Elephants!!

So every November in Sarin Thailand they hold an elephant festival where hundreds of elephants from all over converge in one place to have an elephant buffet and show to celebrate these animals. This year we were lucky enough to go and enjoy feeding and walking among these giant animal.

Here I am waiting for this elephant to take the cucumber.

It was impressive to be right in the middle of these giant animals walking all around you.

You can see all these elephants eating at the buffet tables filled with food for them.

Krispy

About 2 months ago the first Krispy Kreme arrived in Thailand!! Here you see a line a month after it opened. The line looked like a line for a ride at Disney snaking back a forth even going out side. The other day we were at the mall and my mother-in-law decided to stand in line while we did other things to see how long it would take and an hour later she finally got to the donuts. Needless to say the Thai's are loving the melt in your mouth goodness of the donut. I however can wait for visits to the states to get mine, I just can't be in line for an hour for a donut.

Word from a sponser

So at the school this year there has been 3 traveling commercials this one was disguised as public service teaching how to was hands but was full of product placement. The other two were not disguised at all one was a promotion for sony computers and the most recent was an unashamed plug for build a bear. It is odd to see these groups at the school shoveling their wares, but its just another one of those things here in Bangkok.

Eat meat?

So I'm not sure you can read this but we were at a vegetarian Indian restaurant the other day and in their menu they had this cool comparison between carnivores herbivore and humans. You can look at it yourself and see were we as humans might be when it comes to what we should eat. Click on the pic to make it bigger and a little easier to see.

N1H1 Holiday

So I love Asia and their reactions to the flu. Just when you thought the scare of N1H1 was over we have a few teachers come down with it and our school declares a week long break! Can you believe it we have a whole week! I feel bad for the teachers who are sick but it is pretty cool to have some days off. Well I hope you all stay healthy out there and have a happy sabbath.

My brother?

So I'm playing around with my itouch app again and I put my face into one with a little more weight and a nice mullet and I end up looking like my middle brother.

More fruit (logan)

So here is a logan, from the outside they look like mini potatoes but on the inside there is a little segmented fruit. The fruit it self has a pleasant taste but the seeds inside are bad and bitter. The segments are so small its hard to eat around the seeds so you end up with a bad taste in your mouth or so little fruit they are not worth eating.

Nine Years!!

So yesterday Alana and I celebrated or nine year wedding anniversary! Here we are waiting for a taxi in the rain trying to get to the restaurant. Due to the rain and a bad location we were unable to catch a taxi so we had a romantic song tao ride (cramped, hot, slow) to the BTS to get to our location. After an hour we finally got to eat and the rest of the night was smooth but all of it lovely because I was with my bride. How much things change in 9 years and how time flies. I would have never thought we would be celebrating our nine year wedding anniversary on the streets of Bangkok Thailand. Though much has changed one thing hasn't, I am still married to the most wonderful woman. I thank God for such a blessing.

Plank eye

So I walked around trying to stay focused on what was right, but everywhere I went I saw sin. Everyone seemed to have issues that were clearly wrong. How come I was the only one who could see them. My neighbor has a plank in his eye as did the deacon, and also the church elder, even the pastor's eye had a plank in it. Was I the only one seeing clearly?

Then one day I looked in the mirror and to my dismay I had a plank in my eye! I dawned on me that the plank I had been seeing in others was merely my own plank. I was so busy looking at others. I thought they had the problems when it was I not them. So I looked to Jesus and again I saw a plank but this one was different. On this plank was Jesus hanging with all my faults. This plank was beautiful because it was the cross.

Before I was distracted by others instead of attracted by my Lord. I had spent so much time looking at others to notice my own plank, but more importantly to busy to bee looking at my Jesus. Once I looked to Jesus He took my plank and the plank in others eyes were now mere specks.

Lord may I be attracted by Jesus not distracted by others.

Interesting verse

So one of the biggest challenges of working in Thailand is that Buddhism is so ingrained in the culture and customs that it's hard to know how to approach some of the customs and whether or not those customs are indeed problems for God or are they just hard for me. In Thailand it seems everything is tied to something Buddhist. As a matter of fact Thai hold three things very important (these things were taught to me in a cultural class by Thai's); The King the nation and Buddhism. I have even had christian Thai's tell me that they are Buddhist Christians, they are Christian but believe in Buddhist principle (which are also Christian principles when the list them). Needless to say it is sometimes hard to know how and when and even if to approach some of these issues because they are so ingrained in the culture they have become almost one and the same and if you question whether or not they should examine the festivals or traditions they think your trying to change their culture to more western. To be honest thats hard because I don't want to make Thailand more like the western culture I want them to remain uniquely Thai but also to adopt the culture of Heaven.

Anyways while contemplating these issues I came across and interesting verse in a pretty well known story. 2 Kings 5 tells the story of Naaman a commandeer of a foreign coming to Israel to be healed of leprosy. Elisha hears about this and calls for Naaman and asked him to wash in the Jordan 7 times which Naaman does after the prodding of his servants. Most know that Naaman did this and was cured after the 7th dip and then out of gratitude tries to give Elisha gifts that Elisha does not accept. Naaman then tells Elisha he will never offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to any other God other but the Lord. Now a verse that I had never heard as part of the story verse 18 reads:

But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also--when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.

Elisha then tells him to go in peace. What does this mean or how does it apply? It seems to go compromise. Is Elisha being culturally sensitive? Is he allowing for Naaman's weak faith or his understanding? To be honest I'm not sure but it does give me pause to think and to realize that God is truly a God of grace and compassion. Just a little food for thought. May God bless you all.

What about Alana?

So here is Alana all dressed up in some others photos, pretty cool huh. My favorite one is the first one it makes me smile.

Jonah?

So Here is Jonah wrapped in the body of older pictures the middle one certainly is funny. Is this what the little guy might look like in the future? No one knows but its fun to see these pics.

An Old Kaiya?

So here some cool little pictures made with an itouch app. You can put a face of anyone you have a picture of into the face of an old picture. Here is Kaiya some with some interesting looks from the 60's 70's and 80's enjoy the. Soon well see some of Jonah and Alana.

Congratulation Class of 2010

So these past couple of weeks were full of graduations here and I would like to say congratulations to all the 2010 graduates but especially this little group of grads, the 2010 EIS kindergardeners. Look at how cool these little guys are in their cap and gowns that were more elaborate than my college ones. We weren't thinking of putting Kaiya in school till first grade but after seeing these cool get ups how can. we pass. Though in the second pic you can see graduating can be tiring.

Obstruction of my view

So have you ever been driving on the highway and lamented the fact that there are billboards everywhere that detract from a nice drive. I remember driving cross country a couple of times and noticing that billboards littered the landscape sometimes very nice landscape at that. Well here in Thailand things are the same but a little worse. Here is a sign that is not unlike many others here that is located off the side of the highway with nice scenery, and on top of that it is huge, easily the size of four american billboards. There a quite a few of these monstrosities all over and it is a shame that to make a few dollars companies must put these behemoths in the way of God's beautiful advertisement, nature.

Bag my drink

So here in Thailand when you order a drink off the street they sometimes put your drink in a bag as to save the bottles or cups. Here you see my first drink in a bag. It feels awkward to be carrying a bag with your drink but maybe I'll get used to it. The drink by the way is a coconut smoothie, very tasty.

Bonus Photo (EIS Songkron festival)

Songkron

So I had my first experience with the Songkron holiday here in Thailand. Not sure what it all really means however I do know there is an aspect of respect and blessings from the elders and a whole lot of water. A huge component is playing water, or just plain ol getting soaked everywhere you go. On every street there are groups of people with buckets, hoses and water guns soaking everyone who passes by. If you travel you better take a taxi, no walking or open aired transport, because they don’t care they will soak you as you drive by on the motorcycle taxi (really not that safe). They don’t care if your old, if you have a baby, are carrying groceries or if your listening to your ipod, they will get you wet if you walk by or drive by. It is a cool holiday an was nice to experience and it’s cool to see little old ladies carrying water guns on the BTS even if you get wet while going to 7eleven. Here are some photos of the EIS Songkron program.

Photo of the colorful attire at the EIS Songkron festival.

The seniors getting blessings from the teachers.

A traditional dance and colorful costumes.

Some more getting around

So here is the MRT or the subway, and boy was it crowded. You can see on the bottom right I had to basically rest the phone on someone's head to take this photo. This is the only time we have used the MRT since moving here since it goes to places we usually don't go. Just another way of getting around.

Sea of red shirts

So you might have heard of the political unrest here in Bangkok, well don't worry everything is ok for us and we are far from the real action. However a couple of weeks ago we were on our way back for the Adventist hospital where we were getting shots for the kiddies and decided to head to do a little shopping not fully realizing that shopping district was one of the rallying places of the red shirts. When we got off the water taxi we soon saw the sea of red everywhere. It was a very interesting atmosphere more street party than political party and venders everywhere selling red items, we even got Kaiya a red clapper (safe there), of course all of this was before last weekends eruptions of tempers. It should be an interesting next couple of weeks in Bangkok, but once again we are in a safe area and see nothing really in our part of town, it really is more of an inconvenience for us because some of the things we want to do are closed due to the rally. Just wanted to share our day among the reds, grace and peace to you all.

That's huge man

So look at the size of this apple, it's huge almost the size of kaiya's head!! It was really tasty too.

Not in my taxi

So here we are riding in a taxi, and this particular taxi had a sign of things not allowed in the taxi. Some might be hard to see but they are starting form the right; no smoking, no durian fruit, no drinking, no dogs, an interesting picture after that which we can assume means no getting it on, no guns, and a no goats. The no goats confused me if you can think of what it may be let me know. In other taxis we have seen no passing gas sign this was the first one with such a long list of don'ts, funny ones too.

Silly 3D glasses

So need I say more about how cool these glasses are? I think not

More Getting Around

So I've taken pics walking, on a water taxi and motorcycle taxi, and now I show you the sky train. Lots of ways to get around in Bangkok, next time taxi.

Cell phone pic: Slums

So here is a pic from a slum we were at on Saturday for a community service project we did. We had a rice drive in which we collected 1 and a half tons of rice to give out to a poorer community. Here is a pic from that place as you can see the living conditions are horrible and under that trash is water that goes under most of the dwellings in this community. Some very sad sights there but we were blessed to help and hope we blessed a few along the way.

Cell phone pic: Spray me?

So this is what stares at you in all bathrooms as you sit to take care of business. As you can see this on has a slight drip which totally bugs me cause it gets the floor wet and I hate bathrooms with wet floors even if I now it is just water. So as an american this is a foreign device while on a toilet but I guess your supposed to spray your backside when done (some bathrooms have no paper), but if you spray one you'll soon find out it rockets out. I can only imagine using it and getting more than just what I intended wet. I'm sure there is a science to it but I will leave that to others.

Best of o9: Adventures of Life

So you never really know where you will end up and this year is proof of that. Never would I have thought growing up I would end up living in a place like Bangkok. I always thought I would live in Orlando for a long time if not forever, but the Lord's plans are always a little more interesting than my own. My family now lives in Thailand and it has been an adventure to say the least to make this move, not always easy or convenient but always blessed for sure. It was hard (and still is) to leave our friends and family behind especially since we really felt like we had great support in our community at Rio Lindo, however we have for sure seen God at work in our lives and know that the memories we are making now are priceless.

Through this move I have an even bigger love and respect for my wife who left a great place for her to a place that is foreign just to support me and my call to this country. Her support is immeasurable and her dedication to our children is wonderful and am proud to share my life and adventures with her. o9 was a great year and I have felt the Lord's blessings from the birth of Jonah to the start of our new journey here in Thailand.

Best of o9: Manao Soda

So todays best of is Schweppes Manao Soda, a wonderful beverage that I first had six years ago while on a mission trip to Thailand. Since that trip I have had it only a handful of other times when the in-laws would come to Thailand and bring us a six pack. Now I live and Thailand and have access to this delicious drink on a regular basis thus being one of the best of. It is a lime-lemon soda rather than lemon-lime, and it is greatly refreshing especially in the tropical heat of Thailand. If you ever have a chance to try it do so it is very nice.

Best of o9: Sweet Roti

So for todays best of I give you sweet roti. Sweet roti is a delicious delight that you find on the streets of Thailand. It's a dough that is fried nice a crispy then sweetened condensed milked poured on it the sprinkled with sugar rolled up and wrapped in a paper for you take away pleasure. It is simple and awesome it is the krispy kreme of the east. If you ever get the chance you must have sweet sweet roti (drool).

Best of o9: Skype

So I know Skype is not anything new but before this year I had no use for it, but with the move to Thailand it has become a blessing. Years ago missionaries had no good ecomomical way of communicating with family that didn't take forever to do (snail mail), but things are different now. I have both skype in and skype out that cost together $60 dollars a year and with those two services any number in the States and Canada can call us through a number that is based in Orlando (a local call for my parents). Along with that we can call any number, not just skype to skype, cell or landline in the States or Canada. My parents just joined skype and they were able to see their grandchildren and watch Jonah crawling toward the computer. Now there is an app for the ipod touch in which i can use skype on that! It has been a blessing for us to have skype, to be able to keep in touch with our families in the states and even see them too and all for much less money than we were spending in the states.

Best of o9: A couple of albums

So for todays best of I will share two albums with you one a little older that should have been on last years best of but these are albums that captured my attention this year.

What if you took Paul Simon and added him to the The Police and then put them into todays modern indy music scene? Well you get Vampire Weekend. A great album just give it a listen and see.

The second is a little rock and roll a little country, but in the way Jon Bon Jovi was country for Blaze of Glory, thrown in with a lead singer who sounds like the guy from Kings of Leon. Needtobreathe's new album The Outsiders is a nice album with uplifting lyrics and a nice sound that is different than the generic sounds that can sometimes plague christian bands. A couple of songs to pay attention to are Lay Them Down a rocky gospel song about laying down your burdens, and These Hard Times, a song about finding your way through hard times.

Both albums are very nice and both have a different vibe, hope you enjoy.

Best of o9: Shadows

So David Crowder Band came out with a new album and when they come out with something new they are always in contention for one of my favorites and this year is no different. Shadows from their new album Church Music is the best song of the year. It is a haunting song that talks about the shadows in our life and when we have those troubled times we must always remember the shadow of the cross and how wonderful that shadow was for our salvation. The song is both beautiful and powerful, I remember hearing it for the first time while walking on the streets of Thailand on a hot day and getting chills from it. Here are the lyrics

Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We remember the cost
We rest in Him
Shadow of the cross

Best of o9

So today I begin my best things of my o9. These are the things that were my favorite things of the year some old some new but all the things I write about are things I have, or experienced for myself personally.

The first one is the Amazon MP3 store. For a couple of years itunes dominated the way I got music till I discover the amazon store and it's weekly deals and free songs. Everyday the store puts up one album that is discounted ranging from 1.99 to 3.99 depending on how new it is. Every month they put up 50 albums for $5 sometimes more recently they have had 800 of them for that price. Also there is a new free song available everyday not just tuesday like itunes and many samplers that are also free and a lot of them with quality music. It has helped me discover new music and expanding my library (not that I really need to) cheaply. If your looking for a alternative to the itunes music store look at Amazon, it's pretty good.

Getting around

So here is this weeks cell phone pic of the week. This is what it looks like to be on a motorcycle taxi tearing down our street.

A little crowded.

So here is a pic from my cell phone, taken while on a water taxi. As you can see it was a little crowded it was all I could do to get my phone out of my pocket and take a pic. It provided me a good opportunity to appreciate the advancements deodorant has made to our society.