A Little History

We have been here for almost 4 months now and I noticed that I do not write a whole lot about the kids or my work with them. Some of you may wonder why, so I will try to explain. I will not be exhaustive because I do not want to nor intend to make anybody look bad. Let me start off by saying this has all been a great learning experience, not always easy, but valuable lessons learned to take with me throughout life. The short version is this, I came here with an expectation and that expectation was not realized. That expectation was to assist in the everyday functions of  H2O. I built up this expectation based on what I was told about the place and the need presented. There are 20+ kids and few staff. Last year was hard on them, having to travel to Chiang Mai (10 hours away) and Mae Sot (4 hours away), to treat 2 ill children, often 2x a month. This would leave two people behind to care for the rest. Wow, it sounded like they really needed help, right? So, we arrive and of course there is an adjustment period; there were so many things to adjust to. Soon after arriving, we found out that our host couple was not fully informed about our intentions or much else about us. Hmm, interesting. Even at this point, expectations were not discussed. They are asking us why have we come and we said we just want to help in anyway that you see fit. We discussed a number of ways that we could be involved with H2O, however, we needed to get our work permits (this made us have to leave town every 2 weeks). Things were mentioned but not much was actually implemented. So I ended up really only teaching English to outsiders. This was frustrating to me, but what was I to do. Now let me interject this, cultural differences affect everything! I was trying to be sensitive to them, not always knowing what is offensive. For example, could I just waltz up into the kitchen and say I'm cooking today? That seems too intrusive, however a friend of mine who has lived in Asia for a while said, in Asian culture, if they mention something once, they expect you to do it, even thought they have not "organized" it. Ahh I see, I am supposed to take initiative. Well I did that in areas that I thought were in need of assistance, like the morning routine. I would get up and attempt to help in the kitchen with breakfast and lunch prep. It was not discouraged, but I also felt awkward because I was putting myself in that position. I had to sometimes insist on the cook letting me do things, not because she is a control freak but because we were never formally placed in that position. She didn't want to put her work off onto me. Also, I was helping make sure the kids were up, looked presentable, with hair combed and faces washed etc. Again, that was a bit uncomfortable, not having been asked to do it. I had to be in their "house" early in the morning to do these things. Then we went through a pretty awkward stage where we just felt uncomfortable. Not really knowing our place or what they actually thought about us just involving ourselves in things, so we stopped. Once we had our work permits, we started helping in the government school and now we are only really with the kids on weekends. No, not what we thought we would be doing. We play with them on Saturdays and on Sundays we teach Sunday School. A lot of the issue I see is lack of communication, lack of organization and misunderstandings. The person who founded H2O and drums up funding lives in Finland, while the people who actually run it are here. We were in primary communication with the person in Finland, with little to no contact with them over here before we arrived. It seems each party had their own ideas about how we could be useful, but they did not communicate that to each other, so here we come with one expectation, that would be impossible to be met without clear communication.

I hope that you are not confused, I did leave out a lot of detail, I cannot say that it is all necessary to be told. I have no hard feelings toward anybody for how things have turned out and there is always the possibility of things changing. The issues presented are very common and I realize that. I do not want you to get the impression that we are not welcome there during the week, it's just that the kids are in school all day so there is no point in being there during the day and when we assisted with homework, it was English homework. Now that we are their English teachers, it would be redundant. Also, I was to say, I can clearly see areas where I dropped the ball. Areas that I could have been more involved, but on my part, I guess laziness set in. Not being asked to do certain things made me loose motivation to do other things that surely would have been well received. For example, Naung Put is pre-school age. In hindsight, I see that I could have spent like an hour a day with her, teaching her the alphabet and numbers, reading to her in English, etc, but I didn't. That would have really been a benefit for her once she entered school. But hindsight is always 20/20 is how the saying goes. I think we may re-explore with them  ways that we can be involved, but I guess we will see.

*Side note: I emailed my dentist about my tooth. of course he needs to see me but he said if there is no pain in the tooth, then it can wait, so that is what I will do. Wait until a more convenient time to get it looked at. Also, I did find a dress that actually fit and looked nice on me... but the bride just couldn't make up her mind. Long story short, I am wearing a traditional Karen dress that was given to me as a Christmas gift. The wedding is next Sunday!

Plumbing in rural Thailand

I have never paid much attention to the plumbing out here before, but today I had to. I have mentioned before that most bathrooms (at least out here in these parts, not so much in major cities) are designed in a way that the whole thing can get wet. There is no bath tub to shower in, there is just a hot water unit attached to the wall, usually right next to the toilet, and that is how you shower. Everything is tiled so it's OK if it get wet. There is a hole in the floor somewhere that allows the water to drain out. So my sink has normal type plumbing just under the sink, but it is attached to a hose that is placed in the hole in the floor that allows my shower water to drain. For a while while living in my old room, I wondered where the toilet water went. I would here it and was horrified to think that it was just pouring out the back of my house into the dirt; thank God it wasn't! Most toilets are "squat" toilets, but we have "western style" toilets, meaning it's a bowl you can sit on, not a porcelain thing on the floor with foot placements that you squat over. Although I have a western style toilet, it does not flush. I have to pour water into the bowl to flush the contents. Back to the story, so I was cleaning my bathroom and pulled the hose out of the hole so that the water from the floor could drain easier. I ended up knocking my sink stopper off of the sink and it fell right down the drain! Since it was dark outside, I decided not to investigate, I waited until this morning. When I went out, I saw how the whole thing works. Our kitchen sink has a tube that sticks out of the wall and the water shoots out onto the ground from a height.... I guess that's OK. That water isn't too dirty right? I was pleased to see that my toilet drains into a large diameter tube that is cemented into the ground. There is a large tank that holds all of the waste. When it is full (I have no idea how they find that out), it can be changed. My bathroom sink drains into a medium sized tube, but that water spills out onto the ground just like the kitchen sink water. I never did see the stopper, not sure if it's stuck on a bend or what. I pulled one part of the tubing off and it was clear, the rest was too high for me to get to.

So that was a crash course in plumbing in rural Thailand. I don't think it's the most sanitary but it is what it is.

Life on our own

So it has been 2 weeks since we have left the orphanage and man, it's like I am in a different world! The orphanage is located just outside of town, up on a hill, so if I did not make an effort to leave, I really didn't see anybody besides the people who came by. As I have mentioned before, we are working with Burmese people in Thailand. It was a bit strange, but I needed to know Burmese more than Thai while I was there! It seems to me that the Burmese people in Thailand stick together (I will give my 2 cents on that in another post), so being at the orphanage, I was only really dealing with Burmese people and eating Karen/Burmese food. Now that we are out on our own, it's like a new world has opened up!! We are meeting new people and just having a totally different experience! We eat out a lot now, since food isn't just prepared for us like when we were at H2O. When I first arrived people would ask am I eating amazing Thai food etc., well back then I wasn't but I sure am now! The food is amazing!! AND I can eat for $1 a meal! People have been very friendly and kind. Our landlord and her family are great! They have given us food that they have prepared and anything else we have needed. Now that we are working at the school, kids notice us in town and point us out to their parents. It has overall been a very nice experience. The only downside is our fridge is usually empty, lol.

Concerning my crown, it appears that going to Mae Sot just won't do. A friend of mine here who works for an NGO went to the "good" dentist in Mae Sot about 1 year ago to get a wisdom tooth pulled and they ended up severing her nerve and were not willing to take responsibility for it..... I think I'll pass. So what are my options? Go to Chiang Mai which is 10 hours away from here. In major cities you can get comparable if not better medical care than in the USA. I am going to contact my dentist at home and ask him how long I can wait to get it fixed. If I end up having to go to Chiang Mai, I will have to go for the whole process which might take weeks. We will see......

Oh no!

So back in October, I had to go to the dentist because a crown came off. I've had this crown for a very long time, since 1996 or so.Now, I live in the country, so medical care is not the best. It's OK to go to the hospital for minor things, but if I need major care, I would need to go elsewhere. So I thought, it shouldn't be too hard for them to replace a crown.... yeah right! So I go in and to make a long story short, he, the dental resident, bumbled around a bit, dropped the crown a few times, both on the floor and in my mouth, and permanently cements it into place... crooked! He wanted to fix it by shaving it down so that my bite would be correct, but I wouldn't let him. I felt that the bite was off a bit, but figured it's not so bad I can live with it. I didn't want him futzing around in my mouth anymore. So I go on living my life normally until today. I have a craving to chew ice since I am anemic and I do it all of the time. Lately I have have been feeling like something in my mouth is gonna break, but I just couldn't help myself. Tonight I was eating cereal and felt something crunch, so I picked it out of my mouth and quess what it was?! Half of my crown! GREAT!! couldn't believe it! I realize what has been happening, since the crown was not put on properly, it was receiving an unequal amount of pressure whenever I ate, especially if the food was crunchy. It just couldn't take anymore. Half of it is silver and the other half is porcelain, the procelain half broke off. My tooth is still covered, I guess, but I'm sure it's not OK for the long term. What does that mean for me? I AM NOT going to the dentisit here in Umphang! I am going to have to travel ALL the way to Mae Sot (4 hours away on that windy road!) to get it fixed. This will probably mean multiple trips to the dentist, to get it measured and made, etc. Such is life.... I will keep you posted.

What the New Year brings

So we have had some changes take place. I think the biggest is that we moved! Most of you know that we were living at the orphanage in 2 small attached rooms that each had their own bathrooms. It was an adjustment living there, but it sufficed. Well last Monday we moved to a new place. I  LOVE it!! We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. Although it is a house, it's more the size of an apartment. It is raised up about 15 feet off the ground. We have amazing views of the rice fields and mountains in the background. Just breath taking!! We have a nice sized porch to chill on too. Most houses here are made of wood and they get very hot during the day. Our house is made of cement and tile, so even when it is hot outside, it is nice and cool inside! Know what the best part is? No bugs inside!!! It seems small geckos always find their way in, but they are not 1 foot long head to tail like the ones in our house back at the orphanage (I gotta post pics of them, they were HUGE!).

Before we came out here, we were given the option to stay at the orphanage or get our own place. For a while I was content to stay at the orphanage, it saved us money and we got to be around the kids, however, after a while we decided it was best that we move. I am so happy in the new house! It is quite far from H2O, so I was in need of some transportation. Doris purchased a motorbike in October, so she was set. With only 8 months to go, I really did not want to purchase one, it seemed like such a waste of money. When I looked into renting one, they were asking for the equivalent of $100 USD/month! For that, I could purchase a pretty good second hand bike with the amount of money I would have spent by the time I left. So I just prayed. A woman that we know who lived next to the orphanage ended up offering me her newer bike for $50/month! I thought that a fair price and I don't have to worry about selling it before I leave! I am riding a Honda Wave 110c 4 speed. It's a semi-automatic. I have to change gears but there is no clutch, I just need to release the gas when I change gears.

After much time and money spent, we finally have our work permits. One thing that was asked of us was to assist in one of the government schools in town. Now that we can legally do this, we start work this week. The school is grades 1-6. The children in each grade have 2 English classes a week. Doris is working in 1-3 grade and I am doing 4-6 grade. We attend 1 of the English classes, assisting the teacher. They mainly want us to recite the words the children are learning to them and correct both their pronunciation (the teachers) and the kids. Easy enough, right? Well I guess we will see. Thai is a sing song language, meaning words are extended, so when they speak English, they do the same thing. They did the morning greeting and I didn't realize they were speaking English! I will work on getting them to speak succinctly, like we do.

Concerning work at H2O, we will start doing Sunday School and outreaches on Friday and Saturday. Two of the workers at H2O will be getting married in February! Not sure why, but I have been asked to be the Maid of Honor at the wedding. I accepted, seeing as it won't be much work. This wedding will not be like a typical American one. All I really have to do is buy a dress and be there. However, buying a dress will be quite a chore here. Since attending Mount Zion sadly, I have grown in girth..... Thailand is full of skinny, petite women, not like myself. I seem to fit the dresses but really fill them out, whereas they are supposed to hang on me. Sigh..... I don't have much time to find a decent dress. What is also making it difficult is getting a dress that fits in a specific color. She wants me to wear a pearl or light yellow color. Anyway, we will see. I will try to get pictures of the house posted.

Let's start here...

So December was a VERY busy month for us! Sweet December, followed by the King's birthday weekend extravaganza, then a trip to Mae Sot (4 hours on a super windy, hilly road) to take care of work permit stuff, then that very same week, H2O had an huge Christmas outreach on December 16th! There were about 300 hundred people here. People from a nearby refugee camp were brought in, people were sleeping everywhere! It was interesting. Also during this time, they had a group of people from Singapore here doing a teaching on cell groups, a lot was going on. The outreach was a pretty big production. They had a stage set up in the back, TONS of food was prepared for 3 days straight, huge speakers brought in... I was surprised. Throughout the whole ordeal, Doris and I were kind of lost in the sauce bystanders. We did help decorate the stage though! So much was going on and since we do not speak the language, it is difficult to get in and help out. After that, H2O was pretty much done with Christmas. That was one whole week before Christmas. I was hoping to maybe open gifts with the kids on Christmas morning, but they had already received any gifts they were gonna get. I guess things are just not done like back home. As an aside, Thailand is a Buddhist country, so they allow people to celebrate whatever holidays they want, but on a national level, Christmas is not celebrated. This means no wide spread decorations or talk about it. The week after the outreach was uneventful.On Christmas Eve, we went to a refugee camp. There are a total of 9 along the Thai-Burma border (I will give more information about this in another post later). There is a family in town that we know very well and that is where they used to live, they now rent a house in Umphang (although they still have their house in the refugee camp and are registered there). We spent the night there, so that was how I spent my Christmas. It was actually quite sad being there. There are literally thousands of people who live there and they have nothing to do and nowhere to go. Their houses are constructed in the most rudimentary fashion, made of bamboo. It was very cold the night we slept there and no houses in Thailand have heat and these houses aren't even completely closed in. We slept on the floor with a mosquito net around us. I was pretty bundled up too. In the morning when I went to brush my teeth, I did not understand where they were directing me to go to do it... they were pointing to the "kitchen" area. I was like, but where do it spit? They said right there, on the floor of the house, just wash it through the floor. I was a bit overwhelmed by their living conditions and quality of life. I was depressed being there. I did meet some very nice people though. No matter how little they have, they try to give you something, it is a very kind gesture. We attended a church service on Christmas where they asked Doris and I to share a little bit so we did. They they served lunch. Afterwards, we walked around the camp and we went home a little later. The following day a missionary who has been serving here in Thailand for 52 years came to town, so we went out with him and his group. They were in the general area for 1 week and through a couple we know here who used to work with him, we were able to partake in their outreach. It was a really wonderful time and very refreshing. We went to a village near the Burma border. It is quite isolated, so a lot of the people still retain their traditional ways. We drove for 2 hours, then had to transfer to a 4 wheel drive, there is no other car that would be able to make the next 1 hour drive. The road itself was just cut last year. when there was no road back in the day, Allen, the missionary would travel by boat, then elephant. If there was no car available, we would have to walk and it would have taken up to 4 hours! Allen is 80 years old and last walked in August! (When I refer to walking, I am talking only about the last road we drove on for 1 hour.) However, the teenagers still have a way of being "modern"! Some had their hair dyed blond, some wore skinny jeans, it never ceases to amaze me! Sadly, many young kids there smoke too. There is a beautiful waterfall there that I ended up climbing down (which I was not expecting to do!) and there are pools at the bottom to swim in. We slept there that night. We went home the next day then met back up with the team the following day, which was New Years Eve. Allen was visiting the people that he has ministered to for the last 50 years. It was really nice getting to meet these people. They shared their testimonies of how they came to know Jesus, we sang and ate. For New Years, we were hoping to spend it with friends at their house with the team, but we had to go out to a church for a few hours. I was so tired! We eventually went home and I was in bed by 11:30pm. I had been sick since just after Thanksgiving with a cold that just wouldn't quite. By this point, I was going through rolls of toilet paper just blowing my nose all of the time. I think my cold got worse when I slept in the camp and in the village. We slept on the floor and it was cold both times.By New Years Eve, I developed a sore throat and a fever. But No rest for the weary, we were up the next morning to go back to Mae Sot for a visa run! Thank God Allen and his team were heading out that day, we got a ride with them instead of in the blue car.... I think I would have died! I went to the doctor in Mae Sot and was put on antibiotics. Doing much better now but the cold is still lingering a bit.

Sorry I do not have any pictures to show you, my computer with the pictures is dead :-( Also, you have been cheated out of more detail since so much is clumped together, sorry. There is still more to tell, so I will try to post several times this next week until you are all caught up!

Many excuses

I have not posted in over a month which is very uncharacteristic of me. December was a very busy month for us, especially the last week. Then I was slightly discouraged and really didn't feel like writing, then I got plain old lazy! Last week, everyday I said to myself, I need to post on my blog then my computer died on Saturday. I used it to do my budget, shut it down then went out. When I came back home, I tried to turn it on and the screen was just white. I am NOWHERE near a decent service center so there goes that! It is Doris' old computer. I did bring along with me an old IBM, so I am using that. However, it has problems connecting to wifi... the problems don't end. I am on it now, but plugged into a LAN line, which is not in my own home, so it looks like my internet access will be limited for while. Anyway, I am hoping to get on this weekend and fill you all in, I have lots to share. I am deciding if I will break it up or just write one big long one, we will see. Stay tuned and thank you for following!