อำลาประเทศไทย

Hard to believe I only have 3 more nights in Bangkok. I'm in so much denial about it, it's unreal. I am overwhelmed with sadness - for the friends I'm leaving, for the students I'm leaving, for the ministries I'm leaving, for the home I'm leaving. I feel like the best years of my life are coming to an end, and I'm dreading having to assimilate back into American culture. I'm anticipating an indeterminate period of depression and extreme heartbreak, wondering if I made the right decision and longing to return; to say that Thailand has a special place in my heart doesn't even begin to cover it. No matter where I go in the future, and regardless of how much time I spend there, it will never mean the same to me that Thailand has and does. The life I've built here, the community that I've been surrounded by, and the endless memories I've made will be things I'll always cherish and look back on as more of a blessing than I could have ever dreamed they would be. I never expected to be here this long, and yet it still just feels like it's flown by too fast. I know it's time to go, but I'm still having trouble accepting that I have to leave on Friday. I haven't made it through a single day in the last two weeks without something making me tear up and sob like a little girl; even typing this post is making me cry. I hate goodbyes, and I wish I could just skip that part; I'm going to be an absolute mess at the airport Friday night. Words can't even describe how much I'm going to miss living here, and all the people who've touched my heart. I love you all, and hope promise to see you again someday soon.

                                                                  -นารี

Look What I Found..

A video taken in November 2010...Brenda (driver)'s birthday, and we were driving into the city for a night out. Ah..good times. :)

Phantom of the Opera

Celeste, Q-bie and I bought our tickets over a month ago for this show, and already the cheapest tickets had been sold out. We snatched up 3 of the remaining 2500B tickets, and anxiously counted down the days until, finally, May 17th arrived! I've seen the movie, I've performed the music with bands and orchestras numerous times, but had yet to see a live performance of the opera itself. It was a traveling cast, so it was in English with Thai subtitles, and it was nice to finally see one in English (after seeing Rigoletto in German, Carmen in French, and Rusalka in Czech), and they did a phenomenal job. The singing was superb, the acting was very well done, and I was thoroughly entertained and enthralled throughout the entire performance.

During intermission

Celeste and her beautiful dress :D

Q'bie's favorite poster

aaaand us being silly :P

Happy Half-Birthday to Me!

Organized a farewell for myself last Saturday, and to keep it laid-back and easy to manage, it was just an all-day open house type of thing where people could drop by, hang out, swim, have a cupcake, say their farewells to me (even though I still have two weeks), and then leave when they needed to. It worked out nicely; I had the first group who came for the afternoon and swam and stayed til about 6:15, then at about 6:40 the second wave of friends started showing up and stayed until about 1am. Good times, and wonderful friends. I'm so glad to have them and am going to miss them all immensely. 



Beatrice, the first to arrive

Smitha and Jude stopped by for about an hour to swim before heading off to a ball



Some of the afternoon group in the pool




The pool is on the roof, so it has a great view on all sides :)



Jojo came by with Celeste, but decided not to swim :P



Natalia, me and Celeste



Everyone enjoying their cupcakes



GORGEOUS sunset along the Bangkok skyline




Second wave of people



Charis and little Jared :D



Pizza! and garlic bread, and pasta, and chicken wings..



View from the roof at night

Hanging out up by the pool in the evening

The Making of the Booze Cupcakes

My lovely friend Celeste has a recipe for Irish cupcakes, and wanted to make them for my farewell party last week, so Friday morning I stopped by the Robinhood pub to pick up a pint of Guinness (beer) and 2 shots of Bailey's liqueur. They seemed a bit confused at first when I asked to get them "take away," but soon became resourceful and emptied to water bottles and poured the alcohol into them so I could easily carry them the few blocks to the cafe. We also needed whiskey, so I bit the bullet and bought a bottle (which ended up being way more than we needed, but oh well). 

Celeste had a bit of administrative work to get done, but showed me where everything I needed was and had two of the cafe staff come to help me. The Guinness went into the batter mix, the Jameson into the chocolate ganoche in the middle, and the Bailey's went into the butter cream frosting. They were AMAZINGLY delicious!  

Bailey's, Guinness, and the bottle of Jameson haha

Mashing and measuring the butter

lol He always gives me that face hahaha



Getting the batter ready to beat



My slightly-more-psycho-looking-than-I-thought licking-the-mixer pic



Getting the frosting nice and fluffy



All frosted! Thanks Celeste!

Had to samply one, just to make sure it was delicious



Ah..a thing of beauty :D



The 'Only' Way to Get to Bible Study in Bangkok

That would be side-saddle (because I'm in a skirt) on the back of a motorbike taxi :D

Sangkhlaburi Day 3

Monday morning after breakfast we started the long drive back, but stopped along the way first to walk across a long wooden bridge..



First section of the bridge

 





Cheese!



Halfway point







the group

  ... and the Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum. We also walked down through Hellfire Pass itself.




The pathway down







The first of many small memorial plaques

Looking at Hellfire Pass



Another memorial plaque

 

 

Overlooking Hellfire Pass



It was hot at lunchtime, apparently too hot for Natalie haha



The biggest glass bottle of Coke I've ever seen



A coke and a smile :)



Sangkhlaburi Day 2

Day two started at 7:30am, and after coffee and breakfast we were on our way to Khun Dodo's house, and the Pahk 16 AIDS ministry that she runs.

Natalie and I at breakfast

At Pahk 16

Dodo and a few of the children

Singing Jesus Loves Me

The boys (and little girl, Poe Poe, in the green) singing for us

Helping Poe Poe trace her hand

Walkin to church!

After sitting with the kids and playing/coloring/singing/talking, we headed over to the little church on the property for Sunday morning service. The pastor preached in Karen (hilltribe language), another pastor translated what he was saying into Thai, and Ora sat next to me and translated the Thai into English for me. Lots of singing, and we all went up to introduce ourselves at one point, and all the while the children sat..or ran around..or played..or danced in the aisle, haha.

Me and Poe Poe 

Our group

All the children sang,

Then the women sang.

Lunch after church

Some of the women with the rice and cooking oil we brought for them

After lunch we said our goodbyes to Dodo and the women and children, and headed out to the Kwai River Christian Hospital. The hospital treats Karen and Burmese local residents, but not Thais (because Thais can receive free healthcare from the Thai hospitals). The hospital survives on donations and supporters such as ICB, and although their annual budget is only about 1 million baht (about $35,000), maintaining that is a struggle for them each year, and they are always in need of more doctors, especially surgeons.

Just..beautiful Thai countryside and mountains

Made a quick stop at the Bible school

Touring the hospital

More of the hospital

Pahk 16 Safe House

From the hospital we went down the road to the Pahk 16 Safe House, which helps those with mental disabilities learn skills like weaving, sewing, basket-making, and decorative flower-making.
From there we went to Candlelight, which works with and helps people in the surrounding communities with physical disabilities. Five of us went with Jan (in the pink) to visit the English-ish speaking families, while the other 5(all Thai-speaking) went with another Candlelight staff member to visit families who only spoke Thai.

Denise (L), Natalie, and Jan (pink) and I visiting the first family

Roy (stripes), who is a prof. Physical Therapist and part of our group from ICB, working with the Thai man, helping him to build strength in his legs and sides. 

At family number 2, helping their little girl with her balance and hip issues.

Entering the village where the 3 other families live

Natalie with the mother and her daughter of the first village home

Second village house, sweet little girl and her daddy

She was so funny! We gave her noodles, and she immediately marched over to her mommy and asked for hot water to eat them. I don't think they gave her the water, but they put the noodles in a bowl for her and she sat there munching away while we talked with her family. :)

The village

The little boy at the last house we visited. Grandma didn't speak Thai(I think she spoke Mong), so we had a neighbor translating from that into Thai, and then Jan the Thai into English :) None of the families in the village were Christian, but they were all happy to let us pray "to our God" for their children :D

Roy helping his work on balance and some minor knee issues

After we said our goodbyes to the families, we got our group back together and drove over to Jan's home for their weekly Sunday communal dinner. While cutting up the watermelon in the kitchen with Jan's husband, I happened to mention that my mom had worked at a missionary hospital up north in Mae Sariang about 30 years ago, and Jan came into the kitchen and said, "What's her name?" When I said Rosa, her face lit up and she said, "Rosa CrespoHarris?!" Surprised that she knew my mom's name, I laughed and said, "Um..yeah! Yeah, that's my mom. :D" She was so surprised and excited to realize the connection; apparently they had gone to language school together (35 years ago), and had (indirectly) worked on some of the same projects and things around that time. I was suddenly filled with an overwhelming sense of pride for not only what my mother did as a missionary, but that what she did made such an impact on those around her that they still remember her so many years later. Way to go, Mom. :)

Dinner at Jan's house with our group and some of the other local missionaries

Me with Jan and her husband (whose name unfortunately escapes me)

The evening view over the river from our room's balcony