Gung's First Wedding Shower

One of my English students is getting married and moving to America next month. So, after our test this week, we threw her a wedding shower! I wanted to share this American custom with them. They kept asking why we call it a shower?
Rachel and my English classes came together for the party!

These willing volunteers had others fashion tissue wedding dresses on them. Gung, in the middle, loved getting to be the judge of the game.

Look at the food for our party. Lots of watermelon, papaya salad, fried pork, pizza, cake, and sticky rice!

Newsie Sighting

The new fruit stand guy across the street from my house wears a white fuzzy, plush Newsie hat every day. Very hilariously cute on the old guy. Wanted to share. I tried for a picture, but it scared the neighborhood.

School Rules

A new tidbit I learned-- All teenage girls have to wear their hair cut short, like my blog right below this one. I thought that they just were being teenagers, wanting to everything alike and follow fashion. Nope, its a requirement! Wow. And at least some of the elementary schools require their girls to wear long pigtail braids. Crazy huh? And all students, Kindergarten to college, wear uniforms.

Teeny-Boppers out for Icecream

Each Friday night, I find myself with some giggly teenage girls either at Karaoke, an icecream shop, or just playing games at Mahathai. Too bad, I don't know their lingo or their favorite songs, because I'm still trying to figure out the normal language. But I try. Here's some pictures of our icecream trip together.

Our church has been helping at Mahathai for about 3 years, and these girls were the first to respond to Gospel. Many of our staff spend time discipling them and trying to keep them involved at our church. They help out with the handicraft ministry which makes cards, jewelry, and bags for income (www.mtwthailand.org) as well. Good fun times together.

Uhn, Dak, and Dang cheese!
They're too shy and self-conscious to have their pictures taken, but I tried anyway!
The fearless leaders of these crazy girly-girls, Dang (my co-worker and housemate) and I.

Our Neighbors Moved

Our next-door neighbors moved out today. We will miss ordering papaya salad from them by peeking out of our door. I'll miss Baa-Mee sticking her face on the door waiting for me to let her in and give her candy. The lessons in the NE Thai dialect were fun too! Thais move very often! Yet this family found an area that was cheaper for them than our neighborhood. Here's some last pics together.
Mom, kids, Rachel, and I.
Their dad helps with their restaurant as well as drives a motorcycle taxi.
Here's our neighbor two doors down. His dog is named Moo Dang which means, red pork!
Aren't they cute? They had a little too much fun with my camera.

Heavenly Meat

The other night at Mahathai for Pawn's birthday dinner, we started talking about all the animals that you can eat here. I thought my dad had eaten crazy meats! Well, let's give you some hints on what meat is called "Meat from Heaven" in Thailand. In the past, the NE Thai people would trade weaved baskets for the family's pet to eat! But now, the police prohibit this. Yet, they are still eaten in Vietnam.

DOG! You got it right! They give it this beautiful name to make it sound more appetizing. Does it make you want to eat it more? We should talk to Heavenly Ham about why they call their meat "heavenly" ?

My Monkey Friend

Faa loves to jump and hang all over me when we get together. I call her "Ling" which means monkey. Here's an older picture of her hanging on without my hands helping her out. Her name, Faa, actually means "sky". Beautiful, huh.

Her mom became a Christian about 5 months ago, Praise the Lord! She's the only adult Christian in Mahathai. Her father left her family for another woman, which happens a lot in Thailand, just after that. She has an older sister, Jane, who's a very active teenager at our church and also is one of the few teenagers who are Christians from Mahathai. Her younger brother is a lunatic, like she is, and maybe 3 years old.

Last Sunday after church, while I was on the computer, she sat right beside me and colored. She looked over at me and said, "Melanie, do you love God?" It melted my heart. I looked right back and said, "Yes, I love God. Faa, do you love God?" She said, "Yes, I do." And we went right back to emailing and coloring. Aren't those the sweetest moments?

Old Wives Tales of Thailand

I know, I haven't written a blog in a whole five days. Sick. Not bad, just a bit. While sick, my Thai roommies seek to care for me and seek to give me the advice of Thai culture and their moms.
-I'm sick because its rainy season. Rain makes people sick. Don't go out in the rain, or you'll be sick.
-While sick, I should not drink cold liquids. It's something about temperature inside your body. So, when I bought an icecream, they were confused.
-Eating really spicy food should rid me of headaches- especially papaya salad.
I didn't exactly follow all the rules, but I'm feeling better!

for the love of the doctor....

Yesterday was Rachel's birthday....and after a party time at the house and Starbucks, we jumped in a taxi towards a Mexican restaurant that we heard had Dr. Pepper. Thailand doesn't have Dr. Pepper. And we were in that taxi for an hour. The restaurant was across town! The taxi driver kept telling us, wouldn't it just be better if ya'll ate papaya salad. Easier to just as delicious. Wow. But it was awesome, and fun, and a story to tell.