Phuket Town

Though many people pick Phuket, Thailand for their vacation destination, I will be the first person to tell you that if they're in Phuket Town they've probably done it by mistake... like me.  However, it's probably one of the best mistakes I've ever made.  I loved my time there, and by the end of my week and a half, I didn't want to leave.  I was seriously contemplating cancelling my life and staying there to continuing studying Muay Thai (another post entirely).  I made some friends, and even had restaurant owners who knew my order and about what time I'd be by.  It's a small town, but I - surprisingly - fell quite in love with it.

These little guys lived right next to my favorite restaurant, so we became good friends.

Too cool for school.

Big Buddhas seem to be a global phenomenon.

The bay

This man and boy were too cute, out fishing.  The man was happy to bait the line and pass it off to the boy to real in a fish.  Between the two of them, they had a pretty good system going.  The man also was more than willing to teach some other young men who looked like they were on a tour of the area.  He was incredibly friendly about letting me take photos, too.

Flags in front of a temple at the bay

 

Behind the gym where I had my Muay Thai classes, there was a fair going on every night, so I usually ate my dinner there and people-watched.  One thing I realized: kids are kids all over the world.

Me and the motorbike I rented.  Let me tell you, nothing keeps your prayer life in tact better than renting a vehicle you've never before driven and trying to drive on the other side of the road.

Some friends from the hostel and I went to a party at a beach in the woods.  (Actually, the hostel manager went too...)  We had a lot of fun, dancing quite literally all night.

Food.  So good.

Vietnam: Cao Dai Temple

For part of my vacation in January, I got to go visit my friend Danielle, who is now living in Vietnam.  Unfortunately, she and I did not end up taking any photos together, partially because the crime rate in Ho Chi Minh (where we were) is such that carrying a camera around wasn't the best of ideas, but mostly because that's the sort of thing that she and I frequently forget to do.  Nonetheless, I got plenty of other photos from while I was doing tourist-y things, so I have plenty to share with you.

Today, I want to spend an entire blog post on a stop that probably only took 30 minutes.  Outside of Saigon (AKA Ho Chi Minh) there is The Great Temple of the Cao Dai religion.  Cao Dai is one of the more interesting religions that I've come across in my travels.  It combines elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Catholicism, melding together to form a uniquely Vietnamese experience.  Central to the religion is the presence of vibrant colors, which you will see from my pictures.

Having studied the basics of all of the religions involved, it was fascinating to watch the Cao Dai service unfold, picking out the contributions from each, but, as a religion rather than an intelectual exercise, I found Cao Dai to be a bit hard to wrap my mind around.  I couldn't (and still can't) fully fathom how people could be so devoted to a religion that was willing to glean what it liked from any religion that came into contact with it.  I can understand a lifestyle that would do that, but a religion?  If the point of religion is to acknowledge something higher than the worshiper, wouldn't bringing in elements of the worshiper's own design be counter-productive?  Can you be fully devoted to a religion that isn't fully devoted to its own traditions?  I'm not sure; but these things were all on my mind as I photographed the temple.

 

Vacation: Natthida (Taeng)

My whole reason for this vacation, and especially for going to The-Middle-of-Nowhere, Thailand was to see this lovely lady:

My sponsor child - Taeng - and me, outside her home

I've been sponsoring Natthida (Taeng) for about five years now, and the story of how we got started is definitely one near to my heart.  Before Taeng, I had been sponsoring Raquel of Honduras for quite some time.  I had been wanting to sponsor another child, but I wasn't sure I could afford it, so I started hosting Compassion events, when I presented Compassion to churches or even concerts and festivals, trying to get children sponsored that way.  At the start of every event, I made it a habit of picking up every child packet and praying over them.  At smaller events, I'd try to get to know something about each child.  It made things feel more personal, and, as a result, it got more children sponsored.  But still, I couldn't shake the desire to sponsor more.  So I prayed:

 G-d, if there ever comes a child across my table who shares my birthday, I'll sponsor him or her.

And then I continued my habits.  I can't tell you the number of April 22nds and April 24ths that crossed my table, entered my hands, almost had my name on them, but then I'd think of my bank account and my deal with G-d, and I'd wait.

Then, once day, it happened - the packet was there.  Terrified, I put the packet on the table, and prayed a new prayer:

G-d, if this is what you want, confirm it for me: don't let anyone sponsor her.

A copy of the first letter I ever sent Natthida,
which was found in a binder, holding copies of all
of our communications.

But halfway through, I new I was being foolish and cowardly, and I picked up the packet, wrote my information on the form, stapled my money to it, and added it to the stack.  Never before and never since have I encountered a Compassion child packet that shared my birthday.  For some reason, G-d specifically paired Natthida and me.  In meeting her, I began to realize the magnitude of the amount of responsibility He has placed on me and the amount of trust He must have in me, because I am now one of the maybe 6 Christian adults with whom she has contact.

Me and Taeng

For a while, Taeng was attending church and writing to me about what she was learning, but that has stopped.  Her community being mostly Hindu and Buddhist, her family began to fear neighbors' reactions to her church attendance and have had her stop.  She now sells (delicious) deep fried pancakes on Saturdays (which is when her church met) instead.  She does not believe in Jesus' salvation.  For a while, I know she was ripe to believe, but now, I know I must redouble my efforts.  I hope you will join me in praying for her and her family as well as for me - that G-d will give me the right words to write to her to lead her in the correct direction.

Taeng's house.  There are two beds in the house.  Taeng and her sister share one bed, their mother sleeps on another, and their father sleeps on the floor.  If you look to the left of the blue present on the shelf, you will see that the only framed picture in their home is of me and my father.  (I won't lie, I started crying.) 

We went to the zoo, which turned out to be Taeng's favorite spot in town.  I really liked finding that commonality: we both really enjoy zoos!  We also found another commonality: we are both the fast-museum kind of people (unlike my father, who likes to read every word on every sign).

Feeding the MASSIVE fish in the lake near the zoo

Next, we made a quick trip Natthida's grandmother's house, where Natthida helps to make these delicious, deep-fried pancakes and walks around selling them.  She wanted to make some for me, a request to which my taste buds were more than obliging. 

Trying to find more common ground, I noted how this was similar to my job making omelets in college, which was answered with an invitation to give the pancakes a try.  Natthida was giving me instructions over my shoulder.  Apparently, she was impressed with my results. :)

Natthida's little sister kept trying to sneak into pictures, so we just welcomed her in.  I never figured out how the boys were related, but I'm assuming they're cousins.

with Natthida and her mom

Then, we went to the Big Pagoda (I told you the better pictures would make sense here).  The Compassion people seemed very uncomfortable, as they kept insisting that they were Christians, so they knew very little about it, but it's a huge landmark in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and they wanted me to be able to see it and be impressed with it.

It was right about here that Taeng looked over at me and said, "You skin is so pretty!  My skin just absorbs the sun, but yours reflects it.  You're kind of hard to look at."  I laughed and reassured her that in a couple of hours it would be bright red.  This intrigued her a lot, so she asked me to lie down in the sun and show her.  I politely declined and attempted to distract her by buying her things. hahah.  I'm so American.

Exploring the pagoda

Saying goodbye was definitely the hardest part of the trip - having to release this beautiful girl (who's already sick) back into the care of people who, although well meaning, cannot provide all the medical treatment/advice she needs.  She cannot get all the religious encouragement I would want for her.  By no means do I think I could provide a better home for her, but I'm so used to being the kid who takes over the project when I feel like it's not being done to the absolute best of it's potential.  I'm a micro-manager, and I can't micro-manage this.  I have to trust G-d.  I CANNOT be in control on this one, and that's so scary for me.

One thing I will always take with me, though, is the memory of the sound of this sweet child's voice as she called out her classroom window to me, halting my progression to my ride back to the hotel.  I looked up, and there she was, leaning out the window for a third goodbye.  Maybe she didn't specifically mouth the words, "I love you, too, and I want you to be safe, too," but I feel like they were implied.

Vacation: Nakhon Si Thammarat (นครศรีธรรมราช)

The first stop on my trip was the tiny, absolutely non-tourist city of Nakhon Si Thammarat, known in Thai as นครศรีธรรมราช.  I can't read that at all, but it's absolutely wonderful to look at in small quantities.  Nakhon Si Thammarat has been plagued by floods for pretty much a year now.  It's been pretty bad, and a lot of people in the lower half of town (incidentally, the poorer half of town - isn't that how it always goes?) have had to relocate.  Interestingly enough, the whole experience in the city (from the weather to my hotel) kept reminding me of my time in Nicaragua.

I stayed in a cute hotel called Teeny House while I was there.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I'm glad I stayed there.  Its bright pink exterior helped keep me from getting lost, the rooms were nice, and the food was delicious.  The staff couldn't have been more friendly or helpful.  I'm pretty sure, of the couple who owns the place, the wife is primarily responsible for the decorations.  It almost gave the feel of a B&B, each floor having a feel of a theme (although you'd have to be a woman to notice it, because each theme was flower-heavy) and hidden poetry or philosophy painted onto the walls.

And, of course, what is a hotel without a mascot/symbol of some sort.  This seemed to be Teeny House's:

While I felt awful for this dog, having to wear a dress in that kind of heat, I did enjoy rolling it around in play, in essence, contributing to the heat problem.  Ah, well...

Nakhon Si Thammarat, while not being tourist in nature, is rich with history and culture.  I took a day to walk the entire length of the place (I'd guess four miles?) and check out a bunch of historical spots marked on my tourist map.  Here are some of them:

This stupa - "Chedi Yak" - was built between 1257 and 1358 AD.   It's in the Coylouese (Sri Lankan) style. 

This Buddha image - "Luang Pho Ngoen" - is located in front of Chedi Yak.

I'm pretty sure this was at "Suan Phra Ngern."

I went out of my way to find this pool.  Unfortunately, it was very much closed off and shut down.  This is "Sa Lang Dap Si Prat," and, according to my tourist map, Si Prat was a poet who prospered during the rule of King Narai the Great.  However, like most poets, he wasn't a fan of conformity to custom and tradition, and, crossing the line with one toe too many, he was banished to Nakhon Si Thammarat, where, keeping with the poet stereotype, he was found to be committing adultery with a local woman.  As punishment, he was executed (by beheading, from what I can tell) near this pool.  According to legend, the executioner washed his sword in this pool.

This is part of the ancient city wall.  It is surmised that the wall was constructed over an older wall that was an earth wall, supported by columns.  This newer wall is a brick wall, covered by plaster.  I sat at this wall and enjoyed a Coke, while watching a guy fishing.  Then the police came by and started hitting on me, so I figured it was time to go. 

Phra Sua Muang Shrine was built to house an image of Phra Sua Muang, the angel of the city who is supposed to protect the city from all dangers, along with protecting the armed forces and bringing peace to the locals.

At Wat Phra Maha That Woramaha Wihan (try saying that 10 times fast... ... ... or at all) also known as: The Big Pagoda.  I'm putting up two pictures that don't show much at all of its size or beauty, but I promise I'll post more in my next post.  You'll understand why.

Each of these is supposed to hold the ashes of a Buddhist monk.

Yup.  I definitely think the walk was worth the sunburn.  Plus, on the way back, a local college kid got excited to see a white person, so he asked to take a picture with me.  In return, he gave me a ride on his motor bike back to my hotel, while his wife waited at the college.  It was terrifying, as it had just rained and we were going incredibly fast, but I managed to avoid a third round with sun poisoning, so I still throw this one in the win-win category.  :)

선운산

This past weekend, I went on a retreat with many of the teachers from my school, including the principal and vice principal.  Needless to say, I was intimidated.  I had a suspicion of how things would go down, but I tried not to let my pre-conceived notions of Asian relaxation activities get the best of me.  Unfortunately, my pre-conceived notions, in this case, were waaaaay below the mark.  I had no idea what was coming for me.  In case you are unfamiliar with these rumors, there was a lot of drinking on this trip, and I will leave it at that.  But, not to worry, I stuck to my scruples and maintained my morals (how's that for alliteration... I've got to prove my worth as an English teacher somehow, especially since my spelling is not cutting it today).

Unfortunately, it was this weekend that my mind chose to alert me to the severely introverted side of me that likes to come out on the weekends.  (If you already knew that, feel free to gloat now.)  I'm still hesitant to fully label myself introverted, but I'm definitely seeing the tendencies.  So, the Friday night 2-hour dinner and 노래방 (Which is very nicely defined on this page after hitting control/apple-F and searching "norebang') proved to be my definition of stress.  However, the Saturday morning hike up 선운산 (산 means mountain, 선운 is its proper name) was almost perfect.  I would have preferred it to involve a lot less chatter, but I'm finding that my Korean friends have a lot to say.  I'm debating if that's a cultural thing or if it's a my-friends thing.  I'll get back to you on that if I come up with a decision.

As with many mountains here in Korea, the hike ended at a Buddhist temple, and I found my friends to be correct: once you've seen one Buddhist temple, you've seen them all.  This one was not nearly as peaceful as the other, though, and I was struck by how many Hindu symbols were all around.  I'm beginning to think that the two have gotten mixed here, as Buddhism was turned from a lifestyle into a religion.  But I'm no Buddhism expert; I'm just making an observation.


All that being said, I think my photos (which will enlarge when you click on them) can speak for themselves from here. ;)