Happy 2010

wishing you each a joyfilled new year of 2010 !!
pam

Wishing you a Merry Christmas

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,...and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

This Christmas may you enjoy the promise of our Savior and the hope of all nations, Christ the Lord. Wishing you a delightful Christmas season.


Below are some special Christmas memories from last year when I was able to visit one of the largest refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. The children presented songs in English and Karen. I hope you enjoy thier songs of hope.

Joy to the World,

Pam

Metro riding mama

I had NEVER even seen a metro (subway system) in real life before arriving here in the DC area. And now, I ride it everyday to get to and from work...and I love it! This photo is of the escalator I ride down into the underground and back up to ground level each day. It takes about 45 seconds to ride it down and my daughter discovered online, that this is the third longest escalator ride in the world...so its a fun, long, historic ride ha!

This is the quiet, and pretty empty metro station where I am waiting for my train at the end of my work day to take me home. (It gets busy and very full, about 3 stops later!)

Anyway, now I am a metro-riding-mama.

the snow storm starts...

It's noon and the eastern coast snowstorm is settling in on the area !! SNOW....yep I am enjoying the experience.

SNOW !!

You heard me right! I get to have a white christmas this year. It is snowing outside right now AND the weatherman predicts 12-24 inches of snow tomorrow. (which will be history setting for the area "the biggest snowfall in the DC area in DEcember since the 1930s) and I get to enjoy it!

Yep, I am excited! And man, did I freeze on my way to work today. I definitely have to buy me a hat and scarf and mittens!

The photos above are taken off the balcony as it started snowing.... I'll post some REAL snow photos later this weekend. and I am smiling............. love it !!

pam

Hello Washington DC area!!

Yep..my new "home" is the DC area!
Of course if you are FROM this area...you call it the Washington area!! What I have discovered is that when I tell folks I am from Washington STATE, they don't "hear" the state part, and ask me "what part of Washington are you from?" Stay tuned for photos and stories from my new experiences.
The Adventure Continues.....................

Leaving Las Vegas !!

I've lived here for 5 years, but never made it down to have a photo by the famous sign...so had to make a last trip to see the Strip one more time before we left!

The new journey starts with a single step...

And driving lots and lots of miles through.....
Nevada.... Arizona..... New Mexico..... Texas..... Oklahoma..... Arkansas..... Tennesse..... Virginia

In the Pioneer days, folks loaded up their wagon with all their belongings, headed out and traveled 10 miles in a good day and after months and months, perhaps seasons and seasons..they finally arrived at thier destination ONLY to have to cut down trees and build their home. And they said good bye to family perhaps forever.

When I flew to Thailand, I got on an airplane and 20 hours later I was in my new city.

Our new journey took me 4 long days of watching the landscape change and seeing places pass my window that I had seen on tv or read about in history books. My grandCats took turns sitting on my lap, while my daughter drove the rental truck.... and then Here we are...

In the new location for the next step and the Journey starts fresh again........

Leaving Thailand
Leaving Las vegas

Hello Washington DC area!!

4th of July in the USA.....WOW

Fireworks in the USA..... how exciting and what a thrill !

Last year, my daughter, Stacey and I attended the U.S. Consolate 4th of July celebration in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was a fun memory, very different and a touch of "home". But I have to tell you, watching the fireworks this year, after enjoying a BBQ meal and fun with friends was the ultimate experience. After living two years in a foreign country, I really treasure what our freedoms means. We have been blessed to be born in a country where we live out our freedoms everyday. They feel as natural as the air we breathe. I sure appreciate my wonderful country. God bless America. Land that I love.

Hope you are enjoying your July!!

Pam

Oh and the fireworks display here in Vegas....... WOW !!!

Welcome to the USA

It IS official............... I Have arrived in the USA with my two grandCats, Magellan and Simone.

Looking forward to some rest and relaxation AND especially to some Connecting with friends and family. So if you are reading this........... email me with your phone number and let's share some stories and lots of laughs.

blessings

Pam

Every Morning he Comes..............

Every morning between 6:00 and 6:15, he comes walking down the street. I don't have to look at a clock to know he's coming, I can just look out and see the preparation happening in my neighborhood to know..it's almost time for him to arrive.
Who is he? He is one of the monks from the local temple about 2 miles away. Each morning he and all the other monks, leave the temple and walk through the neighborhoods gathering their food and supplies for the day.
Before 6 AM my Thai buddhist neighbors start to gather at their house gates...waiting. There is a very old woman who lives about 5 houses down from me, who can barely walk. He adult children drive over each morning, help her out to the street, where they seat her in a chair and set up a tray beside her where they place her food offerings. And then they wait.
It is so quiet, so peaceful. the birds continue to sing, but the soi dogs quit barking and there is a sense that something is about to happen...all are waiting.
Then around the corner he comes, barefooot, in his orange robes, walking slowly, searching for his next stop. I hear the rusty gate slide open, people step out of their yard, kneel down and present their food or supplies offering up above their heads, eyes closed, no sounds do they make. The monk holds his hands out toward my neighbors, I see his mouth moving as if he is saying words but no sounds come forth. He wais them (hands together with a bow) and takes their offering. the monk walks on to the next stop and the people get up, returning to their lives for the day.
All the way down my street I see this same thing happen over and over again and when the monk reaches the street corner, his arms are ladened with food and supplies to take back to the temple to share with the other monks...another day they can eat and survive.
Now being from the USA...this is what it seems like I just saw..... people humbly giving an offering and the monk giving them a blessing. But I asked my neighbor ladies (you remember them..... the ones I shared a little snake adventure with and gave them Thai/english Bibles and tracts) Well they share with me that it is ones duty to Make Merit. In this case, each family is making merit by offering food and supplies which is the ONLY way that monks have anything to eat or their daily items that one needs to live. by making merit one EARNS there way to a better life, next time around. One can earn merit for family members, deceased family members or oneself. However, every buddhist also knows that no matter how much merit you make and earn...... it might not be enough..... or even if it is enough, there is still nothing that promises you will be granted a better life. Make merit and hope, but no promise is offered AND no one knows Who it is that will grant this better life.
And yet, there they are every morning, outside waiting, prepared with an offering..........

For these people, this is the reason.... Genesis 12: 1,3 says.... "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.... that all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
For my neighbors and their neighbors.... that is why you and I are here. That my neighbor could receive and rejoice in the Promise of a better life through our Lord and Savior!

a parting thought...... are we waiting and prepared to meet our Lord and offer him ourselves each morning? Wouldn't it be something if christ walked through our neighborhood this morning and found each of us at the gate, waiting for him with our arms full of our life offerings to him???

blessings
Pam

Easter day Storm

Easter day.... dawned clear, hot and humid. A pretty typical summer day here in Thailand. We could even see the mountains...(which due to pollution, we haven't been seeing very well in the past month or so) Late in the afternoon, I noticed the breeze picking up (translate...it is going to rain soon) but wait...this is summer, the dry, hot season. AND then the thunder cracked, the lightening flashed, the rains poured and the wind blew.........what a storm. I captured some it for you from my front steps........... enjoy!

After the rains.....power outage in the hot HUMID evening. And when the power came back on

SURPRISE...... Flying Termite swarms..... had hatched in the rain and were "going toward the light" which means...slam the windows and doors shut and turn out the lights or have swarms of fluttering flying termites IN your house. but the cats had a blast chasing the flying fun for 30 minutes. Luckily they only swarm for an hour or two. but tomorrow night they'll probably be back. Just another day in Thailand. Happy Easter!

A Sign of the Times.....

In my neighborhood (mubaan), behind my home, there is a small rice field. throughout the year of living here, we have watched the activity that happens in the field. Because it is flooded with water, I get a cool breeze in my bedroom window at night And I get to listen to frogs and all sorts of birds who come to this field.
Rice Harvest is a very labor intensive operation. Over the Nov 30th weekend TEN workers gathered to harvest the crop. they worked all day long, singing and chatting, while bent over and cutting the rice stalks by hand.

Once they cut the stalks, they gathered the stalks into bundles and piled them in mounds where the rice sat for several days in the dry sunshine.

It was a very curious site.... mounds formed in a circle, just sitting there deserted..drying in the sunshine.

And then back came the workers. they all stood in the center of the circle of mounds. they would grab a bundle, raise it over their head and beat it on the ground over and over again, knocking the rice kernels off of the head of the stalk. All day long they beat the rice stalks. the kernels lay on the ground in the center of the circle of mounds. Next they raked the rice out in the center of the mounds and once again the field was empty of people for a day or so, while the rice dried in the sun. then the workers pushed handcarts into the field, using plastic buckets, they loaded the rice into the pushcarts, and pushed the carts out to their motorcycles where one person drove while the other person SAT on the handle of the pushcart... and off they drove.

Early in the morning, about a week later, I woke up to the smell of smoke, and discovered that the mounds of rice stalks were now being burned, in oder to ready the field for the next planting.

All across the city, small fields were burned over the next few days, and then the fields were flooded in preparation for the next planting.

Toward the end of December, there they were, more than ten workers, once again singing and chatting and laughing while they worked all day long bent over, poking fresh rice shoots into the muddy field.

they would stop from time to time and rest in the shade and eat a meal together. the chatting, singing, and laughing never stopped.

What percision to watch this age old farming style take place right in my backyard. This style of farming employs whole families and it was clear that they were comfortable and used to this hard work and this lifestyle of shared labor.

And here was the beautiful field left behind with uniform rows of small green rice plants. and the rice was left to grow for January, February, March....

Early this morning I awoke to a strange sound..... a rumbling of machinery. I looked at my window, and there it was... a Rice Combine. Now I haven't seen ANY machinery in the fields since my arrival about 2 years ago..... so what a surprise!!

But sure enough, there it was. Three men were taking turns driving it and riding on it. As it rolled up and down the small field, cutting the rice, removing the kernels into a hopper basket, and spreading out the chopped up stalks behind the machine.

The noise was loud and unusual. No chatting, no singing, no laughing. Just three men working a machine in the early morning hours. Maybe it is because we are in the MELTING hot summer season and just to be outside is way too hot. Maybe this helps save the workers from long hot hard work. OR maybe it is just a sign of the times..... the modern era has caught up with our city and now instead of 10 or more workers being employed, three specialized workers are here with a machine that probably costs money to rent............ who knows........... I just know that I have seen a real change happen today, right in my backyard.




The rice combine working in my back yard.

Well there you have it...... probably more than you ever wanted to know about rice hahahaha.

blessings,

Pam

Encouragement lands right here

That's right...........Encouragement and lots of laughs !!

Recently I was blessed with the arrival of two familiar faces from my former home city of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA !!! Two folks, some of you may recognize.

they stopeed by chiang Mai for a few days. We chatted, visited, told some stories, ate alot of good food, took them for a brief shopping trip at the night bazaar, they got to enjoy the start up of our Hot summer season, I took them on a loooong tour of Grace International where I have been teaching for the last two years AND...................

we did a whole lot of laughing.

wow what a treat...to get to visit with folks from back home.... to catch up on news from Vegas, to share stories of what I have been doing here. the time was short, but oh so sweet.

If you have a few moments, stop by and visit with them, there in Vegas and listen to a few stories and enjoy a good laugh on me.

very encouraged and still smiling,

thanks for the laughter and all the love,

pam

Pandas are SOOOOO cute!

Today, my roommate, Eileen and I took her mom to the Chiang Mai Zoo to see the Pandas! Eileen's mom has been visiting here for 3 weeks now and this was her last day, so we thought we'd do it up BIG. We got to the Panda compound just in time for their feeding, so they were active and so fun to watch. Below is a video of the male Chaung-Chaung eating!!! Enjoy !

The Panda compound here is AMAZING. There is NO glass between you and the Pandas, so you can hear them munching on their food and the sweet little noises they make. So if you are ever in Chiang Mai..... stop by and I'll take ya, to the zoo!! Pam

friends

well believe it or not, "friends" have inticed me to join the tech world of facebook so you can find my photo there and post a little note to me. I haven't figured anything else out yet, but maybe someday............ (I am a "little computer challenged, okay, I am a LOT computer challenged hahahaha) but I love an adventure, so I am stepping into the world of "Pam wants you to be her friend" hey we can all use a few friends...right?
do YOU want to be my friend?????????????

Happy New Year

Happy New Year !!! Here in Thailand it is the year 2552..... so guess I am living in the future!

On New Year's eve, I was looking online to see the celebrations in different cities, and when I clicked on ABC news, this greeting popped up...... click on the photo to make it full screen and you'll see Happy New Year 2009, Bangkok, Thailand.

I ran and got my camera, cuz that was just too fun.

hope you all have a blessed New Year

pam