It's now been a week that we've been in the Isaan region. Preparations took a dramatic turn when we got a message on Friday afternoon that we would have 200+ students at the first school. That was quite a jump from 70! I got out the extra tracts and got to stamping. Esteban stepped in and finished them up, and we made plans for what to do for the bracelets we give out.
Saturday morning started off kind of rough for me. I had decided we would get McDonald's for breakfast since Rusty was taking Esteban to the dry cleaners, and Pawn was running errands at the market. Unfortunately when mine came back there was no meat on my egg mcmuffin. Thankfully the day got better. We made it to Bangkok where Rusty and I split a meal from Burger King. Going a year with no Burger King makes it taste better. And I look forward to picking up a Krispy Kreme! It always makes me smile to see people lined up buying dozens at a time to take back to their family and friends in other regions.
We made it to Ubon around 7:00, but we didn't make it to the village until 1 a.m. after we ate dinner and shopped for food for the first week. Sunday morning found us in a bit of a daze. We drove to a small town for some excellent Vietnamese food and picked up a few more things for the upcoming week. Of course we had to see the main attraction of the small town which is a huge Buddha statue.
We returned to the house where we got busy airing up the basketballs. The little hand pump that I was using was pretty good. Krew Ray's bicycle pump was even better! It didn't take too long for us to get 50 basketballs ready to go. We got to bed pretty early that night!
The school had a pretty good opening ceremony Esteban got a lot of flowers! Seriously, we all got a dozen. They at least appeared to love us equally. :)
Since it was the 4th of July we had a little hot dog supper with Lay's potato chips. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Rusty and me. We were the only Americans this year. I learned a few years ago to get the big pack of hot dogs just in case everyone decides to eat them. There's nothing more disappointing to have your heart set on hot dogs for the 4th than to have them all snatched from the table. At least I got one that year...
Our camp included students from six schools in the district. Each day they would come mostly by pickup. There was one school that had a van. These are just some of the things you would never see in the States anymore.
We don't have as many students from our old school come to visit us anymore. These three girls, however, still faithfully visit us. They tried some of Esteban's Mexican candy and were not impressed. The other night they came and stayed until after dark. They told Rusty they were scared to walk home because of the spirits so we borrowed the truck keys to take them home. Rusty pulled into Pom's house, and her grandmother was out in the front yard taking a splash bath. This is nothing unusual; they do it in a quite modest way, but imagine the headlights shining on a poor woman who was obviously not expecting two foreigners to pull up into her yard. Thankfully Rusty has pretty quick reflexes and turned off the headlights. I think Grandma was hiding behind the barrel of water.
Krew Ray's kitchen is always full of activity. I'm really surprised Esteban and Prink can work together since they pick on each other so much!
I think the young boys are happy that we have another male intern who knows how play with young boys. Esteban has been attacking forts, playing games, and waking Khaw up at five in the morning to get ready for school. They sleep together...well, Khaw sleeps. I heard he snores so I don't know if Esteban is sleeping or not.
And this is why I'm not sure if Esteban is sleeping at night. This is a quick nap between school and the temporary night market. Esteban eventually had a pallet laid out before we went to the market.
The village has a market on Monday and Thursday nights. It's pretty small, but a lot of local people sell something. Pawn found some young frogs to buy the first time we went. I forgot that those had also been part of our 4th of July celebration. Esteban was eating hot dogs with eggs wrapped around them (they have a specially designed cooker that does these). I personally like to get the khanom krok which I have no idea how to describe. I'll try to get a picture of them next week. And Rusty and I get to enjoy being the outsiders. A lot of people think Esteban is from southern Thailand so he blends in until they start speaking Thai to him.
This year they had trampolines for the kids. My parents didn't let me jump when I was a kid so I know these would not have been parent-approved for me. Rusty didn't think they looked that safe either, but the kids were having a blast. Too bad Rusty couldn't get on with them...he loves a good trampoline workout.
We returned home to find picnic table dog. We've also had lunch table dog and classroom dog this week.
We started sharing the gospel early in the week because one school came for two days only. It was going to be very hard to split into groups and such since Esteban and Pawn had 44 first and second graders, Prink and I had 80 third and fourth graders, and Rusty and Krew Ray had 100+ fifth and sixth graders. So we took time during two afternoons to start handing out the tracts and bracelets.
This is pretty exciting stuff that we get to do this! God has given us a great responsibility with these students and teachers to often be the first Christians who have ever come in among them, served them, and offered them something great. We have a great responsibility to live among them and show them a difference with our lives and our love for God, for each other, and for them.
Please keep praying for us. We've got one more week at a different school before we return home.
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