Bangkok

After leaving Chiang Mai, Jen and I flew to Bangkok where we were amazed at the sprawling skyline and the heat of the city! Not only was it hot, but it rained like crazy and was so humid that walking down the street caused me to sweat like I had been at the gym!

The first thing we did was visit a snake farm and watch a snake show full of venomous snakes! It was wild to see the handlers showing off the snakes, snakes like King Cobras and poisonous vipers--the announcer mentioned that the handlers get bitten by venomous snakes a couple times a year!! I think I'd look for a new job.

We also enjoyed walking around Lumphini Park, a large park located in the middle of the city--probably similar to Central Park. It's a beautiful park with a couple large lakes, in which we discovered live some very large lizards! I was certain they were komodo dragons, but Jen says they are water monitors which is probably more realistic than what I thought. Nonetheless, it was a bit creepy walking along the lake and seeing these large things swimming through the middle of the lake and resting on the shore!














We stayed in a great location, right off of a main street and near a Mexican restaurant, an Irish Pub, a French bakery and a Starbucks! We did some great shopping and I even learned that Ronald McDonald does the "Wai", the traditional Thai greeting.

Elephant Conservation Center

Jen and I visited the Elephant Conservation Center that was located outside of Chiang Mai. Instead of paying for a guided tour, we decided to venture out on our own, take a local/public bus and try to get off at the right spot.
It was actually really easy, and not only did we get off at the right spot, but we were able to flag down a bus (thanks to a Thai couple who stood by the side of the road with us) and get back to Chiang Mai as well! It was fascinating how the "mahouts" (elephant trainers) trained and guided the elephants. We got to watch the elephants perform various tasks, follow directions and even paint! After the show we took a 1/2 hour elephant ride through the forest/jungle--all the while trying to communicate with the mahout in his broken English and our non-existent Thai. It was great fun!

A look into the Thai markets

I loved visiting the markets in Chiang Mai! During my 2 cooking classes, we were taken to 2 different markets to see the ingredients we would be using in our class. I thought that

overall they were similar to the Peruvian markets I visit here, but one thing that was really different, was the presentation of their produce. The Thai love to make things look pretty & appealing, and it was fun to see some of the ways they "market" their goods. I enjoyed seeing dragon fruit, the hot chili peppers, the many types of fish sauce, and I won't soon forget the "frog kabobs"...frogs on a stick--all prepared and ready to put into soup!

Doi Suthep-temple in Chiang Mai

The temples in Chiang Mai are the result of influences from its immediate neighbours Laos and Myanmar, and farther afield places like Sri Lanka and China. Doi Suthep is the temple that I visited in Chiang Mai, though Doi Suthep is actually the name of the mountain where the temple is located, so this is what they call it. The temple is said to be founded in 1383 when the first chedi was built; a chedi is a mound-like structure that contains Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, it typically houses the remains of a Buddha or saint. When we arrived at the temple, we had to climb the 309 steps to reach the pagodas at the top. Aspects of the Wat draw from both Buddhism and Hinduism. We saw various Buddha imagines, but apparently in most temples the Buddha image will be at the far end of the hall and face east, for that is the direction that Buddha achieved Enlightenment. The buddhas have different looks, some of them have their hands open upward, some have their hands on their laps, some have their hands in a meditating position, and each of these positions mean something different. At Doi Suthep there were many bells situated all around. Large Buddhist bells are usually heard in isolation, and their sound is complex and varied. However smaller untuned bells are arrayed in large sets around temples in Thailand. Devotees strike each bell for the forgiveness of a sin as they ascend the temple; we saw many people walking along striking each bell in the line, how sad they think that ringing a bell will grant them forgiveness.

What's a Wat?

A Wat (Temple) is the Buddhist compound for religious functions. Ordination of monks, housing important relics, performing everyday ceremonies, holding festivals - all these happen in the wat. All villages have at least one temple; towns and cities have several. Bangkok has more than 500 temples. The purpose of many wats is to house an important Buddha relic, for which they build a chedi (relic chamber), a bell-shaped, golden or white structure. Like religious buildings of other cultures, the Buddhist temples of Thailand have a set of strictly enforced rules for correct dress code and behavior on the sacred grounds. Tank-tops, short-sleeved shirts, shorts, open-heeled sandals are considered improper wear; visitors dressed in such manner are prohibited from entering the wat; we actually saw guards turning some of the tourists away because of their dress. Most carried extra sarongs or shirts with them to throw on over their tank tops. It's funny they say you can't wear sandals because at all of the temples we visited, you had to remove your shoes, so it really doesn't matter what footwear one has. Temples that are frequented by tourists may have proper clothes and footwear for rent, but smaller temples may not. Women cannot touch monks. Do not sit cross-legged on the floor! Buddha and the monks may do it, but laypeople don't.

Thai cooking class!!

During my conference, we got to have a break in the morning and experience some of the Thai culture by participating in a Thai cooking class. It was so much fun!! We started out by going to the market to learn about the different ingredients that we were to use in our dishes, then we went to the Thai Cookery School to begin our class. I loved the way they instructed the class, first we went into a room where one of the instructors showed us the dish we were to make, the order of the ingredients, and then we went to our stations and prepared each dish. After cooking the dishes we go to eat what we had made, and then it was back to the main room to see how the next dish was going to be made. We got to make 4 dishes that day, the first one we did was Tom Yum soup, a spicy soup made with prawns, lemon grass, chili peppers, kaffir lime leaves, and a few other yummy ingredients. This is one of my favorite Thai dishes, very spicy, but delicious!! The next dish we did was Pad Thai, another one of my favorites, with egg, fresh bean sprouts, glass noodles, chili peppers, and salty dried shrimp. The third dish (by this time we were stuffed!!) was a banana cake, made with various flours, banana, coconut cream and coconut. We mixed it together by hand (smashing it together-no utensils) and then poured it into small, individual banana leaves that were fashioned into bowls. Each one was steamed in the banana leaves in big pots. It had a different texture, but the taste was really good. The last dish we made was a green papaya salad, it was made with shredded, unripened papaya (green, not orange), chili peppers, lime juice, tomatoes and garlic. It had to be the exact combination of spicy, sour and sweet. We ate this with sticky rice and though our stomachs were begging us to stop eating, it was so delicious we wanted to finish it all up!! Thai food is very spicy, but they use so many fresh ingredients and present it so beautifully, that you can't help but want more.

MCTTW--workshop in Chiang Mai

As I previously mentioned, my conference in Chiang Mai was to learn how to better communicate and work within SIM and the various cultures that we represent as a mission. Much of the workshop was spent presenting specific topics from different points of view. It was a fantastic time of working with 19 other ladies, learning about each of our cultures, and finding solutions to work more constructively together.

There were ladies from every continent (except Antarctica of course--SIM doesn't have a sending office there yet), their specific countries are the UK, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, Korea, the Philippines, Jamaica, the United States, and Canada.

One thing that stands out most are the vast differences between the "East" and the "West"; most of our time spent discussing seemed to be about the Westerners vs. the Asians. I use those terms loosely, as those are the terms we ended up using to make defining things easier. Some of our topics included choices for housing, raising/disciplining of children, finances, and styles of worship/prayer. It was fascinating, really, to discover the ways in which we do things, and how many of these things are misconstrued as we intertwine our cultures and work together on the mission field.

I learned, for example, that when Koreans pray, they all pray together in loud voices at the same time. I can see where the "western" style of prayer, which tends to be one at a time, might be hard for the Koreans to get used to. This was personally important for me since I have taken on the role as Personnel Coordinator for our Peru field, and the fact that we have Korean and other Asian missionaries working here, and it would be good to give them a chance to pray in a way they are comfortable instead of always doing it the western way.

I think it was also good for the Asians to get a bit more of an explanation into “American” or Western culture; many of them work with westerners and really don’t understand why we do what we do.

I had to present 2 different times, the first time was to give the devotional at our first meeting on Monday morning. It went well and I really enjoyed teaching and finding the cultural differences between the Pharaoh's Daughter and Miriam in the story of Moses. My other topic had to do with Spiritual Life Conference, this is a conference that all of the fields have each year, in which we take a break from our various ministries and come together for a week of refreshment, learning and fun. I had to present what it would be like to have a SLC with only people from my culture and in my language. It was interesting because it seems that most fields around the world are doing their SLC's according to the American/Western style, which means that many missionaries from other cultures maybe aren't having their needs met according to the way their cultures are most comfortable doing things.

Not only did we spend time in meetings, though our meetings did take place from 8am-6pm each day, but we did have lots of fun times and fellowship during meals and in the evenings as well.

Another Continent To Add To My List!!

I'm home!! It's amazing for me to think that after 21 days and 51 total hours of flying, I'm back in Abancay. I left Peru on October 15th and arrived back in Abancay on November 5th. It's the longest I've been away from Jeff & the boys, and boy did I miss them! Poor Jonathon even said he had to look at pictures of me because he was forgetting what my face looked like. I could have cried.

Thailand was absolutely amazing, it was a trip I won't forget, one I hope Jeff & the boys get to experience someday. I went for an SIM conference (see post below for details) and then stayed on an extra 10 days to travel around with a friend.

My conference was great, I met such wonderful ladies and learned so much to help me out as I pursue my new role as Personnel Coordinator for our Peru field. I hope to be able to share some of what I learned in the next blog, and then in future blogs share a bit of my trip.

This picture on the elevator door really cracked me up. Those of you who have been to Asia will know why...but apparently Durian is a fruit that, while having a rather good taste, has the most awful smell you can imagine. So most public places (hotels, restaurants, etc.) have banned the fruit from being brought onto the premises. In the supermarket near our hotel, they did sell Durian candy and Durian chips (which were pretty tasty and didn't stink).