We're Here

We arrived safely to Bangkok around midnight last night. I must tell you my first impression of Thailand was-it's hot!! Thailand-the land of smiles (their official motto) feels more like the land of sweat! The boys commented on the sweat glistening on my face, okay, Dustin's exact words were, "Man mom, you are sweating!" The middle of the night and it was hot! Bringing back some uncomfortable memories of living in Houston. The weather in Japan was hot during the day but at night, while we were there, it was so nice and cool. We felt so safe to walk the streets of Tokyo, I asked one of our tour guides about all the many, many bikes that line the streets that are not secured. He said, with great pride, that you don't worry about someone stealing in his country. The only thing to cause any worry is that someone that has had too much saki (sp) might take it out for a joy ride! By the way, some pictures of Tokyo will be coming soon, that were taken the last day we were there.

You may wonder how I've had so much time to blog while we have been traveling-it's the time change and the waiting in the airports!! Don't expect this much information once my body adjusts. We didn't arrive to our hotel room until 1 am and then it took a while to unwind and check out our wonderful 3 bedroom suite, there are 4 TV's and they all have cable-all of you really don't feel so far after all. We have listened to more about the upcoming election in the states in the last 5 days than we ever did in Virginia! We went to sleep about 2am and then my internal clock had me up at 6am or perhaps it was the excitement of getting my first peak out our window at Thailand. After our drive last night and looking out our beautiful hotels' 33rd floor window, I would sum it up with one word-contrasts. The airport was really beautiful and the 4-lane interstate was so nice and new, there were many familiar sights, a Sanyo billboard, a modern, large gas station, we passed a Marriot...but then right beside the beautiful, modern hotels was extreme poverty. At one red light-remember it was after midnight, a boy probably around 7 was running from vehicle to vehicle to wash people's car window. Ethan's 'tiredness' paled in comparison to seeing this small boy working in the middle of the night. It initially reminds me some of the Dominican Republic-hot,(did I already mention that? but our hotel room is very cool) tropical-with lots of palm trees sprinkled across the city along with a generous number of poverty houses. Right outside of our luxury hotel, from our lofty perch,I was just watching a woman hanging her laundry on her roof which is partially missing and a tarp is being used as roofing. Bangkok is a big city but I would say initially I would describe it to you as a city of contrasts.

I'm excited, Cecilia my dear friend that now lives in St.Louis, had put me in contact with a friend of hers from her new church, that had just moved from living in Thailand. Her husband was the US attache' to Thailand. She has been so helpful (Mary) in getting me hooked up right away with some missionaries that live in Bangkok. They have been very friendly and helpful so far, we hope to be having dinner with a couple of them tonight along with Chris (our Secret Service friend from VA that is here preparing for President Bush's upcoming visit to Thailand before he takes part in the Olympics. I told you. You all don't seem too far away!)We will be attending Mary's old church this morning, that is actually very close to our hotel. One of the missionaries, Gayle's daughter, used to teach violin at the British International School we are considering for the boys. I tell you that to stress how good God is to prepare our paths ahead of us, to provide a remnant of His people in Thailand-He does provide in amazing, supernatural ways, that is so comforting! In fact, Gayle has already offered to come and have lunch with me while Mark is gone in a couple of weeks to Singapore. One of the other missionaries has an active rescue mission to young ladies in the Pattaya area that are wanting to leave their profession of prostitution, they teach them sewing and baking skills. How cool would that be if I could help out with some cooking classes? It's exciting to see how God sees fit to use us in this country and how He will change us and mold us through our experiences here. Pray as we ask our driver this morning to attend the worship service with us.