Reconsidering rabies

Maybe I should have gotten that rabies vaccination after all...
No fatal wounds yet, but a few close calls. I really think my host family's cats have something against me.

Border Patrol

Well, I'm legal to stay in Thailand for another 30 days. I had to run across the border into Laos to renew my visa over the weekend. It was an adventure. After taking several buses, minibuses and tuk-tuks, Carla (another volunteer in a different village) and I finally made it to the border. When I stepped up to the booth where they stamp your passport, the guard working there said he didn't know if I'd be able to get the visa into Laos becuase all but the very last page of my passport were full. The Laos visa takes up an entire page (complicated long story...). Anyway, forunately when I went through immigration on the Laos side fo the border, I had no problem...except that now my passport had no more empty pages...meaning no place for a stamp back into Thailand, out of Thailand, into Malaysia, out of Malaysia, back into Thailand, out of Thailand, into Hong Kong, OUt of HOng Kong, and Into America... So, I took a little trip to the US embassy in Laos where they kindly added extra pages to my passport. Now I have plenty of space to explore the rest of the globe. Watch out world. Here I come!

Carving the beef

Thanksgiving this year was unique. The family I live with asked me if I could make American tuna sandwiches for dinner. So, even though I don't really like tuna that much, and even though I'm not sure how tuna sandwiches are different in American than they are in Thailand, I honored their request and whipped up the special treat. When I was finished, my host mom placed a butchers block, a knife, and a bowl of nearly raw beef in front of me and asked if I'd ever chopped beef before...hmmm. So, I didn't get to carve a turkey, but I did get to chop beef (which by the way we fried and ate with sticky rice and tuna sandwiches for dinner).
Before dinner, I went for a bike ride to explore the rice paddies beyond the village again. The sun was low in the sky and the breeze was blowing over the fields and through the trees, and I could only faintly hear the sounds of dogs barking and children playing in the village--what a peaceful feeling. I came upon an old lady standing barefoot, cutting rice near the siide of the road, so I stopped and asked (through charades) if I could help. She kinda giggled, motioned for me to come through the fence, handed me a sickle, and we cut rice together. I'm certainly not a pro, but hey, maybe next time I eat Thai basmati rice, I'll think a little more about the hand that might have harvested it.

No Frog-eye salad

It's Thanksgiving, but there will be no turkey and stuffing for me this year. I'll admit that I'm feeling a little homesick for family and friends, not to mention buttery mashed potatoes and frog-eye salad:) But, chin up! I'm in Thailand! And there is much to be grateful for here too! While America is enjoying pumpkin pie and Aunt Marilyn's toffee and siging "Over the River and through the Woods", I'll be savoring my rice and bananas and singing "If You're happy and you know it.." with a bunch of 4th graders.
For my scripture study this morning, I decided to focus on gratitude. I read some of my favorite verses like Alma 34:38 which reminds me of the connection between gratitude and having the Spirit. I also re-read Sister Parkin's April Conference address, "Gratitude: A Spirit filled Principle". I loved this talk, especially one particular part. She says the following:
"Gratitude required awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord's hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize, so often we are not grateful. In the Book of Mormon, we learn that those who murmur do not know 'the dealings of that God who created them'. The Lord counsels us not to murmur becuase it is then difficult for the Spirit to work with us."
"Gratitude is a Sprit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things. which gladden our hearts with their message of God's love. Theis grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness..."
I have so much to be grateful for, yet too often fail to recognize the Lord's blessings in my life.
Nature is beautiful, people are good, art is inspiring, food is delicious, weather is pleasant, trials are refining, work is rewarding, and God's love is abundant only if we see them as such.
I am thankful for the experiences, people, and knowledge that have made me into the person I am today. And I know the Lord is making more of me than I could ever make of myself. I'm thankful for his grace.
Sawat dee ka! and Happy Thanksgiving!

Man fingernails

Why do so many Asian men like to grow out their pinkie fingernail? Personally, I think there are far more attractive physical characteristics a person could chose to enhance.

Some People Should Not be Allowed to Hold the Conch...

Here's one of my journal entries from this weekend. It was a lot of fun...really!:)
Friday Nov 16, 2007:
"Some people should not be allowed to hold the conch! I'm on a bus right now with a bunch of Thai teachers going for a weekend outing...I have a feeling this is going to be one of the longest weekends of my life. Who does karaoke on a bus...at 4:30 in the morning?! And whoever decided it was a good idea to put microphones on a bus in Thailand was crazy! Someone has been talking or singing on the mic non-stop since we got on the bus...I know I'll look back on this experience later and laugh...didn't these people wake up at 3am like I did?! I'm praying for patience:)"
"...it is now 7:00am. Karaoke is still going strong:)...the microphone chiefs have quieted down and passed the conch to a few other people who want to try their hand at karaoke. I have decided on two new rules for the microphone: 1. If your normal speaking voice is already louder than the microphone, you are not allowed to use it; 2. If you yell into the mic, you will be thrown from the bus..."
"...it is now 3:30pm. Believe it or not, yes, we are still on the bus, and yes, karaoke is still teh entertainment of choice. How much of this can a person take before they go bonkers?! WE did have two brief breaks, one for breakfast, and one for lunch..."
"Well after approximately 12 hours of karaoke, we've arrived at our destination..."
So, the weekend was actually really fun. We stoped stopped at a famous art school where a world famous artist teaches, went to a vineyard, got fresh oranges at an orange grove, visited a famous Buddhist temple, "climbed" at mountain to watch the sunrise over an Bhuddha shrine, did more karaoke, went to a place called Kuen Ming that reminds me a little bit of the mountains in southern China, and definitely didn't get enough sleep...oh, the memories:)