Bangkok

Well, we made it to Bangkok yesterday afternoon. This will be the last leg of our trip and we leave back for America on Thursday evening and arrive in America on Thursday evening... very weird.

Bangkok is a busy city. Lots of traffic and high rise buildings. If you've never been to Thailand, I'm telling you, you have NEVER seen so many scooters! They are more popular than cars and I think that it's because they can zoom in and out of cars and that is exactly what they do! As far as the rules of the road in Thailand, the rules are that there are no rules. If there's an empty spot ANYWHERE on the road, someone is going to go there. I road in a Tut Tut (not sure of that's right) last night and it's like a golf cart on steroids. It goes super fast and he just wove in and out of traffic, didn't slow down for people (pedestrians do NOT have the right of way here), and, at one point, was going the wrong way down the street with scooters coming at him! You don't here anyone, for the most part, honking their horns here because everyone drives crazy! It seriously felt like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland. It actually was a lot of fun, but I don't know that I'll do it again :-)

We experienced our first thunderstorm last night at dinner (thankfully we were inside). There was thunder and a lot of lightning and the rain just came down in sheets for about 20 minutes and then it let up and didn't rain the rest of the night. The rain does, however, make for a lot of humidity. After dinner we went to a shopping center in the same area and I was dying- so humid. I really do miss the California weather! I also miss not living out of a suitcase. That's one of the only things that I really hate about traveling... trying to find where I put something and something as simple as a shower, that would normally take me 15 min, takes me 30 min because I have to gather up all of my stuff and get situated.

Yesterday morning I ended up back at the orphanage in Pattaya and had a great time! I was able to drop off a bunch of toys and Goie and I spent all morning there. We first went in and played with the toddlers again. It was so cute because the baby that Goie had been playing with the afternoon before, actually recognized her. Her face lit up when she saw Goie and she toddled on over to her. Thankfully, I did not get peed on this time, but I did bring an extra shirt with me, just in case. After the babies were put down to bed, we were taken over to the building that boards the deaf children. I would guess that the ones we worked with were 5-7 years old. I loved it! It's really not something I probably would have chosen to do on my own, but one of the manager's suggested it and I can't tell you how glad I am that I did! All of the kids wanted our attention and we got to see them learn how to sign 'morning activites' i.e. getting up, brushing teeth, getting dressed They all wanted their pictures taken, especially this one boy. He was such a ham for the camera. Always striking a pose for me :-) One thing that really struck me... a long time ago, I took a sign language course and I have a few books on it, and American Sign Language is SO similar to how they teach in Thailand. During the whole lesson, I actually only noticed one different sign. So, I was actually able to communicate with some of these kids! Not a lot, but a little at least. It was funny when we couldn't communicate, because it was almost a three-way interpretation. I would ask Goie something, she'd have to translate it into Thai for the teacher and then the teacher would have to translate it into sign language. One of my favorite parts was when the teacher asked me if I would like to teach them to sign the alphabet. So, I was able to take these blocks that have letters on them and teach the kids how to sign their ABCs and they picked up on it SO quickly! Next, the kids washed up and went over to the cafeteria for lunch... they had some sort of vegetables, rice (you get rice with EVERYTHING), and fish dish. They also had fruit and an ice cream cone for dessert. One of the little deaf girls had me sit with her and feed her. I think that she just really needed the attention because she is definitely old enough to feed herself. I'm sure that they do need a lot of attention, though... they are one amongst 200 children and there, of course is not a 1:1 ratio between the kids and the teachers/nannies.

Goie and I were picked up by the rest of our team around 1pm and we made the 2 - 2 1/2 hour trip to Bangkok. Stopping at a Starbucks along the way, of course :-) Once we got situated in the hotel (not a horrible hotel, but myself and the other girls did spray a whole can of Lysol between our two rooms), we went out to dinner, as I mentioned, did some shopping (you have to barter here at most places) and came back and went to bed.

Today we'll be going to the NightLight Ministries. They do similar work as the Tamar Center in that they go out to the bars in Bangkok and minister to the girls. One difference between the two ministries is that NightLight teaches the girls how to make jewelry, so I'm excited to see what they have to sell! Tomorrow is the day before we leave, so it will be our R & R day. We are getting up super early and going to the floating market. The floating market is a market that is all on boats (I've heard) and you have to take boats between the shops. It's apparently very well known. We'll probably do other touristy things and then tomorrow our plane leaves from Bangkok around 7pm at night, and I'm not sure what we'll do in the day.

Thank you all for all of your prayers and support!

Love you!