Posts

Showing posts from 2008

Our Airport-Closure Adventure

We knew that time was tight between the end of our conference in the Northern end of Thailand and our flight out of the country from the Southern end. We figured that since we would be flying there would be no problem getting home in a day and giving ourselves 2 full days before our flight to the U.S. We were scheduled to fly back to Southern Thailand on December 1st and get on our flight to the U.S. on December 4th. We flew to Chiang Mai with no inkling that the beautiful new airport we transferred at in Bangkok would be seiged by protesters just a few days later. At our conference we realized that we were not going to be flying back. The alternatives were train, bus, rent a car or rent a mini-van with a driver. Being economical we chose the train or bus, and in the end, due to scheduling, it had to be the bus. It would be a grueling 20+ hour trip home, but we weren't overly concerned because Thailand has beautiful VIP buses that are really nice to ride in. Unfortunately ther...

Baptism At Local Waterfall

Image
Baptism At Local Waterfall Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Baptism October 2008

Image
Baptism October 2008 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Our newest church members

Seashells

She looked mad, remembering the seashell given to her by a young missionary that had just came back from a visit to the ocean. "Why did she give me this thing! It didn't cost anything, she just picked it up from the sand!" I was speechless. The intensity of her annoyance really surprised me. Then she showed me a cross-stiched bookmark another young missionary had made and given her. "Look at this! It is so cheap, what kind of present is this for me, her teacher, for Teacher's Day!" I don't remember what I said, but I put the cultural information in my brain-file. What was that all about? I understand the young missionary's thoughts. "Oh, I'm at the ocean and I'm thinking about my beloved Thai teacher. Here's a shell, I think I'll pick it up and bring it to her to show I was thinking about her." Then the bookmark, "I'm really stretched for money right now but I know I need to get something for my teacher to show her ...

In Our Yard

Image
In Our Yard Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

"Flying" Golden Tree Snake

Image
"Flying" Golden Tree Snake Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Delicate, beautifully patterned and colored.

"Flying" Golden Tree Snake

Image
golden tree snake Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Here's a snake we welcome to our home! This is the beautiful non-venomous "Golden Tree Snake" and it is eating a gecko. It hung up there for a very long time and we think the gecko was so heavy it was having a hard time hauling it up.

Ginger Is Home!

Whoever took her decided to bring her back, so Ginger is home with us again, and we are so happy!

Ginger Stolen

Image
Sweet Poppy & Ginger Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Ginger, our beloved teacup poodle, shown here a few months ago, was stolen yesterday. We were warned this might happen, because she is so unusual and beautiful, and we tried to keep her safe, but yesterday she slipped out the gate while Kennedy was leaving. The neighbors saw her for a bit, but they couldn't tell us what happened to her. We are heartbroken. She was so friendly. She is full-grown in this picture.

Fish heads and Fish eyeballs

You know you've been in Thailand awhile when: You are always served fish with the head on and your friend asks for the eyeball. Your son isn't sure how to shake hands. Snakes, centipedes, scorpions, giant spiders & leeches are part of your everyday life. Your kids haven't had Kraft Mac-N-Cheese for 2 years. You spray mosquito repellent on every evening at dusk, and stay inside the house. Toads live in your shoes and in your kitchen. Walls are covered in geckos, flat surfaces are covered with gecko poop. You pick up a tiny branch in your bathroom and it turns into a bug. Everything is covered with a weird greasy grime. Shoes disintegrate within a year or so. Everyone is smiling at a funeral, including you.

Come See Us On T.V. !!!

Here's the long waited moment when we finally get to see the show they did on our team at the center next door about the wild foods they hunt down and cook up. (Too bad they missed the python last month.) T.V. Schedule "Sep. 09 10:00PM ET (60 minutes) Remind Me Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern Phuket, Thailand TV-PG Join Andrew in Phuket, a tropical paradise and a favorite of travelers from around the world. He'll venture beyond the stunning beaches to discover the Thais who live in this part of the country embrace life on all levels and feast on all things. http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-schedules/series.html?seriesId=31753&start=40 It will also run: Sep 9 11 p.m. ET Sep 10 2 a.m. ET Sep 10 9 p.m. ET Sep 11 1 a.m. ET Sep 11 7 p.m. ET Sep 15 9 p.m. ET Sep 16 1 a.m. ET"

Beautiful Poppy

Image
Beautiful Poppy Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Leech Up The Nose

Image
Leech Up The Nose Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Ginger sniffed a leech and it went up her nose. We pulled it out and it was full of blood. Poor Ginger...

Wow!

Image
Wow! Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Staphylococcus aureus

We are so relieved that Poppy does NOT have methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA, like we feared. She has a tetracycline-resistant Staphylococcus aereus infection, which is not as serious.

Cobra pics 006

Image
Cobra pics 006 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai "When at rest cobra's heads are not very distinct from the neck, but when threatened and on the defensive the ribs in the neck can be expanded to create the famous cobra 'hood'. -Snakes Of Thailand (Quoted from this book.)

Will He touch It?

Image
Will He touch It? Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

He'll Touch The Sea-Cucumber!

Image
He'll Touch The Sea-Cucumber! Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Yummy, Sea-Cucumber

Image
Yummy, Sea-Cucumber Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Playing With An Octopus

Image
Playing With An Octopus Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Purple Room

Image
Purple Room Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Purple Clothes

Image
Purple Clothes Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Purple Legs

Image
Purple Legs Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Baby Cobras

Jasper and our dog Froot Loop found a juvenile cobra just outside our front door 5 minutes ago. Kennedy found one 2, 3 weeks ago, and another was found in our yard last week. Which means a clutch of eggs has hatched nearby and we've got a cobra snake problem. Sigh. My stomach feels like jiggly jelly. The cobra we just saw slid down a drainpipe. Oh Lord have mercy....

Hands-On Homeschooling

Image
Reticulated Python Pics, Bang Sak 003 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai The day our co-workers skinned and butchered the python was a "just-next-door" field trip for Poppy and Jasper. They managed to see the entire process and not get sick...unlike me. Poppy ate some snake for lunch, Jasper ate some of the chickens the snake had killed, and I'm still unable to make myself try the snake. Go, kids, go!

Reticulated Python Pics, Bang Sak

Image
Reticulated Python Pics, Bang Sak 2 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Not a Burmese, but a Reticulated Python...a juvenile. This is the longest recorded snake known. Poppy ate some for lunch yesterday, and Jasper ate some of the chicken that Tanom prepared from the hens that the snake killed. Life is an adventure.

Burmese Python-Snake of the Month

We are going to eat it for lunch today. The neighbor on the hill found the snake squeezing 3 of his chickens and killed it. After he killed it he called Tanom to come get the dead snake and chickens. Today Len and Gi are skinning, gutting and roasting the big snake. Tanom is doing the chickens. Poppy and Jasper have been watching the whole thing...great educational opportunity for them. I have been watching, too, until my stomach can't take it anymore and I have to run home. Poppy is the bravest of us all. "I'm going to eat some of that snake!" I'll upload a picture later.

Southern Thailand map

Image
Southern Thailand map Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Map of our ministry area. We live on the West coast, on the Andaman Sea, just above the big island dropping off in the middle like a tear-drop...that is Phuket.

City Pillar

Image
Sarat Tani 011 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai This is the city pillar for Surat Thani, the next province over from us here in Phang Nga. The foundational sacrifice when establishing a city. It was general practice that human sacrifices were made when establishing the walls and gates of a city. The belief common at that time was that the ghost of the person who died violently would protect the city site. Tradition says that a pregnant woman would be regaled for several preparatory days, and then ceremoniously thrown into the foundational hole, face up. The pole of planting was driven through the pregnant woman’s baby-in-the-womb, through her own body, and into the ground, by public authorities. Thus, violent death, the blood of the baby, and the pregnant woman, forms the foundation of the City’s safety and prosperity. The city pillar is the home of the guardian spirits, the defending demons. Those spirits must be venerated each year to avert their wrath. Every major city of Thai...

Mass Possession At School

Last week dozens of school children became possessed in the same way as the adults do at the annual Vegetarian Festival here in Southern Thailand. Teachers called in ambulances. This has happened before in Southern Thailand, there is good documentation on one website that I found, and their interpretation of what was happening. I put a link to it to the title above. It was on Thai t.v. news, but I couldn't find it on the English internet Thai news sites. I will keep looking in the next few days for something about it on the internet, but it will probably be a private resource because this is probably going to be viewed as something a little embarassing to the country. It was not a welcome event, in any case, at a school. At the Vegetarian Festival, however, thousands of adults, both men and women, believe they are chosen by the spirits to be possessed. They are then skewered with metal rods, usually in their mouths, and parade in groups going to houses and businesses to bless the o...

Burma Doesn't Need Aid...They Have Frogs!

That's what the junta is saying now; the victims can eat frogs, fish and edible weeds they find around...they don't need aid, just send cash to the government. Here's some excerpts from the regime's official newspaper: "The government and the people are like parents and children," the paper said. "We, all the people, were pleased with the efforts of the government." (Liars, liars, pants on fire!) "Myanmar (Burmese) people are capable enough of rising from such natural disasters even if they are not provided with international assistance," the newspaper said. "Myanmar people can easily get fish for dishes by just fishing in the fields and ditches," the paper said. "In the early monsoon, large edible frogs are abundant." "The people (of the Irrawaddy delta) can survive with self-reliant efforts even if they are not given chocolate bars from (the) international community," it added. No aid agencies are known to h...

Look What We Found....

Image
scorpion 003 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai We found this big scorpion this morning in our livingroom! We had to drag the dogs and cat away from it, they were determined to play with it. It was climbing and crawling all over the place until we finally managed to flip it into a container. It sure looks menacing, and BIG.

Cell Bible study on Friday night at Ba Nangs house 006

Image
Cell Bible study on Friday night at Ba Nangs house 006 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Singing together

Ginger

Image
Ginger Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Ginger loves to run in the mud!

Sweet Poppy & Ginger

Image
Sweet Poppy & Ginger Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

What Will They Find?

3 weeks after the devastation the Burmese military junta is now allowing aid workers into the country to help the survivors of the cyclone disaster that left over 100,000 dead. The feeling here among the Thai and ex-pats is unbelief and a sense of outrage that people already suffering should be subjected to gross neglect for the sake of the military junta's agenda. Not to mention the selling of donated aid for the survivors for personal profit, or the demand of thousands of dollars in corruption money for those aid workers who were finally allowed to enter the country a week ago.

Worst News So Far

(Thailand and Burma are bordering countries.) Burma agony BangkokPost.com (Thai) Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej called off plans for a flying weekend visit to Burma, concluding late on Friday that not even he can talk the military junta into accepting international aid for its suffering cyclone victims. Mr Samak had said earlier on Friday that he would fly to Burma, talk to the junta members, and use his personal influence to open the doors to civilian aid workers. Hours later, after talking on the telephone with his counterpart Thein Sein, he said the trip would be a waste of time. Thien Sein told Mr Samak he was welcome to travel to Burma on Sunday, but the regime was adamant that no foreign aid workers will enter Burma, now or ever. "So there is no point of me going there," he said. Prime Minister's Office Minister Vichienchote Sukchotirat said Mr Samak was not giving up. Two Thai envoys inside Burma will try to impress on Burmese officials the necessity of getting ex...

Burmese junta seizes UN food aid

(Click on title to see entire article.) Agencies plead with generals to get access AP and BANGKOK POST --> spac_writeAd( "/SITE=BANGKOKPOST/AREA=NEWS/AAMSZ=300X250PIXELS/POSITION=RIGHT5/METHOD=JSCRIPT" ); Burma's junta seized two planeloads of critical aid sent by the UN yesterday for a multitude of hungry survivors of last week's devastating cyclone, forcing the world body to suspend further help. ''All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,'' said Paul Risley, a spokesman of the World Food Program (WFP) in Bangkok. He said the seized aid, including 38 tons of high-energy biscuits, arrived on two flights from Dhaka and Dubai. ''It is being held by the government. We are awaiting resolution of this matter,'' he said. More than one million people made homeless in last Saturday's cyclone waited for food, shelter and medicine. Many crammed into Buddhist monasteries or camped out in the open. Th...

Burma Agony

"It's clear that the government's ability to deal with the situation, which is catastrophic, is limited." Click on title to see rest of article. also "the regime has forsaken the people in their hour of greatest need." For full article, click on link below: http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=127566

Cyclone Nargis...Awaiting Help in Burma

"Five days after the storm, the junta continued to stall on visas for U.N. teams and other foreign aid workers anxious to deliver food, water and medicine to survivors amid fears the death toll could hit 100,000. Among those stranded in Thailand were 10 members of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team. Air Force transport planes and helicopters packed with supplies also sat waiting for a greenlight. "We are in a long line of nations who are ready, willing and able to help, but also, of course, in a long line of nations the Burmese don't trust," U.S. Ambassador Eric John told reporters in Thailand's capital, Bangkok. "It's more than frustrating. It's a tragedy," he said. Each day of delay means "a lot more people suffering," he said. " Associated Press Click on the title to read the entire article. Our friends are still waiting for their visas to get in the country to help. This morning Kennedy took a Burmese family to the...

Burma...Waiting For Help

We have friends waiting to go into Burma to help...waiting because Burma won't issue visas to them. It must be agonizing to the thousands of Burmese here in Southern Thailand to know the world is ready to help their country but the military won't let them in. Tomorrow Kennedy is going to take a group of Burmese (with legal papers) to the border so they can get on a boat and take care of any relatives left. We are hearing reports people are without safe water and without food.

Sea Gypsy Village House

Image
Sea Gypsy Village House Originally uploaded by oceanicthai This is just a 5 minute bike ride away from our house. There's another Sea Gypsy settlement up the mountain from us. Some folks settled there because of their fear of another tsunami.

Young Artist

Image
Young Artist Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Poppy found a frog and decided she had to sketch it, too. It seemed okay with the arrangement, since it just sat there on her thumb! She let it go in our yard after she was done. She loves critters. Good thing, too, since we have so many.

Baby Sea Turtles

Image
Baby Sea Turtles Originally uploaded by oceanicthai This was a few days before the baby sea-turtle ceremony when they let them go at the ocean.

Yummy Treats

Image
Yummy Treats Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Hot Treats On A Griddle

Image
Hot Treats On A Griddle Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Bug-Treats For Sale, too

Image
Bug-Treats For Sale, too Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Waffles For Sale

Image
Waffles For Sale Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Thai waffles full of corn?

Soft Sweet Bunny Love

Image
Soft Sweet Bunny Love Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Bunnies For Sale

Image
Bunnies For Sale Originally uploaded by oceanicthai At the fair

Lunch At the Fair

Image
Lunch At the Fair Originally uploaded by oceanicthai We had waffles, satay pork on a stick, fried rice and strange desserts at the local fair.

Dengue Fever Warning

The Public Health Ministry issued a warning yesterday, saying the country is experiencing the worst outbreak of dengue fever in a decade, with more than 4,000 people infected by the virus in only two months. A total of 4,393 people fell ill between Dec 30 last year and Feb 23, with six deaths reported. Children and teenagers aged from seven to 14 were a high risk, officials said. (This is an excerpt from The Nation newspaper.)

03/13/08The New Atheism and Morality

J.M. Njoroge Though the chorus of voices decrying belief in God has been humming in the ideological background for centuries, it seems to have reached a crescendo with the emergence of a movement that has been dubbed the new atheism. The trademark of this new brand of atheism is its vitriolic attack on religion. To its advocates, religious beliefs are not only false; they are also dangerous and must be expunged from all corners of society. The pundits of the new atheism are not content to nail discussion theses on the door of religion; they are also busy delivering eviction notices to the allegedly atavistic elements of an otherwise seamlessly progressive atheistic evolution of Homo Sapiens. Given the rhetoric, one might be forgiven for thinking that some new discoveries have rendered belief in God untenable. Curiously, this drama is unfolding in the same era in which perhaps the world’s leading defender of atheism, Antony Flew, has declared that recent scientific discoveries point to ...

Kennedy in Hospital

Tonight will be his 3rd night in the hospital, the doctors are still trying to find out what's wrong with him. He got the chills and high fever Sunday evening, and it turned into a severe frontal headache. Monday he started vomiting violently so I packed up a little bag, left the kids with our Thai partners and took him to the emergency room. They admitted him, put him on an I.V. and started blood tests. He's been tested for Dengue Fever, Malaria, and right now we are waiting for the test results for Typhoid. I am staying with him at all times (required by the hospital) except for a few hours a day when I can come home, check on the kids, get a cup of good coffee, and get ready to teach Kennedy's adult English class. Our Thai partners cover for me when I'm not at the hospital, and they have been staying with the kids during the days and nights here at the house. I am so thankful for their help and love. I feel kind of tired and discouraged right now. I'll b...

Another tsunami alert lifted

This was from an earthquake yesterday in Indonesia again whose tremors could be felt in Phuket (our neighboring province) and Bangkok. Makes you wonder...so many earthquakes, it just feels like a matter of time.

Beautiful Bug

Image
DSC00414 , originally uploaded by christy.carruthers . Another gorgeous Thai bug/beetle we haven't identified yet.

Crash! Bang! Screeeeech!!!

Here in Thailand, whenever you hear that sound you are supposed to run outside and see if your help is needed. Heaven help you if you "mind your own business." Yesterday we heard it so we ran outside to see if our help was needed. I saw: a man lying prone and unmoving on the road, motorcycle parts scattered all over the place, blood trickling from his bare foot. Flip-flops nearby, a bag of food by some shattered light parts. I did: Yelled for Kennedy's help (my usual when I'm trouble) grabbed the garbage can to put a warning in the road so the man wouldn't get run over, and went to see how bad he was. Kennedy did: Called Tanom to come and help. Tanom did: Drove over to help. But someone must have called the police and the police called an ambulance, and for the first time, I saw a really speedy and well-orchestrated road-rescue in Thailand. I was really impressed! Good job, Southern Thailand! (In Eastern Thailand we were the medics and our truck was the ambul...

Tsunami Alert Lifted

(To see article, click on title above.) We got a phone call Wedsneday afternoon while Kennedy & Dean's interns were out picking up Dean & doing errand in Phuket. There had been a 7.8 earthquake in Sumatra and the sirens were going off at some of the beachtown areas. Our co-worker Tanom called us and wanted to come get us with the center's truck to take us to the hills. After a bit the word came all was clear. Everyone is afraid it is going to happen again, and these frequent earthquakes do little to allay their fears!

They Came, Ate Bizarre Food, And Left

It was an all day event, actually. The film crew, one of the producers, and Andrew Zimmern came at 9a.m. and left at around 6p.m. after English class was done. They wanted to get some film of what we do here at Dean's center helping the local community. They DID pay for the cost of everything and the loss of pay that our Thai partners incurred by helping them with their show that day, so I was really relieved about that. They threw in some extra money, too, so I was happy for Tanom, Khrua, Chan, Rat, Ning, & everyone else that participated. I saw the crew on my way out to the airport to spend the week in Chiang Mai to get the kids tested for the year. I think the film crew got lots of shots of Dean's interns Kory & Trevor, so they'll get to be on t.v. I'm sure that made them happy! I have no idea when we'll get to see it on t.v. so hopefully friends and relatives will see it & tape it off the t.v. for us.

Bizarre Foods Here Today...Filming

Andrew Zimmern, the guy that eats the strange foods all over the world is here today with his staff/camera men. Tanom and the other men were busy all Saturday finding lizards and other delicacies to dine on. They have already done some filming of Tanom showing how to catch a lizard out of a tree. Now they are at the blown-out resort near here.

Poppy & the Gibbon

Image
Poppy & the Monkey Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Dean's interns Kory & Trevor borrowed this beautiful gibbon for the day.

Adorable Gibbon

Image
Adorable Monkey Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Bug Boy with Monkey

Image
Bug Boy with Monkey Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Bubblebath Treat!

Image
Bubblebath Treat! Originally uploaded by oceanicthai We don't have a bathtub at our house so this was extra-fun!

Bubblebath Treat 4 2

Image
Bubblebath Treat 4 2 Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Coconut?

Image
Coconut? Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Cinnamon Ginger

Image
Cinnamon Ginger Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Ginger Snap/Movie Star

Image
Ginger Snap/Movie Star Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

The Herd at Our House

Image
The Herd at Our House Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Ginger & Poppy

Image
Ginger & Poppy Originally uploaded by oceanicthai

Beach Restaurant

Image
Beach Restaurant Originally uploaded by oceanicthai It's been fun spending time together as a big family.

My Dad Teaches Jazz

Image
Dad Teaches Jazz Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Brave Grandpa teaches Bug-Boy.

Viking Pizza

Image
Viking Pizza Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Our favorite pizza in town, at the Viking Restaurant in Khao Lak, about 15-20 minutes from our house here in Bang Sak. They make yummy European style pizza.

Lazy Lounge Lizards

Image
Lazy Lounge Lizards Originally uploaded by oceanicthai Vacation with Grandma & Grandpa.