Happenings and such

Let's see, let's see...where am i in the blog world today....?! i'm sure i have tons to write:

*I know i told you about the training i was helping to coordinate her in thailand. it was 2 weeks during the month of March. i emailed you all a more detailed update about it (due to confidentiality and all) - it was a great opportunity for my staff and other orgs to learn more about child sexual abuse and exploitation. there were 5 orgs represented and all went pretty smooth. *i was 'in charge' of it running smoothly, so yes, it was fabulous! :) i am good at admin work, but i don't enjoy it very much, so i was very tired and very stressed at times with details and smoozing and such...but it was worth it. the training consisted of lots of hands on play therapy techniques (rock on), and role plays (love it when other people, not me, are forced to do it!), and powerpoint presentations (not as exciting, but informative), and beginning and ending each day in song (always lovely). now granted, our workers our not formally educated in social work at a graduate degree for doing clinical work (there are NO schools here that offer a Masters degree in social work - sad), but it was a great opportunity for them to learn and practice direct care skills with kids (or adults as it turns out!) :) it's amazing what will happen when you put a bunch of women into a private and safe setting and let the emotions roll! it was moving and they even got a little 'graduation certificate' at the end of the training!

i guess it never really gets easier hearing all the stories of child abuse, but it was good to be back in the 'direct service' mindset of counseling and thinking critically - i do miss that. that's the biggest part of this job that i miss doing - i love kids and i'm good at it...but i am here doing this for a reason, so i must press on! :)

*Next: i have also been going on some shelter visits in the surrounding areas - awesome! it was great to see grassroot work being done in the community and locals using their skills to aid children in need.



it is still hard to see so many children in need of services and safehomes...alot of these shelters need to improve their facilities because they are pretty worn down and not up to standard. so, i'm hoping that i can give some of my donations from all of you to a shelter here to start some new work...i'll keep you posted! thanx for your support!! :)


i love when i get to hang out with the kids i meet and play - kickball, thumbwar, drawing, whatever - it's great to see their smiling faces and know that they are still in a better place than where they were....Pray for them as the continue to heal and grow and learn.


*I have already experienced one wedding (for my coworker) since i have been here - it was lovely traditional thai style, and bilingual with english and thai (he is white). sally and i gave her 2 floral arrangements as a gift and she used them on the wedding alter! how sweet! :) it was fun.
**Oh yeah, i know i told you i met the author of that book i am reading about the karen hilltribe in burma...well, i met him and his wife at the wedding and they were great. i got an autograph like a good groupie would! :) i am still reading, but it's a good and sad read (i seem to love books like that). i am hoping to meet up with them in the future to discuss the book! i'll let you know what i learn!
*i have another aquaintance that i met through a friend and she invited me to her wedding in june, because, i'm helping her plan her special day! :) - "those who can't wed, plan"!! (i knew i should have gone into wedding planning! i never get paid for my hard work!) i'm not really the planner but i am giving some advice, etc. she's sweet - it will be fun - it is a chinese/thai/american wedding and 350 people are invited!?

*So March was also time for Sally's goodbye...after 3 months of blissful cohabiting, she fled the coop for america!
we had many farewell gatherings for her - she meant alot to the staff and church here - she was a trooper! :)
we have a lot of fun and funny memories to hold in our hearts to make us laugh and smile as we remember our time here together: watching scrubs before bed on my laptop, the infamous 'mosquito beater', massages, burma field trip, english class, church, taxi drama, long talks, walking in the morning, devotions, farang cafe, driving around town, movies, prayer times, meeting and playing with the sweetest little children, and being welcomed by the friendliest faces of thailand locals! :)

it was a bittersweet time, i definately miss her and she was such a huge gift to me -easing my transition here and being my first friend! :) i also like having my own place now and having some more alone time...all you back home who always lectured me about slowing down and taking a rest, it finally happened! i think i am becoming a hermit now though...?! i enjoy lazy weekends of doing laundry, writing my blog and emails, walking to the market, coming home and watching a movie before bedtime...it's been nice not having plans every weekend, every day, every hour! :) i do still go out, believe me, but it's been nice. i think i have started to go through my first bought of 'culture shock' actually, after a few months! i really only get sad about missing home when i talk to my family on the phone...but that's normal. i got into the "i'm sick of thai food and just want what is familiar" mode with food - but that's not helping me stay healthy either, when i have to eat out for every meal?! but i am adjusting just fine, no worries! i can't believe 4 months has flown already...do you miss me yet?!

*April was a time for the much awaited and talked about Annual Songkran Water Festival in Thailand, to celebrate the New Year! it is a Thai Lunar New Year celebration that was originally meant for monks and elders to receive the respect of younger Thai's by the 'sprinkling' of water over their hands...well, times have certainly changed - now it is a time to "release frustration" - it is now a waterfight! and, boy do i wish that i had a waterproof camera for this event - hysterical wetness ensued for sure! i had heard that it was soooooo fun and that all of burma, laos, and thailand celebrate this festival - like a big water fight of the masses! it is a national holiday of 5 days (count em, 5 days...3 out of work, too!) of soaking everyone and everything that gets in your path! what i hadn't heard until recently, that the water comes from all places...and people have gotten really sick from it too!? got a cut on your leg, don't fall in the water, you'll get ganggreen!? don't swim in it - you'll get an ear infection! whatever you do, don't swallow it - you'll end up in the hospital for a bacterial intestinal infection! (*all true stories, fyi) :(

so, i proceded with caution (of course i'm still gonna experience it for myself!) my friend liz and i tagged along with a coworker and her family...16 of her family members! all in the back of a rented pick up truck (because you need to rent one if you don't own one for this kind of event!). yes, 12 of us were crammed in the back and there were 6 inside the truck!? oh yeah, and i was the only 'whitey' in the bunch! it was a sight to see for sure! :) so naturally, i was an easy and i must say preferred target...it certainly seemed like they waited to toss water until they saw me coming!? i don't know how else to describe this scene other than mayham! and the roads are closed down and you don't dare drive around for a purpose - you won't make it. elderly, children, men, women, disabled, orphans, street kids, rich, poor, fat, skinny, dark and light alike are on the streets, waiting to attack! american kids would go crazy in this kind of free for all fun! :)

so we drove around town in the back of this pick up, with the rest of the world, for 4 hours (during one day - i couldn't handle any more!?) soaking others and getting soaked! people are lined up on the street, in front of their houses or businesses, waiting with gleeful anticipation, armed and loaded with water guns, buckets, barrels, hoses, what-have-you...filled with tap water, spring water, ice, ice water, warm and polluted mote water, street water, and what seemed like anything 'liquid' at times...? to drench you and make their mark!! (can you believe i forgot to put my bathing suit on? what was i thinking?!) it was hysterical, scary, nerve-racking, dangerous, fun, and legal! there were parades, wet tshirt dancing, kids playing, drunken behavior, shouts of laughs and giggles and cries, motor accidents - complete mayhem. but worth experiencing it with my own eyes! :o) we had a good time - i only had 2 minor injuries at my lower back that stung like crazy (close range shot with a bucket of ice water - hello?!) and, sad to say, i injured one of my coworkers son's when i got a little excited in the frenzy of water fights and tried to stand up in the moving truck of 12 of us, and slipped on water (what else?!) and fell on our bucket water supply...and her son! he just cut his hand a bit - he'll survive - it's all in the name of fun and water wars! :)