Lice For Jesus.

Our first night in Bangkok, I thought I would treat myself to a two hour massage. For the first thirty minutes the lady who was working on me could not stop talking about how fortunate I was to have married such a good looking "farang" {or foreigner}. She told me about how she got into the business of massage so that she could one day meet and marry a foreigner. 

I paid for two hours of massage, but she told me she had just started learning massage work last month and did not know how to massage my upper body. So instead of the two hours I paid for, I ended up only receiving an hour and a half of work and a head of lice. 

Lice! WHAT???!!!! Yup. Pictures of cows? Yes, they are so much cuter than pictures of lice. Back in Chaiyaphum I had been crazy about avoiding lice. The team leader for the team that was with us wanted lice because she thought that meant she was truly showing Gods love. Well her wish was granted when the majority of the team ended up with lice. 

But when we got to Bangkok, I got lazy and washed my hair, laid on a public pillow for my massage, and ended up with eggs. We never did see any bugs, and by the time we landed in Hong Kong, there were no longer any signs of any lice in my hair. However, in Bangkok, it was an intense time of treating my head to disinfect myself. Thankfully, no one else in my family ever got anything and the person who was the most paranoid about getting lice, ended up with it.

Hello Bangkok.

The first week we were in Thailand, I was sick and in the bed. The second week we were in Thailand, another team came from the United States and we did everything together. The third week we were in Thailand, we left Chaiyaphum to spend time in Bangkok and experience the city on our own.

In Bangkok, we stayed at the guesthouse and main headquarters for the organization of the home we worked at in Chaiyaphum. It was located outside of the main city area, so we had to figure out modes of transportation to get into the tourist areas. The first day we paid a driver from the organization to take us down to the palace area. That in itself was an interesting experience. Let me just say that my father said it best as I recounted our experiences to him, that a good business manager {and hostess at the guesthouse} for any organization is vital to keeping it running smoothly.

We enjoyed discovering Bangkok. Like the rest of Thailand, there were many aspects that reminded me of the Philippines. It is an interesting country, but being there just made me homesick for a good visit to Manila. 

Pa Hin Ngam National Park.

One of our final days in Chaiyaphum, our host family took our family and the team to Pa Hin Ngam National Park. It is a beautiful park full of interesting rock formations, gorgeous mountain top views, fields of Siamese tulips, and peaceful boardwalk paths through the forest and fields. 

We took a ride up to the top of Pah Hum Hod Cliff where we had an excellent view of the valley below us and the mountains surrounding it. There is nothing guarding the edge of the cliff, and my daughter kept scaring me with her no fear personality. My son, on the other hand, stayed as far away from the edge as possible.  

We then took a peaceful walk through the forest and down a wooden boardwalk between fields that earlier in the month had been filled with Siamese tulips. A few flowers were still in bloom and they are beautiful to look at, I can just image a field full of their pink blooms.

Our final stop in the park was to look at beautiful rock formations that seem to come out of nowhere. I was actually on the search for the Thailand version of Stonehenge, but this was something completely different. The kids enjoyed climbing around on the rock formations, and after letting them explore, we headed back down for a cool drink from a little store.

An Open Kitchen.

This puts a whole new spin on an open kitchen floor plan for your house. The grandparents of the home we stayed at in Chaiyaphum lived next door to the compound and their kitchen was outside next to the brick wall separating them from us. They did not have a stove top to cook on, but instead used the old system of wood and a clay stove. There were no proper countertops, as you can see from the pictures, they took full advantage of the ground. No, there was nothing used to sanitze the cutting board after it was used, but their stomachs are accustomed to this style of living, and there are never any negative side effects. 

Spirit Houses.

In the corner of the Thailand houses, you can find a Spirit House on the property. Although Thailand is predominately Buddhist, they mix old rituals from ancient times into Buddhism. The concept of the Spirit House is to give shelter to the spirits that might end up causing problems for those still living in the house. 

Those still living give offerings to the spirits of flowers and food. They light candles and burn incense on a daily basis. 

The houses are always on a post and are often elaborate, although they might also be a simple structure. For the Thai people, the Spirit House is viewed as a place of worship and are highly esteemed. 

Eating Bugs.

One evening, our host took us to a night market and one of the stalls sold crickets and silk worm larvae. The other three members of my family tried both of them. I, however, decided to pass up the wonderful opportunity! 

They preferred the crunchy crickets over the silk worms, and as you can tell from the pictures, my daughter LOVED the crickets. She kept going back for more! 

Riding Elephants In Thailand.

Since 1998, when I was attending a mission conference at the Bible school I was going to in the Adirondack mountains of New York, I have always wanted to ride an elephant in Thailand. One of the last days we were in Chiayaphum, our host took us to make that dream a reality. I made sure I was wearing my Thai pants that had elephants on them for the experience! We drove two hours towards Bangkok, where our hosts had taken other volunteers to ride elephants and were familiar with the company.

The ride lasted for twenty-five minutes and was a big round loop through the jungle, a river bed, and back to the resort. We weren't able to ride together as a complete family, so my son rode with our host family. As soon as we got through the water our guide and driver of the elephant jumped off and allowed us to sit on top of the elephant. My daughter did great, surprising me with how balanced she was up there! There were a few moments that I feared falling off myself!

Thai Iced Tea.

I know this drink as a Thai Milk Tea, but in Thailand, it's simply referred to as a Thai Iced Tea. It wasn't until the morning that we left Thailand, that my husband and I found the stall that made the best tea. It was so good in fact, that we went back again for another drink!!!

Up until this point, all the Thai Iced Tea's we had purchased were made with powder instead of an actual brewed tea. Brewing the tea makes all the difference in flavor and taste. The lady who owns the street stall, brewed the tea for us, then added the sweeten condensed milk. After mixing them together, she poured the hot tea into a clear plastic bag filled with ice. 

After the drink was in the bag with ice, she added more sweeten condensed milk, the bag got tied up tightly and was shaken vigorously. She cut a small hole into the top of the bag, in which she inserted a plastic straw. Finally the bag was placed into a paper bag, and handed to the customer! 

Not only was the drink delicious, but the presentation was so fun!!!

English School.

Two days while we were there, the other team and our family, went to a public school where we taught English to the children. My son was in his element. He loved being a helper to the team and teaching the kids English. The team did the majority of the teaching, and I was so impressed with their ability to step up without any direction. 

It was a full eight hours each day, and they came up with the curriculum on the spot. The kids also had a fun time learning to dance the Cha Cha Slide and other fun dances. They worked on their shapes, general greetings in English, verbs, and other simple phrases. 

My two kids loved playing with the kids... these two could make friends anywhere!!!

Market Street Food.

Our host mother came back from town and told us that there was a big blowup jump castle with slides on it. She suggested we all walk to the market and let the kids play on the jump castle. The eleven year old girl named Tip, was not allowed to go, and had to stay home to work.  As I mentioned before, she has more work than all the other children who are staying at the home.

It was our first walk to the market, and it allowed us to get to know the area a little better. We paid twenty baht for each child to jump for twenty minutes, and while they jumped we walked around the market looking at the food vendors were selling.

My stomach was still bothering me, so I passed on sampling any of the food, but my husband tried a couple things. He found everything he tried to be very delicious. We decided to bring home a crepe type treat home to Tip who was still working by the time we got back to the home.