OceanicThai

Funeral at our old village. They are bringing the body to a cremation pyre.

They really are. Naughty neighbor boys. Our neighbors! They are the kids that were part of the packs that came over to play around our house when we used to live in the village. I posted this picture because it is funny, seeing them here as novice monks and knowing that they look like something that belongs in National Geographic. An "ooooo!" picture. But they are just kids, normal kids like any other kid here in Southeast Asia, on any other day you would find them teasing their sisters, making their moms scream at them, acting like "tough boys" with their friends, riding their bikes around, doing all the things that boys do all over the world. Right now, though, they are trying to be spiritual, for the sake of their dead relative for whom they have become novice monks for the day. For their mothers, who are probably feeling really proud of them and hoping they won't do something silly to embarrass the family. Hoping, too, that the merit they make this day for h...

Jasper Jude, my son. Six years old, he loves bugs, sea-creatures, space, & mechanical things. He draws imaginative detailed drawings that fill the page with his wild creations. A tracked vehicle with compartments to hold "critters" and rods off which dangle mosquito cages, going along a road with volcanoes and treacherous drop-offs, a scheme, presumably, to save the world! (Critter and bug world, that is.) Jasper Jude has a variety of nick-names. His Thai name is Mii, or bear. We call him Jazzy, Jazz, among other nicknames. He is also cat-boy, that's his favorite. We call him bug-boy, too, because of his love for bugs and "critters." Our house is full of them. Some just come in, some are our kid's pets. We found that if we let them loose in the house they live longer than just sticking them in a bug cage. There are so many bugs and lizards in our house we hardly notice them. Sometimes they fly out of a corner and scare our househelper, Eew. I think she...

Here is Poppy, at Thai church, she looks like she feels a bit sleepy. Her Thai nickname is "Meew" or "Cat" in English. She used to be a cat-lover, so our friend named her Cat. These days she is a horse-lover, but her old name has stuck. Poppy loves to dress up as an elf, or a fairy. (She is so skinny and tall, she looks like an elf!) She loves to draw, especially horses. She asks me, "Do I have a little gift in art, mommy?" I tell her I think she does. She is bright, a perfectionist, and spends most of her time in an imaginary world of her own making. Her dream is to be a science teacher, riding on a horse, taking students on bug-collecting trips. She is good at chess, grammar (oddly enough,) and is starting to read and write in Thai. She loves to read. She doesn't like to write, though, to my surprise. Maybe that will change once she learns to type. She is a terrible speller, we laugh together a lot over her funny spelling when I read her creative wri...

I found this blog to be peaceful and thought-provoking. She posts beautiful pictures of wildlife, particularly birds. No, I am not Catholic. Maybe after all the garbage blogs it was wonderful to find this one. You can click the title here to get there.

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new Muslim students to stand and..... Professor: You are a Muslim, aren't you, son? Student : Yes, sir. Prof: So you believe in God? Student : Absolutely, sir. Prof: Is God good? Student : Sure. Prof: Is God all-powerful? Student : Yes. Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.) Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow.Is God good? Student :Yes. Prof: Is Satan good? Student : No. Prof: Where does Satan come from? Student : From...God... Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world? Student : Yes. Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct? Student : Yes. Prof: So who created evil? (Student does not answer.) Prof: Is ther...

It's getting hotter here. We are drinking more water, wearing cooler clothes, sweating more. We will start to lose weight now, as our appetite decreases from the sauna-like weather here. The tourists are starting to leave the area, too. It is getting uncomfortable. We have an air-conditioner in our bedroom. Next month I will start doing more homeschooling in the bedroom so the kids can concentrate. April is the hottest month and the Thai schools will shut down. Last night it was still hot, but in the morning it was cooler. In April it will be hot day and night. In April we will get the glazed, overheated look and all we do will be in slow-motion. Thailand, you are so beautiful, but so hot and stinky!

In another post I wrote about how Asians feel westerners neglect their children by putting them in a separate bedroom. I'll never forget the Thai's reaction to our carseats for the children. They were horrified! They felt that with the restrictive belts that forced the children to sit in one place the entire time they were in the car that a child's carseat was, indeed, a torturous device for children. One time we were going to have our child sit behind us in the car seat instead of sitting with us. My Thai friend was so angry with me, she couldn't believe that I wasn't going to sit next to my child. "How can you leave him in that seat by himself!" She got up and moved next to him. "He will be too lonely!" One lady said, "I guess they are just used to this (torture) seat." Finally, after seeing our children travel this way for months, years, my Thai friend said, "Wow, they actually seem happier in this seat than out of it. Maybe it...