Cultivating Childhood

Once we were settled with our work permit status, our next big thing getting settled here in Thailand was moving into our house.  Since we couldn't move in until April 1st, we spent the month of March exploring our city and filling in for our teammates while they were gone on vacation. Here are some highlights: Alisha took a Burmese cooking class at Borderline Teashop .  She learned how to make samosas, cucumber salad and potato curry.  The class also included some shopping at the Burmese day market downtown so she got to know a little more about that area. It's been hot, hot, hot.  Our temporary house had no ventilation, so we tried getting out whenever we could.  We made multiple trips to the local pool.  Phil's very dedicated in learning his Thai, that he even was studying from his phrasebook when in the water! Thai language learning is becoming increasingly important to us.  We really want to communicate here!  Z has been anxious to get the

Things take a while to get set up here.  One of the things that we needed is a work permit even if we are only working as volunteers.  If you are working within Thailand with people within Thailand, you need a work permit.  As a result, we found ourselves this last month spending about 10 days in the city of Chiang Mai waiting for it all to come through. Riding in a Songteauw Unfortunately, as is the case with any big move, one of our kids was sick suffering from the heat, air pollution, and new foods.  We spent a lot of our time hanging out in our hotel trying to keep a low profile for Z.  After a few days, he was finally feeling well enough for us to do a bit of exploring. Z got sick even before we left. Our most exciting day trip was going to the Chiang Mai Zoo.  They let you feed the animals here!  And the walls into the enclosures were definitely not up to American standards, but it just made it more fun. The boys loved the seal show We rode elephants at the z

Z with one of our neighbor's roosters There are some really nice things about living in the village.  People are extremely friendly here, and it really is so beautiful.  There are animals galore from roosters who give us our morning wake-up call to water buffalo, goats, and street dogs.  Geckos line our walls and ceilings, and we keep out of the way of snakes.  It is truly a wonderful place to live in this season.  Although we look forward to many of the conveniences that will come from having a long-term house in the city, the beauty of this area will continue to be cherished. Here is a little view into our neighborhood. The front of our house. A view up the street Our neighborhood shop where we can get some groceries or noodles for lunch or dinner. Some of the food that we've bought from this shop: eggs, garlic, morning glory, and cooking oil. All for less than $2. Turning right past the shop, you can see the loud speakers on the tower. Every

Some things take a long time to happen around here.  We are still working on getting our paperwork and money in the right order for getting our work permits and even buying a car.   But then other times you casually mention that you might like to see a house to live in temporarily and suddenly you find yourself handed keys to the house (sight unseen!). This has led us to living in our temporary house in the village.  For the next two next months, we are living just a short walk from where we were before.  It's a one-bedroom, Thai-style house. Here's the short tour: Taken from right outside our front door, you can see the shop and noodle restaurant where we get most of our food right now. As you can see, we are still working on getting set up.  We don't have a refrigerator or table yet, and we spend a lot of time sitting on the ground.  There are a couple of little shops within walking distance that sell eggs and rice and some vegetables.  If we are lucky

Anyone who reads my blog probably already knows that this second half of January we moved to Thailand to work with The Charis Project in Maesot.  It has been an interesting couple of weeks. On January 15th, my parents rented a big 12-passenger van for us all to fit in along with almost all our worldly possessions.  We took 8 bags and 4 carry-ons.  A few more boxes will come across the ocean over the course of the next year, but this was the bulk of it. The boys were excited to go.  The loved their neck pillows they got from grandma and grandpa from Christmas. One last selfie at home before leaving for the airport.  Love my parents! Thankfully, the boys had gotten a rare nap that day, so they were able to stay awake until we got on the plane at LAX near almost midnight. About 20 hours later, we made it to Bangkok!  Z slept off and on during the flights.  N though stayed up for about 21 hours straight. In Bangkok, we got to see some friends from our