The Last Days

This week we continued English lessons with the kids at the Hostel. We had more time at the hostel to visit with the kids so we were able to spend time before and after the lessons playing with them. Jessica played bingo with the youngest class, working on ABC's and numbers. With the oldest class working on phrases to help with friendly conversations and asking for help and directions. Abby worked with the two middle aged classes. They played bingo working with prepositions, learned how to tell time, and household vocabulary. Thursday night was our last night with the kids. We brought the children glow sticks. The kids loved them! They didn't seem to have ever seen anything like them before. It was amusing and touching to see how much enjoyment and amazement they got out of them. The children brought us flowers and cards as a parting gift of thanks to us. As we headed back to our rooms that night the children the followed us, sending us off with hugs, waves, and smiles. It was a great way to end our two weeks in Chiang Mai. We are thankful for the relationships we have formed here and the lives we have been able to touch.
We are currently at our hotel in Bangkok and leave at 5:30 in the morning. We will fly to Japan and Minnanapolis and finally Kansas City! We should be home around 4:30 Saturday. Please keep us in your prayers as we journey home.

Our last week in Thailand!

Hello friends! We are enjoying our last week in Thailand! We can't believe it's gone by so fast and we are ready to go home at the same time. So it is a bittersweet feeling but we are excited to see how God will use us at the hostel this week!
Sally left on Thursday to fly back home, so we spent Wednesday night after class at the night bizarre helping her get the few last gifts she needed. And Thursday we all went for American food at The Duke (we got pizza!!!) and then got coffee on the river to celebrate sallys last day. We took her to the airport that afternoon and then headed back to teach English. Jessica taught the older kids prepositions and directions. Abby taught the middle kids days of the week and bedroom furniture vocabulary. It's exciting to see some kids really learning and practicing what we have been teaching them.
Friday we spent all day resting from the busy week of crazy adventures we have had and we spent time doing lesson plans and brainstorming Bible study topics. That night we taught the younger kids. Jessica worked on writing the ABCs and Abby taught numbers and days of the week while playing hangman to teach spelling.
Saturday we found out that Pon, a teacher from the disability center was coming to Chiang Mai for voting on Sunday and wanted to hang out. We were really excited she came because we spent a lot of time with her in Mae Sariang and tried to witness to her. Saturday afternoon we had our first Bible study. 3 girls and 1 boy came. Jessica talked to them about trust and how we know we can trust God and facts about why the Bible is true. Tessanee translated for her. It was very interesting when she talked about the bible fulfilling prophecies because Thai does not have a direct translation for this word. So Jessica had to explain what it meant and how it helped us know the Bible was true. She emphasized that when we trust in God he gives us peace and this was a good topic for the kids to understand. After the lesson we taught an afternoon English class for the older kids. We drew a maze on the board so they could practice giving right an left directions and then we practiced forming sentences to describe where objects were located with prepositions. That evening we met pon for dinner. It ws great to talk to her again an share stories with her. It was raining all day so after dinner we went to the mall and pon loves getting her nails done so we did that with her. We invited her to go to church on Sunday and hoped she would come.
Suday morning we went back to church at Abundant Grace church where we had been before. But this week we got there early for the singing! It was such a neat experience to worship in English and Thai with other believers. We both really enjoyed praisig God in such a unique environment :) The sermon was also very good and challenging. Pon did not come to church so we were a little disappointed. But she did call us at lunch and wanted to meet up that afternoon before she caught her bus back home. So we had bible study again with the same 4 kids. Abby taught about love and how we know that God loves us through creation and Jesus coming to earth. We wrote out bible verse in English for them and spent time explaining what words meant, like created, image, eternal, perish, holiness and glory. It was very challenging to describe without all the religious words we are use to what these terms meant. But our favorite part was teaching them the meaning of John 3:16 and seeing their smiles when they understood in Thai. What an awesome feeling! After Bible study we met up with pon to shop and eat at the walking street. It stopped raining and was a beautiful night! We all bought some fun gifts for those back home and even bartered on our own for lower prices. We are getting the hang of this culture! It was great to share one more fun night with pon and show her friendship full of Gods love. She may not have gone to church with us but she definitely knows that we came here to show Gods love to her people and we will continue to pray that some of the other Christian teachers at the disability school will keep witnessing to her. We pray someday soon she will be our sister in Christ!
Today we have been working on lesson plans and are making worksheets for the classes tonight. We also spent an hour and a half doing laundry and we are both so very grateful for washers and dryers back home... No more wringing out wet clothes over and over again in another week! Thanks for checking in!

A Busy Week in Chiang Mai!

This week has been so busy!!! Sally (Jessica's soon to be sister in law!) was at the hostel with us all week, so we have gone on different adventures every day! Here is a brief recap of our adventures this week...

Saturday- We spent the morning unpacking and then observed Sally teach her afternoon class. That evening we painted the playground equipment. Most of the equipment was rusty and the paint was chipped so we gave it a fresh coat of blue and orange (Go Gators!!). The kids all joined in to help and we spent the rest of the evening playing with them and enjoying the beautiful sunsets Chaing Mai offers. It was a very fun first night here.

Sunday- Church at Abundant Grace where the service was in Thai and English. After we went to lunch with some very sweet and fascinating missionaries we went to The Walking Street. Walking Street is a huge bizarre with multiple streets filled with clothes, shoes, paintings, food, and all the trinkets you can imagine! We have found many gifts for people back home that will bring a piece of this Thai culture back to the USA.

Monday- Painting the boys classrooms a light green and light blue. The smell of the paint drying was awful, but the finished project looks awesome! Next week we plan to paint the girls classrooms and the church building. That night we had our first adventure to the Night Bizarre. This is very similar to Walking Street but there are a lot more people and you have to barter all the prices. We are still learning the ways to get a good bargain but after looking not interested in the item, saying we have seen it for much cheaper, arguing a little and walking away we are eventually chased down and given the price we want. The whole experience is pretty thrilling and leaves you with a sense of accomplishment with the item you purchased :)

Tuesday- We went to the Elephant camp and the Tiger Kingdom. At the Elephant Camp we saw the elephants take a bath in the river and then saw them perform by playing soccer, doing obstacle courses and painting! It was such a neat experience! And we even went on an Elephant Trek around the camp through the jungle where we were sitting on top of the elephant! Then we headed to Tiger Kingdom. Jessica saw the newborn (1 month old tiger) and got some very cute pictures. Then all three of us saw the smallest tigers (3-6 months old) and the biggest tigers (2 years old). The size difference in the two was astounding! The smallest tigers were like large cats that were playful and cuddly, while the biggest ones could take you out with one wrong move! Jessica has done both of these things on previous trips to Thailand, but she still enjoyed them. And I thought it was a once in a lifetime experience and really enjoyed both adventures!

Wednesday- Today we did something all three of us have never done before... ZIPLINING!!! We spent three hours in the jungle ziplining from platform to platform, spinning in circles through the air, free-falling and propelling down trees! The whole experience was exhilarating and so much fun!!!! We took some amazing pictures and videos and can't wait to post them and show people when we are back. The tour also included a hike to a waterfall which was beautiful and the perfect day for hiking through the jungle. We were blessed today with an amazing opportunity and beautiful weather to enjoy God's creation of the Thailand Jungle! After resting and showering we headed back the night bizarre for Sally's last night in Chiang Mai.

Teaching English at the Hostel- While Sally has been here the past 3 weeks she set up 4 classes of different age groups and learning levels and has been diligently teaching English. The kids at the Hostel are all tribal kids that live here during the week. And at school they learn English but it is very outdated (ex. A sentence in one of their textbooks was that 'The approaching foreboding ships could be seen from the shore) and difficult to learn with a Thai accent from a teacher. This week we have been splitting up the classes and learning from Sally and the students. Jessica and I take over the classes tomorrow and we plan to keep the same structure for the most part. But next week we would like to focus more on the younger kids learning their ABCs and how to write each letter. Also next week we are going to try to have a Bible Study/ small group for some of the older girls. Please pray that girls will want to come to the Bible Study and God will use us to answer their questions and show them His love.

Thanks for checking in with us!
Abby and Jessica

Half Way Through the Trip!

This week has flown by! We couldn't believe that Friday was already here and we had to say goodbye to these wonderful people. But we had so much fun for our last day in Mae Sariang! Friday morning we planned a Field Day for the kids. We set up an obstacle course that included balance beams, crawling through a tunnel, color matching with rings, hopscotch and bowling. The kids loved it! And we were able to get the kids in wheelchairs out of their chairs and walk through the course with them so they could participate too. The smiles on the kids faces were huge and a unforgettable memory. We ended the field day with two group games, simon says and passing a ball with counting and music stopping and if you had the ball when it stopped then you had to put powder on your face. It was very funny! We took a group picture after the games which you will see below :) We also finished making a number line for the teachers so they will have some new resources to use in their rooms! (Notice Jessica's special touch of the gator colors for the number line!)

Friday night Saylo planned a dinner for us with the entire staff. We went to a BBQ fondue restaurant where we had raw meat that we cooked on the table. It was a very unique experience with some great friends. They surprised us and gave us a framed picture of the field day picture we had taken earlier that morning. And we all exchanged thank you cards and lots of hugs. We ended the night back at the Mission House and Pon (the special ed teacher for the younger class) came over so we could all paint our nails. It was a perfect ending to a memorable day and we enjoyed talking with Pon more because we have built a very special relationship with her. We have tried for the 2 weeks we were here to witness to her and find out more what she believes in. We hope that the staff was able to see that we came here to show them God's love and to spread his love to the children. Mae Sariang was a beautiful town and we loved our time there! We said "see you later" to everyone because we both know that we will definitely be back again someday.
Today we took a bus from Mae Sariang to Chiang Mai. Sally and Tessanee picked us up and brought us back to the hostel where we had a delicious lunch! (Our fried rice, stir fry and grilled cheese sandwiches were getting a little old...) We will be helping Sally throughout this week as she teaches English to the kids at the hostel. And we have some fun day trips planned to see Tigers, Elephants and go shopping... oh my! Thanks for checking in and for all of your prayers :)

Calendar

Here is the calendar we finished for them! we made two and two posters with the list of the months on it for them to use. We have more ideas in the making and have been giving them more ideas as well! I'm hoping to make some sample things they can use with students and change for different lessons so they get the basic ideas.

Today I was able to go on a home visit to a "village" with the other PTs. The "village" was really just the outskirts of town so it wasn't as rural as I was expecting. The family that lived here though had two twin boys named Four and Five. Both of these boys were born with some type of genetic disease that made them really weak and they had very stiff limbs, double vision and no head control. Five recently passed away due to this disease and no one knows how long Four will be around. The visit was very interesting though because as I have observed at the center I have been wondering where the parent support and interaction was. This visit showed me a different side of what the center does because the PTs packed up some supplies and brought the therapy room to the boy's house. And as they worked with Four they showed his mom different positions to hold him in to strengthen his limbs and how to exercise him while also playing and having fun with him. I was very glad to see a parent so involved in their child's health and willing to take on the challenge of PT with their child when the people from the center cannot make it out. Seeing their house also opened my eyes to another challenge that many Thai families face. Their house was one big open room downstairs, crammed with furniture and a mattress with a mosquito net overhead for Four to sleep on. Then they had a narrow staircase leading upstairs where I assume their was a large room they slept in. The kitchen and bathroom were outside. The problem I realized was that there is absolutely no way that the kids with disabilities here can use a wheelchair or even a walker in their own house. They have to be carried everywhere inside because there is simply no room for them to move around in a crammed house. This is just another reason why I think the children here at the center who need PT are not making as much improvement as one would expect. The only time they have their muscles engaged and focus on exercises where they can freely move around and practice walking is the hour in the therapy room at school. The whole situation can be really frustrating!
Jessica spent the morning in the older classroom. She finds the class frustrating at times because there is no routine and many students who "can't talk" are just left alone to keep themselves busy. She is hoping this week to show the teacher (Em) how to engage all the students with activities that can be used for a wide learning group. She also is trying to find out if the students here have IEPs and if so how these are being met in the classroom.
After a wonderful authentic Thai lunch with Saylo (the director) and her mom, we worked on the calendar that Jessica has been creating. When we finish it tomorrow we will post a picture. The teachers are all very excited about it and we think it will turn out great!

The weekend

Friday Kim and Mary Ann arrived to stay with us. They both work with different parts of CDPD and are here for meetings going on. So now there will be four women in one house, with one kitchen, and one bathroom!
Saturday we were very happy to be able to Skype and talk with some of our friends and family. At first we were a little worried because the power went off on the street but after about thirty minutes it came back on. Later that day we took the bikes out around town to do some exploring and pick up a few essentials we needed for cooking. It started pouring as soon as we left and continued to pour then blaze down sunshine, then pour and so on! We had a lot of fun while exploring a few new streets of the town. That night we had our first attempt at making stir fried rice. We labled it "Poor Americans Stir Fried Rice." It is soon to go in our up and coming cookbook, "Cooking Thai food with less then 10 ingredients for poor Americans in Thailand." Our publisher thinks we need to shorten it...
Sunday we joined Kim and Saylo at the CDPD Karen Baptist church that is on site. They had a special service that Sunday that was run by the children. We didn't understand any of it, but Saylo did some interpreting for us. The children were mostly kids from the Hostel. They were all adorable and fun to watch and listen to. Each age group sang. The Teenagers were amazing singers. Later on Abby and I did a little more exploring and walking around town enjoying one of the few days of sunshine we have had so far.
Overall it was a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend filled with many new blessings and experiences.