Arroy - Thai for delicious

A mexican buffet at a restaurant called Bourban Street in Bangkok. Hmmmm. I was a little skeptical. J & B had some friends from Malaysia visiting who hadn't had mexican for awhile so we tried it out. It turned out to be awesome! In fact, I ate too much (as is often the case at a buffet). They had everything: burritos, enchiladas, tacos, fajitas and all the fixins'. YUM!

We had our SAD this past Sunday. There were 20 deaf there and 21 others learning sign. There's so much potential here! We've been doing search work every Saturday and usually find at least 1 deaf person. A few weeks ago I asked to men at the end of a soi if they knew of any deaf in the neighborhood. One man said yes and took me down to a restaurant where a deaf lady works. The owner said she wasn't there that day, she works Mon-Fri. So I returned the following Tues. It went great! She was excited to speak with someone in sign, she doesn't have any deaf friends. I told her about our work and she seemed excited to have her own Bible study. The following week I met her mom. Her mom was really happy for her to be able to communicate with someone in sign. The deaf lady is about 30. She didn't finish school so her sign is limited. It's also limited because of not using it much. So I've been having regular studies with her since. It's tricky to teach Bible concepts to her with such limited vocabulary but she does make a bit of progress each week. It's really neat to be a part of!

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I was in Surat Thani over the weekend. I had gone down back in March for the CA. Sunday was the SAD. There were four deaf that came. One girl is a progressing student from Krabi. Another lady we had just met on Saturday. She hasn't been to school so doesn't know any sign-language. She just uses whatever can get her by. She has a little girl who is 9 years old. The older sister of the lady encouraged her to come so that she could learn some sign language. So she was there with her daughter and they stayed the whole day. Impressive!

The other two deaf that came is a married couple who live just outside Surat. K had got there mobile number from a deaf student who lives in Trang. She sent them an SMS inviting them to the SAD. They came to check it out and stayed for the afternoon session. It was neat they came in spite of not knowing what it was about.

I got back Monday at 6am. No big deal since we're now in Summer School. I didn't have to be at work until 9am. I finish at 12:30. It's very easy since we're not actually teaching so much. It's mostly playing. I have a good job!

My Lifeline

Is it shameful that my social life is mostly dependent on the internet? I'm not talking about Face Book or anything like that. I mean Skype and Gmail. I love getting home in the evening to see who is online and have a quick chat with them. And to be able to call the States for FREE from Thailand on Skype is amazing! I couldn't live here without the internet. I didn't have a computer for the first 2 years I lived here. When I finally bought a laptop and had internet connected in my apartment, it changed my life...for the better. I couldn't go back, as last week proved.

That being the case, trust is a huge issue when it comes to my computer. When I first came here I lived with 2 other teachers from the school I was working at. They had come together from Canada and only one of them had a laptop. The borrower was carrying it down the steps one day and she fell down, slamming the laptop down at the bottom...broken! She was ok but the new laptop was trashed. I would be devastated if that ever happened.

So when problems come up, I'm learning to deal with it on my own. I don't trust my computer to just any IT guy. I feel better about learning what I need to learn in order to fix the problem. I do have someone I consult with back in the states. The value of that is since I can't take my computer over to him, he talks me through fixing the problem and I learn a few things in the process. I'm very grateful to him for that!

It's very liberating to be tackling these issues. It contributes to an overall "I think I can" attitude that I can use in other aspects of my life.

By the way, I do have a few friends here. Had pizza and beer with B & J Saturday night and last night J & M came over. Fun weekend!

The IT World

It's funny how those to letters together, 'I' and 'T' automatically raise my stress level. Until recently I haven't been to the IT World. I've bought things from there but never had the energy to go there. That's until I HAD TO GO. My internet connection was down all last week, crippling my social life (I'll address that later). I called the number I needed to call and talked with a man who said he'd look at the wireless connection. That was it. No "I'll get back to you" or "let me know if it's still not working by the end of the week". Nothing. This is Thailand, no customer service unless you're in tourism. Well, it wasn't fixed by the end of the week. I had to go to the IT World. YIKES!

It was a quick visit. I looked up a few things, clicked repair once or twice on two different windows. And then it was fixed! It wasn't that scary after all. I then had an informative conversation with a friend (over Skype) who further enlightened me. Turns out the IT World isn't that scary. You just need a map, a phrase book and confidence. The confidence helps you stay motivated while navigating through the map and phrase book rather than just giving up because it's too overwhelming. I found the whole experience freed me from my fear and apprehension.

I've also updated my phone. I had a very basic phone, no camera or anything. I took a big step up. I bought a phone with a camera, video and PDA. (Camera and video are really handy in working with the deaf.) It even connects to the internet. Although I must say that I very much prefer to use the internet on my computer. Even so, I did enjoy listening to NPR on an internet radio website yesterday as I was on my way somewhere. I felt so high-tech!

So I'm feeling much more comfortable in the IT World. I guess it's true with anything in life, if you are unaware it's overwhelming. Once you are educated, even if just a little, you're confidence is boosted and your attitude changes.

Benjasiri Park

I've been pondering my reasons as to why I'm living here and the things I like about Thailand. I always think about those things after saying good bye to everyone back home again.

To spare you from my deep thoughts of my reasons for living here, I'll skip to sharing with you one of the things I like about Thailand.Taking a walk through the park is pretty cool. There's always lots of activity in the morning and evening. (Everyone escapes to the indoors with AC in the afternoons.) Benjasiri Park is 5 minutes away and I walk through it to get to the sky train. There's...

group aerobics...Tai Chi...an outside gym...a skate park...basket ball, volley ball and a game similar to hacky sack expect they use a wicker ball and a net.I often go to the park to enjoy the little nature that a big city offers. I've joined the group aerobics quite a few times, it's free and really fun. (I run at a different park that has a longer path.) Since there's always loads of people there it's a great place to people watch which I've always been entertained by.

Back to Bkk

I was awake at 4:30 this morning. I love jet lag! My goal is to keep this schedule. I get so much accomplished when I get up early. Well, maybe I'll push it to 5:30.

So the trip home was great! Seeing everyone, the cooler weather, great food and beer and the shopping. But I must honestly say it's also nice to get back to a routine. I always end up feeling a bit "off" after 3 weeks of little routine.

One fun thing I did was go to the zoo with my sister, my sister-in-law and her kids. We had a great time! I was much more interested in my niece and nephew than the animals. They had a great time. Here are a few photos.

And I'm Off

I'm all packed up and ready to go! I had just enough time to get a massage, wanted to get the blood flowing strong for when I sit for 20 some hours. I'll leave in a few minutes for the airport. My flight leaves at 3am for Kuwait then on to NY. Kuwait should be interesting. I'm excited to see it!

I'm so happy to be there for spring. I love that scent in the air of the break of winter, the first time you wash your car. I've already missed that but I'll still love the change in temp. It's been over 100F here! I'm so ready for cooler weather.

So I hope I get to see most of you. I know I'll miss seeing some of you since this is such a quick trip. But I'll look forward to meeting up with you next year.