A Much Needed Update!

Wow.  It’s amazing how busy I’ve been without having a chance to blog!  Or maybe, it’s because I’m enjoying myself so much I find other exciting things to do.  Maybe it’s both.  Probably so.

Mango Sticky Rice!

  Either way, I’ve been enjoying myself immensely and have started having feelings of sadness that I’m leaving so soon (tonight!).  Several people have mentioned that there’s an option that I can stay longer because Korean Air offers the first flight change free of charge.  So I could change my departure until one of two weeks later!  I can’t help but chuckle!  Aunt Lynette, Lisa Sharon and Mrs. Steck have all hinted at the idea (or maybe more than hinted… suggested strongly).

At the Night Safari!

  Yet, I am ready to go home.  I miss my family, especially my dad whose health hasn’t been the best since my leaving.  He caught pneumonia, which is a scary thing with his immune system being shot from his recent surgery.  So I’m anxious to get home and see him and help my mom.  If I stayed here longer, I’d want them to come here too! :)  I’m jealous of my time with them.

Riding a huge tortoise... not.

  What have I been doing since being here in Thailand?  Well, I swam in the pool with the kids almost everyday last week.  I’ve helped cook and clean.  I went to a Sunday night market, which was pretty awesome since I could get mango sticky rice!  That made the whole thing worthwhile!  I hope to go back this Sunday night.  I went with the family and the Mackins (a dear women and her adopted Chinese daughter) to the Night Safari, which was pretty cool!  We got to see all these neat animals in their nocturnal states!  I saw an albino raccoon, which was so cool and a giraffe stuck its head in the tram we were in and begged for food.  I never knew giraffes were so BIG!  That was my favorite part of the whole Safari!  I was only disappointed that I couldn’t take any pictures because it got too dark.

  Let’s see… oh! And we went to a sticky waterfall!  That was incredible!  The water has a lot of calcium in it, so the calcium has deposited and created this awesome cascade of waterfalls!  And you can walk right up the face of the falls, which made things even more interesting and exciting.  We found two freshwater crabs.  That generated a mix of excited shouts and nervous chattering.  Some were poking curiously at the creature while others watched nervously perched atop a safe location away from the action (Can you guess which group I was in?).  After walking around on the waterfalls a bit, we had a fabulous picnic lunch.

At the Sticky Waterfall!

Our picnic lunch

Micah looking for fish

 

Looking at the freshwater crab

 A freshwater crab!

  This last weekend, there was a retreat held here in Chiang Mai for missionaries in the south Asian countries (Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc.).  It was at a fancy hotel in downtown Chiang Mai and quite a number of people came.  I was able to see the Sharons, who I haven’t seen for years!  And the Stecks!  What fun it was to see all these missionaries come together!  The main speaker was a huge disappointment, so we didn’t attend any of his meetings, but rather stayed in the hotel room and read our Huguenot story and drew.

  I’ve taught Elyssa and Micah a little bit about shading techniques in drawing.  Elyssa’s really gotten the hang of it!  She’s into horses so we’ve practiced drawing horses and making them as realistic as possible.  She’s done really well, although she claims it’s mostly me.  But I disagree… I help her, but she’s learning.

A foal.

Elyssa's second drawing.  Incredible!

Destiny, Lisa's Karen baby

  Right now, the “Rawling hotel” has no vacancy!  There are a total of 26 people here!  That includes all their babies and us, but still, that’s a lot of people in one house!  The Stecks (4), Lisa Sharon and her baby (2), Myers (4), Adams (or, at least some of them) (8), Sunny (1), Mackins (2), Rawlings (4), and me!  Pretty full.  Babies crying, fingers typing on computers, boys swimming in the pond behind the house, girls making lunch, mothers chatting… it could easily be called chaos.  I’ve done my share of babysitting.  All the Karen babies are so cute!  Several of the missionaries have “adopted” them.  There are a total of 6 adopted Karen babies here.  My favorite is Lisa’s, who is such a happy little girl!  It doesn’t take much to make her smile!  I just love her!

  Well, I leave tonight.  I have mixed feelings, but mostly, I’m excited to get back to my family!  I miss them so much!  And my friends… I miss them too.  I look forward to catching up with some of you as soon as I can get back! :)