Home is where you lay your head

Well, I suppose that I actually need to write one last post. Even though everyone I know knows I'm home, and won't check this, I feel the need to finalize my time in Bangkok. I got home on April 10. Since then, all of the other SM's that were there have come home. With the exception of Mike, who is traveling about in Japan before coming home. Lucky duck.

It's interesting. At first, I was concerned I would never consider Bangkok as my home. I needn't have worried. Sure enough, Bangkok became my home. My home is full of awesome friends that became like family to me. I will always love Thailand. Thailand will always bring a smile to my face. Whenever I eat Thai food, whenever I meet a Thai person, I will feel a warmth :o) I can relate to them! I can understand what they love about their country. I miss it. I miss the smells(surprisingly!), I miss the food, I miss my students immensely, the walking, but most of all, I miss the simplicity of life there. I have noticed since being home that I don't like stress. Stress is not welcome in my life. I don't like having to deal with it, and this has been the biggest struggle in my life adjusting to the US. At least to me, it's 10x more stressful here than it is in Thailand. Bills, school, driving, making money, worrying about not having enough money, buying clothes, worrying about having the latest things(which I'm already guilty of) and the list goes on. I hate it. I loathe it. Stress=ICK. I would rather live in some remote hut in the middle of nowhere simply because the biggest stress in life would be where to find a clean water source. I will adjust completely, I suppose. I want to, but in a way, I don't. Why should I have to get used to being stressed all the time? Why should I have to develop coping mechanisms to stressors in my life? Ugh.

Overall, though, I'm enjoying the US. The US houses my dog, Cujo. I missed him so much, and we are both loving being with one another. He missed me too, and wouldn't let me out of his sight for a week straight when I got home.

I'm currently in Harriman, TN visiting my Father and his parents and my Aunt and Uncle. Cujo and I are having a ball visiting with them. It's so nice to be here. They live in the woods and I love being here, away from the busy suburban life.

Well, I suppose this will be the last. Interesting - I feel a little choked up. This, in a way, seals the deal. My time in Thailand is officially over. I don't know if I will ever go back. How sad. It's alright. I promised my students I'd see them at the Tree of Life in Heaven if we didn't meet again on this earth. How wonderful to be able to look forward to that and know that it is truth.

Momma's Visit

Wow! So Mom made it to Bangkok last Sunday - March 29. She was originally supposed to get here on Saturday night, but through many mishaps that America caused, she had to fly through Switzerland and didn't get here till Sunday. I got to the airport early Sunday morning because her flight got in at 6. I waited and waited and finally at around 7:30am she emerged from the terminal. She had her small carry on bag in her hand and her purse on her shoulder - nothing else. Immediately several thoughts formed in my mind - 1. "Where are the rest of her bags?" 2. "Did they lose her bags?" 3. "What if she didn't pack anything other than what she's holding?" 4. "Wonder if she's mad? (this was because she looked quite dazed/tired/zoned). I ran up to her and immediately asked, "Where are the rest of your bags?" She responded with, "This is it! They lost all my luggage!" 

We left later that night for Chiang Mai. We had a fabulous time in Chiang Mai. On Monday we

wentzip-lining(this is the same thing we did with Steph & them in Oct.), on Tuesday we did an elephant riding/hiking/bamboo rafting tour and on Wednesday we shopped a bit, ate some

amazing Indian food and flew back to Bangkok. Thursday Mom tried Som Tam and loved it and we left for Phuket late that night with Stephanie. 

Phuket was amazing! We got there late Thursday night and luckily our hotel still had our reservation(I was concerned because of the late hour). We crashed and got up later on Friday morning and spent the day laying lazily on the beach - the perfect way to welcome the Sabbath! On Sabbath we spent another lazy day on the beach but we ended the day with Stephanie and I horseback riding on the beach.

 This was a dream of mine to ride horses on the beach and it was seriously amazing. I'm so thankful that Steph went with me. It was a 2 hr. package and I loved it! My horse's name was Chita(maybe Cheetah?) and Steph's was Monty. Chita is an Aussie bred Horse and Monty is a Thai horse. Not that many of you care about the breeds of our horses, but I do so you'll have to suffer through this for my sake! I feel bad for Steph because her horse was about the most cantankerous I've seen a horse in a while. I 

mean it was so bad that if you tried to walk up to it, it'd turn on you and try to kick you! We switched horses for a bit so Steph could ride the dream I'd been on and I tried out Monty. It was a night and day difference. They had given us rubber boots to ride in and Steph's stirrups were metal. I put my foot in the stirrup and it slipped right off cause my feet were wet(from cantering Chita through the water). It hit Monty lightly in the side and he got mad, squeeled, and bucked! I laughed a little and was like, "Yeah, wrong tourist to buck with, buddy!" haha It was pretty hilarious though. I'm glad that Steph got to experience Chita 

because his saddle was comfy too! All in all, I had a perfect ending to my Sabbath in Phuket. 

Sunday we took a half day snorkeling tour. This was awesome! We had such a great time! We saw some beautiful fish and coral. We picked up several shells to take home with us. Unfortunately, you could tell that all of the spots we went to had been visited by tourists before, many times, because most of the coral was dead. But the fish were still vibrant in color and when my Mom and I were snorkeling at the last spot, we happened upon a brilliant purple/blue coral. It was surrounded by brown coral, deadness! It was like a shining star in a totally black sky! It was beautiful and I snapped a pic of it with the underwater camera that we had. I can't wait to get the pics developed! 

Now we're back in Bangkok for 2 more days. We leave EARLY on Friday morning and arrive in America at 5:30pm on Friday evening. I can't wait to get back, although I'm going to have to hit the ground running. I've got several things waiting on me when I get back, but God will help me keep the peace and relieve the stress of everyday life and adjusting to life back in America. Can't wait, but I'm dreading it all just the same as well. 

Self-Sufficient, yet Incompetent....

I did it! I am currently in Ubon Ratchathani and I did it all by myself. No one helped me at all! I went and bought the ticket, made it to the bus station, found my dock, got on the bus and found a tuk tuk from the bus station to the Mission here in Ubon ALL BY MYSELF. I am so proud of myself. If you know me, you know that I get lost rather easily. If you ask my opinion, I think I have an actual disease. A disease that affects my sense of direction(slightly kidding). So I am stunned and elated to think that I am capable of traveling 8 hours away from Bangkok and arriving here in one piece. I'm so happy!

I'm also excited because I get to spend the rest of this week(well, until Friday at least) with Erin & Leah. I've missed these two so much! We've all become such good friends and I can't imagine my Thailand experience without them. God has truly blessed me with some amazing friends and I'm so glad that I came to Thailand, not only for my teaching experiences and life lessons, but because of the awesome friends that I have made here. Who would have thought that I would meet so many American friends in Thailand, of all places? Huh, we had to go around the world to meet...God works in such creative ways.

If you don't want to read a long but funny story, then stop reading - HERE -

OK - So, I made it on the correct bus. The dude showed me to my seat and I noticed that there was no one next to me. I figured that someone would come later, but quickly realized 20 minutes into the ride that no one else was coming. I was sitting in the aisle seat, leaving the window seat open. I put my purse and things in the open seat and tried to get some sleep. Somehow in my slumber my legs(which seem to be as long as anacondas here) managed to fall into the aisleway and block everyone's way to the bathroom. After the attendant nudged me, I thought it best for me to move into the window seat so my long, farang legs didn't obstruct the aisleway anymore. Oh, I should mention that I believe my legs went into the aisle in order to get away from the seat in front of me. The lady in front of me cranked her seat ALL the way back, and was literally almost laying in my lap). It wouldn't have been so bad if only I was shorter.... Both of my seats were laid back as well(the people behind me were short) into the laying down position but when I moved to the window seat, I noticed that there was a large protrusion at the area where my lower back came into contact with the seat. "Huh," I thought, "must be why no one's sitting here. The chair must be broken." I twisted sideways and tried to make do and actually found a somewhat comfortable position, even with the lump. After a couple of minutes, the lump moved. "Whhoooaa, there" I thought, again. Then, it occured to me. I figured that the lump must be from the lady's feet behind me. The lump went away and came back again. It was starting to get old. I was getting frustrated after waiting a few minutes to see the if the lady would stop moving, because I was trying to get some sleep for crying out loud! She kept moving. She would move her feet back, then after 30 seconds to a minute, they would poke me in the back again. Something felt odd about the lump. I looked behind me to see if I could see the lady's feet. She was sound asleep. I was shocked that her feet would reach that far! Then after a few more nudges, I noticed a pattern. The nudge was always for the same amount of time and it was a consistent, almost mechanical nudge. I wondered to myself, then looked down at the side of my seat. There, plain as day was a glowing green button pressed down for a massage. I laughed to myself. It had been the chair massaging me all along. Odd massage, but a massage nonetheless. I thought this was a rather humorous "Ashley" moment, so I had to share it with those interested. Hope you had a good chuckle.

Dogs speak Thai?

OK - people in Thailand speak Thai. That concept is easy enough to understand. I still have not learned an overwhelming amount of Thai, but for the record, I have tried. Teaching English really isn't helpful when trying to learn Thai. It's aight though. I can get a message across - I am well versed in the art of the Motions Language. Meaning, I can get a thought across thoroughly by motioning with my hands, arms, legs, etc. That, and the little bit of Thai I know helps out....I can order food, get places, direct a taxi, buy things, barter, and a few random other things. 

The housekeeper in my building recently got a puppy. It's real cute - adorable in fact. The only problem with this bundle of joy is that he LOVES chewing on anything and everything around him. I thought my Cujo was a bad chewer. To give you an accurate picture of how much he must make contact with things with his mouth - he pulled my basketball shorts down 3 times while I was trying to walk away from him. Luckily I had on my bathing suit underneath, although those around may not have known that tidbit of information...hmm...I'm sure it was hilarious to watch. Anywho, when I first started playing with him, I would say "No, Bo!" when he started biting too hard or scratching too hard. When I realized that it wasn't working, a thought occurred to me. Could it be that he doesn't understand English? I tried saying "Mai, Bo!" and guess what? It worked! P.S. "Mai" means "No". I was shocked. Of course Thai people speak Thai, but dogs as well? I cannot explain why this intrigued me so, but it did. 

On Monday I started my observation hours at the Animal Hospital. Today is my 3rd day. 14 hours down - 26 more to go. Hopefully I'll get to see a surgery today! Yesterday 2 big dogs came in. This is not common. Most people in Thailand have lap dogs - Pugs, Shitzus, Norwich Terriers, Dachshunds, Doberman Pinchers, and many other lap-sized dogs. You rarely see a dog over 15 pounds. Yesterday a pair came in. A German Shepherd and a Schnauzer - they were awesome! I love big dogs, so I went in and played with them for a few minutes. I was having a blast! The assistant in there with me was playing with them too. He said something in Thai and motioned like we do after we say, "Give me your paw." I was shocked again. The dog gave him his paw. I tried to say it, and it worked! I was thoroughly amused. It's just a weird concept for me for animals to know and understand a language even I don't. God's amazing creatures are so smart. I miss my amazing Cujo - who will understand when I say, "I Love You, Baby Boy!" 24 days until I go home. 

P.S. - Erin and Stephanie will both be going to Camp Wawona with me!!! I am so excited about our adventures in store for us. This makes me feel so much better. I know that we will all face our own individual challenges dealing with adjustments to America. Now, we'll be in the safe haven of camp and have each other to talk with about our amazing home. Can't wait for the excitement to begin :D 

Mission College

Well, I have finally met Ryan & Laura Ashlock! My mom is friends with Pastor Ryan's sister, also named Laura. Because we all knew each other in some confusing  way, we really wanted to meet! I have been lazy here in Bangkok and just haven't taken the time to figure out how to get down to Mission College. Well, a fellow teacher here at my school has relatives there and she worked it out so we could ride in the van/shuttle service with her down there.

Me, Steph, Mike, Maria and Tatiana packed up our things on Friday and headed out Friday evening for Mission College. We were told it was a 2 1/2 hour ride in the van. Well, traffic had other plans. All in all, it took a little over 3 hours to get there, which really isn't that bad. The only bad part is that Stephanie, Tatiana, Jenn, and I were in the very back seat on the way there. If you know me, you know that I get carsick like no other - especially if I'm in the back. Stephanie gets carsick as well, and because of the primitive conditions of the shocks in the 

back row, Tatiana and Jennifer were queasy as well. Wow, were we a sight! It was awful! That was the worst 3 hours, ever! But trust me when I say that it was SO worth it! When we arrived, we stumbled our nauseated selves out of the van and were greeted by the warm welcome of the Ashlocks! 

As soon as we walked in, put our stuff down, and said hello to everyone, we were ushered to sit down and eat some of the best food my lips have ever tasted. The table was decorated with 

enchiladas, a delicious salad, a yummy egg casserole, and Pastor Ryan even made us Pina Coladas! After the meal, we had oatmeal raisin cookies. I repeatedly told Laura how amazingly 

delectable her food was, and I hope she realized how great it really was! Not only was it delicious because we have tasted nothing other than Thai food for the past....forever....but that 

food was delicious just because! We sat around talking for a while, and after cleaning up, us SM's sat around talking for quite a while and took some goofy pictures that are sure to be 

framed upon arrival to the States so as not to forget such incredible memories! I love you guys!

On Sabbath Stephanie and I woke up to several knocks on our door. When Steph went to the door, 3 little blonde beauties greeted her by saying, "It's morning and you need to wake up!" It was so cute! These cutie pies are Laura & Ryan's beautiful little girls, Katie, Leah and

 Madeline. We didn't realize that it was already 8! Once we made ourselves presentable, we went out to the table where Laura had outdone herself again. Do you know how long it has been since I have had a proper biscuit? OH MY WORD. I love homemade biscuits and she had a warm pile of them on her table! I dug in! Mmmmmmm :D

After breakfast, the Ashlocks left for Sabbath School, and we sat around waiting turns for the bathroom. It only took a little bit to get ready, but Mike told us that Laura & Pastor Ryan told him that they had free Skype calls! Stephanie and I had to take advantage of that. None of us

 brought our laptops, so it was so nice to be able to call my mom! We didn't want to wait until after church because they would have been asleep! I always appreciate being able to hear my mom's voice. Stephanie called her family as well! It was awesome! After we were done, we

headed out bound for Church. While we walked in the blistering sun, we sweated and cursed Mike for taking us the long way. It was OK though! 

We forgave him. After arriving, we immediately saw Laura and the girls

 and were asked the question, "Why did it take you so long to get to church?" After explaining myself, we went inside to the welcomed air-con and enjoyed a wonderful sermon given by Pastor Ryan. It was a lovely service and Katie and I enjoyed each other's company by coloring in Crayola's Color Wonder Coloring Book. 

After church we another delicious meal of pasta with homemade bread and peas! Oh peas! I haven't had them in so long! Ahhh! She had this really good pasta sauce made from tomatoes, carrots, celery, and butter. Man was that good! Dessert was a brownie/cake that was gross....just kidding. Just thought I'd throw in something other than delicious, delectable, great, amazing, or good to see if you were paying attention! But yeah, the chocolate cake was all of the above! 

After lunch we headed out to take a tour of the campus. Luckily Pastor Ryan was able to borrow a van to accommodate us all and we were able to swiftly tour the campus without breaking too much of a sweat. I had an awesome van seat buddy! Leah kept me company and we had fun in the front seat! After that, we went to a local park. This park has a great waterfall area where a lot of locals swim and cool off. It was beautiful, and although I didn't swim(didn't bring my swimsuit & only had one set of clothes and had no desire to sit for 3 hours in wet clothes), I still had a great time watching the girls, Pastor, and Andrew(missionary) jump and frolic in the cool water. Once we realized we only had a little bit of time left before we had to head back to Bangkok, we gathered our things and headed back toward the van. Once back, Laura made us delicious vegetarian hot dogs, we ate some great potato salad, and we gathered our things together to leave. After saying goodbyes we made our way outside and had prayer before hopping in the van. Luckily, Stephanie and I nabbed the front seat and neither of us got sick. The time flew by - literally! It only took us a little over 2 hours to get to BKK. That was nice. The whole trip was nice :o)

Thai Tea with House, Please

Funny Story! 

So all of us SM's discovered "The Smoothie Lady" soon after we got here. Since then, it has been a love affair that requires daily visits - at least on my end...I have also become addicted to Chai Yen(Thai Iced Tea with Milk) while here. I realize that my time here is coming to an end, so I drink as much Chai Yen as I can - knowing I won't be able to get it once in the States! I've been told that you can find it in California, but that it's pricey :o( As opposed to the Yee-Sip baht here(20 B-less than a dollar), it's $4 or higher in the States! Man, the price differences are going to hit me hard when I get back......

ANYWAY, you can get Chai Yen in 2 different ways. Ban(blended/frappe) or Mai Ban(over ice). At first, I couldn't drink it straight over ice, because if you know me, you know that I loathe tea. Well, call it crazy(i do), but I love Chai Yen in all fashions now - over ice or blended. Back to the smoothie lady. For months now, whenever I ordered Chai Yen she knew to automatically make it ban(blended). Recently, I tried it over ice at another place by my school and love it just as much. When I went to "The Smoothie Lady" after my recent discovery, I wanted it iced again. She heard Chai Yen and quickly turned around to retrieve ice for the frappe. I called out after her, and told her(surprising myself with my Thai speak) "Mai Ban, Ka"(Not blended, please). She understood and I got my Chai Yen over ice - so yummy! Well, now I can choose however I want my Chai Yen with however I'm feeling that day - however the wind blows. Oh, the choices of life. The other night I went to get a Chai Yen from our regular smoothie lady. She knows us by now and smiles and says "Sawatdee, Kha" every time she sees us. She had several people standing there so when she looked to me in an obvious hurry, I tried to reply just as quickly. In my haste, my mouth spat out the words, "Mai Sai Ban, Ka". Hahaha! She looked at me funny, and I realized what I said. I said "With no blended, please", which is obviously not grammatically correct. I told this story to my teacher friends yesterday, 1 of then being Thai, Miss Un. Well, little did I know, the story gets even funnier. When I told them what I said, I had to explain the context and what the words meant(3 of them are Filipino). Miss Un looked a little puzzled. I wondered why....then she realized what I was saying that was puzzling her. "Ban" in Thai means "House". "Pan" in Thai means "Blended". So all this time, I have been saying "Chai Yen House, Please", in all my pride. So the other night, I said, "Chai Yen with house, please." Yeah, I'm humbled....

Winding Down

Although I don't actually leave Thailand until April 10, I will actually be done with my teaching at the end of this week. It's Monday right now, and by Friday at 11:00 am I will be done with teaching! Next week is exam week. The kids will come both Tuesday and Thursday for testing. We have to be here all week to work on grading and such. The next week(mar 9-13) will be full of grading and calculating final grades. OOO-what fun.....ick! That is by far my least favorite part of teaching - the grades! 

Anywho, after that week(Mar 15-20), I will be volunteering/observing at a local vet clinic for 40 hours. This is a requirement for entrance into the Vet Tech program at Chatt State. Hours, testing, and the application all have to be completed and sent in BEFORE May 1st. This is why I sought out a vet clinic here. I could have jammed 40 hours of observation, taking the test I have to take, filling out and sending the application, and...oh yeah.....resting, eating, and sleeping, for when I got back to the States, but I figured if they'd accept me, I might as well get it out of the way here. I prayed for a while hoping that they would allow me to shadow and observe at the vet clinic here. God answered my prayers and last week the head Veterinarian sent me an e-mail that said that she would see me March 15 at 9:00 am! I'm quite excited, both because I  am getting this done before I get to the States, but also because this will allow me to see how a vet clinic functions somewhere other than in America. 

I find myself both looking forward to and dreading going back to America. I have missed it SO much, but in all that time that I've missed it and thought about it, I've developed friends and family here. My little Soi sam-sip-jet(street 37) is home :o) I love my life here. I have grown accustomed to it. For 7 months I have known nothing but Pad Thai, Cow-Pad-Gai, Tao Rai?, and Sawatdee Kha. I have to say, I'm a little nervous about my entrance back into the States. Will I yearn for my Soi? Will I crave Thai food? Will I be willing to pay full price for things without haggling? Is America really better than any other place on earth? Is living in America really all it's cracked up to be? I'm not so sure anymore....

I am looking forward to going back because I will be reunited with my CUJO(cuyo!). My baby boy - Oh, how I've missed him. Apparently, he's 75 lbs. now! He was topping 45-50 when I left....so he's pretty much a monster now. I am just going to hug and squeeze him for an hour when I see him. I hope and pray that he still knows who I am(he was only 7 mos. when I left). 

I cannot wait until I can smell hay, horse manure, and grain again. I cannot tell you how many nights I've dreamt of laying on a horse's back while it was grazing, how many dreams I've soared over fences and trees on a horse's back. This is perhaps the one thing that truly makes me happy. Everyone needs that one thing that they can rely on - that one thing they know they can do - the one thing that takes them to a place that nothing else can. That is horses for me. A horse resting its chin on my shoulder, a horse whinnying for me, and galloping through an open field are things that brings tears to my eyes remembering how peaceful and content and purely joyful I felt. Thank goodness I'm the Equestrian Director at Camp Wawona this summer! I can be in my "Happy Place" at camp and I'm also working every day with the creatures that understand my soul better than anything else. How lucky am I? Mucho lucky - I'll tell you that!

The countdown is down to 33 days until I see my beautiful Momma. There will be many tears of joy when we see each other. I have missed her more than Cujo, more than horses(which is a WHOLE LOT). My mom is my best friend and we understand each other so well. For example, the other day my mom wrote to me on Skype, "Why do we even talk?" This may not seem very kind or make any sense, but it is because on a daily basis we type the exact same sentence, word for word, at the same time. It doesn't matter the topic, we always say the same thing. It's weird....haha My mom has been there for me in every tough situation and she has been the one in the stands cheering me on in every major life event. She is the one person that I can count on and I am so ecstatic that I am going to be able to share this amazingness with her! I LOVE YOU!

Please pray that all of us can stay strong throughout our time left here. Both because we are yearning for home more than ever, and because we are saddened beyond belief to leave our new home. I know that Mike, Tatiana, Stephanie, Erin, Leah, and Maria are all feeling similar emotions. So please pray for each one of us as we begin the final leg of this amazing race we've been on. I pray that God is blessing your life and that you are loving the winter weather! Temperatures are supposed to be hitting all time highs in March and April. I'll let you know whether or not we make it out alive! 

Peace