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| Greetings from Chiang Mai |
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| Day off from visiting with people spent at the zoo |
Our return to Chiang Mai for a 3 month stay this time instead of last year's 2 week visit has given us a new lens through which we are observing our surroundings. Everything was new and exciting last year and much of the time we ventured about like the typical tourist interested in observing how people lived in a different culture, eating their cuisine and traveling around seeing many of the sites. Although we still exhibit quite a bit of that tourist-like excitement, we are also viewing things trying to understand and learn best how to do life in this culture for an extended period of time.
We have certainly been confirmed in our thinking that learning to converse in the Thai language is necessary if we ever want to relate to most of the people we see on a day to day basis. Of course there are English speakers here, but we limit our abilities to really meet new people if we can not understand one another.
This is obvious, but there are many Westerners living here who have not taken the time to learn Thai and live more or less in an expat bubble. Our hope is to be better equipped to engage the Thai on a day to day basis.
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| God's call to the people of Chiang Mai- Turn to my Son and live! |
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| Orchids pretty much a dime a dozen and so beautiful |
Therefore, much of our time and energy for the remaining weeks we have left here until we return in mid-April will be to start learning the language.
Struggling to learn a new language will not necessarily be exciting news to write home about, however, our long term goal of reaching many Thai with the gospel should keep us motivated to plug along with the aid of your prayers. Our hope is that through Jesus Christ we can do this for His glory in our life as we live among the Buddhists here who need to know the Lord.
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| Not very difficult to find beautiful flower arrangements |
We have been in our two bedroom apartment now for almost 2 weeks and have been making acquaintances with the front desk people, several neighbors and restaurant workers who speak English. Living close to Chiang Mai University is like most college areas with a lot of activity, traffic and noise. There are several night clubs that play loud music every night until the wee hours, which are just a block away. The whirring sound from our ceiling fans sort of drowns out the music except for the beating of the percussion. We're beginning to adjust to it without wearing ear plugs like the last residents used when they lived here.
Most of our days thus far have been visiting with other missionaries and learning about their ministries and then having the opportunity to pray with them. We have also had the opportunity to visit with a few non-Christians who, like so many of the Thai people, are some of the most pleasant and kind people we have ever met.
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| Korean BBQ dinner with Scott and Jenny at their home (Missionaries to Thailand, China and Burma) |
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| Paul from Cadence International with whom Gary will travel with to Cambodia in March |
Traveling around the city without a car or motorcycle requires us to use the little red truck taxis called songthaews. Short distances cost 20 Baht per person with 32 Baht to the US dollar. Distance across the city can run up to 50-60 Baht per person, still very inexpensive as are many things here including food. Except for breakfast eaten in our apartment, we usually spend from about $1.00 to $4.00 per entree per person for the other meals. The food is unbelievably delicious just about where ever we go, however, we have already selected a few favorites within an easy walk from our place. Our apartment is clean, bright and cheerful with A/C, however since it cools down to the around 60 at night we haven't used it much yet. Our rent is $490/month plus utilities and a maintenance fee, so the total may be around $650/month total. Being close to the university drives up the price a bit, but we needed to be in the city without having a personal means of transportation.
We've included some more pictures with captions to give you an idea of a few of the people and things we have seen so far. We again thank you for your continued prayers and trust that God will be using us for His glory even as we begin our Thai language classes.
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| Negotiating for fare to ride a songthaew and trying to explain where we want to go |
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Entrance to Chiang Mai University Suan Sak Campus- approx. 25,000 students
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| Need to get one of these next time for fast and cheap transportation |
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| Breakfast at a market restaurant after getting tired of oatmeal at home |
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| Beauty and the Beast- Notice dragon heads on a flower float seen at annual Flower Festival |
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| Exceptional work by street market artist- so talented and gifted by a God he does not know |
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| Sunday night street market about 1 mile long attracts tourists from all over the world |
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| Enjoying a leisurely breakfast before moving into our apartment |
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| Flowers for daily decorating the shrines, temples and private spirit houses |
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| Toilets for just about everyone |
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| Buying fresh fruit for home snacks-mangosteen a favorite for all of us |
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| Ever seen or tasted such delicious watermelon? Nope! It's the greatest. |
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| Rose bowl parade flower float imitation yet still impressive |
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| Banyan tree with colorful cloth wrapping evidence of combining Hindu and Buddhist beliefs |
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| Local laundromat- 20 to 40 Baht per load |
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| Typical breakfast (fried rice with fresh coconut and omelet) while staying in our hotel for a week |
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| Yes, more than Thai food is available here. How about some delicious Middle Eastern. |
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| Bottles with beetles kept for good luck at currency exchange shop |
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| A little artistic touch with our coffee latte and mocha at Ristr8to's |
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| A favorite located nearby, Christian owned- a little over $1.00 per entree (why cook at home?) |
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| Lunch inside the Blessed Food Restaurant- we feel blessed to be here in Chiang Mai |
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| Renewed acquaintance with Toon who I had met last year at Monk Chat |
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| Typical Thai lunch with a fried egg on rice, stir fried minced pork and soup broth |
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| Thai iced tea served in a bag of ice from street vendor |
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| Sipping fresh lychee and passion fruit drinks at a favorite salad restaurant with Westerners |
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| Dinner with former residents of our apartment- total bill $6.00 (let's eat out more often) |
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| Dr. Nik, a pediatric dentist with his wife and associate in his dental clinic |
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| Sunday worship at "The Gathering" in one of the Lotus Hotel's ballrooms |
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| View from our table at our favorite vegetarian restaurant in our neighborhood |
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| Purple anchan lemonade made from sweet pea flower (?) |
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Organic vegetarian yellow curry with tempeh and red chili stir fried rice
(extremely flavorful and extra ordinarily healthy) |
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| Restaurant on the front right, another favorite on our soi (street) |
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May the beauty of Christ be known among the millions of people here in Thailand.
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