Life on the Race
This journal entry has no life changing events. Just my weekend off in the Thai jungle…
Sunday after church we left for Boom’s (our translator’s) hometown. After a 3-hour bus ride, we unloaded in a city about the same size of Selaphum in the Southern most part of Thailand’s NE province. Now, Boom had warned us that most of her family members had never seen a farang (foreigner) up close before, but my perspective of what that meant changed drastically upon arrival.
After a three hour bus ride with open windows, my hair was plastered to one side of my head and I was partially deaf. Not deaf enough however to miss the “FARANG!” being screamed from the bus station platform. We had been spotted. It was like a feeding frenzy. The 40 men that had been sitting around watching Thai boxing, were now staring, smiling their toothless grins, and mumbling the Thai equivalent of “WOW”. I tried not to laugh but was quite unsuccessful. I’ve never felt that much like a movie star in my life. Odd considering I hadn’t bathed, was dripping sweat, and my hair was matted together in elegant clumps.
Next, we wandered into the market to get the basic foods needed for the evening. We walked up to the fish stand. Quite different from purchasing fish at home. 1. The fish were still swimming. 2. I was soaked since one of my fishy friends was eager to escape. 3. The woman behind the counter just reached into the tank, whacked the fish on the head with a meat clever, ripped off his scales, and gutted him. Watching your food from beginning to end….
(NOTE: Later we found out that because Boom’s brother was so overwhelmed by all of white people watching him, he forgot half of the ingredients, an event I’m sure he’ll never live down.)
ARRIVAL AT THE VILLAGE: I thought the gawking was bad at the train station, but at least the men at the bus station didn’t pet me. The villagers just stared, gawked, and continuously stroked my calf, amazed at its beauty apparently. They finally gave us some space to wash up and get settled. No worries though, they came back 30 minutes later so they could WATCH US EAT. They were dumbfounded that we knew how to eat chicken. Where did they think I came from?
So, exhausted from being a celebrity for 5 hours, I crawled into Natalie’s tent, listened to the crickets chirp, and fell asleep looking at the stars. It made me a little homesick for that jungle I love on the other side of the world, but its beauty silenced my longing as I fell asleep.
The next morning, the roosters started crowing around 4:30 AM. Wanting to hurl a rock out of my tent and kill him, I realized that all of the people were starting to stir as well. I thought about waking up and helping the neighbor sweet off her front porch made of dust, but instead, I shifted on my rocky incline of a bed and went back to sleep.
The next morning, Boom and her brother told us that we were going clamming. As we headed for the truck though, we were informed that we would be taking another form of jungle transportation: the plow. Ha. The truck that everyone in the village rents was occupied, so the 7 of us trotted down the back jungle roads on a farming tool. Our unique journey to the riverbank was interrupted by the wild elephants that were grazing in the field nearby. Quite surreal.
We arrived at the river. High riverbanks where the trees were reflecting on the water, and amazing flowers were weeping over cliffs. It was truly incredible, but with my amateur river experience I was quite grateful to be looking at the water and not swimming in it. My little Peruvians had warned me enough times of the types of waters to avoid that were home to freakishly large snakes…Well, my boys would be appalled because I broke every rule. Boom’s brother walked straight down to the bank and walked on in. We all kind of stared at one another, prayed for protection and waded our way through the squishy mud. Just as I worked up my courage to swim, I realized that in order to catch the clam, we would have to dive under the water to gather them. So, I went diving and brushed noses with some creepy creatures….it was amazing, I was fully clothed and searching for clams in the middle of the Thai jungle.
Later that afternoon we fried those clams, relaxed in hammocks, and rode some elephants.
Getting to experience Boom’s hometown, meeting her family, and feeling like I was locked in an episode of the Discovery Channel was a unique and blissful experience. Life was so simple. These people didn’t need a whole lot more than one another to be entertained and laughing.
How I wish I could always find joy in such simplicity…
The only crucial need was Jesus.
It may have been just a vacation at Boom’s, but I pray that they saw more than that when we played with their children and smiled at their confusing Thai phrases. I pray they saw a peace that surpasses all understanding and makes them question whether Boom is just a crazy christian after all.
This was our group of English students at Camp 2 🙂
We climbed.
She fell. 
We laughed.
If only this picture had sound…you’d hear 16 HOURS of Thai karaoke blasting from its windows. This was our camp bus, equipped with disco balls and strobe lights.
The infamous Good Friday All-Night Prayer Service
This is Pooh. She is one of the Compassion graduates who is currently helping out with the ministry in Selaphum. She’s amazing and I cried like a fool when I left her.
If I ever come back to Thailand, Pooh is one of the first people I’m finding.
We saw him slaughtered in the back of our truck.
We butchered him.
We sliced him up in tiny pieces.
Then we ate him beef jerky style.
Poor cow.
Our elephant 🙂 Shortly after this picture was taken, she decided to hug me with her trunk and snot all over my left hand and pant leg.
An enormous Buddha statue. HUGE. I was the size of one of his toes. At first I was depressed, and then I rejoiced.
How great is our GOD that we can’t contained Him in a measly statue??
