Friday, May 18, 2007

Thailand: Days 5 & 6

Day 5: On Thursday, we went to an equipping meeting/Bible study at the Payap church this time with their interns. Shermaine, one of the interns from Singapore, led us in a wonderful study on guidance - what it means to be guided by God and how other Christians can help guide each other in doing God's will. She did a great job and I really enjoyed the discussion.

After our meeting, we rode in the back of a truck to eat lunch. This is one of Elijah's favorite things to do here! So many people ride around in the back of covered trucks that have benches in them and Elijahs thinks it's so much fun to be out in the open and watch the cars and especially motorcycles drive right behind us. We had a yummy lunch and then headed back to the church when it started to rain - the cool breeze brought by the rain while we were in the back of the truck was so refreshing! Elijah really enjoyed playing with his friend Shannon, who is 1 1/2, and is 3 Singapore girlfriends when we got back! :-) Then he fell asleep in the children's classroom while Jason watched him, and my mom and I and Little, the church secretary, went for a Thai massage. Wow!!! It cost a little over $2 for ONE HOUR! It was so wonderful and relaxing - so different from in America. They get down on a mat with you on the floor and work every muscle in your body - it was great! I will definitely be getting another one of those before we leave. I really enjoyed getting to know Little - her husband preaches at the Nakorn Ping church and they also run a milk shop next to the church where we got a milkshake that night. Misty, she and I talked about you a lot and I discovered that she is the one whose wedding you came back for. She's very sweet!

That night, we joined in on the cell group meeting at Payap - Robert cooked grilled chicken, rice with beans and salad for dinner and we all sat out on the porch on the second floor to eat. There were about 35 of us there and we were told that is the largest group of people they had ever had at a cell group. We had some fun games, wonderful fellowship and great singing! Afterwards, we were asked if Jason and I wanted to travel to Burma the next day to ride elephants over the mountains and shop, and we would have loved to, but it was going to be a 4 1/2 hour drive and we were tired after the trip to Pha Yao so we declined. We also already had some other things planned for Friday.

Day 6: Today, Friday, we were pretty much on our own with no help. We walked to 7-11 this morning to get our Thai phone activated and grab some breakfast and then tried to figure out how to get to Elephant Village on our own. This is where they have an elephant show and you can ride the elephants. We found out that it was about 45 minutes away and would be expensive to take a taxi that far and then have them wait for us there to go back. As luck would have it, our good friend O called us that morning to see what we were doing. I really don't know what we would do without him - he has been such a good friend, great guide and a lifesaver as far as communication goes around here. He had a friend with a taxi that hooked us up with a great deal to get out there and back, and O came with us to communicate. He said he had never been before anyways.

This was the highlight of the trip for Elijah thus far. He was soooooooo excited to ride the elephants and had been talking about it for about a month now. He could hardly contain himself when we pulled up and there were about 70 elephants everywhere! It was just beautiful at the base of the mountains - Jason, Elijah and I were on one elephant and my mom and O on another. We went on a 30 minute ride around the valley and it was so much fun! We all really enjoyed it and Elijah could hardly believe he was actually riding an elephant! Jason and I looked at each other several times and said, "We're riding an elephant in Thailand right now" - it was just so surreal and neat to see the excitement on Elijah's face. It started to rain at the end of our ride and our guide pulled out an umbrella for us - we were pretty wet when we got off but it was worth it! The elephant show started right after that and it was really neat as well. The elephants played harmonicas, painted (this was so cool because the art was actually really good!), played soccer, threw darts at balloons, danced, stacked logs and other neat things. After the show you could feed them and pet them - 2 elephants completely wrapped their trunks around me in a sort of hug and got me completely muddy but it was fun!

We stopped to eat on the way back, and right now Elijah and Jason are resting at the hotel, but we are leaving in about 45 minutes to go with O and his girlfriend, Nit, to the mall for a little while. Seriously, don't know what we'd do without O - he's great, and I'm sure you others who have been here would say that as well.

Thanks again for the comments - we really appreciate them, and your prayers. Have a blessed day!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that Elijah got to ride his elephant! I'm sure he'll be talking about that for a long time. Thanks so much for your wonderful posts and pictures.
We are keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Love you - Nana & Grangoat

Anonymous said...

Well.... I feel a bit "tda-loke-sin-dee" because I have been reading your blog daily anxious for the next one to come out and when Ann said to make comments, I've been trying to figure out how to do that for the last week. Anyhow, I finally found the little "COMMENTS" in bold red at the bottom and figured it out.

We are so excited for you guys! Misty and I just absorb every little bit you write and get excited thinking about where you are, what your doing, and more so the wonderful people you are with that mean so much to us. We know that God is obviously blessing you guys and just last night we we thinking how awesome timing it was for y'all to be there now. We'll talk again soon. Our love to everyone! Wish we were there with you guys.....Oh...O is an awesome person, he knows most of my favorite spots to eat so make sure you go get some MOO GATAHD this weekend... - TIMMY B

Anonymous said...

Amazing!! It is great to read and see pics of your adventure. Praise God. Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. We are following along with you guys here at the office and are very excited for you. How many 3 yrs olds get to ride an elephant in Thailand? That is so wonderful.
You guys are in our prayers as well.
In Him,
Kerry -Chase

jlee said...

This is my first blog posting..I know, I need to get with my generation on this blogging stuff. We're so excited to hear your stories and relive a little of our past experiences in Thailand. I just wish we could taste some of the food your eating! )Get your fill of the Chiang Mai Noodles because that's hard to recreate). Blessings on the rest of your trip and keep the stories coming.
Love- Donna, Jody & Tyler

Vicky said...

I finally figured out how to do the comments. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time - especially Summer and Kathy (massages and facials)!!! The scenery is beautiful - much more so than I realized. I'd like to see what some of the residential neighborhoods look like (it's the realtor blood in me). Who knows I may decide to set up a business over there? What kind of commission do realtors get there? The humidity I can relate to - much like Houston. Stay away from the earthquakes and have a safe trip home. Love, Aunt Vicky

Anonymous said...

i am so excited for you guys! so glad to hear you are having so much fun. the elephants are great! tell elijah im happy he got to ride on one and i cant wait to hear all about them! love and miss you guys!

kristi

Anonymous said...

Your stories have brought back so many memories of our trip on AFCO 96...especially seeing the pictures! It sounds like you are having a great trip and already have had many wonderful Thai experiences!! Make sure and eat some Durion (sp?) and hairy berries while you're there. They are both quite interesting fruits. Ellie asks about Elijah all the time. I explain that he's in Thailand but I know she doesn't realize that he's halfway around the world right now. We'll look forward to hearing more stories and seeing more pictures when you get back. Love and prayers are being sent your way,
Abbie, Jake, Ellie and Deacon