also an hour long. The service took place completely in Thai, and a lot of the Mercy Centre staff attended. Nitaya’s mother was only 58 and her death came quite suddenly.
On a lighter note, during a walk to a 7-11, we just happened to meet up with an elephant walking down the road. It was surrounded by an entourage of men, who were selling food to feed the elephant.
We didn’t have any teaching on Thursday because the Dew and Boong took the day off to study for their exams. So Si Jae, Jodie and I decided to spend the day exploring Bangkok. In Thailand, massages are really cheap and are available everywhere. So we decided to start the morning with a massage. The masseuses offered to teach how to give Thai massages in exchange for English lessons. Jodie and I plan to take them up on their offer. We visited the Temple of Dawn and infamous Reclining Buddha. Later in the afternoon we traveled by boat and Skytrain to the Night market. The Night market was fabulous. The clothing here is sooo cheap and soooo fashionable.
On Friday, Jodie and I helped Sister Joan with her Milk Run. Sister Joan delivers powdered milk to mothers in need here in Klong Toi. She supports mother with babies up until 12 months. We met her committed team of volunteers, who were all women from Australia and New Zealand. We had wonderful morning with them and joined them for lunch at Sister Joan’s house, where we the most delicious ham sandwich that I had ever eaten. It has been a couple of days since we have eaten bread, so when I saw that ham sandwich, my mouth watered just a bit. I think the biggest adjustment so far has been the food. Everything begins to taste the same. Fishy and spicy! Anyways, back to the milk run. Working with Sister Joan was definitely a highlight. She is very kind and humble. I admire a lot of things about her but I will only share a few with you. She is a kind, loving, generous Godly woman. She has worked really hard to keep the Milk run up and running. They serve over 150 mothers and babies here in Klong Toi. Sister Joan drives up to a park or the street outside of her house and serves the mothers and children of Klong Toi and has been doing it for years. The milk run works at such a practical level and in a place where needs are endless, it gives you hope that one person can make a difference.
The rest of our afternoon was spent at Mercy Centre. A large company by the name of Crown was holding a party for the children at Mercy. A large bouncy castle and a large teddy bear mascot were in attendance. The children had a blast, and their fun lighthearted attitudes were contagious.
In the evening, we attended a dinner party at Father Joe’s.
On Saturday, Jodie and I went to the Zoo with the Kids. The Zoo was called Safari Land, and it was Thailand’s equivalent to Sea World or a Disney Theme Park. We watched a monkey show, a dolphin show, a stunt show, and we also went on a safari. Some of the highlights of the Safari included seeing Zebras, Rinos, and Giraffes. Two bus loads of kids went which included the younger girls, a few children in kindergarten and Mercy 4 which are the younger boys that live here with us. The kids were magnetized and in awe of everything and it was a thrill to experience it with them. Throughout the day, the children showed there true caring nature both towards each other and to Jodie and I. Whether is was by holding a hand, sharing their food, or trying to translate what was going on to us. By the end of the day, we had some sleepy children and adults, who easily fell asleep on the bus ride home.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Wednesday was spent working with Dew, Boong and Lek. From now I will refer to them us our scholarship prep girls. Dew and Boong have up coming exams, so we did not work with them on Thursday and Friday. Our other teaching sessions will start on Monday.
Nitaya’s mother died on Wednesday so we attended a wake service for her on Wednesday night. Nitaya is the volunteer coordinator here at the Mercy Centre. We have been working quite closely with her during our time here. Her mother passed away on Wednesday. In Thailand with a death occurs, family and friends experience three days of mourning. You are supposed to wear dark colors as a sign of respect during those three days of mourning. We attended the wake late Wednesday night. The ceremony was much longer than a wake in Canada. We attended Mass for an hour and then there was a prayer and singing time which was also an hour long. The service took place completely in Thai, and a lot of the Mercy Centre staff attended. Nitaya’s mother was only 58 and her death came quite suddenly.
On a lighter note, during a walk to a 7-11, we just happened to meet up with an elephant walking down the road. It was surrounded by an entourage of men, who were selling food to feed the elephant.
We didn’t have any teaching on Thursday because the Dew and Boong took the day off to study for their exams. So Si Jae, Jodie and I decided to spend the day exploring Bangkok. In Thailand, massages are really cheap and are available everywhere. So we decided to start the morning with a massage. The masseuses offered to teach how to give Thai massages in exchange for English lessons. Jodie and I plan to take them up on their offer. We visited the Temple of Dawn and infamous Reclining Buddha. Later in the afternoon we traveled by boat and Skytrain to the Night market. The Night market was fabulous. The clothing here is sooo cheap and soooo fashionable.
On Friday, Jodie and I helped Sister Joan with her Milk Run. Sister Joan delivers powdered milk to mothers in need here in Klong Toi. She supports mother with babies up until 12 months. We met her committed team of volunteers, who were all women from Australia and New Zealand. We had wonderful morning with them and joined them for lunch at Sister Joan’s house, where we the most delicious ham sandwich that I had ever eaten. It has been a couple of days since we have eaten bread, so when I saw that ham sandwich, my mouth watered just a bit. I think the biggest adjustment so far has been the food. Everything begins to taste the same. Fishy and spicy! Anyways, back to the milk run. Working with Sister Joan was definitely a highlight. She is very kind and humble. I admire a lot of things about her but I will only share a few with you. She is a kind, loving, generous Godly woman. She has worked really hard to keep the Milk run up and running. They serve over 150 mothers and babies here in Klong Toi. Sister Joan drives up to a park or the street outside of her house and serves the mothers and children of Klong Toi and has been doing it for years. The milk run works at such a practical level and in a place where needs are endless, it gives you hope that one person can make a difference.
The rest of our afternoon was spent at Mercy Centre. A large company by the name of Crown was holding a party for the children at Mercy. A large bouncy castle and a large teddy bear mascot were in attendance. The children had a blast, and their fun lighthearted attitudes were contagious.
In the evening, we attended a dinner party at Father Joe’s.
On Saturday, Jodie and I went to the Zoo with the Kids. The Zoo was called Safari Land, and it was Thailand’s equivalent to Sea World or a Disney Theme Park. We watched a monkey show, a dolphin show, a stunt show, and we also went on a safari. Some of the highlights of the Safari included seeing Zebras, Rinos, and Giraffes. Two bus loads of kids went which included the younger girls, a few children in kindergarten and Mercy 4 which are the younger boys that live here with us. The kids were magnetized and in awe of everything and it was a thrill to experience it with them. Throughout the day, the children showed there true caring nature both towards each other and to Jodie and I. Whether is was by holding a hand, sharing their food, or trying to translate what was going on to us. By the end of the day, we had some sleepy children and adults, who easily fell asleep on the bus ride home.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
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