Sorry that I haven’t blogged for while, so much and yet so little has been going on in our lives. We’ve been hanging out with friends who we will soon be saying goodbye which has distracted us from blogging. I do have some stories worth blogging about though. So here it goes….
One of our students who we haven’t seen in awhile returned to Mercy yesterday. Day stopped coming to our class because she wanted to get a job during the summer holiday to help her mom with the bills at home. I asked her about the job she had and she told me that she worked in a nearby mall making crepes at a food stand. I asked her how long she worked every day and she said that her day started at 8:00 and it ended at 9:00. Her daily income was 180 baht a day which is approximately 6 dollars Canadian. This job would be the equivalent to a mall or food court job at home but the her salary blew me away. The minimum wage per hour at home is higher than the daily wage for this young girl. Mind you I am not factoring the cost of living and food but you can imagine how impossible it would be to get ahead and save.
Another interesting fact that I was recently informed about was Thai yearly calendar. When our students date their work I noticed that they didn’t reference the current year as 2008. The Thai year is 543 years more than our yearly schedule. According to the Thai calendar, we are currently in the year of 2551 and we students date their paper they write. 06/04/51. I am still not sure the exact reason but I think it has something to do with the beginning of the Thai empire. I’m not sure though, so please don’t quote me. I will try to find the complete answer later.
Heather who is a fellow education student is returning to Bangkok this weekend. Last time she was here we spent the weekend in Ko Chang so we are excited to be given another opportunity to show her more of Thailand. Massages, temples and shopping are on the itinerary.
A few of the children in Mercy 6 have been sick lately. Whether it is a head ache or something more serious, seeing their little tired eyes always saddens me. Sometimes you forget that their little bodies are so weak and susceptible to illness because of AIDS effect on their body. For most of these children, their life expectancy will only reach late adolescents and early adulthood. There were moments this week when this reality really hit me and it saddened me.
Spicey also known as Si Chon is having an eye surgery early next week. Spicey has deteriorating eye sight and the doctors expect him to go completely blind. The surgery includes replacing some part of his eye. The details I’m not that sure of. This is all the information we received through the translation but all of you at home can be praying that the surgery will go successfully. I’m not sure if they are expected full visibility in the eye or if this will slow the blinding process. Either way, prayers would be greatly appreciated.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
“Only when we understand can we care. Only when we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved”
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
She knows how to pronouce "Chocolate"
We woke up bright and early and met Chis at Bangkok Univerisity. We arrived at the milk run a few minutes late and there wasn’t much for us to do because there were plenty of volunteers today. After spending some time there we decided to grab some breakfast at le bon pain. Next, Jodie and I gave Chris a grande tour of Mercy. None of the children were around but we able to give him a chance to see the children in the kindergarten who extremely cute and playful with us.
A few funny moments of the last couple of days included Galong walking into our room unannounced. He sat down beside me while Jodie was getting a shower. To her surprise, she walked out in a towel and burst out in laughter to see Galong hanging out on the bed. He proceeded to cut and file his nails while telling stories in the “language of Galong.” A language not understood by anyone else. Galong is like the Mr. Bean of Mercy. He points, uses gestures and makes funny faces a lot.
Another recent visitor included Folk who also came into our room while Jodie was in the washroom. I hid him under the blanket and surprised her when she stepped out of the bathroom. Folk then borrowed my headphones and attempted to sing along to “Under my umbrella” At one point the three of us were jumping on our beds dancing and singing along to the song. About 10 minutes later he left and snuck by the house parents and headed back into bed. Earlier in the evening he was showing Jodie his chocolate treat by pointing to it and saying chocolate. Jodie responded by repeating the word chocolate. Then he said in Thai, “she knows how to pronounce chocolate” haha. He considered chocolate to be a Thai word and was surprised that she knew how to pronounce it.
A visit to Mercy 6 today also allowed for some good laughs. Si Jie bought a pair of shoes at Tesco today. She put them on in and did a little fashion show in front of 6 little girls from Mercy 6. I accompanied the fashion show with some made up music. All of the little girls irrupted in laughter so then we each gave them a chance to put on the heels and do a little dance. It was pretty adorable. Mom you would have particularly enjoyed this show. I’m positive that we have some future high heel lovers on our hands.
Aunt Betty sponsors one of the older Mercy 4 girls and she wanted to take her shopping at Tesco. Si Jie, Jodie and I were invited along and we helped the girl pick out a new wardrobe on a budget of 1000 baht (30 dollars cdn). We left Tesco with 2 pairs of pants, a new shirt and two pairs of shoes. Aunt Betty, along with her sponsored child seemed to really enjoy it.
That’s all for now. Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
A few funny moments of the last couple of days included Galong walking into our room unannounced. He sat down beside me while Jodie was getting a shower. To her surprise, she walked out in a towel and burst out in laughter to see Galong hanging out on the bed. He proceeded to cut and file his nails while telling stories in the “language of Galong.” A language not understood by anyone else. Galong is like the Mr. Bean of Mercy. He points, uses gestures and makes funny faces a lot.
Another recent visitor included Folk who also came into our room while Jodie was in the washroom. I hid him under the blanket and surprised her when she stepped out of the bathroom. Folk then borrowed my headphones and attempted to sing along to “Under my umbrella” At one point the three of us were jumping on our beds dancing and singing along to the song. About 10 minutes later he left and snuck by the house parents and headed back into bed. Earlier in the evening he was showing Jodie his chocolate treat by pointing to it and saying chocolate. Jodie responded by repeating the word chocolate. Then he said in Thai, “she knows how to pronounce chocolate” haha. He considered chocolate to be a Thai word and was surprised that she knew how to pronounce it.
A visit to Mercy 6 today also allowed for some good laughs. Si Jie bought a pair of shoes at Tesco today. She put them on in and did a little fashion show in front of 6 little girls from Mercy 6. I accompanied the fashion show with some made up music. All of the little girls irrupted in laughter so then we each gave them a chance to put on the heels and do a little dance. It was pretty adorable. Mom you would have particularly enjoyed this show. I’m positive that we have some future high heel lovers on our hands.
Aunt Betty sponsors one of the older Mercy 4 girls and she wanted to take her shopping at Tesco. Si Jie, Jodie and I were invited along and we helped the girl pick out a new wardrobe on a budget of 1000 baht (30 dollars cdn). We left Tesco with 2 pairs of pants, a new shirt and two pairs of shoes. Aunt Betty, along with her sponsored child seemed to really enjoy it.
That’s all for now. Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Is May over yet?
Yesterday, I woke up not feeling well at all. I had lost my appetite the last couple of days which is ideal for trying to lose weight but it also means your body has no energy. When I did eat something, my stomach would go crazy, the result being quite painful. I had been feeling off and on for the last couple of days and on Wednesday I rested and took the morning off. In the afternoon we decided to tackle our laundry. We washed our clothes for hours and finally are content with a new clean wardrobe. In the evening we made plans to go to Dubliner’s with the Si Jie and Cedric. Si Jie is leaving in a little over a week so the farewell events have begun. We arrived at Dubliners and Si Jie and I spit a half roast with mashed potatoes. It was divine and I was my body completely agreed with it and since then I’ve been feeling much better. In a strange case of déjà vous, the Aussie named Chris that we met on a previous trip to Dubliner’s randomly showed up and joined us for the rest of the evening. The last time we talked to him it was his last day in Bangkok and yesterday was his first day back in Bangkok after spending some time in Australian. After hanging out at the pub and listening to a cool little 2 person band we piled into a taxi and headed to RCA for some dancing. Jodie and I were the only ones that had school the next day. The night was well worth the 4 hrs of sleep though, and we managed to successfully wake up at 6 in the morning and teach out 8:00 class. However the minute we were done teaching, we jumped on a motorcycle taxi and headed home and then crawled right back in toasty warm bed.
In the afternoon we returned to Mercy to teach class. During my class with Cherie and Rose, we somehow got completely off topic and began discussing the Jatujek Market. Cherie mentioned that she has bought 3 rabbits from there and that how she enjoys buying clothes for them and dressing them up. She also mentioned that all three of them have since died..haha. It ended up being a fun class full of random conversations with little work accomplished, but those are always the best classes. After Cherie and Rose, I had class with Boong. Today was her last day of classes at RIS but we will continue English class for the next month or so.
We joined Mercy 6 for supper in the evening. This was our first time joining them and it was fun to see all the boys and girls together enjoying the meal and each other’s company. The girls were wearing pink pj’s and the boys were wearing blue. It is not often that you see them all together because they are a variety of different ages and during the day they are all off to different schools or running around Mercy.
We said our second serious goodbye today. Mama is leaving the AIDS hospice tomorrow and because we are helping Sister Joan with the milk run tomorrow we decided to say our good nights Thursday evening. Jodie and Mama became really close during our time here so this was particularly sad for her. Goodbyes are always hard and this one was no different. Mama was unbelievably kind to everyone she came in contact with including us. She always had a warm smile on her face and loving touch to encourage those around her. She demonstrated great patience, strength and gentleness. We were so lucky to have met her and spent so much time with her during our time here. She is a wonderful woman and I am so grateful to have met her.
Two of the houseparent’s celebrated their birthday Thursday and so upon our arrival to soi 40 we were greeted by a table full of food and house parents. Cake was presented to the kids and of course they graciously accepted in the most polite way. I laughed to myself because they presented themselves to the visitors as such little polite angels.
Tomorrow, Aussie Chris will be joining us for Sister Joan’s milk run. We have plans to show him around Mercy and possibly Lumphini Park as well.
Thinking of how all of you are enjoying the Apple Blossom Festival. at home.
Sending love from Thailand.
Misty
In the afternoon we returned to Mercy to teach class. During my class with Cherie and Rose, we somehow got completely off topic and began discussing the Jatujek Market. Cherie mentioned that she has bought 3 rabbits from there and that how she enjoys buying clothes for them and dressing them up. She also mentioned that all three of them have since died..haha. It ended up being a fun class full of random conversations with little work accomplished, but those are always the best classes. After Cherie and Rose, I had class with Boong. Today was her last day of classes at RIS but we will continue English class for the next month or so.
We joined Mercy 6 for supper in the evening. This was our first time joining them and it was fun to see all the boys and girls together enjoying the meal and each other’s company. The girls were wearing pink pj’s and the boys were wearing blue. It is not often that you see them all together because they are a variety of different ages and during the day they are all off to different schools or running around Mercy.
We said our second serious goodbye today. Mama is leaving the AIDS hospice tomorrow and because we are helping Sister Joan with the milk run tomorrow we decided to say our good nights Thursday evening. Jodie and Mama became really close during our time here so this was particularly sad for her. Goodbyes are always hard and this one was no different. Mama was unbelievably kind to everyone she came in contact with including us. She always had a warm smile on her face and loving touch to encourage those around her. She demonstrated great patience, strength and gentleness. We were so lucky to have met her and spent so much time with her during our time here. She is a wonderful woman and I am so grateful to have met her.
Two of the houseparent’s celebrated their birthday Thursday and so upon our arrival to soi 40 we were greeted by a table full of food and house parents. Cake was presented to the kids and of course they graciously accepted in the most polite way. I laughed to myself because they presented themselves to the visitors as such little polite angels.
Tomorrow, Aussie Chris will be joining us for Sister Joan’s milk run. We have plans to show him around Mercy and possibly Lumphini Park as well.
Thinking of how all of you are enjoying the Apple Blossom Festival. at home.
Sending love from Thailand.
Misty
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
There are sixty muscles in your face; you use twenty of them to smile and forty to frown
This morning Pi Tip and I read the above statement in an article. I had heard this fact before but I’m going to focus on what made me smile today and hope that in at least one of the stories make you smile too.
Picture a little boy, probably 4 or 5 years standing in a phone booth. He is so short that he has to prop himself up on a shelf inside the booth to reach the phone. Walking by, I could here him having a pretend conversation with a colleague of his. That made me smile.
Mama from the AIDS ward telling me I had big boobs and then proceeding to grab my hand to cop a feel of hers. I quickly pulled away and she said in Thai of course “my are small and firm because I never breastfed my children” That made me smile and awkwardly laugh as I prayed that no staff member witnessed me coping a feel of mama’s boobs.
Hearing Galang singing from the bathroom. Completely off tune, and sounding more like a Muslim call to worship than any conceivable song. That made me smile.
An afternoon tea break with Aunt Betty. Now that definitely made me smile. A cup of tea, a slice of cake, great company and a possibly future game of Phaze 10. What else could this girl ask for?
Hearing and seeing a group of Mercy Kindergarteners racing down the three story ramp, laughing and screaming on their way back to school.
Chilling with Frank and seeing his face light up.
Reading a folk tale about a snow angel with Cherie and Rose while sitting at the table were a few of my favorite people, Galong, Jodie and Si Jie.
There were moments of sadness too like hearing that Pi Ning was back in the hospital along with being told the heartbreaking story of how Frank became paralyzed at the age of 17 as a result of sniffing glue. Unconceivable to many, his addiction to glue isn’t unusual here in the streets of Klong Toey. I have many thoughts on the matter, all of which are tucked away in my personal journal.
All of these events shaped my day.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Picture a little boy, probably 4 or 5 years standing in a phone booth. He is so short that he has to prop himself up on a shelf inside the booth to reach the phone. Walking by, I could here him having a pretend conversation with a colleague of his. That made me smile.
Mama from the AIDS ward telling me I had big boobs and then proceeding to grab my hand to cop a feel of hers. I quickly pulled away and she said in Thai of course “my are small and firm because I never breastfed my children” That made me smile and awkwardly laugh as I prayed that no staff member witnessed me coping a feel of mama’s boobs.
Hearing Galang singing from the bathroom. Completely off tune, and sounding more like a Muslim call to worship than any conceivable song. That made me smile.
An afternoon tea break with Aunt Betty. Now that definitely made me smile. A cup of tea, a slice of cake, great company and a possibly future game of Phaze 10. What else could this girl ask for?
Hearing and seeing a group of Mercy Kindergarteners racing down the three story ramp, laughing and screaming on their way back to school.
Chilling with Frank and seeing his face light up.
Reading a folk tale about a snow angel with Cherie and Rose while sitting at the table were a few of my favorite people, Galong, Jodie and Si Jie.
There were moments of sadness too like hearing that Pi Ning was back in the hospital along with being told the heartbreaking story of how Frank became paralyzed at the age of 17 as a result of sniffing glue. Unconceivable to many, his addiction to glue isn’t unusual here in the streets of Klong Toey. I have many thoughts on the matter, all of which are tucked away in my personal journal.
All of these events shaped my day.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
An Afternoon with Aunt Betty
Last night we went to Father Joe’s for one of his infamous parties and we meet his sister, brother in law along with his Aunt Betty. For supper they cooked us spaghetti which was well received by both Jodie and I. Earlier that day we were in the grocery store and Jodie mentioned how she wished we could make spaghetti at soi 40. We brainstormed the possibilities for a few minutes but realized that cooking it over hot coals was really an option for us. Conveniently, our wish came true that evening when Father Joe’s family cooked us a lovely meal of spaghetti. We got on the topic of Indiana Jones and Si Jie mentioned that she really wanted to see it but we wouldn’t go with her. Aunt Betty then replied by saying that she also wanted to go and was planning on going the next day. Later in the evening we made plans to meet up with for a movie date on Monday afternoon. Now let me tell you about Aunt Betty. She is 85 years old, she is very close to Father Joe and this is her second trip to Thailand. During our afternoon date, she told us that Father Joe was a very serious little boy and that he was very insightful about his faith at very young age. A book has actually been written about Father Joe’s life called “The Gospel according to Father Joe” I can’t remember the author’s name but it has just recently been published.
Oh I forgot to mention that we drove to Emporium in Father Joe’s Audi but some decided it was time to switch things up and we were driven home in his Mercedes. Its tough being me sometimes I know. The Mercedes is kind of old and is smells like gasoline, but I’m sure 30 years ago is was a car of luxury.
Indiana Jones was good. In all honesty I’ve never seen the first two so I didn’t know what to expect. I liked it. It was definitely a fun afternoon.
In the evening Jodie and I went to the night market for a little bit of shopping.
Anyways, I need to go to bed
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Oh I forgot to mention that we drove to Emporium in Father Joe’s Audi but some decided it was time to switch things up and we were driven home in his Mercedes. Its tough being me sometimes I know. The Mercedes is kind of old and is smells like gasoline, but I’m sure 30 years ago is was a car of luxury.
Indiana Jones was good. In all honesty I’ve never seen the first two so I didn’t know what to expect. I liked it. It was definitely a fun afternoon.
In the evening Jodie and I went to the night market for a little bit of shopping.
Anyways, I need to go to bed
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Our weekend
Friday bright and early we got up and went to help sister joan with the milk run. We were responsible for handing out bags of children’s clothing to the mothers after they were given milk. In between the two milk runs’ we grabbed a bit to eat at sister Joan’s house in the slums.
Sister Joan is a remarkable lady. Just recently she provided 600 children with school uniforms and helped pay for their school fees. Her “education fund” is funded by the Australian Embassy along with Australian and New Zealand women’s groups but it is her efforts and determination alone that gets to me is the most amazing. She lives among the poor, she truly knows the people she works for and evidently has there full respect because of it. Her kindness and generosity towards those less fortunate than her is truly remarkable. Simply put, she is my idol. She is so genuine and selfless in her actions and for those reasons among many, she is truly an inspiration to me.
The rest of our weekend has been pretty lo key. We got a large donation of English movies so that has kept us pretty occupied in the evenings. We also discovered soi 38 which is a street filled with street vendor restaurants. I got noodles and I loved them. Everything is so cheap so we will definitely be hitting up this spot on a regular basis.
On Saturday, we hung out in our room until late in the afternoon. We had no food left in our house so at about 1:30 we realized that we needed to go and get some food. We had no breakfast or anything, so we were pretty hungry. As we attempted to open the big door to release us from soi 40, we realized that we were locked in and there was no one in the building to rescue us. At this point we were so desperate for food that we ate the only thing we had in our room, a can of cream corn! It wasn’t the best tasting cream of corn but it did the trick. About an hour later Si Jie took a motorcycle back from Mercy and rescued us. Of course the first thing on our minds was food and so we took a taxi to Subway and stuffed our faces with a delicious chicken and ham sub. We spent the rest of the day at the park and later we picked up some groceries. In the evening I wasn’t feeling too good. I think I must have eaten something and so I spent the evening in bed and in the bathroom. This morning, I woke up feeling better so hopefully the sick feeling has passed. Plus I just got a big hug from Galong this morning so that of course that made me feel better too.
Anyways, that’s all for now.
Sending love from Thailand
Misty
Sister Joan is a remarkable lady. Just recently she provided 600 children with school uniforms and helped pay for their school fees. Her “education fund” is funded by the Australian Embassy along with Australian and New Zealand women’s groups but it is her efforts and determination alone that gets to me is the most amazing. She lives among the poor, she truly knows the people she works for and evidently has there full respect because of it. Her kindness and generosity towards those less fortunate than her is truly remarkable. Simply put, she is my idol. She is so genuine and selfless in her actions and for those reasons among many, she is truly an inspiration to me.
The rest of our weekend has been pretty lo key. We got a large donation of English movies so that has kept us pretty occupied in the evenings. We also discovered soi 38 which is a street filled with street vendor restaurants. I got noodles and I loved them. Everything is so cheap so we will definitely be hitting up this spot on a regular basis.
On Saturday, we hung out in our room until late in the afternoon. We had no food left in our house so at about 1:30 we realized that we needed to go and get some food. We had no breakfast or anything, so we were pretty hungry. As we attempted to open the big door to release us from soi 40, we realized that we were locked in and there was no one in the building to rescue us. At this point we were so desperate for food that we ate the only thing we had in our room, a can of cream corn! It wasn’t the best tasting cream of corn but it did the trick. About an hour later Si Jie took a motorcycle back from Mercy and rescued us. Of course the first thing on our minds was food and so we took a taxi to Subway and stuffed our faces with a delicious chicken and ham sub. We spent the rest of the day at the park and later we picked up some groceries. In the evening I wasn’t feeling too good. I think I must have eaten something and so I spent the evening in bed and in the bathroom. This morning, I woke up feeling better so hopefully the sick feeling has passed. Plus I just got a big hug from Galong this morning so that of course that made me feel better too.
Anyways, that’s all for now.
Sending love from Thailand
Misty
Thursday, May 22, 2008
No beach for us
In hopes that we would be spending our weekend at Hua Hin we waited around for a few hours in the morning to hear confirmation. During the waiting period we assisted the Graphic Art Room staff in preparing the children’s Batik paintings. Our tasks included ironing, removing safety pins and trimming threads in preparation for them to be made into pillows.
On our motorcycle ride back to Soi 40, Jodie answered a call informing us that our plans were changed by Father Joe and guests and our hopes of spending a VIP weekend at the beach quickly fizzled. Once we got passed the disappointment we decided to make something of the rest of the day. We decided to go to the Villa for the afternoon, hoping to relax in the sun. It took us about two hours to finally get to the villa because of the bus transportation and heavy traffic. It was so hot at the villa that we spent most of the time trying to cool our bodies down rather than purposely sit in the sun and working on the tan.
After a few hours at the villa, Jodie and I decided to head back to Mercy for our evening class. Unfortuatnaley we hit the second heavy traffic period of the day and it took us about 2 hours to get home. I am beginning to think that every time of the day is heavy traffic period here in Bangkok. Different vehicles are on the move at different periods of the day. Big transport trucks are only allowed to move through the city in the evening so that creates traffic jams at night. During the day everyone else is moving about trying to get to their destinations. There really isn’t anytime of the day in which you will avoid sitting in traffic. Motorcycles are the fastest means of transportation on wheels. Motorcyclists even have the liberty of driving of the side walks to avoid staled traffic and swerving by walking pedestrians. That’s why the BTS Skytrain is the ultimate form of transportation here in Bangkok if you are looking to get somewhere fast. Anyways, enough with this boring traffic talk. I am going to go and hunt down some internet.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
On our motorcycle ride back to Soi 40, Jodie answered a call informing us that our plans were changed by Father Joe and guests and our hopes of spending a VIP weekend at the beach quickly fizzled. Once we got passed the disappointment we decided to make something of the rest of the day. We decided to go to the Villa for the afternoon, hoping to relax in the sun. It took us about two hours to finally get to the villa because of the bus transportation and heavy traffic. It was so hot at the villa that we spent most of the time trying to cool our bodies down rather than purposely sit in the sun and working on the tan.
After a few hours at the villa, Jodie and I decided to head back to Mercy for our evening class. Unfortuatnaley we hit the second heavy traffic period of the day and it took us about 2 hours to get home. I am beginning to think that every time of the day is heavy traffic period here in Bangkok. Different vehicles are on the move at different periods of the day. Big transport trucks are only allowed to move through the city in the evening so that creates traffic jams at night. During the day everyone else is moving about trying to get to their destinations. There really isn’t anytime of the day in which you will avoid sitting in traffic. Motorcycles are the fastest means of transportation on wheels. Motorcyclists even have the liberty of driving of the side walks to avoid staled traffic and swerving by walking pedestrians. That’s why the BTS Skytrain is the ultimate form of transportation here in Bangkok if you are looking to get somewhere fast. Anyways, enough with this boring traffic talk. I am going to go and hunt down some internet.
Sending love from Thailand,
Misty
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