To Market, To Market...

Tonight I went to a big open-air market with tons of locally-made crafts and food galore. SO FUN! Got my picture taken with the lady who hand-made the purse I bought.











Mmmm... sticky rice cooked in a bamboo shoot. Peel it back like a banana and yum, yum, yum!

Below: a woman spooning out and cooking pork "meat balls" for noodle soup; "omelettes" cooked in banana leaves over the grill!














My chicken shish kabob with fresh pineapple, bell pepper, and onion (not pictured: the pineapple... first to go).

YUM! :)

A Little Cramped

We love trains! We wanted to ride the train in Thailand, but seats were sold out, so we got snagged into riding a tour bus. We climbed up to the top, excited about the space and comfy seats, got all settled with snacks, blankets and pillows, only to be informed that we were supposed to be "downstairs." Gathering all our stuff, we headed down into a dark, hot dungeon of squashed seating. Was this the priveleged seating or for the unpriveleged? I wanted to know. Searching for the lady who had moved us, I found the upstairs practically empty and the lady nowhere to be found. The bus began to move, so I decided I was going to go sit where I wanted! Back up we moved. After resettling, about 15 minutes into the promised 10-hr trekk, the bus stopped, a bunch of people climbed on, and our seats were demanded. Walk of shame #2.

Back to the dungeon. We had been promised a free meal, though.... Never got it. Couldn't get comfortable. Finally I decided to try to sleep on the floor and let C have both seats. A little better, but what a long ride! Around 4:30 am we stopped, and a bunch of people got off. Free seats upstairs! We jumped at the opportunity. Lugged everything back upstairs, resettled, smiling to ourselves and exclaiming, "Third time's the charm!" :) The bus took off a little before 5 am, and in less than 10 minutes stopped again. "Last stop!" What??????? We thought we were still at least an hour away from our city. Seriously??? Yup. Walk of shame #3 back down those stairs, and this time off the bus. Turned out to be a 9-hour ride instead of 10. We piled into a tuk-tuk who dropped us off at our guest house, 5:15 am, dark, rainy, all doors locked, no one around. Our beginnings in Thailand.... :)

The other night after spending some time in a mall, there was no transportation to be found. It had rained earlier that day, and apparently no one felt like working. So, 4 of us piled on the one piece of transportation to be had by our friends who live in the area, laughing hysterically. Only wish we had a video of it or a better picture--especially of the gasps of shock as we passed people on the street. :) 4-5 people on a motorcycle is a common sight in Asia, but 4-5 Asians... NOT big-bodied westerners!!! Note: length of motorcycle is considerably shorter than it appears in this picture. Front and back persons are only very partially on the seat!

I Love My Workshop (1)

Art can warm even a chilled and sunless soul to an exalted spiritual experience. Through art we occasionally receive--indistinctly, briefly--revelations the likes of which cannot be achieved by rational thought. It is like the small mirror of legend; you look into it but instead of seeing yourself you glimpse for a moment the inaccessible, a realm forever beyond reach, And your soul begins to ache...

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Back to B-town

I went back for a visit today to see friends where I did my language study. It was great to reconnect with dorm friends, teachers, and neighbors.

Happy, Sad, Angry, Glad

Last night I went to Chili's!!! Oh, what a happy night. And they even let me take home my leftover blottomless chips 'n' salsa! Sadly, I spent a good 20-30 minutes deliberating which dessert I wanted--the Molten Chocolate Cake or the Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie, and when I finally consulted a waitress, was informed that they were out of both. :(
In the end, I was glad the decision was made for me, because I couldn't have possibly fit it in my stomach anyway.

By the way, did anyone ever read that book as a kid?
Happy, Sad, Angry, Glad: How People Feel Inside
by Gail Peterson, 1978.... To teach kids about emotions.

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

"...when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart."

I want to be occupied with gladness of heart! By the standards of my home country, my wealth and possessions are insignificant. Compared to the rich people of the world, I am a pauper! But weighed by the majority of the world, my wealth and possessions are abundant. My work encompasses my skills, abilities, and passions.

So why is my gladness of heart so often missing? I get so bogged down with trying to scrimp, save, and protect my wealth and possessions. I stress myself out trying to be responsible and achieve "perfection" with my work. But here Solomon exalts enjoying our wealth and possessions, and being happy with our work. May I do so with gladness of heart!

Birthday Pride

For my teammate's birthday I made my first pizza crust, which was a lot of fun. Everyone topped their own pizzas, and my other teammates had bell peppers, which was super exciting. Thin crust whole wheat veggie pizza. Yum! The electricity died on us, so we ended up partying by candlelight, picnic-style in the house. B made cake and they decorated C's tent at camp. I love birthdays! They are so fun to celebrate.

Candle light

My porch became grand central station for candle lighting a few days before the biggest annual religious celebration here. For 2 nights all the little kids were carrying around candles in coconut shells and putting candles in front of their homes. The little girls next door claimed my porch a week in advance. :) Looked a bit like Christmas.

Ugh... Stay Healthy.

Last week I came down with a cold which turned into a fever/flu. The first day I improved, I didn't take care to rest up, and in fact went so far as to get LESS rest than I would ever dream of when in a healthy body! Talk about a breakdown. Have you ever gotten yourself worked into such a frenzy that you couldn't see out of it and worked yourself into total paralysis? Not fun. Words cannot describe the state of mind (unless maybe you read my 11 pages of journaling from 5-7 am on September 27). What a mess. New levels of doom and condemnation for me. I can't imagine what it is like for people who struggle with this on a regular basis. Trying to take it easy. Doing much better now, thanks to the support of my teammates. But I think it is time for a break....

Artsy Fartsy

Trying to learn how to use the stitch assistant on my camera. Not so successful.




Rice patty through the slats of a shelter on the field. Need to know more about focusing with my camera. Don't know what it can and can't do.

"Blue skies,
nothing but blue skies..."








Trying to catch raindrops on camera on a rainy day last year in KL.

I've taken to collecting coral that is shaped like letters. I'm a bit limited in the words I can do, but hey, still pretty cool, I think

A close-up on the rice

Drip, drip, drip . . .

That's my nose right now. Don't you hate it when you have a cold and literally your nose drips like a faucet? Seriously, I should just stick a bowl under my nose . . . .

Exploring

I spent a day out at the cliffs, just me and a few of my favorite things (Bible, journal, guitar, iPod, computer, camera). Discovered some new territory and caves and a new fish I've never seen before. He was in a big tide pool just outside the cave.

Living Light, Sept 18, morning

Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word.

He opened their minds to understand at last these many scriptures. Then he explained to them that only they were permitted to understand about the Kingdom of Heaven, and others were not. And Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise, and for revealing it to little children. Yes, Father, for it pleased you to do it this way.” And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world’s spirit) to tell us about the wonderful free gifts of grace and blessing that God has given us. How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly. I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me! Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are his wisdom and knowledge and riches! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his methods! For who among us can know the mind of the Lord? Who knows enough to be his counselor and guide? For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore.


Ps. 119:18. Lk. 24:45. Mt. 13:11. Mt. 11:25, 26. 1 Cor. 2:12. Ps. 139:17, 18. Rom. 11:33, 34, 36.

Buds

A few of my little buddies.
How wierd does my head look?



Visitors came with balloons
and a pump.
I'll tell you who was pumped!


Home on the right

Watermelon Art

My teammate at work with her amazing culinary skills. I cut up the fruit salad to go inside the basket, I'll have you know. :)

5 Shakes in 1 Day

Yeah, the other morning I woke up to a fairly strong earthquake. C flew out of bed and started changing her clothes. I sat up, but was too tired to cover up properly and run outside, so I just sat there, trying to decide if it was worth it or not. Eventually it went away and I laid back down. A couple hours later, An even stronger earthquake shook the village out of homes. We all sat outside, people watching the ocean to see if the water would retreat (signals a tsunami). About 15 minutes later, while still sitting outside chatting, we felt another tremor. And then another tremor about an hour later, and then another that afternoon. That's a record for me! During the night we thought we felt some more movement, but who knows? So maybe it was 6 shakes in a day, or else it could be sort of like that feeling you have in bed after a day of playing in the ocean. :)

(later found out online that the earthquake was only around 5.7 on the Richter Scale)

Home SWEET Home

Thought I'd put a few newer pictures up of the house. Sorry some pictures are a bit dark, but hopefully you can still get an idea. Since the last house pictures I posted, a breakfast nook has been added (okay, well, all-the-meals-nook), which is fun.








In the wide picture above, you see (from left to right): part of a stool from the table; the shower area, blocked off by a wooden divider; a maroon bucket which holds shower and dish-washing water and is accessible from the shower side and the sink side (still have to draw water from outside, but plans are in process to hook up a pump to the well out back); a sink; the propane tank and stove corner; dishrack; drinking water stand (yeah! no more boiling drinking water!); the everything kitchen counter, including the box oven on the second shelf.








My neighbor has lined flowers along the backside of the kitchen, and they are growing up, making the jungle view even prettier! Don't know if you can see them....
Electricity is completely unpredictable, so kerosene lamps are posted all around the house for those frequent nights without electric. Sometimes it's easier to leave both on, to avoid getting up and down switching back and forth between the two. On the right is a peek view from the kitchen area into the bedroom where the new desk/bookshelf sits. I love this house. It has been so fun to build it bit by bit.

Ode to Ophi

By the way, Ophelia is gone. Not really sure what happened to her. While away on survey (staying at "the new Hilton") I left her with the neighbors. Usually we would bring her to camp where our other teammates are, but we had decided she was a big girl now. Anyway, when we came back, she was nowhere to be found. Everyone said someone stole her, so that's what we figured, but then a couple days later we were gone again, and the neighbors smelled something and found her under our house. Not sure what happened. :(

I think she was destined to be a good mouser, eventually without the help of the traps. I don't think we'll be getting another cat--not that it wasn't fun having a little ball of fur on which to pour out my affections. These traps do a good job.

The Cliffs

Just about a 20 min hike from the house are some amazing cliffs overlooking waves that crash onto exposed coral. And TALL trees! How do those coconut trees hold on horizontally with virtually no root system?








DOES it get any more beautiful than this? CAN it get more beautiful? What WAS the Garden of Eden like? What WILL heaven be like?