OceanicThai

This time it is a New Year's party at the beach and across the street at the Karaoke bar. They are both blasting music and we don't plan to get much sleep tonight. We took photos and video of the local kids doing dances at the beach show/party. When I got there just before 7p.m. the monks were still chanting. The boat the local men made is ready to float tomorrow at noon, on New Year's Day. Almost everyone in the entire area cut their fingernails and hair to put in the boat to take their sins of this past year away. A priest came to encourage everyone to "do good" to their families, their nation, their community.

Saturday we did the party at the Nam Chem church we help out in, Wednesday we brought a group of 5 Baang Sak kids to the party at the Pak Ping church in Bang Niang. Thursday we picked up my dad from the airport after grocery shopping in Phuket. Friday we took the Southern Thailand Orphanage kids and the couple who runs it out to dinner then another church Christmas party at the provincial center of Phang Nga. My dad wanted to do something special for the orphans, so this is what we did. I think they had a lot of fun, and it was special for them. We also wrapped up presents for all 16 kids that went. The littlest ones stayed behind with the other orphanage staff. We got back at 10:00p.m. and I was amazed at what a trouper my dad was, considering jet lag. Today we had a Thai-style "beginning construction" ceremony, but done in both English and Thai, and of course as Christians, not as Theravada Buddihists would do, meaning we did not invite spirits to come dwell in the ...

We went out today to the houses built by the foundation Dean worked with and passed out Christmas cards and brochures about the center that is going to be built in the next several months. It was a great opportunity to meet the people of Baang Sak, this village, and see the houses Mercy Foundation built. I think they must be the nicest of all the foundation houses built here. I encouraged all the local Thai kids to come learn English at the center once it is built. The parents want them to learn both English and computers so they can get a good job someday. It is a good opportunity for their future, especially with all the resorts that are opening up around this area. I am wishing and praying for someone to come help me homeschool the kids, or that an international school will open up near here. There is so much more I want to be involved in, but my first priority is my family, and I can't shirk on my kid's education. I have been gaining proficiency in Thai and I can do ...

Click the title above to see pictures. This marks year 2 since the tsunami and this area had memorials up and down the coast. This is a day of rememberance and mourning, but Thais don't mourn like we do in America, even funerals are parties. It doesn't mean people aren't sad and devasted, it is just another way of dealing with pain. Eating, trying to have fun, trying to laugh, spending a lot of time with friends and avoiding being alone, that is how it's done here. Today marks the anniversary of thousands of deaths, and a day of great suffering for people in this part of the world, on the Indian Ocean. This is also the day that marks a great outpouring of compassion from around the world. Blessings to each of you that helped in some way here on the Andaman Sea.

We had dinner at Amnaat's house again last night, Wednesday evening. His younger son turned 5 years old. Grandma and a sister-in-law cooked up a Thai feast for everyone, mostly adults. We sat at a table outside and on mats. It probably didn't look like a birthday party, there were no decorations, no hats, no cake, just a handful of kids who were related to each other and a bunch of us adults eating Thai food. There were birthday presents, though, and he was all excited. Amnaat's wife died in the tsunami here in Baang Sak. He lives in a tsunami foundation house that belongs to his mother-in-law, built by Dean the guy we are working with, who got the project going to get 51 houses in this village rebuilt. Dean is quite a hero here. Now he is gearing up for his last building project, an Outreach Center for the community, to offer English, Computer, Guitar & a daycare center for working moms. We will be helping at the center along with another Thai Christian couple from Eas...

I was showing our wedding picture to a Thai neighbor yesterday when it dawned on me that today was going to be our our 15th wedding anniversary. Our friends just laughed at us, what a thing to forget! We forget all kinds of things, living here. Anyway, we asked Gee to watch the kids so we could go out on a little date tonight. She brought her little son, Pooh (As in Winnie the Pooh,) is his Thai nickname and they all had fun together. Jasper played the toy piano and Pooh danced around. They watched Tom & Jerry cartoons & ate fried chicken, Thai style, with rice. We, meanwhile, went to a local restaurant, The Viking Steak House, and had Jaegerschnitzel, my favorite dish there. 550 Baht seemed expensive for our meal until I realized that it was cheap for American standards, $15 for the total bill. Then we went out to buy milk and some other things for the house. We weren't even gone 2 hours, which we both found pretty funny. We thought about taking a romantic walk,...

Mayhem, madness, insanity, frenetic, frantic, mosquito-infested, sweaty, smelly, muggy, dusty, trashed out, loud, bezerk, outdoors tables laden with spicy, noodley dishes and mounds of rice, garish plastic decorations and multi-colored streamers and lights, babies crying, dogs barking, kids screaming, music-blaring, MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THAILAND!!! Celebrating Christmas is very different here in Thailand. It is not a national holiday, so it is a "business as usual" kind of day. Most Thais think Christmas is the day Westerners celebrate the birth of Santa Claus. Everywhere all over the country here this month Thai churches are gearing up for their annual Christmas party, which is probably like no other party you have ever attended! Everything is set up outside. A stage will be set up for the program/show with a bank of ear-shattering speakers and microphone. Dinner will be prepared for crowds of hundreds, children and adults. The cooks will wake up at 3-4a.m. to go to the mark...

We had Dean & his crew of volunteers and helpers over Wednesday evening, I made them pork roast, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, & Marcus brought over a big bowl of mac&cheese (his very favorite.) After dinner I said, "I have all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies! You feel like making them... please??" :) :) After a bit they chased me out of the kitchen so I wouldn't worry about the ruckus they were causing, (or should I say the mess they were making.) It was fun. So Dean, Brian, Marcus, and Puum (she is Dean's helper) made cookies. Mostly Dean made them, and we all helped eat them. It was a fun time together, and between batches of cookies we prayed together for the work here. I'd like to get more people here for our weekly dinners, more of the neighbors and more of our Thai friends. Yesterday Ton, a young man trying his best to live and pastor a tsunami-church on $100 a month, came over for dinner. I'm hoping he and his friends ...

If you click on the title above it will take you to the blog I set up with Samruam. He told me the story and I translated it from Thai to English and typed it on his blog for him. He told me how he wanted the blog to look as I set it up, and when he comes to visit us I can update it for him.

Natural Woven Bag Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

Handwoven Handbag Originally uploaded by oceanicthai .

Wrap Skirt Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . Here is another product the women's group makes.

Lovely skirt/scarf set Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This is a lovely skirt & scarf set that they have made.

Samruam & Guy Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . This is the couple that I blogged about before, who came from their church in a next-door region to help right after the tsunami and lived in a tent for months and months. They are running an orphanage in the Takua Paa area, a few minutes away from the Nam Chem area where 1/3 of the residents died. They organized a women's tsunami survivors group to make garments and crafts. They bought all the women's products, but haven't been able to find a market for it. They wish to support the orphanage and help these women make a living. We are very interesting in helping them.

Kennedy was opening a can of strong chemical paint remover that he had just bought and it exploded in his face. He called for help and a worker the owner had hired came running and brought him a bottle of water. From there, he managed to make his way to a water spigot and rinse his eyes off for several minutes. After that he walked to the house, told me he might have to go see a doctor, and went upstairs to rinse off his eyes some more. I quickly called some friends to come and take care of the kids, left them with the workers till the the friends could come, and sped Kennedy off to the Emergency Room. This hospital isn't very good, it has a pretty bad reputation, but it was the closest thing around. They didn't have a special eye-rinse, but the nurses on duty used saline solution hooked up to a IV line to thoroughly rinse his eyeballs & eye area off. (He said that hurt worse than anything else.) It worked pretty well, actually. He has slight burn marks around his ...

Amnaat made a big batch of grilled fish and crabs, bought some battered & fried bananas, & made Pak Khanaa', a stir-fried vegetable dish that's really tasty. We brought chicken & steamed rice, Dean, Marcus, Kellie, Brian & Puum brought drinks & ice, & something else, Lisa & Matt & their friends brought a yummy Thai Yam salad. There was fruit & we all had plenty to eat. There were other Thais there, but I think they were mainly neighbors. There were over 20 of us. I was disappointed more Thai people from the church didn't show up. We have made it our goal to start visiting people in this neighborhood, once we totally recover from this illness. We will start with those who became believers last year. Our party ended up being at Amnaat's house, a central Thai man that has spent a lot of time with the foreign (caucasion) folks who helped rebuild all the 51 houses of this village area. Last time he was over at our house he told us he wan...

P1010073 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . The shell of this bug is a beautiful iridescent green. It looks like it may be a Flower Chafer beetle according to the book, except that the bottom is more rounded on the Chafer. Jasper insists its a Snapper Beetle, or a Click Beetle, because "you can see the drum on the other side if you look." He's probably right. I think my son knows more about bugs than I do!

Ken's Art Work some of Wendy's 007 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . He probably won't eat another for a long time, but he did chew this little guy down.

P1010078 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai . Poppy and Jasper love their Rhino beetles here in Thailand. It is sitting on sugarcane, but it can eat watermelon, cucumber, and other juicy fruits.

Jasper has fully recovered, with Kennedy feeling stronger every day. Poppy says her lungs no longer hurt and the only symptom left of her pneumonia is a cough. I am taking longer than everyone else to get better, but every day I can do more and need less rest. In another week or so we'll be able to go Christmas shopping...that will be so fun. I already know what I'm going to get Kennedy. Jasper wants Lego robots, and Poppy wants another pegasus and a dragon. She's crazy about "mythical creatures" right now and always has a highly imaginative saga going on in her room between all the stuffed animals, Barbie dolls, horses, dragons, & Godzilla. The funniest is the Werepoodle, in my opinion. That's a stuffed black poodle she bought from Chok Chai farms with a dancing poodles show, we visited it last year. In her Werepoodle story, he escaped from the ChokChai farms, where he used to be a show poodle and became the "Werepoodle" which is half po...

While we were gone 3 Sundays in Chiang Mai, Luy, the man running the foundation for underprivileged children in Nam Chem, taught Sunday School to the children in my place. This is just the thing we want to see happen, Thais stepping up and doing ministry instead of us. He will probably want me to take over again now that I'm back, but in a few months when I move from the Nam Chem church to the Baang Sak church here maybe he will be ready to take over permanently.

Kennedy came back from church this morning (I stayed home, still recovering) to tell me everyone will be coming over to our house on Wednesday to have dinner. Amnaat will bring fish, we will cook rice in our rice-pot, and I think Matt & Lisa will bring something, too. So it will be both caucasians and the local Thai neighbors that come to church. That's great! I came up with this idea weeks ago but wasn't sure if anyone felt too enthusiastic about it. We have been gone for 3 weeks, out of the region, so I guess the idea caught on somewhere in there. I wanted to start a weekly dinner for Thais here in the Baang Sak neighborhood interested in coming as well as those of us who work here in the ministry. It looks like there will be many more whites than Thais at first, but we are planning on visiting folks in their homes every week now, so we'll invite them to come, too. There is nothing like sharing a meal to develop a friendship, and it is important here in Thaila...

My cold turned into a sinus infection, then a gastro-intestinal bacterial infection, so by the time I staggered into the hospital with my barf-bag I was in pretty bad shape. I remember the nurses giggling and saying how awful I looked as they loaded me up in a wheelchair. They didn't do that to be mean, Thais laugh at everything as a kind of stress-reliever in situations. I must admit, though, I felt a little irritated that they were giggling at me when I felt so horrible. Then they loaded me up on a gurney, heaped a warm blanket on my shivering body and stuck an IV in my hand. I clutched my plastic bag and they rolled me into the room I would be in for the next 3 nights. Every 30-45 minutes I would unplug my IV from the electrical socket and drag myself and it into the bathroom. IVs and gastro-intestinal bacterial infections are a bad mix. I'm sure the IV saved me from severe dehydration, but it was a big bummer to drag into the bathroom every 30-45 minutes for 3 days and nigh...