(imagine a camera in that monkey's hand)

Hello blog readers

The last couple of days have been really busy so although I’ve been keeping up with my blogging, I haven’t had time to post them. Last night we went out for Japanese food at the Four Seasons Hotel here in Bangkok. Vanessa, the photographer who I discussed in more detail in last post referred to it as "the best Japanese food in the world and the most expensive in Thailand" With that lead up we had pretty high expectations about the food. Vanessa ordered for us and since I can’t really remember the names I will try to describe the basics of what we had. We had a wrap type thing that tasted like a California sushi which was my favorite of the evening. We also had sushi with eel in it and sushi which was made up off the fat belly of a tuna. The final part of our main course was fried crispy vegetables that were cooked in some kind of batter to make them really crispy. I know not all of this sounds that appealing but it was actually quite good. We also tried Japanese beer along with warm rice wine and ended our meal with chocolate hazelnut cake.
The build up for our evening with Vanessa and Katisa was huge. It was like the prom where the fun of it is the preparation and the build up in your mind but it becomes impossible for the night to live up to those expectations. We just realized that all though we had made them out to be bigger than life, they were really just regular people, boring in moments and all thought they lived what appeared to be glamorous lives in Monoco and Paris, they really are the same as the rest of us. Disappointingly they never asked us about our work at Mercy.
All and all, spending an evening and afternoon with them makes for a great story and I fun day getting ready for the evening.

Today we forced ourselves out of bed and arrived at Mercy half asleep. I spent the morning going through the motions with little to no energy. I taught my adult class, Ford and visited with our friends in the AIDS hospice all before 11. At 11:00 we met up with the kids from Mercy and 6 along with Vanessa and Katisa and piled ourselves into the Mercy vans and headed to the Oriental hotel for our river cruise.

We had heard that the Oriental hotel was the most luxurious in Bangkok. I believe it lived up to those accolades. There were hi soi (high society) boutiques in the hotel including a large Louis Vuitton shop at the entrance of the hotel. We walked through a few social rooms on our way to the river cruise. We passed beautiful architecture and art work along with some overtly rich men and women. We boarded the boot and spent the next hour or so travelling down the river on our way to the snake farm. The view was pretty incredible and we got to see yet another way of life in Bangkok.

After arriving at the snake farm we were quickly escorted to the snake show which included trainers or Thai men teasing and prodding an assortment of large scary snakes included cobras, razor snakes etc. After the show we walked around the facility which was pretty sketchy and not well maintained at all. The children seemed to really enjoy running around and seeing all the animals.

At one point I lent my camera to one of the older boys so he could take a picture of this monkey. This monkey was already trouble because there was a hole in the screen where he could reach his arm out and he would grab at the children. He was a monkey so he was pretty harmless, I thought at first anyways. At one point the boy had my camera hanging from his wrist and it was swinging in front of the monkey. The monkey reached through the whole in the fence, grabbed my camera and began swinging it around. At this point I started screaming because I knew this monkey met business with my camera…..BANG, CRASH, BOOM went my camera. The monkey started to swing it around the whole time I was squelling and trying to get the staffs attention. At this point all the kids were gathered around the fence along with every foreigner at the park. Within the first few seconds the monkey had clicked the lever and the battery was hanging out. It was obvious that this monkey probably like all monkeys could easily manipulate small objects and was extremely playful and with any object. After what seemed like in an eternity, one of the staff members came over to rescue my camera. At first he tried to reach through the fence to grab the camera, but was to slow and the monkey grabbed it again and swung it around for the crowd. A few seconds later the staff member climbed in the cage with the monkey, grabbed the camera and handed it to me.

After that the whole ordeal was over, the moment of truth was upon me. Would my Sony Cybershot still be in one piece and would it still work after the monkey mangled with it? First I had to put the battery back in and then I tested it and sure enough it still worked. My camera has a few more scratches and one little dent but I’m thankful it still works and not many people can say that a monkey stole their camera. It makes for a good story and I only wish now that the whole ordeal with videotaped lived so that I could sell it to Sony. because it sure would make a good commercial.

Sending love from Thailand

Misty

This post is dedicated to all the monkey lovers in the world, especially Tiffany and Amy

Diaper wearing monkey's KILLL ME!!!!!!!

Even monkey's wear diapers and suck their thunbs!! It is not staged for tourists at all....:)

COBRA'S. Would you mess with them??? I don't think so
Monkey with new born! Miraculous isn't it.

Two parties....one day

This afternoon we held our party for the sea gypsies from the south of Thailand. Si Jie put together a picture slide show of their time here. We ate some munchies, played their favorite game Fruit Basket and had a fun photo shoot. Each student wanted an individual picture with Jodie, Si Jie and I. Two cameras documented the 17+ photo shoot. In the beginning I felt like a model and by the end of it I felt like a plastic wax statue.

As we left the party we ran into Father Joe and two other ladies who were surrounded by a group of kids from Mercy 6. During our chat with them, Father Joe invited us to his house for a party. We accepted of course because party’s at Father Joe always promise to be a good time. We had a couple of hours till kill before our second party so we went to Carrefour and treated ourselves to ice cream.

At 6:30 we arrived at Father Joe’s and learned about the two girls that we meet earlier. One girl named Vanessa is a world famous photographer and for the last 4 years has been taking pictures of Mercy and the slums. The book is called Slaughter House Angels and has just been released a month ago and it retails for 100 Canadian and you can find it on Amazon.com. A perfect birthday gift…hint hint. Anyways, during our time together we learned that she was a famous photographer who is currently taking pictures of horses and palaces for the filthy rich in Dubai. In the past she has taken pictures of luxury goods, such as jewelry, and designers such as Christian Dior. She was accompanied by a girlfriend named Kristi who is a Polish horse racer who was incredibly skinny and beautiful and made us all conscious about how much pizza we were eating.

Okay back to Vanessa, she has released another book that features portraits of RINGO (from the Beatles), Andrea Pauveriti (famous tenor), Claudia Schiffer (model), Jacque Veninue (famous race car driver). They are all friends of hers and she photographed them for a book benefiting the Red Cross.

The best part of the evening was when she offered to treat us to the best Japanese food in the world TOMORROW night. Let’s just say all three of us are ecstatic about spending a evening with these hi soi (high society) girls. I would compare it to hanging out with Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. These girls are jet-setters and live quite privileged lives but at the same time are really down to earth. Mom, I’m warning you. If Vanessa offers to hire me for the summer to travel the world with her and carry her camera bag, I just might have to accept.

The three of us left Father Joe’s walking and talking a million a minute. "What am I going to wear?" "Should I get my hair washed professionally for this?" and I can’t believe I wore my only good outfit today" were just a few of the things that came out of our months on our long walk home. Usually we would have taken a taxi home, but we were so full of energy and excitement that we walked home and discussed our preparations for tomorrow all the way back to Soi 40.

All and all, the events of tonight have made my life. I forgot to tell you that Vanessa also is planning a boat trip for the children of Mercy 6 on April 29th and has invited us to come along. Of course, we accepted but for a moment we hesitated so that we didn’t look too desperate.
I’m sure tomorrow nights post will be even more juicy and eventful. We have a day to get ready and prepare ourselves. Until then….

Sending love from Thailand

Misty

Dear Abby

Right now I am sitting here in soi 40 with exciting news. We have an internet modem with a supply of weak internet connection. What does that mean? Well we can go on msn and I can check my hotmail account. Its kind of like the little engine that could, it is trying really hard but it shuts down before it gets to facebook or the blog. Either way, I’m not going to udder a word of complaint. I am grateful for any steady internet. Now all of you can look forward to msn dates and long emails from me.

To clarify, 2 days after I started this post and the internet connection is not steady and is instead random and always a hit or miss. My initial excitement is gone and I will now live for the random connectivity that comes from the comfort of our room.

On Friday, it was drizzling a bit so it was time to pull out the rain jacket. Jodie bought a poncho style rain coat the night before in Carrefour. I couldn’t help but giggle when she first sported it on Friday morning. She loves it though and it certainly does the trick. Her only other alternative was a Hello Kitty umbrella, which we both would not be caught dead using.
We taught Kindergarden in the morning. The class included discussion of opposites (big, small, left right), some singing and of course some duck duck goose. You can never go wrong with that game, it never gets old.

In the afternoon we taught our students from the south of Thailand along with Moss and two new students who hope to be attending RSS, a private international school in September. It was our last day with the students from the South so we spent the class playing wink murder and fruit basket. On Sunday we are planning a party for them. We have really enjoyed their class and we are going to really miss their enthusiasm and energy.
We also had a wonderful visit with our friends from the AIDS hospice. Nancy invited us for lunch and we accepted. Our time with our friends there is always so special. I feel like they are old friends who we visit regularly at the local coffee shop. We chat, make fun of each other, dance and sing a little and always enjoy each other’s presence.

On Saturday, we went to the weekend market. We walked through the pet section which was quite interesting. If you are like me and you feel guilty when you walk in a pet store then seeing the pet section would have killed you. The puppies were only a few weeks old, obviously too young to be sold and some of the smaller animals like hamsters and chicks were in such small corridors that they were literally piled on top of each other. There were also fully clothed bunnies in really small cages. It was definitely a sight and moments after we entered, we were on our way out.

I hope everyone is doing well, congrats to those who are done practicum.

Sending love from Thailand.

Misty

Where are misty's pics?

Most of my post readers are probably wondering, where are all the pics of you at Siam Ocean World, well don't worry. I to had a photo shoot which only consisted of 5 photos because it was Jodie's day to shine. Anyways, the pics will be coming soon but I have to run

Snakes on a Plane.

And the rain continues

Around suppertime the rain began and soon after came the thunder and lightening. I’ve never seen Mother Nature quite so terrifying. At home I am not usually that scared of lightening, for example I don’t hide under my bed and feel the need to cuddle with the dog. My fondest memories of thunder storms are at camp frightened and hysteric campers. In those cases, I always remained calm and collected but not today.

Here in Thailand, the lightening literally felt like it was striking over my head and seconds after the lightening struck the sky would flash pink. It reminded me of thunder and lightening bolts you would see in a documentary about Mother Nature’s force. I fully admit, I screamed and ran to find shelter a few times while Jodie and I waited outside for a songtow. In those moments, all I could think about was the likelihood of me getting struck and dying on the spot. Jodie reminded me that my chances were pretty slim which only comforted me a bit.

The rest of my day went well. I had a good morning with my adult class, all accounted for and in full attendance. Emma (a fellow volunteer), Jodie and I had a fun visit in the Aids hospice, at one point I was singing “How do I live” with one of the patients named Nancy who couldn’t carry a tune and Jodie was dancing with one of the patients in a wheelchair. One of the other patients was spending his last day at Mercy, he was heading home later in the day and he was very happy about it.

We also chatted with another volunteer who told us all about Krabi which is a province in the south of Thailand. She is a member of the British Women’s Group and Jodie suggested to me that we should either search for a Canadian Women’s Group or start one ourselves. I agreed and noted that we are already 2 members strong.

The Mercy Centre has an up coming fundraiser at the Four Season Hotel and in preparation for the auction the children have been painting pictures and today Jodie and I found a canvas picture that we both have fallen in love with. We are hoping to either attend the auction and purchase it or have the boy paint 2 more that we can buy and have the proceeds go to Mercy Centre.

Well folks, that’s all for now. I have a book to finish and some sleep to be had. I don’t know if it’s the rain or the cold temperatures but I’m craving a cup of tea but I will have to go with out tonight.

Sending love from Thailand,

Misty

Good morning Canada

Quick update while you guys are sleeping like babies. Yesterday Jodie and I went to Siam Ocean world. It was pretty awesome. Kind of pricey but we made it well worth our time and money......believe me. The evidence of this will be posted later. In the evening we watched P.S. I love you. I loved the movie but I didn 't cry and felt like a heartless human being because Jodie was on the verge of the ugly cry. We also had a refreshing downpour and lightening storm. Anyways, I have to go and teach. More updates and amazing photos coming to a blog near you.

Love Misty

ELEPHANTS, my one true love

Hey Everyone

Sorry that I’ve been leaving you hanging. Jodie has been able to post from our room but I don’t have the same patience as she does to sit and wait for the connection. So we have returned from Chaing Mai and have been lazing around for the last couple of days. We rented some movies and went out to see a movie. We also visited the boys at the Father Joe’s villa on the outskirts of the city. It is house he owes about half an hour out of the city. Half of the boys have been staying during school holiday. The other half of the boys went to visit the villa tonight so we caught a bus to join them for the celebration. The villa was so awesome. It reminded me of a mini camp for the boys. They have room to play soccer and they can go fishing and they have planted a garden. I think the most beautiful thing about the villa, is that these kids have room to explore and have room to play. The kids and staff do face a lot of challenges at the villa though. The kids don’t have mattresses and they sleep on the cement floor and they don’t have running water so they have to buy their water and food from the nearby town. We were there in the evening and I was really hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars but the sky was cloudy and no stars were found so hopefully next time. There is a large Muslim community in this area and as we were sitting by the river, a group of Muslim men and women passed us on a long motorized wooden boat. Pi Thong, one of the house parents told us that a man had died earlier in the day and they were going to funeral procession of some kind and the men and women were travelling by boat to the gathering. It was really neat to see and definitely one of those moments unique to Thailand moments.

The rest of the weekend hasn’t been that eventful. I got my hair cut on Thursday and the hair dresser who was a man pretty much shredded my hair into an Asian style hair cut with a bit of a mullet. Haha. I actually like it and my hair really needed the trim. I was really terrified though and there were moments when I questioned why I decided to get my hair cut. Mom, I definitely wish you were cutting my hair instead of Mr. Shredder. Anyways, it needed to be done and hair always grows back so I won’t complain about it anymore. Besides that we have been hanging in our room, catching up on emails and getting into a really bad sleeping habit of going to bed late and waking up really late. Yesterday, we had a picnic in the park and there was a music festival going on and we got a special shout out and an English song dedicated to us. I actually was really embarrassed, and I didn’t think the singer was talking to us but then I look behind us and noticed that we were the only white people in the crowd. I guess we just stand out in a crowd and sometimes the attention is fun but other times I just want to hide under my sit. I guess I was naïve to think that my new Asian hair cut would take some of some of the attention off me…haha. Having someone dedicate the Carole King Song, “You’ve got a friend” was one of the moments when I wanted to hide under my seat. That song is really cheesy and old and I’m not a senior citizen….haha. I’m joking.

This post is really scattered, so I apologize but ideas keep popping into my head and I don’t feel like editing my post.

In other news, as of today it has been two months since we left Canada and we are quickly approaching the half way marker. The Atwell girls will be landing in Thailand in less than 2 months and in less than a week we will have some fellow ed students visiting.

Long Neck Karen Pics

Finally, some pics

Recap

First I would like to apologize for the rough state of the blog. The computer here wasn’t working and so the posts got put up like 5 times by mistake. It is all fixed now and if you are looking for pics go to Jodie’s blog http://jodieinthailand.blogspot.com. She has been able to upload pics but I won’t be able to until we get back to Bangkok.

On Monday and Tuesday here in Chaing Mai we again spent most of our days playing Songkran. Monday we set out not really in the Songkran mood and at this point we were beginning to realize that Laos wasn’t going to be possible because of time constraints and transportation challenges. This news really dampened our mood because it meant that we would have to stay here in Chaing Mai for another week and at this point we were seriously ready to move on. We spent the day trying to figure out our options for the next week. We were considering taking the bus home, visiting neighboring provinces but we ended deciding that financially and mentally head back to Bangkok as soon as possible was our best option. The thought of spending money to stay here when we didn’t want to be here just wasn’t appealing but as of Monday we still weren’t sure how we were going to get back to Bangkok. That night we returned to the night market, bought a couple of things and on the way home meet two young Israeli guys who were walking back as well. We struck up conversation and learned that had just finished a 3 year term with the Israeli army. I told the guy that I was walking next to that I have been to Israel and he replied “Wow, I’m flattered” I kind of let out a laugh because I thought that was an unusual response. He then went on to ask me if I liked his country and I replied “Yes, very much” and he replied by saying “Thanks” The way he said it made me let a loud laugh because it wasn’t like I didn’t really see it as a personal compliment. . He responded by saying that not very many people like his country, so it meant a lot to him that someone had visited Israel and liked it. Talking to them brought back very fond memories of my trip there and it made my evening.

Earlier that evening we also struck up conversation with an Indian man and his family in McDonalds. We talked about Bangkok and the numerous amount of holidays that the Thai people celebrate. He mentioned that he had been living in Bangkok for 3 years and that he considered it a very peaceful city and that although he didn’t think there was a lot of money to be made here, he considered Thailand a happier more interesting place for his family compared to Hong Kong which is where he was lived previously.

We’ve talked to a lot of interesting people here in Chaing Mai and there’s no doubt that meeting other travelers is one of the best parts about traveling. We’ve had the chance to meet some many types of people from all walks of life and with different life experiences and in a small way, you get to take something away from every person you met.

On Tuesday we decided to stop mopping around about Laos. We needed a new game plan fast because Chaing Mai was getting us down. We decided to take a tuk tuk to the airport to see about changing our flight. Mind you, we were still in the middle of Songkran and our only option was a tuk tuk, which is like a little buggy car that has no windows or doors. I can’t post a pic right to show you, so google it if you are curious about what they look like. We got in the tuk tuk dry and arrived 20 minutes later soaked and dripping wet at the airport. Of course, everyone was looking at us like we were crazy. Everyone knows you are going to get wet in a tuk tuk, because they are prime targets because you can’t escape the water, but like I said earlier we didn’t really have any other options. Driving and being drilled with cold water was the worst combination, we were freezing and we thrilled when we finally arrived at the airport. By the time we arrived, my sandels were squeaking and my denium shorts were dripping blue dye. Needless to say, we made quite a scene and we left little puddles behind.

We successfully switched our flights and we are flying home on Thursday evening. In that moment our suddenly change and loved Chaing Mai and loved life knowing that we would be leaving for Bangkok soon.

In the afternoon we had lunch and then decided to go exploring and being fully aware that we would get soaked in the process. After walking for about 20 minutes we came across a family who were selling ice and they invited us to play Songkrah with them. So of course we agreed because at this point we were already soaked and we new that cold water was the ultimate revenge. For about an hour we joined them in soaking the passing traffic. During this time we noticed that not many people were stopping for ice and the ice appeared to be melting at quite a rapid rate. At this point Jodie and I decided to help sell ice instead of throw water. Jodie wore a huge cardboard sign that had some Thai words written on it and picture of an ice cube, so we assumed it said Ice Cubes for sale but we can’t argue that for sure. I held a huge piece of ice and showed it off as if I was on selling jewelry on the shopping network. Our little ice selling business picked up pace quite quickly. We sold 8/10 cubes in less than an hour. We were pretty amazed. Our skin color, age and gender might have had something to do with the spike in sales. In appreciation, the family gave us a coke.

In the evening, Jodie and I went for supper on a riverboat cruise. It was pretty romantic let me tell you. Sitting at a candle lit table, floating down a river listening to my heart will go on. Could there be anything more romantic? I’m not sure there could be. Anyways, we had a lovely evening and we struck conversation with an older American man and his Thai wife. He works in Iraq so of course had a few questions for him about his thoughts on the political situation there. Jodie and I joked that it was another romantic evening wasted on each other. The boat ride was about an hour long and we got to enjoy passing by other waterfront restaurants. It would be a perfect atmosphere for a proposal but to our disappointment there were no Australian doctors around to do the job.

Anyways, that’s latest recap. I miss home and Bangkok and am thrilled to be returning tomorrow. That’s all the news for now

Sending love from Thailand

Misty

Happy Songran!!!!!!

On Sunday, we went to a local women’s correctional centre for a massage. We had read about it our lonely planet book and decided to give it a try. The women have committed minor crimes and while they serve their sentence they are given opportunities to learn specialized skills such as massaging and crafting. All the money they make from the work is given to them when they are released. Jodie and I both got foot massages and enjoyed the pampering. In the afternoon and early evening we played Songhran which included watching the parade and joining in the massive water fight! We managed to find some buckets that became much more useful than our wimpy water guns. So we spent hours being soaked and soaking others. We also met up with some fellow Canadian along the way. Anyways, thats all for now, my hands are tired from all this typing. We are not sure about Laos yet, so the next couple of days are a bit up in the air.

Sending love from Thailand,
Misty

A day full of adventure

On Saturday we headed out on a trekking adventure here in Chaing Mai. Our adventure included a visit to a long neck Karen tribal village, a visit to a butterfly, an ELEPHANT TREK, white water rafting, a bamboo raft ride and a swim at nearby waterfall.

We were picked up at 8:30 by our tour guide and we traveled about 45 minutes outside of Chaing Mai city. Our 10 passenger van reminded me a lot of the Matatus in Kenya along with our drive on the rocky roads that surrounded the mountainous terrain. The visit to the long-neck Karen tribal community was extremely disappointing. You could tell that it was set up for tourist an there seemed to be very little authenticity to the whole experience considering we came away knowing no more about the history or culture of the tribe. Every experience I’ve had at this type of this has always been the same and I am beginning to wonder if it is possible to have an authentic experience unless you spend more time in the actual village which is impossible for most day long trekking excursions. All I could do was take a few pictures as though they were animals in a zoo and I felt uncomfortable but knew that I would never see this type of thing again in my life, so you sort of just go a long with it even though you hate mostly every minute.

We quickly moved on to elephant trekking. Oh I forgot to mention the butterfly farm thingy. We saw some butterfly’s and took some pics and moved on. So the elephant trekking was like a dream come true. We got on our elephant and started down a steep hill where I literally felt as though as I as going to topple off that elephant. It didn’t help that I was trying to take pictures with one hand and hold on for dear life with the other. I couldn’t help, I love elephants and a girl can never have too many pictures of elephants. In case your wondering what the elephant felt like, well he was very wrinkly and quite hairy. He had spots on the back of his ear and most importantly the most loveable creature ever. Well not really, but lets just pretend. While riding on the back of elephant we climbed a little mountain and traveled through a shallow river. So in other words my elephant moved mountains and crossed a river just to be with me…haha. Oh my goodness and the best thing about this trek was that fact that a baby elephant came along for the ride. The baby’s mom was carrying 2 of our groups members and so the baby followed which made my life. Everything that baby elephant did was adorable and I mean everything. Every few minutes I would say to Jodie “did you get a picture of the baby elephant doing this and doing that” Everything that baby elephant did was fascinating to me hence why half of our photos are of that precious thing. Towards the end of the trek the baby elephant just fell over into the water and starting playing. We couldn’t take any pics because we were so far away but I watched in awe and although it is not documented for you to see, you can trust me that it too cute for words. I think that I’m going to adopt an elephant to go along with my Kenyan baby and Thai baby.

We had lunch at the elephant site and then drove for a bit to get to our white water rafting destination. Here I came across another elephant, but it wasn’t such a happy site consider the elephant was chained to the tree. That made me really sad but as I went over to it to introduce myself, a man came over and started feeding the elephant some watermelon. I asked him if I could try and he handed me some watermelon and I got to feed him. Lets just say we had a moment. I whispered sweet nothings in his ear and feed him watermelon. I also tried to come up with an escape plan but I wasn’t sure if he understood my Thai, it’s a bit rusty.

Next it was time for white water rafting. Our biggest obstacles were the rocks. The water was quite low which is understandable because it is the summer season and so there were rocks everywhere. Jodie and I were in the front of the boat so we were the first to come in contact with everyone of those rocks. We never really got that much speed but we had an awesome time maneuvering our bodies from side to side in our attempts to avoid the rocks. Throughout our travels down the river we came across lots of Thai people swimming and having a blast in the river. They would splash us, we would splash them. All it all, it made our trip down the river, that much more enjoyable.

After our white water rafting adventure we shifted our fun towards a nice relaxing ride on a bamboo raft. I pretended I was a princess waded slowly down the river on a raft. I had two captains, one at the front and one at the back that used a large pole to direct the way and it keep the boat on course. It was so relaxing that I don’t think anyone wanted it to end.

After our rafting trip we headed to a nearby waterfall. It wasn’t really a waterfall though, it was more like a swimming hole but I had a fun time climbing the rocks and swimming in the clean water.

Chaing Mai

(Quick note, Jodie and I are frantically posting these posts because we are being charged my the minute so ignore all grammar and spelling mistakes. Sorry for no pics, they will come later, probably when we return to Bangkok.

Jodie are I are having a great time here in Chaing Mai so far. Songhran festival is in full swing and it even started a couple of days ahead of the official holiday. Children and teens are particularly involved in the water throwing in the days leading up to the holiday. Everyone has a bucket, a water gun or access to a hose to soak their victims. On the sides of the streets both in the downtown city and the surrounding highways you see groups of people scattered around a big bin of water or hose to keep them supplied for hours. Another familiar sight is seeing a group of people on the back of a pick up truck simply driving around searching for their next victim. To describe this holiday as a MASSIVE water fight is not even sufficient. Here in the downtown core between two of the main streets is a large river stream which comes in handy for water enthusiasts to find a bountiful supply of water. This stream keeps the water fight in play for hours and hours. As a passenger in a vehicle, you still get splattered even though it would appear to be a waste since no one is getting wet. The festival thus far has been like nothing I have ever experienced before. There have been endless moments of pure joy throughout the last couple of days. Some of these moments include children attacking us with water, older women chasing us with a cup or water or a friendly elderly woman dumping a cup of water down one’s back. Other moments of joy include finding innocent unsuspecting victims of which WE catch off guard. The best is when you take someone’s own bucket and shove it towards them and in the end, they soak themselves.

Along with those pure moments of joy comes long annoying aftermath as you walk around cold and soaked to the bone trying desperately to dry. This is quite impossible considering that every person is armed with a bucket, gun or house. We quickly realized that the only safe haven was our room.

Speaking our room, it’s not the most luxurious space I’ve stayed in but at the moment it will do because the hose we use for our shower has hot water and that is at least one thing to be grateful for. The bed however is probably one of the worst things I’ve slept on aside from a hard cement floor. It feels like a really uncomfortable futon and the pillow feels more like a piece of plywood but we do have a TV, so the complaints will end now.

Misty

Hi Everyone,

Quick note to tell you that Jodie and I have one more day before we head out on our adventure to Chaing Mai and Laos. We are really excited but there are a few things that are still up in the air, we are trusting that things will work out as we go along. They have thus far in our adventure. Yesterday, we came across my new favourite place in Bangkok. It is a hip little second hand book store off of Sukumvit. They have a great selection along with the option to buy back books, so I'm looking forward to trading some of my books in for some new one's while I'm here. Yesterday I picked up "The Constant Gardener" and I was really tempted to pick up a book about Che Guevera, but I held back because I still have a few books at home to read. Anyways, no other news to share with you as of now. Its early in the morning and we have a day full of rec and teaching ahead of us. I will try to post again before we leave.

Misty

Movie Night

Mr. Bean is pretty universal and Jodie and I had a feeling that the boys would enjoy the movie so we decided to treat the boys to a movie night tonight. Only half of the boys are at soi 40 right now and the other boys are staying at the villa for the next couple of weeks. Our evening was a blast, and above are some pics from the night. Believe me, I know they aren't the most flattering pics, but just imagine what you would look like if you've been sweating all day and night....haha.

Today, Jodie and I got our Laos visa and added another page to our passports. I also taught some girls piano today which was actually quite fun. I am teaching three at one time! I am picturing them speeding ahead of me in a few weeks. Let's just say, I am a little rusty. We went on the subway for the first time today and right now I'm sitting in a sleazy bar taking advantage of their free wireless. We are trying to figure out more details about our upcoming trip to Chaing Mai and Laos. Oh yeah and Jodie and I are pretending we are on the amazing race and we have made up a pretend couple that we are racing against and we are always refering to how we can get ahead. It sounds a little odd but it is keeping us preoccupied...haha.

Sending love from Thailand.
Misty

Canadian Eh

Hi everyone

Our weekend has shaped up to be quite an eventful one. On Friday we spent the day teaching and around supper time treated ourselves to some crepes and Swenson’s. The crepes here are dirt cheap and they sell them just a few meters from Mercy Centre. Swenson’s is a big ice cream chain here. After treating ourselves we bused home, rested and miraculously happened upon an Internet connection in our room here in Soi 40. With that low but available I sent some very important emails that had been stressing me out for the last couple of days. By this point it was around 10 but Jodie and I were both in high spirits so we decided to go test out a new restaurant since we were both starving and had reason to celebrate. We came across a really nice Italian restaurant, and enjoyed a delicious pizza.

Saturday could be summed up in a few words. Those being “Laundry” and “Canadians” We spent all morning and part of the afternoon, slowly tackling our laundry. We spent over 4 hours washing, draining, washing; spin drying and hanging our clothes outside in the backbreaking heat. The boys and the house staff were away and we had very little food in our fridge, so after a day of laundry and a few apples we set out to find some food. We hopped on a bus, not having any idea where it would leave us but we were confident at some point it would pass the A&W we remembered seeing. After taking a loop around the bus route we finally reached our destination.

In the evening we attended a party with fellow Canadian friend named Nick. He works at the Canadian Embassy and a fellow colleague was having a birthday party and he invited us to attend. Jodie, SiJie and I frantically rushed back to soi 40 to meet him at 5:30. I’ve never got ready so fast in my life, except for the time that my alarm didn’t go off on my graduation day.

We had a really interesting evening chatting and meeting fellow Canadians. Most of who worked at Canadian Embassy’s throughout the world. Interesting to note, most individuals who work for the embassy only stay at a posting for 4 years and then they either go back to Ottawa or move onto a different posting, and a different country. Everyone we met had travelled to and worked in some really exceptional places such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Israel and United Emirates. I learned a lot about Canada’s foreign policy, how to apply for the embassy and even how the tsunami impacted the Canadian embassy here in Canada. Needless to say it was a really informative and fun evening and the best part was the fact that we got to be really patriotic and boast about Nova Scotia and have people actually understand what were talking about.

On Sunday we cleaned our room and headed off to the weekend market. This market was GIGANTIC and really overwhelming. I would estimate that the whole market covers over a kilometer and from the sky train you can hundred’s of people walking in and out of the shops. We spent ALL afternoon there and we only covered one part of the market. It is extremely crowded but thankfully today was a relatively cool day and so we didn’t have to push and shove in the blistering heat. We both found a few good finds and navigating through the market was an adventure in itself.
Oh yeah, 2 quick stories. Last night we were furiously barked at by two stray dogs outside of soi 40. I was a wee bit terrified and I really hope that it never happens again. Pigeons and stray dogs are my least favorite animals here in Thailand. Elephant and monetary lizards on the other hand top my list.

If you are Canadian and into Canadian pop bands you might remember “The Moffats” well Frank Moffat who is the father of the moffats volunteers at Mercy Centre on Saturdays. Jodie and I haven’t met him yet, but let me tell you, I’m quite excited about our meeting. I owned a Moffats album when I was 13 and I loved “I miss you like crazy” SiJie told us that one of the brothers is living here in Thailand too. My heart flipped just a little when I heard this. The moffats were my Canadian heart throbs in my pre-teens and the thought of meeting them 10 yrs later is still quite exciting. Lame I know, but whatever. Everyone has embarrassing crushes from their childhood. It is like if Mom was going to meet Donny Osmond, she would be QUITE excited. Hahah.

Anyways, that’s all for me.

Sending love from Thailand,

Misty

No name

Hi everyone, this is a post from the other day. Sorry for not posting lately. We’ve been quite busy.

Important News Headlines of the day

Chiang Mai is booked. We are headed to the north of Thailand from April 11-21 for Songkrah!!! Chaing Mai is Thailand’s second largest city, Bangkok being the first. John warned us that there will be thick haze over the city while we are there. The cause of this is a combination of dust and smoke from the burning off of the rice fields near the city. We have been also told that it is nearly impossible to stay dry during the five days festival of Songkrah. We are stoked and we can’t wait to purchase water guns and join in the activity.
We started teaching the children from south of Thailand today. The children affected by the tsunami. They were a blast, so energetic and genuinely interested in learning. It was really refreshing.
Laos and Burma are hopefully going to be visited during our holiday! We would really like to visit the UNESCO heritage site in Laos. It is a village of temples dating as far back as the 1300’s. I’m not sure of the name right now. Jodie found some books about Burma and Thailand upstairs in the library. Mind you, most of them are from the 80’s but still worth skimming through to do some research.
We got caught in the rain today. I think it’s the second time we’ve seen rain since we’ve been here.
Jodie and I washed some of our laundry by hand tonight. We had a trust bucked and scrub brush. Sitting on a little stool scrubbing at each piece. One thing this experience did offer up was a chance for one just moment to appreciate the time and effort that women in the developing world put into the routine chore.
Men eating grasshoppers. Not my idea of a good time, but I got to watch as two adult men chilling out by a nearby window munching on covered grasshoppers.
Duck Duck Goose has no age limit. While children in Canada would refer to this as a baby game, the children here at Mercy are intrigued and obsessed with it. The older girls at mercy 3 ages 11-16 were requesting the game at recreation today. I guess it is just classic, much like the Chicken Dance.

Are you hungry? Probably won't be after you see this

SQUIDDDDDDDDD!!!! Yuck.

A Day at Mercy

Ford and I
Napping peaceful children. Moments earlier they were picking at each other and really wound up. If you look closely, you will notice they are all wearing spongebob square pants shorts. So cute.

Ford, one of my students. He is the son of one of the staff members here at Mercy

A little boy named Kent. He is an HIV/AIDS patient here at Mercy 6. He is 14 years, and as you can see the disease has stunted his growth and made his body very small and fragile. He is in the last stages of treatment but is a very content happy boy.

Yesterday Jodie and I joined Si Jie and Pi Tip for an art lesson. I was designated photographer and Jodie got to stretch her skills as an artist. The kids are so special that even their simple paintings say a lot.