Vacation in Vietnam-A Homestay

After debarking from our Indochina cruise ship we drove 6 hours to arrive at our next Vietnam destination, Bon Lac, estimate of 250 miles. We had to navigate through Hanoi and it's atrocious traffic and head southeast of the capital city for our scheduled homestay. A Vietnamese homestay is like an American Bed and Breakfast. We paid $125 to stay 2 days/1 night in a stilt village home. I love this kind of thing, getting the opportunity to stay with the local people and experience life through their eyes. The entire village is compromised of homes that are built on stilts and has about 1000 people. We were so glad to finally be there safely, thankfully we all had books, games and Ipods to keep us occupied along with our informative guide providing interesting tidbits of knowledge about Vietnam.

We passed many, many miles of farmland being tended by hand, water buffalo and plow, no modern farm equipment seen anywhere. Our guide, Woang, told us that each person in Northern Vietnam is given 120 sq. meters of land, thus it's an asset to have many children. Mark calculated for me that is about 3% of an acre of land. Being such a small plot of land it is easier to tend to by hand. The plots of land are well cared for and beautiful. We saw lots of plots of corn, rice and vegetables-cabbage, onions, tomatoes,turnips, potatoes, peanuts...In the north the farmer is able to plant and harvest 3 crops/year. Many plots of land have graves with markers on them. Woang told us that family members are buried on personal land in the countryside, after 3 years the bones of their loved ones are excavated and cleaned with alcohol by family members and then left to rest for eternity. He said it is a final act of love to care for their bones and tend to their markers.

We also stopped a couple of times along the trip. One stop was at a roadside coffee shop allowing us to taste the famous 'red' coffee. Woang tells us that Vietnam is 2nd in coffee exports only to Brazil (?) and that we must taste the famous 'red' coffee. It is coffee made from the bean that has been eaten by tree rats and then passed through the rat's digestive system. It was very tasty especially after they mixed it with sweetened condensed milk. At the coffee house, two men were playing ping-pong. Mark asked to take on the winner and was promptly taken to ping-pong school!! These guys could spin a ping-pong ball like I've never seen. We all had a good laugh together even though we couldn't communicate otherwise. At the coffee house there were also bottles of rice wine with intact cobras and scorpions for sale. Apparently, it is very expensive to purchase these bottles but very important to the Vietnamese people for medicinal purposes. The one with scorpions is used for back ailments.

He also filled us in on all the dog eating rules. Apparently, we just missed the 'lucky' days to eat dog, needless to say, we weren't disappointed. If you eat dog the first ten days of a month-"that very unlucky!". He said you wouldn't even find a market vendor selling dog during those first ten days. He also warned us never to eat "bicycle chicken" but rather "walking chicken". When we later passed a bicycle with many cages of chicken headed to market he pointed out that was "bicycle chicken". We never could get him to explain to us how you would know the difference at the market. He eats enjoys all kinds of blood-cobra blood, turtle blood, dog blood-"very, very good!" We decided to take him at his word on this!

At the homestay we were greeted by a mother, father, grown son and wife and grown daughter that run the hotel out of their home. Their people group have roots from Thailand and we were able to communicate some with our limited Thai skills, that helped us bond some with the family. They prepared one large room for our family with sheets as room dividers, we each had a mat, warm cover and pillow. Our meals were so delicious at their table and such generous portions. I couldn't wait to try to join them in their open fire kitchen the next day and they were kind to oblige. I spent time squatting with the ladies cutting vegis for our lunch and then they allowed me to squat with them in the kitchen around the fire rolling spring rolls. I rolled at least 50 spring rolls, there was a lot of talking and laughing, probably at my expense, (I'm sure they had never had such a strange guest that wanted to cut up vegis and cook with them before!!) but I really enjoyed my time among the women and men that were cooking and I'm quite confident in my spring rolling ability now! I'm sad that I didn't get any pictures of their kitchen, Mark and the boys were out exploring the village with the camera as I was cooking.

We took a couple of walks around the village and countryside, at one home a young man was working at his loom making silk scarves and even uses a spinning wheel still. His home is on stilts, under one room is his work area and under the other room is his water buffalo stables-can you imagine sleeping or cooking over the water buffalo and all of his smells? I enjoyed our time in the village very much. We flew out of Hanoi on Monday to DaNang and Hoian, Vietnam. I have had much time to catch up on the blog and post slideshows because it has rained hard all day today. We had planned to go fishing in a round boat today but that was cancelled and spend the afternoon at the beach. We have spent most of the day reading, watching movies, and catching up on internet stuff. We fly out tomorrow for the last leg of our vacation in Saigon in south Vietnam.

Vacation in Vietnam-Halong Bay

On our second day in Vietnam we traversed over 3 hours of Northern Vietnam to meet up with our junk for a 2 day cruise through Halong Bay. Since we have arrived in Vietnam the weather has been misty, foggy and cool. Cruising along the Halong Bay was no different, it remained foggy our entire trip but it was still amazing. When we booked a cruise on a junk I had visions of us roughing it, this wasn't the case at all. Our junk was a luxury boat with 11 rooms, a beautiful dining room and several observation decks. Their slogo cracks me up, "The luxury you deserve." That saying just always convicts me, because I know that I deserve nothing and all the luxuries we enjoy in this life are by God's mercy.

We spent the two days either cruising the bay of Halong or anchored for trips out on a tender to see the fishing villages spread out among the bay. One village we visited is entirely on boats anchored in the water. Many of the boathouses had small children and dogs on their small decks. The government provides a school on water for the children. They have electricity by generator and all seemed to have TV's so not totally cut off from civilization. They take advantage of the passing cruise ships and small tenders entering their villages, many approached us wanting to sell a snack or beautiful shell. Mark and I also kayaked along the bay for a closer view of things, it's really something how these huge rock formations jut straight out of the water. Our captain told us the water we cruised through is only 5-10 meters deep. The bay opens into the Sea of China.

I'll also put a picture in the slide show of one of the large caves we toured through. We really enjoyed this part of our vacation.

Vacation in Vietnam

Greeting from Hanoi, Vietnam. We arrived in the capital of Vietnam on Friday, Dec.26th. We spent the first day touring the city on a cyclotour. It was quite exciting and frightening at times. I just thought the traffic in Bangkok and Cambodia was bad, you really can't even imagine how crowded the roads are, there are motorcycles everywhere. One quick difference between Thailand and Vietnam is honking. I've been told that in Thailand you don't hear honking on the roads because of their Buddhist beliefs, they practice patience and don't honk. In Vietnam, the honking has given me a headache. The honking is constant and seems to have several meanings-"I'm passing, scoot over. I'm passing going around a curve, honking to let you know if you are on the other side of the curve. To encourage the water buffaloes or cattle to get off the highway. I'm about to run over you...." It's just the wildest. There were a couple of times we were stuck in traffic in a cyclo, at one point a motorcycle hit us very lightly. You can feel very vulnerable in traffic setting in a cyclo, (a seat that is being pedaled from behind.} I'm going to post a slide show of our time in Hanoi before driving 3 hours Northeast to Halong Bay for a 2 day cruise. I must mention the weather was a cool 50 degrees when we arrived, we are loving the cooler weather!!

Holiday Happenings

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I'm trying to find the time to keep up with the blog because we leave on Friday for 10 days in Vietnam and I'm trying not to get behind!

Saturday after returning to the pier from Koh SiChang we drove on into Bangkok. I can't tell you how comforting it is to return from a trip and see Songkran waiting with the car. You always wonder, did he understand the directions, is he on time, did he remember...We are so blessed that he is very dependable and timely. Just when you think your clicking right along something happens to set you back some though. Last week, I asked him to take Dustin and Nathan to some friends of ours home about 15 minutes away to water their plants while they are in the states for Christmas while I got ready for Mark's work dinner. I couldn't imagine what was taking so long, after about 40 minutes I received a call from Dustin,(who had managed to borrow a phone from a passerby)that Songkran had left them! I called Songkran and asked, "Where are you?" He said, "Home." Home I'm wondering? I'm mystified and even ask him, "How did you think they would get home? Walk? You left my babies Songkran, please go back and get them." Turns out he was at our home, the way our house is situated I never even noticed that he was setting on our driveway, I'm not sure what he was thinking, I had tried to be very specific in the directions explaining that the boys had to give naum to the dogmai? Something was lost in the translation for sure!

We wanted to spend some time in Bangkok Christmas shopping and sight seeing. We have not done the typical Bangkok tourist things. Mark took a holiday on Monday and we had Songkran drive us to our hotel asking him to return on Monday to pick us up at the hotel. Taxi service, subway, and sky-train usage is very cheap in Bangkok and easily accessible. If we use Songkran's services on a weekend not only do we have to pay overtime but we also have to give him 1000B/night for accommodations and food. ($30).

Saturday night we took a dinner cruise down the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, all of the temples and royal buildings are illuminated, it was very beautiful and the food was pretty good too, we can now check that tourist thing off our list of things to do. We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday on the 'Great Guitar Search'. Dustin and Nathan both had requested new guitars for Christmas, after the guitar google search we set off on foot, by taxi, by sky train in search of the desired guitars. It's amazing the parts of the city we got to see that way. We ended up buying their electric guitar in Chinatown at an Ibenez store and the electric, acoustic Yamaha in a mall. I'm thankful that we found the guitars that will make their Christmas wishes come true but mostly thankful that we are safe and sound. You really trust God in a whole new level when you step into some of the Bangkok taxi's. We rode in 5 taxis over the weekend and only 1 driver matched his taxi picture posted in the passenger window. We noticed a propane bottle in the trunk of one of the taxis we rode in. It's amazing how much time I have spent in prayer in a taxi while zooming around Bangkok. I don't think all of our taxi travels even exceeded $10, that's just how cheap the taxi service is in Bangkok.

On Monday, the Clarkson's met us for a tour of the Grand Palace complex and to see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. All of the royal buildings and wats are spread over 60 acres with over 100 buildings, they are quite amazing. Many of the buildings are gilded with pure gold. The Grand Palace is today used by the king for only certain ceremonial occasions. The so-called Emerald Buddha is not emerald but made of one complete piece of jade, it's not known who sculpted it and has been the subject of much controversy-it has been stolen by Laos at one time, but after 200 years was taken back. It has three royal robes that are changed according to the season and only the king himself can change his clothes. The robes are made of pure gold-one for the hot season, the cool season (remember that is a relative term!!) and the rainy season. It is one of Thailand's most esteemed possessions. You must be suitably attired to enter the palace grounds-no shorts or bare arms, I actually saw the fashion police turn someone away who had a sleeveless shirt on.

After the walking tour, we boarded a long boat for a trip through the canals of Bangkok. This was so cool, I love seeing how differently people live. We were all surprised to see very large Monitor lizards throughout the canals and lounging on porches of residences, at first we thought they were crocodiles in the canal water. So glad that we took the canal tour.

We arrived home Monday night around 9 pm just in time to start preparing for a Christmas swimming party at our house on Tuesday. We invited our friends that are still here over for swimming. It was a lot of fun, the highlight seemed to be all the kids swimming in the pond!! There were also badminton and ping-pong tournaments going on. I'll post a slide show of our Bangkok weekend and the swimming party.

Birthday Mission Trip

Friday after school was out for the Christmas holidays, we met Mark at the refinery and caught the 4:O0, 45 minute, ferry over to Koh SiChang. This is the second time the boys and I have gone over to visit our church's Thai mission church on this small island. We were taking a load of Christmas presents from our International Church of Pattaya to help them celebrate Christ's birthday. They have had a 'wish' list for some time-fans, laptop, printer, keyboard...It was so great to be a part of blessing this small congregation and making some of their wishes come true. It was truly amazing to be in the congregation as many of these people heard the story of Christ's birth for the first time. This is a nation that is 97% Buddhist, one person commented that they thought Christmas was Santa's birthday! On Saturday morning as the children were learning about Jesus and his birth, they were asked if they knew who Jesus's mother was, not one child could answer. Away from the commercialism of Bangkok and Pattaya you rarely see any acknowledgement or mention of Christmas here. There are some lights and decorations up in some places but in reference to a Happy New Year.

On Friday night we attended the fellowship's Christmas service with Pastor LoongLot telling the story of Christ's birth, addressing the sinful state of man and their need of a saviour. I couldn't understand much of the service at all, Marina, our pastor's wife sat beside me and could translate some of the teaching but I did understand when he was telling them that Christ is not the God of the Farang that he came and died for each of them too. After the service we had a very nice Thai dinner. The Thai people are so generous and treat guests so special, we had a feast! A feast that was cooked entirely on a stove top, they do not have ovens and cook almost everything in a wok over an open flame. We love the spicy food here and can't let ourselves think about the sanitation. We are just grateful that God made our bodies so amazing that they fight off all kinds of assaults. There are no serving spoons, everyone uses their own spoons to dish out their soup over and over again. Most people just use their hands to get ice out of the large, community bin...At a market one time I had ordered papaya salad, which I just love, it's sooo spicy but yummy. As the woman was preparing my dish, she had to taste it a couple of times to make sure she was getting it just right, with the spoon she was stirring with!! If that happens in America, we just don't know about it! I just told myself, "She really wants this to taste just right for me!" and tried not to think about the whole germ thing.

After dinner, Daniel presented all the gifts from our English-speaking congregation. I was most excited to see them receive a laptop, LoongLot has been attending seminary for over 2 1/2 years and has had to hand write all of his assignments during that time, this will make his studying so much easier. Dustin opened the keyboard and joined the singing later on. The church has someone that is going to learn to play the keyboard. Each child received a small gift and every family 1000Baht ($30). This is a very poor island and that small amount will go a long ways.

We stayed in one of the two hotels on the island because on Saturday morning we had a 'Happy Birthday Jesus' party with the children. (The hotel is way below our Motel 6in the states, you have to flush your toilet with a bucket of water, the toilet paper is in a plastic box because you have to shower while setting on the toilet, but they have an amazing cook!) We had planned to send each child home with their very own cardboard tree with decorations and lights. Thai people love color, brightness, and lights. This was such a treat for the kids. We underestimated how many would attend, over 60 kids came. We had just enough trees to insure that at least every household would have a sparkly tree in their home. Several mothers came and I'm not sure who was more excited the moms or the kids. I'll post all the pictures of our trip. The boys were a great help, we continue to form relationships on the island and some of the kids were excited to see the boys again. Nathan has a special buddy, we call him Tiny Tim, he's this really round guy who loves Nathan, I think he's an aspiring sumo wrestler, he always wants to wrestle with Nathan. This time a little girl with Down's syndrome participated in all the events, she was quite the character and could not keep her hands off of my female appendages!! Last time we visited and prayed for a little girl who has obvious advanced, hydrocephalus, she was there. Her condition continues to worsen, as I was holding her this trip, she was having frequent seizure activity, it is a very sad situation.So many of the island people do not look healthy, they have poor nutrition and many of them look like they have some liver ailments, their eyes are yellow, including the pastor.

It was a great to be with the church of Koh SiChang again especially during this holiday season. What a privilege to be a part of so many of them hearing the gospel for the very first time, the real reason of Christmas!

Holiday Happenings

Last night we participated in a Carol/Nativity presentation at Burapha with a few of our friends. Shivana, from Australia and Lisa from Indonesia just decided a couple of weeks ago, "Why don't we get together, sing some carols, and act out the Nativity scene?" It grew to a performance on a small stage, instruments, fliers being distributed to the Burapha neighborhood, a sound system, costumes...Considering we just 'threw' it all together, I think it was a success and I think it has lots of potential in the future! The setting was gorgeous and I still catch myself saying, "Wow! I get to live in Thailand!!" I had one of those moments last night as I was snapping a few pictures before performance time-of people getting their make-up on, singers practicing, friends arriving...the thought cross my mind when I was focusing on my photo subject and the palm trees came to my attention in the background of the photos. It was just a gorgeous setting and there was a slight breeze in the air. Have I mentioned how much I am enjoying this weather at the moment For the last month, the mornings and evenings have been cooler. We have not had any rain for weeks, the rainy season is behind us now, the winds have shifted and I would say the weather is just about perfect, all the time!

Anyway, back to our performance. Dustin and Nathan played their violins and Dustin accompanied one of the soloist on 'O Holy Night' from the piano. Mark was such a trooper, the only man who participated, but you know how the Northcutt's like those Christmas Carols. I was so thankful for Mark, we were such a small group we really needed him. I just love that guy! Most of the men didn't even make the performance time because of work. Mark had to rearrange his work schedule and rush out to the venue to participate. The night before at a dinner for his management staff his employees were almost begging him to get up and participate in Karaoke, ( that is HUGE here!) and Mark finally consented and got up and sang, Hotel California. He did a great job, I was really proud of him, he's not too proud to just put himself out there!! Our driver commented that he heard Khun Mark singing and could hear his laugh in the parking lot-can't you just hear it too???

Okay, back to the performance! I keep getting off-track. It was a whole family affair, Ethan was a wise man in the Nativity and joined us for carols. I hope that our small crowd enjoyed the evening and I was so excited that we were asked to join in. Here's a few pictures from last night.

Christmas Concert

Saturday evening we attended the boys Christmas Dinner Concert at the school. The middle school band began the program with Dustin as the MC. Dustin also played the french horn and Nathan the trombone. I was really proud of them, they've done well learning a brass instrument this fall. Their band teacher is from Pennsylvania and is a marching band teacher, so no opportunity to play their violins at school in an orchestra. They also have been involved with the jazz band as an elective, which combines middle and high school musicians, they performed as well with Dustin on the piano and Nathan playing the electric guitar. It was a warm evening on the soccer field at ISE with a Christmas tree and Christmas lights as the backdrop and Christmas music in the air.

I'm also including a picture from our PTA board holiday happening from today.

Holiday Happenings

Yesterday was a busy day. My parenting Bible study had their holiday party combining it with a 'Good-Bye' party for three of our ladies. Apparently that is what happens every Christmas and May around here-lots of Good-byes. I already don't like it! Most companies arrange their transfers for the Christmas break or after a school term. Khun Lek is one of the ladies we said good-bye to yesterday. She was one of my first Thai friends and I'm really going to miss her. She is moving to California to live with relatives because she wants her two daughters to have more opportunities in America. She has been such an encouragement to me here, a fast friend, that always had a smile for me in the halls of the school. She has tried to help me with my Thai language difficulties and teach me about some Thai cultural issues. She laughs with me a lot and always says 5-5-5 in her emails. (In Thai 5 is Ha! It took me a while to catch on to her joke.) She is a new Christian and it has been such a joy to have her participating in our Bible study, she is full of joy and hungry to grow in the Lord. I hooked her up with Natalie Connell, a friend that is attending college in L.A.. Natalie attends a church that actually has a Thai outreach, but we're not sure how far the church will be from Khun Lek's new home, but it gave Khun Lek much comfort to already know another Christian in the L.A. area. I'll post pictures from the party, it was a sweet time of singing carols together and praying for the three ladies that are leaving. Yesterday one of the Japanese ladies, Nobuko, is a trained opera singer and she blessed us by singing Ava Maria. Then we all enjoyed our potluck lunch. The combination of food is just amazing, Japanese, Korean, Thai, South American and American food. Every week I get to experience some new culinary treat.

Last night, I decided to host a party for our new Thai friends. I was nervous, what would we do about the language barrier and would anyone come? We had a good group and I'm kicking myself because I was busy playing hostess and forgot to take any pictures. I especially wanted you to see the floating candle decorations Noik, my housekeeper made for the pool, it really made it seem festive. Noik and her entire family came, MaNoon-her husband, her Mother, her three sons and one nephew. Songkran, our driver came. Mark's secretary-Suchada and her husband came, my tennis coach and his wife-Khun Toy and Khun Poot, and most of his students came, 5 of them. I try to play at least once a week, and I've been playing Champoo some, she's 12 and I've yet to beat her. Well, she came and her little brother Danny who is my one fan. He cheers me on when his sister and I play. He's this chubby,short, 7 year old who will yell, "Khun Da!!" when I make a good shot. Lena, our Thai teacher came. Wandee, the Thai caretaker of Mrs. Trula who goes to our church, came. Lee and Sheryl, our neighbors, attended with their two boys and finally our pastor and family-Daniel and Marina. They have lived here 13 years and are missionaries to the Thai people from South Africa and pastor the small International church we attend. It was so great to have them here because they speak fluent Thai and English. It turned out okay!! We had just enough people that could translate I don't think it was too uncomfortable. We had lots of food, thankfully Noik brought some Thai food because that went fast but they seemed to enjoy the Western food too for the most part. The vegis and dip-not so popular, I've got a lot of celery left over! Celery is imported from California, and most of them had never seen that green, crunchy monster before! (That's what Mike, Mark's brother calls celery. I think the Thai people would agree if their response to it last night was an indicator!)

It was funny last night, Suchada, Mark's secretary wanted a tour of the house. She just laughed when she saw all of Mark's boots in our closet. She said everyone asks about Khun Mark's boots!! I've asked Mark if anyone had commented on them and he said, "Surprisingly, no." Suchada said that everyone asks her why Khun Mark wears boots all the time and they didn't know they were going to have a cowboy boss!! No telling everything Mark misses in the translation!

Suchada has been such a blessing to us, she has tried to help make our transition so much easier. She is a very efficient secretary and has been so helpful to Mark and I. She mothers Mark, making sure that he has lunch delivered daily to his office. She worries that he never takes a break and usually just eats at his desk. She orders his lunch daily and Mark totally leaves the menu up to her. She was telling me last night how amazed she is that Mark is so easy going and likes all Thai food,"even spicy food just like Thai people! so lucky for me that Khun Mark so easy to please!"

Okay, what do you do with a house full of people that can't communicate easily and no alcohol is involved-you play Spoons!! I tried to think of something we could play that would require little explanation. We had a really great time, after all- laughing is the same no matter what language you speak. 5-5-5-5!

The King's Birthday

It's a national holiday in Thailand, this is the King's 81st birthday. The Thai people love their King, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX. It's been very interesting learning more about him this past week, the school had a formal ceremony yesterday with songs and tributes to the King. He was born in the US, while his father was completing his education at Harvard. He became king when he was only 18 after his father died unexpectedly, he was the youngest of three children, the oldest being his brother who took over the monarchy after their father died. Then his brother died tragically shortly after taking over the throne, (We have been unable to find out how he died?). It is a criminal offense to talk negatively about the monarchy so I'm wondering if that is why I can't find more information about the older brother's death? Because of the untimely death, Bhumibol was crowned king at the young age of 18, he is the world's longest serving monarch and is known by the people here as 'The Light of Thailand'. He has for the past 6 decades delivered a birthday address on the eve of his birthday until last night. It is huge news here that he did not appear and speak to his country, it's also a little worrisome. Many people here were wanting to hear him speak in response to all the political turmoil going on here. I wonder what might happen if he died when the government is so unstable at the moment? Time will tell.

We are all home for the day. Our driver and housekeeper have the holiday off as well as Mark. Mark gets 13 national holidays here, more than the US. We have Daniel our pastor's son coming to play for the day and then his entire family will join us for dinner tonight. I hope to get some holiday cooking done today and make some more Christmas ornaments.

I participated with a group of friends in an ornament exchange on Wednesday. I had to make 18 ornaments to exchange with little planning time. All the other ladies know about this yearly tradition and plan months beforehand, bringing supplies from their home countries. This summer when we were visiting in NM before moving, my friend LoriLynn Brock gave me a cute, little, wire angel as a farewell gift. That was my inspiration for the ornaments I exchanged. It is really hard to find craft items here, but I did manage to find some supplies in Bangkok on a recent shopping trip that worked just fine. It was a fun holiday happening in Burapha, the neighborhood by the boy's school that we considered living in, they were kind to include me. I'll post some of the pictures I took.

Holiday Happenings

With the arrival of December many holiday parties have begun here. On Monday, my Daniel Bible study group had a holiday luncheon and we will break until the middle of January because more than half of the ladies are heading out of the country for the holidays, Lord willing.

Several of you have asked about the political situation here, the airports in Bangkok have been closed for over a week because political protesters had taken residence in the airports. Yesterday, the Thai legal system ruled that the current government is invalid, thus making the protesters happy and the airports will reopen on Friday, we've been told. So many of my friends have had their travel plans thwarted, and it will take many days for the backlog of travelers to get out of Thailand. Many have planned other routes, taking boats out of Thailand to Malaysia, or driving to Northern Thailand....Last week Mark had to charter aircraft to evacuate any Exxon visitors in the country. I assume if we would have had an emergency they would have done the same for us? Just thankfully Mark was in the country and we had no travel plans.

The political unrest has been very damaging to the Thai people, so much of their industry is tourism and that has taken a huge hit. It is peak tourist season here. Thailand has always had the reputation of being a peaceful nation and that has now been tainted with foreign governments advising their citizens not to travel to Thailand. I've heard that the economic damage now surpasses the tsunami effects. Throughout the whole civil unrest we have felt safe and are thankful that the airports are due to reopen on Friday.

Anyway, I'm posting a picture of "My girls!" here. What a great group of ladies from all over the world, what a privilege it has been to study God's Word with them and pray with them every Monday. Ms. Trula, the older woman in the center was a missionary to India for 26 years. (She is my Maralyn Barnes here for all of you Grace ladies.) Her husband died 10 years ago and she lives here with her son. The small Asian woman is Lena from Singapore and she is our Thai teacher, she is quite gifted with languages. Molly is next to her and then Cyd from West Virginia, who is our facilitator. Carol, the tall lady in the very back is from Austria and is one of the most joyful people I have ever met. She is in a group of 5 families with us that are like minded with about the same age of children who meet once a month for fellowship. Next to me is Gina (short dark hair), an avid OU girl that I had to buy lunch for after OU trounced Texas Tech a couple of weeks ago. Susan next to her with the short red hair is my prayer partner and she has desperately been trying to get out of the country, her first grandbaby is due any day in Austin, we've been praying she makes it! Julianna, from Brazil is in the front and her husband works for Bosch here that makes a lot of parts for GM. The automotive crisis is so far reaching and they are unsure they will be able to stay here. Right in the middle by Ms. Trula is Pam from New Orleans, I get my Louisiana fix from her every week, I love to listen to her talk it makes me miss all my Baton Rouge friends!! Pam, Susan, and Gina have all been juggling their plans trying to find a way home for the holidays. Cyd's children who all attend college in the states are trying to find a way into the country. It's been a little crazy for folks here but we're all safe. I'll post other holiday happening pictures soon.

The Real Thanksgiving

On Saturday we had three families join us for our 'real' Thanksgiving celebration. It felt like an old-fashioned, American celebration if you blocked out the elephant trumpeting in the background. We all shared the food responsibilities and even had pecan pie, thanks to Molly's parents who are here visiting one month from North Carolina. They brought 2-75lb bags full of food from America when they arrived, one bag contained a Costco size bag of pecans. Molly's Dad calculated the price of pecans in Thailand-$40/lb, a little pricey!

I had even found a Yankee Candle in Bangkok ($45), but it added so much to the atmosphere. With the candle, festive table, holiday music, wonderful food, and new US friends here in Thailand it made for a wonderful Thanksgiving day. During our traditional time of sharing thanks Dustin shared, "I'm thankful that I'm not lonely here in Thailand. We prayed that God would send us friends and he has." I would say that all of us could echo that. God has been so good to send us great friends here in this foreign land and we are so thankful.

After getting that familiar 'I'm sooo full' Thanksgiving feeling, Mark commented that all would have been perfect if we just had a football game to watch. Instead, the guys played a hearty game of basketball, the young-uns won, while the ladies cleaned up the kitchen and visited around the sink! Just like home!!!