Market Water

I just got home last night from a field trip with the 9th graders at Huai Bong School. It was a blast! Sakchai, one of our Agape boys who's in the 9th grade, went with! I really enjoyed being able to spend more time with him since I'll be leaving Agape soon. We left Sunday night and drove all night. We arrived early in the morning and our first stop was the Dumnoen Sakuak Floating Market. When I asked one of the teachers where we were going he told me we were going to the Market Water, and I was like, huh? We're going to a market where they sell water, and when we got there I realized he was talking about the floating market. It was really funny! We were the first people at the floating market, so we really got a taste of the culture rather than the crazy tourists. It was a very peaceful little boat ride through the floating market.

After the market we went to the Siam National Park. It was a beautiful park with beautiful, huge green trees lining the walkways.

When we finished our beautiful walk around the Park we went to the King's Summer Palace. It was built during the reign of King Rama the 5th and now it is used as a museum. It was a huge palace where the King also had a temple built for himself to worship in. It's called Wat Pra Kaew (which means the King's palace) and was modeled after the temple built in the Grand Palace which is in Bangkok. We had to take a little train up the hill to get to the palace and as we rode it there were monkeys all around.

The sign was hilarious warning us about the monkeys. I guess monkeys here are pretty vicious.

Then we finished our day with a trip to the beach. We all had a blast! Me and a bunch of the girls went for a ride on the banana boat (if you don't know what that is, it's a big tube shaped like a banana that up to 10 people can sit on. It's pulled by a jet ski and it's super fun). As we rode the banana boat, we got thrown off it so many times. As we flew through the air and then biffed it into the water all you could hear was laughing. I had more sea water flung up my nose during that hour than I think I have had in my whole life, but it was so much fun! After our boat ride it was time for a nice relaxing time at the beach. I got to just sit there and listen to my ipod and read my book and spend some awesome time with God as the waves hit the shore around me and the sun set. It was beautiful! Then we all finished the night eating fruit and laughing and talking as the sun set.

We did a little late night shopping in the town of Huai Hin. There were foreigners all around and I even saw a Starbucks. I never knew that little green Starbucks sign could make me so happy. I went in and had myself a nice Iced Caramel Macchiatto. A little taste of home to get me through :)

The next day started out beautifully. I spent my morning watching the sunrise, hearing the waves crash around me, and just sitting in God's presence. It's amazing how much closer I feel to Him when I sit in His creation! After the sun finished rising and was telling us it was time to start the day, we all piled back into our vans and drove to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is an old ancient city. It used to be the capital of Thailand and now it is just ruins. It's really a beautiful sight!

When we finished at Ayutthaya we went to a bird park. As we walked through I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. As I walked across the rickety green bridge, I felt like a giant bird was going to come and sweep me right off the bridge. There weren't any giant birds though, so I was safe :)

We finished our day with a lovely dinner and then me and the boys played some soccer in the parking lot as we waited for everyone to finish. Then we headed back home. Now my next adventure starts tomorrow. I'm leaving for Bangkok tomorrow night, and I'm so excited because I get to go and pick up my dad and my best friend, Cherise, from the airport. They are coming here to visit me and serve at Agape and I can't wait! It will be the first time I get to see family in almost 8 months!! Yay! Anyways, keep them in your prayers as they fly here and as we make our way back to Agape. Also, please pray for their time here, that together we can just be a huge blessing for Agape!

Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, they celebrate Valentine's Day here. Just like America, you see roses everywhere, big hearts and pink and red all around. People find their "valentine" and give them cards and roses and candy. Today I had an amazing Valentine's Day filled with so much love! At the school I was bombarded with roses and Valentine's Day cards. Everyone wanted to be my Valentine :) Then at Agape I was given even more flowers from the kids and Boonchoi even gave me a little rose with a little note. It was a surprise in my room. It was so sweet! All the children were just showering me with love! It was just a wonderful Valentine's Day!

(the rose and sign Boonchoi gave to me)

In the evening we went to a Thai wedding. It's so funny how they do things here, because me and Terra didn't even know the people, but we were invited to their wedding. This wedding was definitely unusual. Three couples were all getting married at the same time. It's the first time I've ever been to a wedding like that. It reminded me a little of a Las Vegas wedding in an Elvis chapel. There were hot pink neon lights in every other light socket and there was Christmas wrapping paper that was cut and lined the rows.

It is definitely not how I would picture a wedding but the people were happy. After the wedding we had some amazing food, and that made the whole thing worth it! Anyways, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day as well full of tons of love and joy and a couple unique experiences of your own.

Agape Bahller Store

We just recently had the grand opening of the Agape Bahller Store. I created bahllers (a combination between baht and dollars) as the currency for our store. Each day the children have many ways to earn the bahllers- helping a friend, cleaning well, coming on time to worship, doing their homework, memorizing scripture verses, etc. Each night we open up the store for 20 minutes and it is run by two different children each time. I taught them how to run the store in English and shop in English so it's a great way for them to practice their English. I love listening to them talk as they shop and run the store. The children have really just blossomed as they've earned their bahllers. They've worked at saving their bahllers to purchase the larger items and it's been a great opportunity for us to talk about tithing. I have taught about tithing on their bahllers and how the Lord only asks us to give 10%. It's really given them a feeling of self accomplishment and motivation. It's great positive reinforcement!

I've tried to put really cool things in the Bahller store and the kids love it! It's so cute watching them run their store and making all the transactions. I had them make bahller wallets out of paper and it's so cute watching them come to the Agape Bahller Store with their little wallets and scoping out what it is they want to buy. On the very first night, the kids were lined up outside the store and they couldn't wait to get in.

Me and Terra had so much fun setting it all up, knowing that the kids were so excited! They kept walking by the room as we were setting it up and they all kept looking in and saying what they were going to buy when the store opened up. I decided during my last week here, I'm going to have a close-out sale on everything in the store. We're going to do a "50% closing sale! get it while you can!!" I know the kids will love it!

Beautiful

Tan skin, white skin, black hair, brown hair, black eyes, blue eyes, straight hair, curly hair, what's beautiful? Are blue eyes more beautiful than brown, is brown skin more beautiful than white? The Lord has told us "you are altogether beautiful, my love, there is no flaw in you" (sgs. 4:7). If the Lord has told us this it has to be true, and yet we spend hundreds of dollars on beauty products, hair dye, bronzing lotion, whitening cream and yet the Lord has told us we're already beautiful the way He made us. We don't even have one flaw. We are altogether beautiful. Here in Thailand it's so funny because they love white skin. Everywhere you turn you find whitening lotion, face cream, even whitening foot scrub (why your feet need to be white I'll never know), and yet in America, where we have white skin, we strive to have that beautiful bronze skin. We spend tons of money to sit under a UV light and we rub the cream on our skin hoping it will just be beautiful, yet we already have the skin the Thai people are craving and they have the skin we want. In America so many people put so much time into shaving their arms and they don't want any hair on their arms and here they love it. I think the girls straight hair is beautiful, and they all want curly hair. I look at all these girls here and all I see is beauty and they look at me and they see beauty, so maybe that's telling us something. "WE ARE BEAUTIFUL, EXACTLY AS WE ARE". Whoever decided that brown skin was more beautiful than white, or that white skin is more beautiful than brown? God didn't make a mistake in creating anyone, and He has told us we're already altogether beautiful. You don't need make-up, or affirmation from anyone because the one whose words mean the most looks at you and is stunned by your beauty. And God sees past all the junk we try to use to make us beautiful. He sees straight to the heart and he sees beauty. He doesn't see any flaws at all. I want to see with God-glasses. I want to see the beauty in everything....."He has made everything beautiful....." (ecc. 3:11). I want to see the beauty that goes straight to the heart. I want to know that I am beautiful because my creator says I am, not because of the color of my skin, or how much money I spend on my hair, or the type of clothes that I wear but because the Creator of the Universe and the Creator of me says, "Andrea, you are altogether beautiful, my love, there is not one flaw in you".

Honey Mustard

Yes that is the name of a condiment, but it is also the name of my new dog. I know it's not the smartest thing to give a ccondiment name to a dog in Thailand, but it's ok, I've shortened it to Honey. So Honey is the name of my new puppy. Pastor Winai's brother and his family are being sent to America from the refugee camp, so we got their dogs.

The mom dog, who we've named "momma" and her puppy were given to us. Momma is beautiful and her puppy was adorable.

So I gave Honey a flea/tick bath and put a cute little pink collar on her. When all the children got home from school I called them into the worship hall for our normal meeting and cleaning time and I held Honey in my arms. I explained to the kids how we treat a pet. They usually kick the dogs, throw them, hit them, eat them, etc. So I had to explain that we love Honey and we don't eat her because she's our friend. It's been so cute watching them treat her nicely and the girls love to play with her. I think some of them think she's their baby. It's funny how big a difference a cute pink collar and a name can make :) Anyways, Honey Mustard is adorable and she's been a blast! The kids keep telling me when I go back to America they're going to eat her, but I tell them I'll be back and if she's been eaten they'll all be in trouble. So I'm hoping Honey Mustard doesn't become a topping for their rice :)

A visit to Taiwan at the Chinese school in Thailand while speaking English

Confusing? Well, let me explain. Ok so January 31, there was this performance at Terra's school, which is a Chinese school, where she teaches and she invited me and Becca to join her and Teep to the performance. It was a singing group from Taiwan and the whole performance was about Taiwan and the culture there and the villages there. The whole program that they gave to us was in English and they even spoke in English a couple times. And this was all happening in the beautiful country of Thailand :) I thought it was so cool to have all the cultures mixed together!

We decided that we would all go and we took 10 kids with us. It was so fun, because we decided we would take 10 of the younger kids with us because they don't usually get to go places! We all went out for dinner and we all ate Pad Thai. I got the kids some cookies for dessert and they loved it! When we got to the performance, each of us adults made sure we always had two kids in hand. I loved walking with my two kids in hand- I had Sootrachai and Gafe. They were the two youngest kids, so I held them tight! The kids are so funny! We have two who are like best friends- Paradorn and Nowah and they were cracking me up the whole time! The girls were too! I just love all of them so much!

While we waited for the show to start, Terra gave us a tour of her school and we went into the classroom where she teaches. We had time to kill, so we played scharades with the kids! They loved it!

The performers from Thailand did an awesome job and they sang really, really well! It was just a wonderful time with the younger kids. I decided that I'm going to make it a point to take all the kids, at least once, for dinner in Mae Sot. It's such an awesome bonding time with the kids! I loved it!

Free Cooking Class (January 23)

So there are some Thai foods that I have fallen in love with. That's right. I have fallen in love with food. I have always loved food, but there's something about a good meal in Thailand. They have the best food. It's so fresh! I eat so much fruit and vegetables and they're so cheap! I couldn't definitely stay here forever (don't worry mom, I'm coming home ;)). Well the teachers at Huai Bong School now I just love food, so while Becca was here KruSookit invited us all (me, Teep, Terra, and Becca) to his house for dinner. But this wasn't just any ordinary dinner, this was a Thai dinner that we were going to be cooking ourselves. We got to the house and we were put right to work. One of my favorite meals to eat in Thailand is Som Tom (Spicy Papaya Salad), Cow Neow (sticky rice) and Gai Yang (Roasted Chicken). It's so delicious and it's a meal we get to eat with our hands, and that's always fun! We all got put in our little stations and started making our part of the meal. In a Thai meal there's always tons of different foods. You get your bowl of rice and then all the food is placed in front of you and you eat family style. I love it!


My job was to chop up the papaya. After I was finished chopping up the papaya, I got the mortar and started making my papaya salad. I like it pretty spicy, so I tried 5 chilis the first time I made it. It wasn't hot enough for me and KruHawm, so the next time she put 20 chilis in it. I can tell you that one was hot. I think tears even came to my eyes :) After I finished making my papaya salad, I moved onto making the sauce for the fish. It was a spicy chili sauce and we poured it over the fish.

Becca helped me to make the papaya salad and Teep cut up the fruit and Terra cooked the vegetables. I can say it was the best meal I've ever tasted.....probably because yours truly was the cook ;) So, be prepared for some delcious Thai meals to be cooked when I come back to America......I'm an amazing Thai Chef now :)