The Wilson's Wanderings

Friends/Small World Photos

2012-02-15T08:00:00.001-05:00

We are going to be offline for the next two weeks as Andrea's parents will be visiting. But we have a few posts scheduled for your viewing interest!

We have continued to enjoy time with new friends here and catch up with friends from the past. Photo below - Andrea and some of her classmates on their tour of Chiva Som in Huahin.

We have really enjoyed hanging out with Fink and Fern and their friends on Sunday evenings after Fern has finished playing with the Bangkok Symphony at Lumphini Park. (Photo below, clockwise from top, Fern, Fing, Nan, Boss, Nalinee and Finda)

Clearly we have found a new eating spot with Fink and Fern! Photo below - Same place as previous photo (Fink and Fern, Andrea, LJ and Fink's dad.) Fink's dad is a well known musician in Thailand. LJ spent 4 years Tennessee during elementary school and also has a band named Kobe. A new video by Kobe can be seen here. Andrea unexpectedly had a Thai version of "turducken" - a hotdog, wrapped in ham, wrapped in chicken and deep fried!

We had a blast from the past surprise visit from Monty and Mary Smith. Monty was the Pastor of a church in Tacoma that at one point housed Northwest Leadership Foundation and Hilltop Health Ministries/Sound Youth Counseling. Monty (similar to Bradd in this earlier post) was literally walking out the door of NLF when a former colleague of Andrea and mine said..."You're going to Thailand..." Anyway, unfortunately Andrea had a prior interview scheduled for her MP, but I had a great evening catching up with Monty and Mary.

(Photo below - Iven, Kashmira, Izayla and Elian)

How do you get around Bangkok if you have four kids? Andy and Anne (Nini) sometimes do it on two bikes - 2 in the trailer, one on the back and one in the front!)

Duncan

What causes more offense? (Part 4 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

2012-02-13T08:00:00.005-05:00

Question. Which of these photos disturbs you more?

(Ok, this first one is just of clueless tourists who think they can roll out of bed and wear boxers around town...and specifically in the mall. I can deal, but really, could they not manage to dress up a little more?)

It's the next three that I really want to know about...

Hungry dog on the street...

Hungry homeless person sleeping on the street...

"Hungry" women for sale on the street...

These are the images and the realities of the Bangkok streets that I often cannot get out of my mind. Your thoughts?

Duncan

Skin and privilege (Part 3 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

2012-02-04T08:36:00.018-05:00

One other observation from Chula’s campus…As we are surrounded by Thai university students in their uniforms (yes, university students still wear uniforms – white top, black skirt/pants) we’ve noticed that there are very, very few dark skinned Thai students.

Keep in mind two things. First, so many Thai beauty products (lotion, cream, even deodorant) are advertised as “whitening.” Their selling power is based on the ability to make your skin whiter. The lighter and whiter your skin the better – this is the ideal that is held up. Most Thai's who work outside will be very careful to cover up completely (see photo of Thai women working at a construction site, wearing head covering, wide brimmed straw hat and finally a construction helmet.) Many (most) Thai celebrities will be very fair skinned and often one parent will be Caucasian.

Second, Chulalongkorn University is the Harvard (or Duke if you want) of Thailand and Thai universities. Only the best are afforded the opportunity to attend. This is similar to what occurs in the US where it is often only those with privilege and power who are able to attend the elite universities. The upper tier schools in the US may have some ethnic diversity but will have far fewer students from a diverse economic background. Here at Chula it appears on the surface that elite also translates as fair skinned.

One area you won’t find too many light skinned Thai people is a few streets off of Chula’s campus. It’s surrounded by a real Thai neighborhood and with many places to fix taxis and Tuk Tuks. It also seems to be the place to go if you want to buy an engine block, radiators, or pieces of an engine. I call it Engine Alley. The streets are slick and dark with oil and in some places engines are stacked as high as a one story building. I get strange looks when I pass through but it sure is an intriguing place.

Though separated by just a few streets from Chula's campus, it is a world apart.

Duncan

Outrageous!

2012-01-29T04:47:00.022-05:00

This past week was a busy week as both Andrea and I tried to get a lot of work done. Andrea continues to attend classes two full days a week, but most of her time is spent researching, writing and making contact with people for her thesis/master's project. This week she also finally met with individuals from the organization where she will be doing some volunteer work. On Friday she travelled three hours south of Bangkok to Huahin, one of our favorite places here in Thailand for an assigned class project. On Saturday morning her group met with the corporate social responsibility manager at Chiva Som, one of the more exclusive spa's in the world, before returning Saturday evening.

I spent a good portion of the week doing much of the global research and recruitment for my employer back in the US.

All of that is not so important but we wanted to tell you about an outrageous (in the best sense of the word) highlight from the week which brings us back to the "small world" theme in a previous post.

About ten days ago we noticed a comment on the blog from an old friend in Tacoma. Bradd said he would be coming to Bangkok briefly and asked could we get together. Bradd was a significant supporter of Sound Youth Counseling in a variety of ways and was often an encouragement to me back when we were living in Tacoma.

What we didn't know was that the connection might never have happened had the Seattle/Tacoma area not received the massive amount of snow that it did ten days ago. This resulted in Bradd having a snow day with family and friends including Elliot (another friend and my former boss in Tacoma), who when hearing that Bradd was headed to Thailand and Vietnam said, "You know Duncan and Andrea are in Bangkok..." So had it not snowed in Seattle/Tacoma we might not have had the great evening that we did this past Tuesday here in Bangkok.

Bradd finally did make it here (after a cancelled flight) along with a couple friends. After briefly catching up in his hotel we thought the best way to share this city with them in just a few hours was to take a quick taxi ride, followed by another short ride on the khlong boat (photo - Andrea, Bradd and friend Chad on the khlong boat. Chad contrary to how it looks did not have a black eye, it's just the shadow of the hanging rope) to end up having dinner at the Baiyoke Tower, Thailand's tallest building. Andrea and I had been to the Baiyoke before when we led a group here and had the experience of eating at the buffet on the 81st floor of the 92 story building peering down and out over Bangkok throught the floor to ceiling glass windows.

This time as we checked in, I briefly heard the words "very nice, open air" and wondered, hmmm, this will be interesting. When we arrived at our floor we were ushered out onto a small patio(?) attached somehow (?) to the side of the building. Open air it was, with a small, chest-high concrete and glass wall separating us from all of Bangkok. I'm not sure the photos do it justice but the word that we kept using was simply outrageous!

(photo: Andrea and Bradd looking out over part of the city.)

(photo: Bradd, Chad and Andrea enjoying dinner and the sunset from the 81st floor.)

And then there was the buffet that snaked its way around the entire inner part of the indoor seating area.

The view, the setting and the food were all fantastic but what really made it great was just having a good time and conversation with Bradd and Chad. As we said goodbye to them that evening and walked away, Andrea said, "That was so much fun and just what I needed." I concurred. Fun, outrageous and much to be thankful for - especially in this case when it all came together as a result of a random snow day back in the northwest!

Duncan
PS - For a couple videos of the khlong boat in action go here.

It's a Dog's World (Part 2 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

2012-01-23T08:32:00.014-05:00

Around the section of Chula’s campus that we live, as is true throughout the entire country, there are many dogs that live and hang out. Sometimes referred to as soi (side street) dogs, they don’t necessarily belong to anyone – but they might – but they aren't strays either. They aren’t pets (serving more of a security purpose) but they also don't live inside people's homes or compounds. They have their territory and don’t venture too far away into other dog’s territories. The dogs here in our area are mostly thriving because of the abundance of cafeteria and restaurant options which have lots of leftover food at the end of the day. Other dogs will be fed by a friendly security guard. However it happens, these dogs scrap and survive and unfortunately also reproduce in massive numbers. (That is an entirely different conversation though.) (Photo to the left - two napping members of "The Pride")

At this point we know and recognize certain dogs - for instance there are two that think they are working on their MBA’s and hang out in front of the Business School, the two mentioned in the previous post (including the scrawny little black pup that I feed) are a little further down the street and actually have quite a large territorial range (photo above is the little black pup and her friend napping on a gravel game court), there is a pack of 15 or so that actually live under the building next to us, squeezing through a hole in the ground when they need to disappear, (photo below - 7 of the 15 hanging out at night) and while 15 is quite the impressive number, they don’t compare to what I call "The Pride" that lives next to the Student Assistance Building a couple blocks from us. Though not as many as 15, the dogs in this group are all clearly related – same color and build and they own the plaza and lawn in front of the building. They are well fed and spend their time sleeping, exploring and marking their territory (Photos below: members of "The Pride" doing what they do!)

Yes, you too can come visit the animal park located on Chula’s campus! I’ll be happy to be your tour guide.

Duncan

Sticky Rice and Chicken (Part 1 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

2012-01-23T07:30:00.015-05:00

Order has been restored! Yesterday we happened to be close to Sukhumvit Soi 12 where we stayed for a while our last time here. We both knew that we had to see if our favorite (and the best) sticky rice and gai yang (grilled chicken) seller was still there…and she was! We had built a bit of a relationship last time in conversation and ordering copious amounts of chicken, rice and nam jim (dipping sauce) from her. She has been coming to this same spot with her cart for the past 30 years. It was good to see that her cart has been upgraded and business is going well for her. We have found other sticky rice and grilled meat sellers near where we are staying right now – but either they sell grilled chicken gizzards and pork intestines which we just aren’t into or we weren’t convinced of the cleanliness of their operations. Needless to say, we loaded up for lunch, confident that we are having the best nam jim in Bangkok!

Sticky rice and chicken presents a bit of a dilemma though.

Many of you will know that since moving to NC, I have become a flexitarian…meaning… I really don’t eat meat any more. (Ironic that this happened when I moved to one of the BBQ centers of the world – or at least the southern US.) If I am a guest or it will cause offense I’ll still eat what is presented or if it’s raised (and killed) humanely, but I realized I couldn’t support corporate agriculture/farming as it is done in the US at this point in time. So it’s mainly tofu and veggie products for me at this time.

I knew this would present a dilemma when it came to the sticky rice and gai yang department here in Thailand. What I didn’t realize is how little a taste I have for any kind of meat now which means that gai yang is a lot better in my head than it is in reality…which is kind of disappointing given how much I used to like it. I have also realized how much meat is included in all the curries and stir fries here in Thailand. Fortunately, tofu is abundant and a ready option most of the time.

I’m also aware that I am a rich westerner with the options of many choices – which so many people do not have. The chicken bones left over from the gai yang or any other meat that I was served but did not eat, I take and give to an emaciated little black dog and her friend that live down the street. I’m sure she was probably hit by a car at some point, she has a gimpy leg but she is friendly and cute (perhaps only in my eyes) and seems grateful for the food.
Duncan
PS – For those wanting to, comments can now be posted without having a google or open id account. Also, we just wanted to let you know that there have been no issues or noticeable changes with regard to the recent terrorist threat and arrest here.

It really is a small world after all...

2012-01-16T05:46:00.018-05:00

This past week has been all about friends and marveling at what a small world we live in. It began two Sundays ago when I met Iven and Kashmira at ECB on Soi 10 for church in the morning. (Andrea was still feeling a bit under the weather and met up with us later in the day.) We first met Iven and Kashmira through a mutual friend back in Seattle/Tacoma who told us that next time we were in Thailand we should look them up. When we were here in 2007 we did just that, peppering them with questions in a small coffee shop about how they ended up here and why and how they were doing what they were doing - and we have stayed in touch since. Iven and Kashmira came to Thailand initially to work with male sex workers in bars and on the street. Initially they were the only missionaries hanging out with and reaching out to male sex workers in Bangkok. They moved into a tiny room above a restaurant in a neighborhood close to a main loop where men work the street and have been there since. As a result a team has coalesced around them who have also moved into the neighborhood to love it and the people who live there. Their life together is really amazing with many stories that you can read on their blog. We hold them in very high regard and love spending time with them. If anyone would ask us what would Jesus do or what should followers of Jesus look like or how to live incarnationally, I think we would quickly point them in Iven and Kashmira’s direction. They love everyone they encounter, wrestle with hard situations, ask us good questions, listen well and always encourage and challenge us at the same time.

Last time we saw Iven and Kashmira was right before we returned to the US two and a half years ago. Long time readers of this blog will remember that Andrea became really sick and we were not even sure she would be able to get on the plane as most airports were screening for H1N1 at the time. Kashmira also became sick at the same time so we weren’t sure if we had passed it on to her or vice versa. Turns out it was neither as soon after we were back in the US we received an email from them saying she was…pregnant with child number one. In the two and a half years since we have seen them they have produced two adorable kids – Izayla (pictured above with Iven - winning some university students over!) and Elian – and have rented another room above them for their growing family! Anyway, we had a great afternoon with them. At one point in our conversation, Kashmira said “Hey, we know someone who you went to school with…”

Turns out it was Anne (or Nini as we all knew her at the time) whose family was also in OMF (my parents mission organization.) I went to school at Chefoo School in Malaysia and Faith Academy in the Philippines with Anne and her sister Fiona who was in my grade and who now works in Cambodia with her husband Dave. We were really excited to meet Fiona and Dave two and a half years ago when we visited them in Phnom Penh as it had been 20 years since I had seen Fiona. I knew that Anne and her husband Andy (and their four kids) moved to Thailand just over a year ago to explore their options here and was excited they had met Iven and Kashmira. A few facebook messages later and we had arranged to meet at Lumpini Park this past Sunday for the Concert in the Park that the Bangkok Symphony presents eight Sunday evenings in a row during the “cool” season. Andrea and I were already planning to go to the concert to meet up with Fern and Fink who we became friends with last time we were here. Fern just happens to be the pianist for the Bangkok Symphony.
So we arrived at the park this past Sunday and met up with everyone and then we were surprised when Anne introduced us to Kyle and Lisa who live above them and teach English in Bangkok. (photo above - Andrea and new friends listening to the Bangkok Symphony.) Kyle and Lisa had been introduced to us via email a few weeks ago by mutual friend Mindy back in Seattle who had hoped we would have a chance to meet up. Such a small world! We had hoped to meet but didn’t anticipate everyone’s lives intersecting! (This was the second time in a week that we had met someone who we were hoping to meet in such a random and unexpected way!)Anyway a grand time was had by all as we talked and talked, introduced ourselves and Nini and I began to catch up on the past 20 years. After the concert Fern, Fink, Andrea and shared a hotpot meal together (photos below). It was so good to hear about their lives and what is going on for them.

These two Sundays served as bookends to our “friend” week which also included two other "friend" moments. This past Tuesday morning we made sure we were up early in order to skype with our book group/small group that meets once a month back in Durham. Times sure have changed since the days when urgent news was shared by telegrams here in Thailand when I was growing up! (And all the younger readers now ask – what’s a telegram?!) We love being part of this group and are very grateful that technology continues to allow us to be part of it while we are here. (Pictured below - a few of our book group friends back in Durham before we left.)
Tuesday evening we had dinner with Roy and Bonita, wonderful friends who we also met last time we were here. Bonita runs a vital outreach and ministry to girls and women who want to leave the sex industry called Home of New Beginnings. They are both tireless fighters for justice and do so in a warm, wise and inviting way. Like Iven and Kashmira (though in a different age bracket) we hold them in high esteem for their efforts at bringing hope and transformation to those with little and those with much.

So this week has been an abundance of riches when it comes to friends and we are encouraged and grateful. We have a couple other Thai friends here in Bangkok that we want to connect with but that will be for another post. AND, although we spent a lot of time with friends this week, Andrea also started school which has gone well and that might also be a future post!
Duncan

Week One – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly - but mainly just the good!

2012-01-07T03:01:00.020-05:00

After leaving North Carolina and a packed ten days with family and friends in Seattle we have had our first week in Bangkok. At 7AM it’s a cool 78 degrees (25C) and a gentle breeze is blowing in the doors to our little balcony off our room. In a couple months the temperature will be closer to 100 so we are grateful for the cool morning air now. We have much to be grateful for and so this post will focus more on the good that we have experienced in the past days. (photo below taken on the campus of Chulalongkorn University.)

The Good

It’s so good to be back in Thailand. In some ways it doesn’t seem that long since we left Thailand two and a half years ago – although in between we drove across the country from Washington to North Carolina, settled into Durham, found employment and some fabulous friends and coworkers, Andrea has almost completed a dual MBA and MPP and lived in Geneva and Boston completing two internships – but it IS evident in how rusty my Thai is! But it was so good to walk off the plane and smell…Thailand, the warmth and humidity, the ever lurking fragrance of flowers in the night air. In the midst of the chaos and commercialization of Bangkok and the sometimes confusing and frustrating cultural differences that allow for abuse and use of people – especially women - there is a calmness and contentedness that rises up in me when I am here. Some of this is due to adjusted expectations knowing that life operates just a little differently here, some of it is just loving this country that continues to be home for me in many ways. And the joy (or more relaxed state) I feel is also a direct reflection of not working a full time job, plus a part time job and volunteering multiple hours in a week, while also helping Andrea persevere through a demanding academic load. Life is great at the moment (;-) I have time to think, pray, ponder. Although Bangkok hums at a pretty frantic pace 24 hours a day (just like any other city of 10 million plus) in some ways our life is slower here as it can take longer to accomplish certain things and also because we choose to live a little slower.

Anyway…we’re grateful to be here, grateful that my work has allowed me to take a leave of absence until April, grateful for time with family and friends in Seattle, grateful for smooth flights and great accommodations for the first 5 weeks that we are here.

We are staying at Sasa International House, a small hotel that is often used for visiting students and professors at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand’s oldest and highest ranked university (photo on the right taken from Wikipedia) where Andrea will be studying at SASIN, Chula’s Business school. For those of you who know Bangkok, we are living right on the edge of Chula’s campus, five minutes walk from MBK and the National Stadium BTS stop. Chula’s campus is expansive and stately with large lush trees. From our fourth floor window we look out on trees and some fun scampering squirrels. The birds wake us early in the morning and we can look down into some ponds where there lurk some massive koi and another 2 ½ foot fish that looks like a cross between an albino catfish and a hammerhead shark. We haven’t seen him clearly as the water is a little murky. Being on campus we have found a campus cafeteria that serves all manner of yummy thai food and drinks for even cheaper than you normally find it on the street. We’ve been able to figure out where to get things, where the real people live (as opposed to tourists and those with tons of money), set up internet and find a laundry – because hand washing clothes for two months would be a bummer but so would paying what the hotel wants to charge!

And I get to swim every day and enjoy my beloved rice cakes for breakfast! When we were here last time I posted a list of my favorite things in Bangkok. You can read them here, here and here.

The Bad

Really not much to report for us personally but you could count a little 'Bangkok Belly' which is par for the course at times. And then there was the moment that we were setting out to explore the campus and a tiny, almost invisible gnat didn’t just fly into my eye as we have all experienced at times but somehow this one stung my eyeball, unloading what felt like a nuclear bomb in my eye. I'm very thankful that it quickly subsided.

The Ugly…and ongoing questions

If you have read previous posts from our time here you know of some of the darker things that haunt us here. One day last week we walked up to MBK (advertised as the most visited mall in Bangkok), across the street and through several more huge, exclusive malls, (Siam Paragon – the 2nd largest mall in SE Asia, Central World etc) taking advantage of their air conditioning to get to a store we were going. It’s hard to describe sometimes the magnitude of these mammon/money worship centers of commercialization – hundreds and hundreds of boutiques, luxurious brands, dining experiences – one of the malls contains the biggest aquarium in Asia (in its basement!) - to me, it’s just a little overwhelming and maddening and then you step outside as we did and were confronted on an overpass bridge with a woman and her child begging, another woman with horribly disfigured hands holding them out for a few baht. After walking through the wealth represented in the malls which are still playing “God rest ye merry gentlemen” and then to encounter those so on the margins of society who will make less in a year than what one person might spend on a handbag…it almost undid me. I wrote about this before in Tell me what to do??? and am still wrestling with some of the same questions. It’s hard not to. (photo on the right - graffiti on a bridge in Bangkok.)

I have more questions which I’ll post in the future – but this is enough for now! Thanks for wandering with us, for your support and prayers for health, protection and good connections with people. We don’t take them for granted!

Duncan
PS. Another great post that Andrea wrote on our last trip describing Bankok can be found here.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T12:40:00.011-05:00

Merry Christmas from Seattle where we are celebrating with our families for the first time in four years. We are here for ten days before we begin our wanderings again...

With excursions to Boston (where Andrea completed a summer internship), Charleston, Savannah, and various points in between, 2011 has been a year of new places and demanding work for both of us. We are grateful to be on the home stretch of Andrea’s three year program at Duke, but before she graduates in May, we have another journey planned. On January 1st we will be returning to Thailand for two and a half months as Andrea will be part of a student exchange program at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. We will update the blog with travel stories as well as play catch up on some of this past year's travels...we hope you will continue to wander with us:-)

While we don’t know where we will be this time next year after Andrea graduates, we know that God continues to look after and provide for us. We have continued to love being in North Carolina and are grateful for deepening relationships there. And whether near or far from us, we are thankful for our friendship with you and your presence in our lives.

May you know hope, joy, and peace this season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Duncan and Andrea

Wander with us

2011-12-09T13:27:00.031-05:00

Andrea has been given the opportunity to participate in a short study abroad/global exchange program in Bangkok, January through March of next year (2012). While this is a great opportunity for her it also allows me to return to Thailand for a few months and it also means the blog is about to become a little more active with updates from this next journey as well as catching up on this past year's travels.

In our years of living and traveling internationally we have come to realize some things that personify how and where we travel that we feel we are pretty good at including:

Living and being with local community – learning about and observing the issues of the day, the strengths and the challenges facing communities and countries.

Discovering hidden gems – locations, guest houses, people – you have to hold us back from exploring every forest trail, wandering down every narrow street wondering what we will find around the corner. Sometimes we find nothing very unusual. Sometimes we have stumbled upon the kindest of people and places that are just magical and leave us changed forever – a beautiful view for example, but sometimes it is a disturbing, heart breaking reminder of the conditions that many people live. Travel for us is not about avoiding those places that are different than what we may be used to. We believe it is always good to be exposed to the other – to how most of the world lives in dignity and beauty.

Doing this in such a way that is affordable and won’t break the bank but still finding places of rest and refreshment, surrounded by verdant views and vistas - places we are always just a little sad to leave. We look for tranquil settings even in the midst of big bustling cities, places of peace and renewal to rest, read, and enjoy time with each other.

We always want to come back from our wanderings as wiser people with a greater understanding of the world. We hope that our vision and understanding of the cultures and challenges facing the world will be expanded. And we hope to be refreshed and ready to return to life back home.

If this is your style, come wander with us.

Best Secluded Hotel/Get-away Alternatives

2011-11-28T12:05:00.012-05:00

One of the most beautiful, peaceful places where I know I will always be able to relax and be refreshed is the forested property of some good friends on the shores of Hood Canal in Washington State. Over the years I have been blessed to spend many days in various cabins that are nestled into the sloping hillside, just being still and listening to the waves lap the shore. There's not another neighbor in sight and it's far away from the hectic pace of much of the world. But if you don't have friends or family with such property what can you do to truly get away and be still?

Bing recently published a list of secluded hotels around the world - for those wanting to get away from everything- and while all their suggestions look fabulous, many of them cost so much money, which is all well and good if you have thousands of dollars to spend. So here is a short list (by no means comprehensive) of recommended places that came to mind in response to the Bing list. None will cost a fortune (you may have to pay to get there) and once there, you will never want to leave.

Lopez Farm Cottages - Lopez Island, Washington State

Easy and convenient for those in Seattle. Immaculate, cozy and clean "Northwest Scandinavian"cottages where all you will hear and see are rabbits, deer and sheep grazing. No kids under 14 and no Recreational Vehicles. This review gives a good summary. Tent Camping is also available - cheaper but obviously you will be with a few more people then!

All Seasons Guest House, Hopkins, Belize

We have only stayed here once, but have been wanting to return ever since and based on the website and reviews, it keeps getting better and better over the years. Located on the beach of the Caribbean Sea, All Seasons Guest House, Beach Apartments and Cabana is located in Hopkins, a small laid back fishing village. If you read Trip Advisor, you won't find a bad review - and it's true, the owner, Ingrid, is awesome. Check out their beautiful website which actually does begin to capture the essence of this place.

All Seasons is close to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and Jaguar Reserve the first Jaguar reserve ever established. They say the odds of seeing a Jaguar there are 17,000 to one but...Andrea and I were riding our rented Moped from Ingrid through an orange grove one afternoon and there to our right, coming out of the jungle into the grove was a very big cat! So they are there - and was Ingrid ever jealous that night when we returned and told her as she had never seen one even after living there many years. It remains one of the highlights of our travels.

Amber Lagoon, Near Route 62, between Oudtshoorn and Calitzdorp, South Africa

I wrote about Amber Lagoon here, when we stayed there on our round the world trip in 2008-2009 and like All Seasons Guest House above, I can't wait to return. Similar to All Seasons the owners continue to make this property and their website even more beautiful. Lonely Planet writes “there's something magical about the vast arid Karoo. Maybe it's the wide open spaces that make you feel so tiny, or maybe it's the towns, which make you feel you've been suspended in time. The population is sparse, and off the main highways you can drive for hours without seeing another car.”

Sani Top Chalet, On the border (literally) between South Africa and Lesotho

Ok, confession, we haven't stayed here, but if you are looking for a stark, desolate, beautiful location, this is the place to come - but perhaps not in the winter. Although their upscale Rondavels all have fireplaces and ensuite bathrooms, water can freeze in the winter months. Check out their website. We stopped in here for a drink on our way up Sani Pass into Lesotho. You can read about our experience here. Remote and beautiful, the views are never ending.

And finally two general locations close to my heart...

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

The Cameron Highlands remains one of the most amazing and magical places I have lived. It is a nature lover's paradise, high in the hills, surrounded by jungle, tea estates, waterfalls, orchids and Monkey Cups (pitcher plants). It is much cooler than many places in SE Asia and thus used to be the mountain getaway for the British back in the colonial days. Although there has been much development and growth around the towns of Brinchang and Tanah Rata, once you leave the towns and start a hike into the jungle you'll be surrounded by noone - just deep jungle. There are more than enough hotels and guest houses to stay in (too many in fact), so don't linger in the towns, the jungle beckons...start hiking and exploring!

Maehongson, Thailand

Growing up in Maehongson province in the far northwest of Thailand, I have often said that if a celebrity really wanted to escape the paparazzi, I could bring them here and help them vanish. (Knowing friends in many villages and towns helps!) Though "civilization" has arrived here, I can still find many places to get away in this former Thai "outpost." Rugged mountains, steep valleys, jungle and forest, farms and rice fields in the valleys fed by clear cold rivers and streams, this in many ways is home to me.

Many travellers choose to rent a motorcycle and do the 600km loop from Chiang Mai to Maehongson and back again.

Do you have a favorite get away place that truly gets you away that you can recommend?

Duncan

Remembering...

2011-09-12T17:06:00.014-04:00

Ten years ago I was asleep in the basement of Rosewood Manor, which was once used as Teddy Roosevelt’s hunting lodge. (This was before Church of the Beloved established itself there and contrary to what they write in the link it wasn’t entirely vacant – four good friends were living in the basement – but that is another story!) I was awakened to the sound of one of my housemates shouting that the US was under attack. And for many, the world changed that day in so many ways. Everyone, of course, has a story. I remember time stopping and continuing at the same time. I remember watching hours of news coverage. I remember clear blue skies with no planes for days. I remember a brilliant and wise sermon at St Alban’s Episcopal Church in Edmonds by the priest at the time. I remember the run on “patriotism” and flags sprouting everywhere.

Three months earlier I had flown to Malaysia and Singapore to attend the reunion and closing of Chefoo School. Three months later I would fly to Thailand for Christmas. Needless to say travel and security were dramatically different for these two trips. In addition to talking with Thai friends, I remember random strangers wanting to have conversations and share their thoughts on 9/11.

This past week it has been impossible to turn on a tv without hearing a 9/11 retrospective and perhaps rightfully so. One of the wisest and most thoughtful men I know at this present time is Sam Wells, Dean of Duke Chapel. Here are two postings from him, another from a former classmate of mine whose dad (my high school history teacher was killed by a terrorist bomb) and a unique story that Andrea passed along to me.

Dean Wells Statement on Osama bin Laden's death

Dean Wells 9/11 Message: Starting from Zero

Steve Hyde Reflections on 9/11

Remembering 9/11: A warrior's unexpected gift to America

Duncan

Writing Projects...

2011-03-04T23:15:00.005-05:00

Over the past few months I have had a couple random writing projects I wanted to share (if you are interested!) Not the most exciting as presented here - more interesting when you click on the links!

If you are someone who observes Lent but doesn't want to give up sweets...here's a suggestion...(meant to post this a couple weeks ago - sorry for the delay.)

http://geographyofgrace.com/2011/03/02/power-passion-a-book-review-and-lenten-invitation/

And if you are a Faith Academy graduate of my era and missed the article on the White family, here's a link

https://sites.google.com/a/faith.edu.ph/faith-academy-alumni-news/faith-news/untitledpost-1

Duncan

Blue Christmas

2010-12-20T22:31:00.000-05:00

Swiss Mountain Lake

When we were gathering and sorting photos for a 'Christmas' card to send to family and friends this year we realized there was a blue theme that unified many of the pictures. You can see our card here as well as a couple of the originals.

In some ways it doesn't seem that long ago that we posted Christmas greetings on this site a year ago. I don't feel like I have any profound Advent/Christmas thoughts to share this year - but if you need some encouragement or a reminder of some things that matter during this season that often becomes so frantic - go to Geography of Grace - the website that I still manage and edit for CTM. There have been some powerful and moving thoughts posted this Advent season.

We had a great time taking photos of swooping seagulls one day at a NC beach.

We are grateful for the opportunities that have come our way this year - the opportunity to continue in school and pursue a calling (see Andrea's school update below), being able to return to work and have a steady income, catching up with old friends and classmates, Switzerland, clear blue North Carolina skies, and profound moments at Duke Chapel.

Duke Chapel lit up by sunlight shining through the stained glass windows at this time of year.

Wherever you find yourself at this time, may you find hope and joy and peace this season.

Duncan and Andrea

Andrea's School Update

2010-12-20T21:12:00.001-05:00

Duke Campus this Fall

Well it has certainly been a while since you heard directly from me. School has been all consuming for good and for bad! I continue to feel very privileged to be able to take three years and learn many things that I had never even heard of before, but I also struggle with impatience in wanting to be back in the real world. At this point I’m exactly half way through my dual degrees (Master of Public Policy and Master of Business Administration) and have another year and a half left.

Duke Library

This past semester was my first semester of business school. It was a whirlwind of eleven classes in twenty weeks! For those of you who knew my fear of taking an accounting class and learning that I had done it all wrong for my job as Finance Manager, the good news is I don’t think I’m going to jail. J The bad news was, my years of bookkeeping and accounting experience in a nonprofit did not help me much in for-profit accounting! I had no leg up in taxes, inventory, bad debt, investments, and common stock, which, you know, turned out to be the entire premise of the class. Oh well, the point of school is to learn, no? J

Other highlights from this semester include: participating in an overnight case consulting challenge and getting third place overall with my team, working on a project for a new marketing campaign for a domestic violence and sexual assault center that will continue through next semester, “starting” a company and “making” over four million dollars in six weeks for a class, hearing interesting speakers who come to Duke (like Apolo Anton Ohno), and finally presenting two papers I wrote at Southern Connecticut State University’s conference on human trafficking at the end of October.

Andrea and Apolo Anton Ohno, Andrea speaking at the SCSU human trafficking conference

In January I start my second semester of business school and then will do another summer internship. In what, I am not sure, but trust that I am working hard over this break to make contacts and figure it out. However, do rest assured that I am also spending some quality time over break laying on the couch reading for pleasure and catching up on news, TV, and sleep!

Duke Gardens this Fall

Summer Summary

2010-08-22T19:48:00.001-04:00

Well for the random few that do check this site, patiently waiting and hoping for an update - I wanted to post a quick update to let you know the big news. After a whole year and way too many job applications...finally...tomorrow I rejoin the working world in almost a fulltime capacity! 32 hours is actually ideal as it allows me to keep doing some of the part-time work I have been doing for Center for Transforming Mission as well as potentially set up a little private practice as well. It's been a long time coming! I certainly didn't think that our one year anniversary here in North Carolina would come and go before I began working again. So thanks to those who have been so supportive and prayerful during this time. I'll write more about what the job entails after I find out what it entails in the next couple weeks!

All the middle school and high school kids here head back to school this week and Duke undergrad students begin in a week so it's somewhat fitting that I start back too! Andrea has already been back in school three weeks. After returning from Switzerland, she had a week in Seattle, got back here on a Wednesday and then started school on Sunday, August 1. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for her. But so far, she is liking business school. It would be interesting to see what she would say was her summer highlight. Perhaps one day she'll write something here! (But, don't hold your breath!)

In addition to the three weeks in Switzerland the highlight of my summer was my Faith Academy class reunion. It's really hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the great class of 1990 graduated. For fellow Faith alum who might read this, I have included just a couple photos of those that gathered just a couple hours away from Durham coming from North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Ireland, Cambodia and the Philippines. (Hope you recognize some faces! More photos on facebook if you are interested.) I wasn't expecting it to be such a profound couple of days for me, but it really was a significant time for which I am so grateful! I wrote the following on our Class of 90 Facebook wall:

It's been a wonderful 48 hours and as pics are posted and hopefully some thoughts and comments too, hope that those who weren't able to join us can get a taste and also know that you were greatly missed. From some good filipino food to late night discussions, swimming, hearing a few never before told stories, to realizing that the Scharfe's and Miss Wollerton were a little younger than we all are now when they started at Faith(!!!) to a wonderful time of sharing- it has been a quality time and reminded me how thankful I am for our remarkable class. Last night as we walked to the symphony and fireworks in Charlotte our line of 40 or so folks including all the kids stretched for a block. It was quite the sight...Truly grateful.

so many stories...

so much laughter...let me capture this moment

the flash of the fireworks

the light in your faces

i want time to slow down for just a little longer

in your presence I have felt at home

Finally, before I head off to bed, a plug for another website/blog of sorts that I am privileged to manage for CTM. Geography of Grace is an online gathering place for conversation and resource-sharing among followers of Jesus living and working in vulnerable communities. We also hope to be a “listening post” for all people who hunger for good news in our world. We have glimpsed the transforming work of Immanuel—God with us—among the least, last, and lost. Through Geography of Grace, we want to give voice to that story.

Anyway, as mentioned, as part of my work with CTM which includes grantwriting and editing, I also manage this site and post a weekly article or thought. You won't get much of my writing but for those who have a heart for justice especially among the vulnerable and marginalized in the world, you might appreciate it. I posted the following poem a few weeks ago. It seems to fit well with the wandering nature of The Wilson's Wanderings as well. Enjoy!

there is a place

beyond the border

where love grows

and where peace

is not the frozen silence . . .

to get to that place you have to

go or be pushed out

beyond the borders,

to where it is lonely, fearful,

threatening, unknown.

only after you have wandered

for a long time in the dark

do you begin to bump into others

also branded, exiled,border crossers,

and find you walk oncommon ground.

it is not an easy place to be,

this place beyond the borders.

but it is a good place to be.

Kathy Galloway

(Sani Pass border crossing from S. Africa to Lesotho)

Switzerland - Take Two

2010-05-26T10:31:00.001-04:00

When Andrea and I were here two years ago, I don't think either of us thought we would be back so soon, but no complaints here! So from a land of alpine mountains, lakes and meadows, where bells can continuously be heard ringing out from church steeples and making music under the necks of peaceful cows and sometimes nervous sheep, a country of chocolate and cheese - and so much more - this is just a brief update on the latest wanderings. I have been delighted to be able to experience all of the Swiss adjectives and descriptions above and then some! And I have been able to hang out with Andrea on weekends and a couple days that she was able to take off.

After spending a couple nights in Geneva, most of my time has been spent in Weinfelden, a small village about an hour north of Zurich. Like so many Swiss towns it straddles a river and then creeps up the hills and is quickly surrounded by fields and farms. Andrea and I arrived for the weekend and our gracious hosts have been Thomas and Lilian, our fellow travellers who we met in South Africa and have been friends with since. I have stayed with them for the past two weekends along with Andrea and also the week in between when she returned to Geneva. In addition to feeding us and answering our many questions, they have also taken us to Appenzell and Ebenalp for a good swiss hike and a great Rosti (a hearty somewhat similar to hashbrowns meal but so much better topped off with pungent Appenzeller cheese) lunch at a restaurant perched literally on the side of the cliff.
(Photo: Andrea, Thomas and Lilian beginning the hike up to Ebenalp.)

(Photo: Berggasthaus Aescher - 170 year old mountain hut welcoming visitors and serving great Rosti.)

(Photo below: Fondue dinner with Thomas, Lilian and her dad.)

We have also had dinner with their parents and I was fortunate to be able to spend the day with Lilian's dad as he took me to the Abbey Library at St. Gall (St. Gallen). I wasn't quite sure what to expect when it was suggested to go see a library - but when you realize that it was back in 612 that the Irish monk Gallus erected his hermitage on the site, you start to realize the significance of the place. By the 9th century it was a thriving abbey. So the "library" built in Late Baroque style around 1760 is the library of the former Benedictine monastary which had a second period of glory in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today it contains about 170,000 works, of which 2100 manuscripts predate theyear 1000. It is quite amazing to see books that were written so many years ago. And the actual room is exquisite. For sure it earns it's World Heritage Site status. And just for good measure, Hans (Lilian's dad) also took me to the shore of Lake Constance and across the border into Germany which sits on the lake.
(Photo of library taken from a post card - no pictures allowed inside!)

Another day I went into Zurich with Thomas where he is a Dentist at the university there. He gave me a grand tour and got to see him work on a patient. I explored some of the sights in Zurich including the great churches before surprising Heinz and Christiane Mayer, long time former co-workers of my parents in North Thailand who now live and work in Zurich. I hadn't seen them for probably twenty years and pulled a classic TCK move not letting them know I was coming. After much catching up and a quick delicious thai meal we made plans to get-together again yesterday when Andrea was back so that they could meet her. Joining us at lunch yesterday was son David and his wife Christine. As it always is, it was great to catch up and reminisce a little. Heinz and Christiane operate an incredible home for university students (international and Swiss) called Oase . It really is a wonderful gift and service that they offer.

After another delicious thai meal, we went to the Zurich zoo - another highlight of this trip for me. Whenever we travel we try and explore zoos or botanical gardens and the Zurich Zoo does not disappoint!

Another highlight of my time here was spending a couple days with Hedi Herrman - another former colleague of my parents in Thailand. We stayed with her two years ago and were thankful to be able to catch up again.

Weather wise, it was cold and grey the first week (the coldest May Switzerland has had in years - seems to be a theme where ever we go), but this past week has been glorious. Sunny and warm. The farmers are cutting their hay, the cows and sheep are happy and content in the fields. I have loved walking up the hill behind Weinfelden and exploring the farms, fields and forests of this beautiful country. Anything alive and growing always captures my attention so whether it is an amazing tropical greenhouse or a cute cow (or the three very cute degu's Thomas and Lilian own), there has been much to keep me enthralled. How can you resist the following faces?

Until next time...Duncan

(Andrea trying the Alpine horn before our fondue dinner at Lilian's dad's house.)

Seasons

2010-05-10T12:07:00.000-04:00

This too shall pass…good words to remember when times are good but especially when times are hard…that nothing stays the same forever.

This will be a post on seasons – both literal and metaphorically – but in many ways using seasons as a theme is the best way to sum up the past four or five months. I don’t think I have ever been as grateful for the coming of new seasons even if the hoped for metaphorical seasons aren’t quite as dependable as the literal changing seasons.

Since last posting (in December!!! Happy New Year everyone! OK, Thai New year wasn’t that long ago), we have walked through three literal seasons here in North Carolina – Winter, an incredibly short Spring and now what I consider to be Summer (but the locals most likely still refer to it as Spring!) But when it is 90 (32 C) degrees in the first week of April and local strawberries are being picked – I call that summer! Everyone said that North Carolina was much colder and snowier this past winter. Although we didn’t have quite the dumping that other places on the East Coast experienced we did have snow several times. (Photo: Andrea on the deserted street in front of our neighborhood.) But I’ll take a colder, snowier but much shorter and sunnier North Carolina winter over a long dragged out Western Washington winter any day. Now of course this year, Seattle and Tacoma experienced the warmest winter they have had in years!

I was actually back in the Northwest three times during the first three months of the year. In January I attended a week long retreat at Mt. Angel Abbey in Oregon organized by Center for Transforming Mission and the Street Psalms Community. (More on CTM later.) It was my first time to stay at a monastery and be able to experience the daily rhythms of the life the monks live which was good and a timely gift. I was also able to spend time with family and friends back in Seattle/Tacoma. During this time a short term employment opportunity also presented itself. Sadly it was due to the closing of Sound Youth Counseling, the counseling agency where I worked in Tacoma for seven years before leaving in 2008. It’s a long story, but due to several reasons that could have been easily avoided, the decision was made to shut down operations. Even closing was not handled well and everything was sort of left in pieces with much uncertainty and limited leadership to ensure that things were done right. I agreed to help out for two weeks to help tie up loose ends and do what needed to be done so that the agency would not lose its non-profit status AND if in the future there is the leadership, energy and finance in place, that it could be restarted with relative ease.

In March I returned to Seattle again for a wedding of a friend, a former bible study member and also one of the team that went to the Philippines ten years ago to lead Faith Academy’s Spiritual Enrichment Week and High School Retreat. It’s been amazing to see what has happened to this group in the last ten years. Of the ten of us that went at the time two were already married (and still are), of the rest all but one have married and there were at last count six kids between the group. So it was fun to catch up with some that I hadn’t seen in a long time!

And then spring arrived in North Carolina sneaking in with a greening of…well everything. I loved watching the forest that I often run through – which for several months was just brown, quickly turn green and lush – so lush that where a week or two earlier I could easily see though the trees, all of a sudden I am unable to see farther than five or ten feet. Waves of wisteria climb wild, high up into the pine trees – sometimes 50-60 high. Driving along the highways, you’ll see stretches of solid purple embankments…then a week or two later the azaleas began exploding like fireworks…and now honey suckle is taking over and blanketing many areas. It’s so wonderful. And my first experience with major pollen…I walked through the grass one day and later on wondered why my shoes had taken on a greenish hue. A few days later the full effects hit. The pollen (again, just for our benefit, was much more severe this year than most, everyone said) was so thick you could sweep it off the sidewalk. Cars were blanketed. It looked like a cross between the ash that fell from Mt. St. Helens back in the Northwest combined with the powder that is thrown and smeared during Holi (India) or Songkran (Thailand). So whether it’s being surprised to learn that tulips are grown as annuals here (they don’t survive the hot wet summers – and the deer eat them) or being fascinated by the blooming redbuds which make the trees look like they have been wrapped with pink led Christmas lights, I have loved experiencing new seasonal patterns here! And again, how can you complain when it is 90 degrees in April?!

I’ve also been sucked in by…the birds! I don’t even know what they all are but living in a place surrounded largely by forest, makes it at times feel like we are living in an aviary. Probably beginning in March, we began to be woken up by the birds in the morning and I have to admit, I’ve been mesmerized by many of them. I’ve never lived where cardinals are before so they have become my favorite as I learn to recognize their many songs and calls.

I also was sucked in by a certain basketball team winning the National Championship. Normally whenever the team would play on campus I would curse and mutter because parking would be impossible. Literally. Even if you have a parking pass for a certain area, basketball trumps your right to park there! But by the end of the season and as they started making a run in the tournament, I was sucked in to watching the Duke team (and there success was because they were a team and not individual superstars play. One evening Andrea walked out and I was watching a game on TV (and I rarely watch any sports on TV) and she asked ‘Are you becoming a jock?!’ Not quite, I just liked the attitude of this team. When they won the championship, we went with some friends to see the traditional bonfire on campus. (Photo - Andrea is with Bruce and Renee Puckett - Bruce is the Assistant Pastor of the Congregation at Duke Chapel and the one I help with the youth group.)

Other highlights for me have been continuing to be involved with Duke Chapel and volunteering with the youth group. I have also continued to be a part of the ISI international student group. It’s been really encouraging to meet with people of faith from around the world and hear their stories and insights. We also made two fast trips up to Washington DC which were fun. Andrea has been to DC several times, but these were my first times. Though we didn’t have too much time to see sightsee, it’s still a little odd and surreal to be in places previously seen in so many movies and on TV.
(Photo to the left: Tourist)

So there have been some wonderful things that we have enjoyed, but the past months have also been very difficult in other ways. If you read the posts at the end of 2009, you will know the frustration I was having in trying to obtain my mental health license here. It’s a long long story and not even worth repeating (unless you happen to be moving to NC and also plan on getting licensed – if that’s the case you DO want to hear the whole story so you know what to do!) because of how much ineptitude and incompetence involved. But long story short, the board did finally grant me my license in March. Not that I am using it yet! Many of the counseling jobs that were available last year are of course no more and I am now having to jump through some of the hoops regarding setting up a business here in NC so I can work independently. And of course that involves getting a form from my favorite North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors…cue another long wait! I’m not sure it will ever end. It’s been difficult to walk through this season when it seems somewhat meaningless, but I have been trying to find meaning in it. Both Andrea and I have been reminded that God is looking after us – and we are so grateful for the journey we went on in the past year and a half where God so obviously looked after us. We try to lean into the fact and remember that this is still true today, but I won’t lie, it has been difficult to do at times.

I mentioned the Center for Transforming Mission (CTM) earlier. Kris Rocke, who is the director of this organization has also been a friend, mentor and wise counselor to me over the past five or six years. CTM is a grassroots leadership development organization committed to developing communities of grassroots leaders who serve high-risk youth and families in hard places. They equip urban leaders to teach and preach Good News among those who have been labeled the least, last and lost. CTM is based in Tacoma where they serve and train grassroots leaders in the Northwest and several urban centers throughout the U.S., but they also are working in Central America, the Caribbean, and Kenya. Kris was one that went out with Andrea and I to do a training in Thailand in 2006.

All this to say, last year Kris asked if I would like to do some grading of papers for a cohort of students in Nairobi, Kenya who are working on their Master's in Global Urban Leadership in partnership with CTM and Bakke Graduate University. In addition, in the past couple months, Kris asked me to take on some development work in the form of grant writing and also to maintain and edit the Geography of Grace website. This website is basically an online resource with submissions and articles from different folk in the CTM network who are working with the vulnerable and marginalized around the world. Being unemployed, being able to work from home and keeping me plugged into things international and with an organization and people that I really respect, this was a no brainer. And it has been a real answer to prayer as far as bringing in a little income and keeping me from completely rotting as I wait for whatever is next! And I have really enjoyed it and hopefully am bringing some of my gifts to the CTM network. Please visit www.geographyofgrace.com. I may not have posted here as much, but you are guaranteed a new article there every week – not that I am writing it – just editing, putting together the accompanying pictures/artwork and posting it.

For Andrea, this year has been a challenging one, especially this past semester. I’ll let her write more on it if she wants, but let’s just say she has met her share of frustration with classes being all consuming. She has literally spent most of her waking hours doing something related to school. It has not been fun.

But…this is where it does become a little more fun. As part of her degrees, she has to do an internship each summer. This summer she is working/interning with the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland – in fact she is already there! After taking her last exam on April 30, she left the next day on May 1 and has already completed her first week. Because Business School begins at the beginning of August and her internship must be a minimum of ten weeks, she had to leave right away. I’ll be joining her for the next couple weeks…

So the Wilsons are wandering again. From season to season, we have survived the first academic year (even though Andrea will be working every day this summer she’ll have her evenings and weekends free – a novel concept after the experience of this past semester!), we still have a roof over our heads, and I get to get on a plane again! It has been a difficult and challenging season at times but we know God has looked after us.
See you soon in Switzerland!

Duncan

(Photo - Murphy's law? Many times when we take a photo of ourselves, it doesn't turn out so great - the one time it does...I have a phone in my hand?!)

Christmas Images and Thoughts

2009-12-24T13:21:00.000-05:00

http://beautifulangle.homestead.com/x.html

To read more about Beautiful Angle go to http://beautifulangle.homestead.com/. I saw this image posted when we were briefly in Tacoma some time this past year and took a photo. Beautiful Angle expresses truth and art so powerfully and creatively. Really, if you just ponder this print and don't read anything else of this post, you'll be just fine.

Painting in First Presbyterian Church, Capetown, South Africa

I have a collection of Christmas cards that I have gathered and saved over the years. All of them depict cute little shepherd boys (none over age 10 or so - most under age five.) Shepherd themed cards are always popular but I was struck this year how inaccurate and unrealistic most of these images are. While young boys around the world today are often still responsible for looking after their family's animals, it's not quite the cute picture that most cards portray. The reality of a shepherd's life is that it is tiring, dirty, uncomfortable, lonely and dangerous at times. I'm guessing there were not many cute cherub-like shepherds looking after the sheep that first Christmas night. I imagine they were a little more rough and rugged - a mixture of odd anti-social misfits, young men filled with adolescent angst and antics (you know what teens can get up to when left alone for long periods of time!) lonely and perhaps poor - certainly no one on top of the social network. Yet it is this motley crew that hears the good news first. God in the flesh has arrived. Joy to the world and Peace in spite of what you see around you...Peace. And so the mystery and the scandal begins.

I don't know why the shepherds were chosen to hear the news first. Perhaps everyone else had too much going on and they would have ignored or quickly forgotten the angelic interruption. The shepherds at least had time on their hands to ponder and act. But for whatever reason, the tired, the lonely, the misfit, society's least and last were chosen to hear the good news first. That in and of itself is good news for which I am thankful.

This tin cut out is one of our favorite images (and purchases) that we brought back with us from South Africa. Love the facial expressions when Mary and Joseph realize what the wisemen are bringing as gifts! (A gourd/pumpkin, chicken and traditional stew) Tin Town in Capetown makes all sorts of creative tin gifts and ornaments.

For more information go to http://www.tintown.co.za/profile.html

Whatever your situation this Christmas, whatever state of construction or deconstruction of Christmas, whether you are lonely or surrounded by friends and family, may you also experience peace and joy. Thank you for continuing to wander with us. We've covered some distance this past year together - From Tacoma to Europe to South Africa to Southeast Asia, back to Seattle/Tacoma and now to Durham. The following is a card we sent out recently containing some of our favorite images of this past year. Merry Christmas!

Duncan and Andrea

It's been three months...

2009-12-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

I have to admit that I was caught off guard by Advent this year and the opening strains of O Come, O Come Emmanuel a couple Sundays ago. This in spite of sitting in and listening to the Duke Chapel Choir rehearse for The Messiah which they were preparing to perform. Ironically Advent is the time of preparation for Christ's birth – a more than surprising event in and of itself and yet here I was surprised by the very thing that is supposed to prepare us for December 25. Odd, but so timely. As I have experienced the past four months since moving here, I have become even more thankful for the experience of the past year and a half. Thankful and aware of the ways the God has held me well and continues to hold on to me. Yet as I have walked through discouragement, ambivalence and loneliness (all byproducts of moving to a new place and searching for where I fit…building new relationships, looking for work etc.), I have found myself wondering what is going on? When are you going to break through with the answer, God? (Whatever the question is!) I am desperate for Christ's incarnation this year, desperate to have something moved within me, desperate enough to have even pulled out an old daily Meditations of Advent devotional from years ago off the shelf so I can prepare and glean all I can from this season that so often becomes a season of madness here in this country and around the world.

It has been an interesting three months since we last posted. For Andrea, it has meant plunging back into the world of academics – papers, reading, research, group projects…intense…busy…long hours and not too much else. She has enjoyed getting to know her classmates and the wealth of wisdom they bring from their experiences around the world.

While Andrea has wished she had more time on her hands, I have found myself on the other end of the spectrum. It has been a time of hurry up and wait as I have applied for various positions in the mental health field and outside of it. The primary challenge and hurdle has been attempting to get licensed as a professional counselor here in North Carolina. Though I am licensed in Washington and have taken the National Counseling Exam, North Carolina does not have reciprocity with any other state so I have had to apply for licensure here which has been somewhat frustrating to say the least. Long story short, I began the application process as soon as we moved here in August. It took some time to gather my references but eventually I sent off the completed application in mid-October. Three weeks later the licensing board sent my whole application back with the note that all the forms had changed on October 1st (even though there had never been any mention on their website of this coming change!) 'Please start again' – including gathering all new references! Well this was somewhat disheartening but I rallied and my references graciously rallied and resubmitted what they had to do very quickly. Two weeks later the board sends me a letter saying my application is incomplete and missing a particular form EVEN though I had made a copy of everything before I sent it off (again) and there was a copy of this form in the copy I had kept. Now I was a little more distraught as I knew time was ticking. The board only meets quarterly and their December meeting was the following week – so I emailed, faxed and mailed another copy and waited. This past Monday knowing that the board had met last week but not knowing if they had reviewed my application, I called to inquire. The person I talked to said that no the board had not reviewed my application as one of my reference letters had not arrived in on time – ironically it was a reference from two hours away and there is no reason that it shouldn’t have been there with plenty of time except…who knows why. The bigger issue is that the board is saying that the hours of my first two years of counseling experience can’t be counted as they say my supervisor at the time had not been licensend long enough. Well they are partially right, prior to 2001, counselors weren't licensed in Washington state - they were certified (todays equivalent of licensure!) and my supervisor had been certified for many years prior to her supervising me.

So now I am waiting for the next hearing in March! Hopefully by then I will have been able to appeal and explain the situation so that the hours from my first two years count. Without these hours counting (even though I have been licensed and working as a counselor for almost a decade) I won’t be able to counsel here in this state unless I complete those hours again. I have a job offer from one counseling agency but I can't work until I am licensed. Ironically this has all been happening at the same time as I have been hearing about the demise of Sound Youth Counseling where I worked for seven years back in Tacoma. Needless to say it has been discouraging and frustrating and the reason behind my comments above. I/we would appreciate any wisdom, insight and prayers any readers may have regarding this whole situation.

Moving on to more pleasant topics…It hasn’t all been school work and frustration. Together we have been able to experience a few fun activities including exploring a state park (photo to the left and also at the top of this post) literally five minutes away from where we live with my parents when they came to visit in October, going to the State Fair with one of Andrea’s classmates where Andrea indulged in a deep-fried cheeseburger – one of many deep fried delicacies available! A couple weeks ago we visited the Duke Lemur Center which has the largest gathering of Lemurs in the world outside of Madagascar. There are over 200, maybe 300, prosimian primates at the center including the Lemurs from Madagascar, Lorises from Asia and Bushbabies from Africa. This is also where the TV show Zoboomafoo was filmed and is definitely worth a visit if not in person then at http://www.lemur.duke.edu/ (If you do visit, don't forget you have friends close by!) We have also taken advantage of Duke’s music, theater and dance performances which allow students to buy tickets to shows for only $5 each. This is an incredible deal and has allowed us to see some amazing performers from around the world. Highlights included Diane Reeves with Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo, Pianist Murray Perahia and a concert recording of The Hallelujah Train featuring Daniel Lanois, Brian Blade, Brady Blade Jr, Buddy Miller and several others. If you check my Facebook page you’ll see that literally every Friday and Saturday in October was a concert. Amazing and a little too much all at once!

As Andrea has been meeting many people through school, I have had to take some initiative to meet people so I have become more involved with Duke Chapel, teaching a junior high Sunday school class (figured it was my time to give back after all the people who volunteered for me over the years!) and joining a book group where we have read Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution. I have also been spending some time with International Students Inc. and their group on Duke’s campus.

And that brings you up to date in a general sort of way. We actually haven’t been able to venture too far away from Durham yet due to Andrea’s school schedule but soon we will be driving to Nashville for a couple days to meet up with a former coworker and to track down all the superstars there! Trying to get a little ‘tender Tennessee’ Christmas spirit. We’ll be back here for Christmas and have a few more posts in mind including one about three famous pigs! Stay tuned. Stay warm (unless you are in the southern hemisphere)! (Photo to the left - the cute but a little creepy Aye-aye at the Lemur Center complete with long bony middle finger that rotates 360 degrees!)

Duncan

Settling In - Initial thoughts and observations about Duke and Durham

2009-09-15T06:00:00.001-04:00

In many ways, as many people know, Duke University is an impressive school. (Thus we start off with a very unimpressive photo of Andrea and I entering our town house for the first time - toilet paper in hand! ) Oprah was the commencement speaker this last year. Bill Clinton gave a speech here this summer. Maya Angelou has delivered an opening address at the opening convocation for the past 15 years. Power speaks. (And I haven’t even mentioned the research that goes on here or another local favorite of folks around here called Basketball). But in church on our second Sunday at Duke Chapel, Sam Wells, the Dean of the Chapel, went straight for the heart as he addressed new students telling them they have come to a place of great power – where the three streams of knowledge, money and social influence come together. He went on to say that when we like and approve of this power, we call it wisdom. When we don’t, we call it privilege. Going a little deeper he noted that all Duke students know what privilege is. Either they have rich parents who are paying for it or they have convinced someone else to (or they are going into massive debt – but he didn’t really mention this category!) Either way, Duke students are privileged. Wisdom is a harder and less fashionable word but hopefully wisdom is what students are really trying to achieve while in school. With privilege you often have many choices, but choice without wisdom is useless. Wisdom allows you to make good choices. He then wove this all together quite well with the practicality of Ephesians chapter six. (Aerial photo of Duke Chapel and surrounding countryside. Not taken by me. The following two I did take though.)

So it was good to hear someone speak truthfully to the privileged and powerful. It is good to know that there are those at Duke who are not all about rank and name. Andrea and I have seen this lived out in a variety of ways. We know that even before moving here we fell into the 'privileged' camp compared to most of the world's population but being here forces us to continue to ponder what this means.

As the spouse of a student, my favorite thing about Duke so far is the chapel. 'Chapel' is really a bit of a misnomer though. Duke Chapel is a beautiful Gothic style cathedral and supposedly has the largest involvement of all university chapels throughout the United States. For more info go here. The music and setting of sacred space has been stunning and life giving…

Other things we like about Duke…the Lemur Center! With over 300 lemurs, it is the largest gathering of these cute animals probably outside of Madagascar. We haven't been there yet, but we are looking forward to it!

Duke also has the spectacular Sarah P. Duke Gardens, again one of the ‘best’ private collections in the US. (photo above, the aspiring student with some very large water lilies.) Duke is surrounded by forest which is beautiful but this leads to one of the things we don’t like so much about the area. Durham and Duke and the surrounding cities are urban areas plopped in the middle of forests and fields. Because there is so much land available, this area is a great example of suburban sprawl. There really does not seem to have been too much planning - but what do we know, we've only been here a few weeks. Certainly there is no laid out grid to speak of. I call where we live forested suburbia. The views alternate between forested countryside and large apartment/condo/townhouse complexes that are plonked down in the middle of the forest. Infill is not a word used here yet!

If Duke and Durham were looked at as an island, then the island is completely surrounded by a confusion of intersecting highways and roads. This is helpful for those who know where they are going as there is always a multitude of ways to get anywhere, but for the newcomer, it is a bit of a maze and a challenge. And just to make it a little more complex, it’s all flat. No hills or really tall buildings so to speak to get your bearings. Just stretches of trees.

Other things we have noticed – people are very friendly and try to be helpful (even if the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing!), lots of pine trees, this is the land of fried chicken, rivalry over what kind of sauce (either vinegar based or tomato based) that you put on your barbecue depending on if you are from the east or the west part of the state and much, much rivalry over Basketball.

One of the most interesting things we have encountered in Durham is that the homeless or panhandlers who stand at intersections hoping for a handout as cars drive by, MUST wear orange vests. Whether this is for their protection or it just makes them official we don’t know yet, but it is unique!

Weather wise, it's been humid and hot this first month - can't complain! All my plants that survived the journey are thriving and loving their new home. When it rains, it rains tropical Asian style – heavy and then it’s over and the sun comes back out to bless the steam coming off the roads. It is interesting to be in air conditioning most of the time. But there are times when I step outside in the morning and the combination of the pine trees, the cool morning air and droning cicadas, if I closed my eyes I could think I am in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. A couple of times it has taken me by surprise. I love hearing the cicadas and the other myriad insects and birds throughout the day and night.

We have told various ones we have talked with that it is an interesting and different place. But it might be a place we come to really love. It has been difficult at times. Any big move and change can be difficult but the dynamics of the past year of travel, leaving Thailand, having a rushed month in the northwest and then coming here has left us in a strange state – somewhat tired and unable to be too excited about anything. It’s been a weird feeling. As an old saying/song goes - “Can’t go over it, Can’t go under it, Can’t go around it. Have to go through it.”

The other night we made Sushi, sprinkling on some sesame from the fields of Napajat that Pi Toi gave us. We have a bottle of wild forest honey from the forests of Maehongson that made it back with us too as well as our bottle of olive oil from Levanto from the olives I helped pick. We are surrounded by tangible gifts and memories of our trip, friends and God’s goodness to us. Having it smell like the Cameron Highlands is simply a bonus!

Duncan

An American Post

2009-09-13T16:06:00.009-04:00

It has been five weeks since we arrived in Durham after driving a 24 foot truck while towing our car 3000 miles across 11 of these somewhat united states in six days as we made our move from west coast to east to spend at least the next three years living in the South.

We've had a few requests wondering how the trip went. We were grateful that the actual driving went really well - although there was that dead-end and turn around that we had to deal with right off the bat...An elephant definitely would have been easier here! (Picture to the left taken from a card made by patients at Manarom Hospital in Central Thailand - where I was born!)

A few other highlights...

Stopping to see our good friends Greg and Christina in another one of their amazing, close to the water, house finds!

Taking a video of Brian, Andrea's dad (who was gracious and crazy enough to want to go with us) after he ingested a particularly hot pepper. Unfortunately for us (and you) we can't get it to post at this time, we'll keep trying as it's quite amusing! Thankful for Brian's kindness (but not so thankful that we won't stop trying to post the video!) in coming with us especially as it was just the three of us unloading everything once we arrived. (A Big thanks to those who helped us load up in Tacoma!)

Being convinced and cajoled by my wife and father in law to stop in and experience the wonder of Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota.

Not sure this is a highlight, but being surrounded by bikers either going to or coming from Sturgis, South Dakota was also pretty fascinating.

Having MOST of the plants in the back of the truck survive and make it!

And a few Random Thoughts from the Heartland taken from various places.

Missoula, Montana - Ruby's Inn (a great non-chain place to stay) Breakfast - a place where the regulars are known. Truckers and heartland vacationers converse and say hello as they dig into their eggs, sausage, biscuits and french toast. Surrounded by very good chain hotels, Ruby's stands out for its quality and ability to go it alone without lowering any standards.

Gillette, Wyoming - All American chain hotels, all run by hard working Asian, Indian and Arab Americans. Unfortunately there's often nothing more American than paving a prairie/farmland and putting up boxes of hotel chains and big do it yourself stores. The All-American food creation and export is definitely the Burger/Fries and Fast food/Diner experience.

Driving across the great plains, it is hard not to think about what it was like two or three or five hundred years ago. The US has done many good things in the past but no one really likes to talk about 'our genocide' that wiped out millions of Native Americans. (I have more thoughts, but not sure this is the best forum.) Nevertheless it is haunting to imagine what this country once was.

Most decent sized airports I have seen in my life recently have multi-storied parking garages. I was really surprised when we drove by the St. Louis Airport (I think) to see one very large, flat, and never ending parking lot. Speaks to the amount of land available. I was also really surprised at the St. Louis Arch. Really impressive and tall.

We each had our favorite states. I found myself really liking Kentucky and Tennessee. So disappointed not to be able to swing into Nashville - but really happy with an unbelievable Holiday Inn Express in Knoxville/Strawberry Plains. Have to give them a shout out!

I told you it would be random! Everyone should have the pleasure (most of the time it is anyway) and opportunity to drive across this country at least once in their lifetime just for the experience of seeing it in one go and for what it will evoke in you. It's also kind of cool just to know you can do it and that it is very possible. Next time though, preferably not in a big truck! (Although Budget also gets a shout out. Great trucks and service!)

Duncan

Final Thoughts (but not really!)

2009-07-30T03:00:00.000-04:00

"What was he doing during the trip? What was he thinking about? As in the morning, he saw the trees pass by, the thatched roofs, the cultivated fields, and the dissolving views of the country which change at every turn of the road. Such scenes are sometimes sufficient for the soul, and almost do away with thought. To see a thousand objects for the first and for the last time, what

can be deeper and more melancholy? To travel is to be born and die every instant."

Victor Hugo – Les Miserables

How is it possible to have any sort of definitive final reflection on a journey like we have experienced this past year? Like the journey of life there is no final period, for the journey continues to continue. For this we are grateful. If the past few months were it, that would be a

little depressing and hard to deal with. As a true third culture kid, I have a foot planted very firmly in Asia but my passport (actually my passports!) say I belong in the “West” – wherever that is?! However, living in Thailand for the past few months made me realize that a huge part of me, maybe most of me just wants to be there – there is a deep resonation that I belong there even though it doesn’t look like I belong. This is the wrestling of any TCK (third culture kid). If we feel like we don’t completely fit anywhere, perhaps it makes more sense to be in the place where it looks like we shouldn’t fit as opposed to being in the place where based on our language and communication ability and sometimes the shade of our skin, most people assume we fit and belong there.

All this to say, I was not excited to return when a big chunk of my heart was staying in this place and with people I love greatly. As the quote states above – travel, good travel is birth and death all at the same time. Yet the journey

we have chosen continues. A week ago we were in North Carolina looking for a place to live, getting a feel for the place, and taking care of some of the details surrounding Andrea beginning school. God has clearly provided a place for us to live and we continue to see his graciousness and kindness to us as he did so clearly throughout our travels. Without a doubt we come back knowing so clearly that God is watching over us and caring for us. That was our experience leading up to, throughout and even now as we return from our travels these past months. Just this week I called Del's Feed Supply where we buy the food for the chickens and asked the woman that answered if she knew anyone who might want four lovely hens. She immediately said she would - so despite great sadness at having to give up 'the ladies' after thirteen years of chicken raising here in the US, we know they are going to a good home - and it was clear again that God was looking after and providing for us.

Before we left Bangkok, Iven (one of our friends there), knowing how we were feeling about our impending move back to the US encouraged us to enjoy the good things that the US has to offer. So we have enjoyed a few things like…drinking straight out of the faucet/tap, not sweating continuously, not getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, fast internet (it only takes a couple seconds to load pictures onto the blog now – in our apartment in Bangkok sometimes we would wait 15 minutes!)

So 9 months later if anyone is keeping track…

63 beds we slept in

27 flights
11 or 13 countries (depending on how you count)
2 24 hour train journeys
1 apartment in Bangkok for 3 months

Countless taxis,

images of beauty and devastation,

faces and stories that have marked us for life…

And really it’s about the people we have met. Yes we have seen wonderful views and vistas but like the saying says – it’s about the people. New friends – Claudio and Grazia, Damien, Kagiso, Lilian and Thomas, Dave and Bella, Michiel, Leonie and Ottilie, Eak, Pi Fai, Pi O, and old friends we were reunited with – The Williams, Hedi, Lotte, Roy and Bonita, Iven and Kashmira, The Nichols, Pi Toi and Pi Lee and their families and all our friends and neighbors in the Maehongson area – all of whom mean the world.

So people, places and a peace knowing that we are not left alone in the world to struggle by ourselves. These are the highlights of the past year for which we are so grateful. We will continue to use the blog for thoughts and updates, although we're not sure that it will be quite as exciting as the past ten months, but you never know! On Monday, August 3, we start driving a 24 foot truck 3000 miles across the country while towing a car for a week which will surely warrant a posting or two.

We will be sending friends an email with our

new address and phone numbers soon as well. If you have been a regular reader, thank you so much for staying connected with us. Double thanks to those that commented or emailed us!

Duncan and Andrea

Thoughts on a 90km stretch of road...

2009-07-27T03:00:00.001-04:00

Maehongson, the most Northwestern province in Thailand, bordering Burma.

It was here (in four villages) on a 90 kilometer stretch of road that I was raised, from age 3-18, and it is this stretch of road that feels so much like home today. When my family arrived here in 1976 the main road wasn’t even paved all the way. Bridges were rough hewn logs anchored together by large metal spikes.

Much has changed. No wood bridges these days and now even most of the villages off the main road are paved with concrete. The buffalo that were used to plow the fields are gone in most villages (fortunately not all!) In Dorpae, the second of the four villages we lived in, the village didn’t get electricity until I was in 5th grade. Now everyone has a cell phone – even internet in some village homes! Globalization has changed the landscape and the culture dramatically in the last 15 years.

When I graduated from high school 18 years ago and returned to the US, most people – men and women, still worked the land in some agrarian form – farming, gardening, cutting timber. Now many work in some sort of service industry – hotel housekeepers, the Toyota dealership, 7-11’s, this past month the first KFC opened up in Maehongson. (Photo to left, the view from our back porch in DorPae during my elementary school years. Below - Grandpa Thii keeps memories and traditions alive.)

Money flows. All those who work now get a monthly salary –three, four, or five thousand Baht a month. Is this better? Most of those who owned rice fields and land, still own their property and still count on the all important rice crop and secondary garlic, soy and sesame – but who will they pass these fields on to? Many of the older generation now have to or choose to hire laborers to do the field work. Agriculture knowledge is not being passed on to their children. Once this generation is gone who will care for the land and the fields?

School and education is continually emphasized with more and more able to attend college. This is a good thing as agriculture cannot provide work for everyone. But it is still eye opening and somewhat startling to have witnessed this transition from agrarian to service employment so rapidly. Something that took several generations in the US has happened overnight here. Kids who go off to school here in Maehongson (which now includes a university) riding off on their motorcycles, plugged into their cell phones and TV dramas are no different than their peers 1000 kilometers away in Bangkok. They know the same styles, news, and celebrities.

Many things have changed, yet some things don’t change – the rolling hills, the flowing rivers, the simmering heat, the cool shady valleys. Riding our borrowed motorcycle one day as we drove those 90 kilometers is something I wouldn’t trade for anything.

Duncan

Assorted Videos

2009-07-26T03:00:00.001-04:00

For your viewing pleasure...

1. Why you don't want to fall into the Bangkok Khlong, along with a Khlong boat in action

2. Another Khlong boat action shot...this ain't some slow boat to China!

3. Duncan 'plowing' a very boggy rice field in Napajat, near Maehongson Thailand

Khlong Boat

2009-07-25T03:00:00.001-04:00

Ahh, the khlong boat. Well this is our long promised blog on our favorite form of transportation around Bangkok and definitely something I will miss.

Having grown up in Seattle where little ferry boat key chains are sold as tourist trinkets and no snapshot of the city skyline is complete without a ferry stealthily maneuvering into the dock, I can really appreciate boats as a form of public transportation. As a kid going on a ferry meant we were going on a trip (actually it still means that). I associate boats with fun. Khlong boats in Bangkok reinforce this feeling.

One of the many great things about our apartment in Bangkok is that it was so close to the khlong (San Saeb) that runs East-West through the city. We have grown to appreciate the khlong and namely the boats that run on it because: 1) it is a cheap form of transportation, 2) it can bypass horrible traffic, and 3) I like boats (see above).

However, while khlong boats fit into the general description of public transportation boats, they are very different from any other boat I’ve experienced. Let me take you on a tour.

As you stand on the dock waiting for the boat you should take note of several things. 1) Please notice any place on the dock that is wet and proceed to move as far away from this spot as possible. This is because the boats come into the dock very fast and can splash water up and 2) the khlong water is of questionable cleanliness, well, okay not questionable, definitely not clean water. It is a grayish black with some trash floating in it, and some days it does not smell too great. However, if you’re lucky you might see 3) the trash collecting boat with about 3 or 4 collectors who have fish nets to scoop up trash and put it in their boat. Also notice the "life preservers" attached to the dock - usually fashioned out of empty plastic oil containers.

Now here comes your boat. If you’re on a dock that is not usually populated and no one currently on the boat wants to stop there you will have to indicate by sticking your arm out palm facing down that you would like the boat to stop. If you are the only one getting on, get ready. The boat may just slow down. Usually if the boat is packed (which it 90% of the time is) two of the boat attendants will hop off of the moving boat onto the dock and quickly circle their ropes around hitches on the dock while the driver throws the boat in reverse and slows the motor. This way the boat is almost completely against the dock which is usually slightly below the level of the boat sides.

Now here’s where it can get tricky depending mostly on your coordination and how full the boat is. You need to hop onto the edge of the still somewhat moving boat and then over the long plastic blue sheet that is stretched along both sides of the boat and then step down into the boat. These plastic sheets are raised up while 'cruising' along the khlong to keep the not so clean spray and waves from flying into your mouth, eyes, etc. We quickly learned that even though we usually wanted to see the view going by, it was best to do what most Thai people do and keep your head down. Inspite of the plastic sheets there were numerous times that we got more than a little splash! If the plastic sheets were not there, everyone would be drenched every ride as the wake from passing boats adds even more to the spray and chop of the water.

Once in the boat, you can either take a seat on the wood seats (holding about 150 total) or stay standing around the loud throbbing engine in the center of the boat. Most of the time, we would stand along with probably up to 70 or more of our closest friends. Rush hour is rush hour whatever the form of transportation. Sometimes it would be problematic as the docks along the side of the khlong are on different sides. So we might get on the boat on one side but then have to push our way through the crowd to get off on the other side of the boat if the dock was on the other side of the khlong.

Payment is made to the boat attendants who stand outside on the edge of the boat. You hand your money to them and shout your destination above the din and they give you a ticket. These guys (men and women) are simply amazing, often perched on the edge of the boat without even holding on as they collect money, jump on and off docks, and help people get on and off the boat! They all wear helmets as some of the bridges are so low that they have to duck as the boat goes under. Some of the bridges are so low that some of the boats have a retractable roof system that allows the driver to lower the entire roof to navigate safely under the bridge before raising it on the other side. Again, everyone standing leans forward and ducks their head. The first time the roof came down on our heads as we were not prepared for such ingenuity!

In spite of all the quirks and probably also because of them, this is a fascinating, cheap, safe and quick way to move from one side of the city to the other. We really miss it!

See Video of the Khlong boat in action in the next post!

Andrea

Obama and Thailand

2009-07-22T03:00:00.000-04:00

Depending on your viewpoint, there could be many reasons to be thankful for President Obama. One that probably isn’t mentioned very often is the fact that now many more people in Thailand know that African Americans exist other than what they see portrayed in the media. One day our Thai teacher thinking we must be bored or something (!) brought us a 6 in 1 DVD to watch. (Six movies – one disc – do they have such a thing elsewhere or is it just in the pirated goods capital of the world? As you can tell from looking at the titles (White Chicks, Norbit, Big Mamma 1 and 2 etc.), if this is what Thai people think is representative of the US and especially the African American community, this is not a good thing. Sadly, we have heard that many Thai people do think of African Americans as either comedians, thugs or athletes – all construed from the media they see. So even if you are a die hard conservative, having President Obama is a very good thing in this regard. (Apologies that we can't get the photo's to flip the right way!)

On another Obama note, I think we mentioned before that we witnessed the election results and Obama's speech while at the Paris airport as we were on our way to South Africa in November. We flew back from South Africa to the US on Inauguration day in January and we were in Malaysia (a largely Muslim country) when Obama gave his much publicized speech to the Muslim world from Egypt. There's no significance really in any of this, but it's been interesting to observe the the election, the man, and the president from a variety of places and perspectives outside of the US. We didn't feel as much Obama rejoicing while in Thailand (although even up in small villages in and around Maehongson, people thought Obama was a better deal than Bush) but certainly as Americans traveling in Europe and South Africa we were greeted much more enthusiastically upon his election.

Duncan

Return...Reality?

2009-07-20T03:00:00.001-04:00

A few shots of our 'Red Tail' including one of us 'slumbering'upstairs...

We should know by now that every time we catch an early morning Northwest/Delta flight from Asia that requires us to be at the airport at 3AM, we never sleep even though we try. We just shouldn't try! However as posted on July 6, we were excited that I got upgraded to Business Class from Singapore to Tokyo. I let Andrea take this leg as I knew I would have it from Tokyo to LAX. However the exit row that Andrea was given from Tokyo to LA was not an exit seat at all but something even worse than a regular seat with a nervous flier on one side and obnoxious ones in front of her. Knowing that Andrea was not having a fun time in the back put a little damper on my experience up top. By the time we arrived in LA we had missed our connecting flight to Seattle and by the time we laid our heads to rest that evening we decided we had been 'up' for 51 hours!

We promptly both got nasty colds which laid us low and has been one of the reasons we are just catching up on the blog now. Haven't really had time to truly reflect and summarize this past year. Andrea wasted no time in starting to take care of the many details involved in starting grad school on the other side of the country. We both have been preparing for the move. We have uploaded a link to some of the photos from our time in Asia that seem to best summarize the past months there - so please enjoy them. And know that we do have a couple more posts coming including the ones we have promised but haven't posted yet - Obama, The Khlong Boat etc...

Duncan

Back to Thailand June 6-29

2009-07-14T03:00:00.002-04:00

Confession time…I would go back to Malaysia and Cambodia in a heartbeat but it was so great to arrive back in Thailand! We flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and then straight up to Chiang Mai for a couple nights before flying out to Maehongson again. (For earlier trip to Maehongson, click here)

(View of Pa Tyng, one of the villages where I grew up.)

We spent four nights in Pa Tyng and four nights in Napajat where I had stayed back in April. Many highlights – catching up with old friends, visiting a couple churches where my parents worked (photo below), sort of plowing a ricefield (see future video post), enjoying the freedom being on the back of a motorcycle riding through the fields and forests, getting my first haircut in nine months! – and not dying from being hit by lighting or being bit by a massive cobra! Oh you want more information on the last story?? There’s a hill/cliff on the other side of the river that runs by Pa Tyng. I had climbed up there before but wanted to return to get some digital pictures. It didn’t take long to reach the top but there was a huge storm coming along with licks of lightning and thunder reverberating through the hills. I thought I should probably hurry down and not be on the highest point around. So I’m hurrying and just before I reach the main path at the bottom I happen to see a very large six foot snake crossing the trail two feet in front of me. I instantly stopped and debated pulling out the camera and taking a picture or backing up – I chose the latter, but clearly it wasn’t my time to go yet! (Photo to left - Andrea and Grandfather Nan in Napajat)

We flew back to Chiangmai for another two nights where we were able to catch up with long time OMFers and former colleagues of my parents – Andrew Goodman and Hans and Beatrice Bar – so great to see them again before flying down to Bangkok and journeying south by bus for three hours to Huahin for three wonderful days at Veranda Lodge, one of our most favorite beach getaways. It was great to have these three days there as we came to the end of our trip.

This time we met the owner of the hotel who invited us to eat with her and her family one evening which was pretty cool in and of itself. As we were finishing eating in came an older gentleman who turned out to be a prince - the grandson of King Chulalungkorn (so he was the great grandson of the King in The King and I!) Totally random, kind of crazy and a fun night. He didn't realize how tall Andrea was until she stood up as we were leaving. He of course wanted a picture right away. Evidently the hotel owner decided she liked us as she offered to take us back to Bangkok in her car as she was going up there the same day we were leaving.

(Photo - With Hans and Beatrice Bar)

Friday, June 26 we were supposed to stay with Eak, my security guard friend from Union Tower. We had made plans that we would meet him at work at 6pm when he was finished with work and drive home with him. He had told us we were going to go camping in his yard. We weren't quite sure what this all meant but we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately, while we were still at the beach, he called from the hospital to tell us he had had another seizure. Eak has some form of epilepsy that only causes seizures when he is sleeping. He said he wasn't going to be released from the hospital until Friday. We decided that it wasn't the best idea to have us go stay with him the day he was released from hospital and that we would go visit him the following day instead. Who wants to be setting up a tent after being in hospital for three days?

Unfortunately, Andrea became very sick that Friday night and knew she wasn't going anywhere until she got better. I went and spent the day with Eak and some of his family.

By Saturday night/Sunday morning it was clear Andrea wasn't improving even though she had started taking antibiotics right away. Sunday night she developed a fever which made us more nervous, knowing that all the asian airports are equipped with thermal detectors to check out arriving passengers. (They don't mess around with H1N1 flu!) So we sent out an email to those who had been praying for us these past months. Thankfully and pretty miraculously (but should we really have been surprised given how we feel God has looked after us over and over again this trip) by the time we had to leave for the airport for our flight to Singapore at 2pm on Monday, June 29 Andrea had no fever and didn't have to run to the bathroom every hour! Upon arrival in Singapore we walked past the thermal detectors and were very grateful not to get pulled over. If you were praying...THANK YOU!

Duncan

Cambodia, June 6-11

2009-07-13T03:01:00.000-04:00

We landed at Phnom Penh an hour after Fifi and Dave Rickards arrived on a flight from Bangkok. Fifi and I went all the way through Chefoo and Faith Academy together. At Chefoo she and I were often in competition to see who read the most books. Now she and her husband Dave (whom I finally got to meet after many years!) are the OMF Directors in Cambodia. It had been 18 years since we last saw each other. This was a visit a long time coming!

(Photo - Fifi, Dave and Andrea)

For a moment I wasn't sure we were going to meet as I was convinced as we came in to land that the plane had a big ‘L’ for Learner on the back and that the pilot had handed over the reigns to someone landing for the first time. It had been a bit of a turbulent ride already and as we came in for the final approach whoever was flying would give a burst of power, then slow it way down, give it another burst of power…Eventually he (or she) decided they weren’t going to be able to land it on the first time around so we roared off and circled around only to go through the whole routine again. While I sort of like flying, I can get a little nervous especially when something doesn’t seem quite right. Evidently this nervousness showed on my face as the even more nervous woman seated on the other side of Andrea saw my face and nearly panicked. Here were two wild eyed people looking at each other, neither helping the other one at all. I don’t know if you have ever been on a rough flight where the pilot does a great job and lands the plane well inspite of the weather conditions. Often (especially in Asia) all the passengers will applaud in gratitude and respect. Let’s just say, there was no applause on this flight. People were very nervous and clearly ready to get off. Andrea’s seatmate and I almost knocked each other over in our hurry to get off the plane! (All of our other Air Asia Flights have been just fine!)

(Photo -Fifi, Steve, Wilsons)

It was so great to catch up with Fifi after so many years and meet Dave and see how they are built so well for the job they are in. OMF has over 50 people working in Cambodia and it can still be a wild and wooly place to live. One of the nights we were there, they had to evacuate an entire family that had been struggling with dengue fever. We were also able to have several hours with Steve Hyde, a classmate of mine from Faith Academy. Steve has been in Cambodia since 1994 and has one amazing and crazy story after another to tell of his time there. It is so fascinating to see where people end up and how God is using them in incredible ways.

Fifi, Dave and Steve were definite highlights of our days there. The other highlight was our trip to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. (Coincidentally Angkor Wat is also on the cover of National Geographic this month.) There is so much that could be said about this place. I, like many people, didn’t realize that what we were going to see was much more than just one temple but dozens and dozens of millennium old temple ruins that make up this World Heritage site that reveals so much about the Angkorian Khmer Empire and yet also still holds so many secrets and questions. It truly is astounding to walk through so much history and wonder at this lost civilization that ruled this part of the world while Europe was still in the dark ages. Our photos don't do justice to anything we saw.

We spent a day and another evening among the ruins. If you wanted you could spend an entire week – and you can buy a pass good for a week as well as day passes. Prices are reasonable. Accommodation, of which there is plenty, ranges from the opulent to rooms for just a couple dollars a night. (The US dollar is the preferred currency here!) We stayed at a nice place called the Palm Garden Lodge ($15 a night including pickup, breakfast etc. A driver to take us everywhere the next day was $35.)

Again so much could be said about what we saw both at the ruins but also throughout Cambodia including the Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh but perhaps at a later time. Fifi, Dave and Steve again were very helpful in answering so many of our questions.

Duncan

Pangkor Island and KL, June 1-5

2009-07-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

Leaving the Cameron Highlands, we took a bus to the coast and then a ferry to Pangkor Island, which I visited nine years ago. If you want a real jungle island where the jungle literally runs into beautiful often deserted beaches and ocean, this might be the place for you. Nine years ago I stayed at a place called Khoo’s which was the popular place at the time for many I knew. Not any more. Khoo sold it and it has changed hands and management several times in the past few years. Don’t go there. When I was initially calling them to see if they had availability everything was going fine until they asked where I was from...United States – “Oh sorry sir, we are all full.” But when we got there, and I checked they had all sorts of availability! Instead, try Havana Beach Resort where we stayed. It’s right across from the beach, helpful, friendly, and a great deal. (Photo to right - the view from our room at Havana Beach Resort.)

The only sad change to report about this island from nine years ago is that where before we could literally swim off the beach and see great coral and fish, it is now all gone. You can still get a quick cheap five minute boat ride to another island just off shore, where fish can be seen, but even this place will soon be gone. For snorkeling definitely go somewhere else! But the island is beautiful. Monkeys and hornbills are overhead in the trees. The beaches are nice and the swimming is good. Feels very much like a family place and like the rest of Malaysia, just a cultural, ethnic melting pot – Interesting to see Muslim women swimming in their hijab's.

I really like Malaysia, I really like KL (Kuala Lumpur – the capital city) but KL didn’t really see the best side of me. We had scheduled two days there hoping to see a few sights and also connect with a board member from Youth Compass who we had met at the conference back in Meina, Italy, who now lives in KL. Unfortunately I arrived in KL sick from something I ate or inadvertently put in my mouth, and with high expectations that we would quickly navigate our way around the city like locals. Nope, not to be. Instead KL saw one generally tired, fussy, grumpy and unprepared guy who then affects the girl he’s with.

So we didn’t do much, didn’t meet up with our YouthCompass friend and weren’t the happiest campers as we dealt with various frustrations that kept cropping up – but I really like KL and would readily return. We did go see the Petronas Towers and I wandered up the hill that the KL Tower is on. Word to anyone wanting to come to KL though – taxi’s are expensive – ok, maybe it was just a reaction to the price difference compared to Thailand but really 80 Malay Ringgit to the airport!! (which is an hour away – also not the easiest thing) That’s 800 Baht – you can do a lot with 800 Baht – yet it’s only 20+ US dollars. It’s all about perspective…Our taxi to the airport cost as much as our flight to Cambodia on Air Asia!!

(Photos to the right - Andrea in front of a Lego model of the Petronas Towers and Duncan in front of the real thing.)

Here’s a plug for Air Asia, the low cost carrier that has taken over Asia and also now flies from KL to London. It is possible to get deal after deal with them. This past month, 90 percent of our flights within Asia have been with them. They dinged us a little with excess baggage fees when we had all our belongings on our final flight to Singapore before returning to the US but we knew it was coming...

Duncan

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31 Part 3

2009-07-10T04:00:00.000-04:00

The good news - fortunately some things don't change...

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31 Part 2

2009-07-10T03:00:00.000-04:00

Photos revealing some of the 'bad news' from the previous post about development and sprawl in the Cameron Highlands.

What it looks like to cut a road through pristine jungle...urban and agricultural sprawl in the Cameron Highlands and Brinchang.

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31

2009-07-09T03:00:00.000-04:00

(Apologies...there may be far too much detail in the following post for anyone who hasn't been to the Cameron Highlands, but I know a few folks wanted a few more details on this portion of the trip! There are two additional posts with additional Cameron Highlands photos that illustrate the good news and the bad news written about here.)

I attended Chefoo School in Malaysia from first to sixth grade and it remains one of the most amazing and magical places I have lived. It is a nature lover's paradise, high in the hills, surrounded by jungle, tea estates, waterfalls, orchids and Monkey Cups (pitcher plants). It is much cooler than many places in SE Asia and thus used to be the mountain getaway for the British back in the colonial days. It was literally 20 degrees cooler for us coming from Bangkok – 66 degrees when we woke up in the morning instead of 86! Back when I was in school there were few tourists and it was almost like the 70-100 of us students had the run of an entire jungle kingdom along with the Malay, Chinese and Indian locals that lived in the surrounding towns– many of them in the vegetable farming business due to the cool temperatures. Unfortunately word of this charming place continued to spread and now it is overrun by tourists much of the time. Busloads of tourists from the lowland come seeking the cooler climate. With them has come rampant development and sprawl – not just of buildings to accommodate them but also increased vegetable farming and deforestation. This combination has caused the temperature to begin to rise and fewer nighttime fires are lit in the cozy hillside bungalows these days.

I had witnessed this development eight years ago in 2001 (when the school closed and they held a grand celebration/reunion/decommissioning which was my first visit back to Malaysia since 1984) but it is sadly even more apparent now. The small village of Brinchang, five to ten minutes walk from the school is now almost unrecognizable and grotesque from this over development. The Hotel Rosa Passadena, which perhaps was the largest and most shocking of the new hotels in the town is now being dwarfed by buildings the size of the Equatorial Resort further up the road. Infrastructure wise there just doesn't seem to have been too much planning or control and I don't know how much more the area can handle. Interestingly, Tanah Rata (another town close by) seems to have done a better job in planning and retaining its aesthetic value – which ironically I wouldn't have said it had much of 20 years ago. Now I would pick TR over Brinchang to stay in any day! Roads are often clogged – it can take five minutes to cross the road that leads from Brinchang down to TR past the golf course – and parking is often tight, especially on weekends and holidays. (It took us almost 40 minutes to get from Brinchang to Kampong Raja past the Boh tea estates (a distance of not very many kilometers) due to the traffic one day.

The other significant change to the entire region, which is also largely responsible for the flood of tourism and development is the completion of the new road cutting through the mountains from Ipoh. Where before you took the long and windy road up from Tapah (which is still possible) most buses now go through Ipoh and the new road from the west. So now you come down through Kampong Rajah into Brinchang first and then onto Tanah Rata. It cuts down on time, twists, and turns and as mentioned already allows most of Malaysia and Singapore in for the weekend! Wish this hadn't happened – if anyone is planning a trip here, do it soon and don't do it on a weekend especially during any sort of public or school holiday.

That's the bad news for anyone familiar with this place. The good news...in spite of all this, if you get away from the towns and walk the roads and trails through the jungle, you wouldn't know too much has changed – yes there are new houses and bungalows, but it still passes for the Cameron Highlands we grew up in.

And Chefoo...is largely unchanged. Most Chefoosians know that the school was sold to the Methodist Church which now uses it as a retreat center. We arrived to discover it in a massive state of construction as they renovate the entire property. It has been well used but everything internally needs to be updated to accommodate the many visitors. Evidently retreat goers don't like using sinks that only come up to their knees! So all the buildings have been gutted as new plumbing and wiring is installed. All the dorms, classrooms and sadly even the teacher houses have been divided up into smaller rooms to house guests. The assembly hall (was that its name?) dorm one and two (or whatever it was called at the end (the big L shaped building) had the roof off as they were raising the whole building a little. The good news is that the footprint and exterior of the school will remain largely the same. - Although the swimming pool is now a fish pond and the jungle is encroaching on the ironically named Adventure Playground. Only four posts of the Pony Hut remain sticking out of the jungle. It truly is amazing to see how nature will take over again.

The OMF Bungalow also remains largely the same now run by Mrs. Chye and her family. It is still open to guests, so after 30 years or so, I was finally able to experience what so many others have experienced down through the years. Can I just say what a nice piece of real estate this is!? OMF had better not let it go! Food is also fantastic! If you need peace and quiet, this is a great place to be. One caveat though, the booking process (you have to book with another person who then lets the bungalow know you are coming) and the communication between the booking agent and the bungalow is not good at all. Won't go into all the details but it is definitely something that needs to be taken care of. If you want more info get hold of us, we can let you know details.

It was great to be here and just walk the roads and smell the Cameron Highlands smell. Two walking highlights – one day we walked from the bungalow to TR past Parit falls and a large green parrot swooped down right in front of us in the trees. Kind of cool. Another morning I got up early and walked from the bungalow to Sunlight cottage. Kept going and came to Moonlight cottage completely empty and front door unlocked and wide open. What a great place!

Duncan

Finally...Bangkok to Butterworth

2009-07-06T20:30:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, July 1
Singapore’s Changi Airport lived up to all it’s hype even when we arrived at 3:15 this morning. If only all airports were this great! We were dragging a little but our spirits perked up a little when I was upgraded to business class from Singapore to Tokyo (already had been able to get business from Narita to LAX when we originally booked our tickets.) Andrea was given exit rows which we will also take any day especially since we have lost our elite status this year. (Since we used miles to do this trip this past year, we haven't been able to earn any miles and maintain any sort of elite status – of which one of the many perks is pretty much always being guaranteed to get exit seats for the tall wife.) Seriously, I don’t know why there are still people who fly and don’t keep track of their miles and earning status. Frequent flier plans aren’t what they used to be but if you can get a few little perks in today’s travel, it is worth it. Our flight from Narita is delayed for a couple hours so I am in Delta/Northwest’s swanky Sky Club watching all the activity down on the runway. There’s a post that will come at some point on the Delta/Northwest merger but right now we know there are a few people wanting to know what has happened in the past month. Since we didn’t take our computer with us as we traveled, we had very limited internet activity – but we have been keeping notes and writing some posts so hopefully in the next few days we will catch you up on some of the highlights. We’ve covered a lot of miles and the beds have started to add up again as have the array of experiences and people we have encountered. Apologies if it seems like you are just getting highlights or snapshots of the past month since we checked out of our apartment in Bangkok - you probably are! We’ll do our best...

Monday, May 25
I’ve only done this train journey from Bangkok to Butterworth/Penang in Malaysia one time before. Twenty years ago when I had to do a visa run (leave Thailand to get a new visa) my mom and I made the 24 hour journey. Back then the train wasn’t airconditioned – aircon is nice and keeps you from arriving with black soot in every orifice of your body, but it also keeps out all the sounds and smells of the country as you snake your way down through the fields and jungles of South Thailand into Malaysia.

One vignette from the train…we ended up in a carriage with a large loud tour group from another country close by Thailand. Every country has them whether Americans, Chinese, Vietnamese, you name it – a group of tourists that just don’t represent their country that well and perpetuate whatever particular negative stereotype that exists. This group – especially the men did a grand job of this, taking off their shoes and socks, putting their feet(!) up on the window (something you really don’t do in Thailand…) Needless to say they had not endeared themselves to us. At one point Andrea walked down the carriage to go to the bathroom. Upon return they all started calling (shouting) 'Photo Photo' to her clearly never having seen such a tall white woman. Andrea politely obliged them taking individual photos with each one until one man wanted to get a little close and started puckering up and moving in for a kiss. At this point Andrea drew the line! Did I say the men had all been drinking? No one was intoxicated but they were all in good spirits! They had all been passing around a communal wine glass which they were pouring their country's brand of whiskey. After Andrea returned to her seat, one man needed to do a reshoot so she gamely stood up again. Shortly thereafter another of the men brought us a packet of Ritz crackers to show their gratitude followed by another man who brought me...you know it the communal whiskey glass. Nothing offered to Andrea though! Not being a whiskey lover I did my part not to offend international and cultural relations... and prayed. And this from someone who doesn't drink from the communal communion cup at churches!

My parents went to Penang (an island just off the coast of Malaysia – still often referred to as the Pearl of the Orient) forty years ago for their honeymoon. When my mom and I went we stayed at the YMCA and twenty years later, Andrea and I ended up at their too. Great, cheap, place to stay. Wish the Y’s in the US were a little like this. We didn’t see too much of Penang as we were only there a night – we did walk all around Georgetown and you quickly realize why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique culture and history most clearly revealed in the largest collection of intact pre-WWII buildings (over 1700) that show off the rich diversity of the people and architecture of this island.

Penang is now connected to the mainland with a 13KM bridge in addition to the regular ferries. It is not a sleepy little island any more but it still retains much of its charm. From Penang we caught a bus (about five hours) to the Cameron Highlands, the location of Chefoo School, where I went to elementary school.

(Photo to right - old temple in Penang)

(Photo below -Sign before you board the ferry to Penang - what you can't bring onboard with you - cats, dogs, birds and cows...clearly in the past there were some issues!)

Duncan

Diabetic Supplies and Airport Security Part 2

2009-05-29T03:00:00.000-04:00

On this current trip there has been one component that has really thrown security agents and has been a real pain and a place of anxiety for me, which is my extra insulin pump. On all previous trips I have not carried an extra insulin pump with me. I may start to now, knowing how easy it is to arrange a loaner pump with Medtronic; however in the past I didn’t realize it was an option. In the pump manual, Medtronic (the maker of my insulin pump) has written “If you are going to have an X-ray, CT scan, MRI or other type of exposure to radiation, take off your pump, meter and remote control before entering a room containing any of this equipment.” BUT then one sentence later it also states, “The Paradigm pump is designed to withstand common electromagnetic interference, including airport security systems.” I have always interpreted this as I can walk through the metal detector just fine, but I should not send my insulin pump through the X-ray machine. I have talked to a Medtronic representative who confirmed this.

So this means that I have to ask for a ‘hand-check’ of my loaner insulin pump. I take it out of my suitcase, send everything else through the X-ray, and then I ask for a hand-check of it before I walk through the metal detector. In the US this goes over fine. They seem used to this concept when I explain that it is an insulin pump because I am diabetic. In other countries this has been a big problem.

Surprisingly the place I had the biggest problem was the Schipol airport in Amsterdam. When returning from South Africa to Seattle our layover was in Amsterdam. Based on a policy created after 9-11 Northwest Airlines (now Delta) has you go through another security check before entering the gate area for flights into the US. Duncan and I had our passports screened by an agent who asked something that prompted me to tell her that I was diabetic and carrying diabetic supplies including an insulin pump. Ironically, she responded that she was also diabetic and had an insulin pump and gave me some encouraging words about how long she had been diabetic and complication free. I thanked her and headed to the last stop on the screening, the X-ray and metal detector machines. Here I did the usual, took off my shoes, and jacket, put all my liquids including insulin separately in their plastic tub, took out my loaner insulin pump and then sent my bag through the X-ray machine. Then, holding my loaner pump, I stood near the metal detector and asked for a hand-check, stating what the pump was.

This greatly confused the agent I asked, who looked at me quizzically and then told me to wait there. After five minutes another agent came and told me that I had to put it through the X-ray. I refused (politely) saying that it could not go through the X-ray. This agent then had his supervisor come over. He explained the situation to her; she told me that I had to put it through the X-ray because this was a flight to the US. I refused (politely). She called her supervisor (located somewhere offsite) and then relayed back to me that I really had to put it through the X-ray. At this point both Duncan and I are getting very frustrated. I asked them to talk to the security agent who had checked my passport. Here’s where the big problem was. This agent, despite being diabetic herself and wearing an insulin pump, believed that the insulin pump would be fine to go through the X-ray machine as long as it didn’t have insulin in it. This logic made no sense whatsoever - that somehow the liquid insulin would be affected by magnetic fields but that the pump which actually has intricate metal parts would not be is beyond me. Her testimony was the kiss of death. Completely defeated and seemingly without any other option, I sent the loaner pump through the X-ray.

Duncan, who is really my advocate when I can no longer be, understood the severity of the situation and made a complaint with the supervisor on site and asked for her name so that we could file a formal complaint. Once we were in Thailand I was able to take some time to write my formal complaint which I sent to Northwest Airlines via email. I had assumed that because they were the ones who mandated another security check before flights going to the US that they were also the ones who mandated the security policy. A month after I sent the email I received a thoughtful email back stating (my summary) that while they were very sorry for this experience, Northwest Airlines did not make the security policy even though the security agents in Amsterdam specifically stated that it was Northwest Policy. They also gave both Duncan and I some air miles and thankfully gave me the name and address of the company that provides security services at Schipol. I’ve sent a letter to this company stating my experience and my concerns and asking that they figure out how to hand-check medical equipment that cannot be send through the X-ray. I have not received a response yet.

The good news is that the loaner pump seems to have not been affected by the X-ray. (Albeit, this is only based on my opinion of using it for a short time after this experience to make sure it was still alive and kicking).

So here’s what I learned from this experience. Hold out! Do not let airport security make you do something that you know could damage your medical supplies and therefore threaten your health. Also I now carry a printout of the page of the manual that states that the insulin pump should not go through X-rays. However, my next task is to let Medtronic know that the way they write this (as quoted above) can be confusing since it states that common airport security systems are okay. This needs to be changed to say that only metal detectors are okay.

While I definitely understand the need for airport security, any organization with a good policy should also know the policy’s limitations and when it is acceptable to make exceptions. I hope in writing the security company for Schipol that this will be acknowledged and that there will be different protocol on handling medical equipment that cannot go through the X-ray machine.

Andrea

Diabetic Supplies and Airport Security Part 1

2009-05-27T03:00:00.000-04:00

As we prepare to be on the road once again, I thought it timely to talk about my experiences as a diabetic carrying diabetic supplies through airport security.

First of all, you have to know that I never, ever put any of my supplies in a checked bag. This is because one missing checked bag, if holding my diabetic supplies, could easily end a trip, not to mention that the small amount of money that the airline gives you if they’ve truly lost your bag pales in comparison to the actual cost of supplies. My suitcase (carry-on size) packed for these last five months in Asia carried about $8000 USD worth of supplies ($4000 of this was an extra insulin pump). Too valuable to simply trust to the system of destination city stickers and conveyer belts!

For the non-diabetic reader, you should also know that this suitcase carries a lot of needles and a lot of plastic accessories. All of the needles are small and nothing that could actually do any real damage to anyone, so they should not be perceived as a threat. In all of the US airports I have ever been through, this is precisely the reaction I get. My suitcase goes through the X-ray machine and almost never gets another look. A few times in smaller airports the conveyer belt backs up and moves my suitcase through again for another look but usually all it takes is a friendly, “That’s my suitcase, and I’m diabetic” from me to end the scrutiny. Sadly, I think this is a reflection on how common diabetes has become in the US.

Previous to this big trip the only place I’ve ever had more than a look at my belongings is in Thailand. On return flights to the US (specifically on Northwest Airlines (now Delta)) passengers have to go through another security screening before being allowed into the gate area for the flight. After placing your baggage through another X-ray, each passenger must also open each piece of luggage for a physical inspection. One look at all of my needles usually gets me some special attention. This results in my bag being carried to the gate for me (with me in tow) and a security agent presenting me and my bag to the gate agent. My Thai has never been good enough to know what is said about me, but whatever is said doesn’t elicit much of a reaction from the gate agent who looks at me once and then resumes whatever work they are doing. I take my bag and sit down and board as normal later.

On this current trip I’ve had a few curious interactions and one horrible one (coming up in the next post). Going through Amsterdam on the way to Paris the security agents were intrigued by my pack of AAA batteries which I use to power my insulin pump. The quantity of the pack (16 batteries) seemed to be the concern. My bag was initially run through the X-ray and then it was taken off the conveyer belt by a security agent who asked me if I had batteries. When I said yes, I was asked to locate them. Once found (at the bottom of my bag, of course) they were taken, visually inspected and then run through the X-ray machine again, nothing more. We were then free to run for our plane to Paris.

This April, in the Bangkok airport on our way to Manila I made it through the first security check point without a problem but was stopped at a second security point that allowed you into the gate area. After my bag went through the X-ray I was told to take it to another agent for a physical inspection. I told this agent that I was diabetic in English, which she didn’t understand. So then I tried in Thai, which elicited an understanding that I had said ‘diabetic’ but not any other sort of understanding. As I pulled things out of my bag she realized that I had some syringes (they are backup-backup, in case the loaner insulin pump fails). She went away, found a scrap of paper and then came back, wrote down my passport number and asked me how many syringes I had. I told her 7, she wrote ‘7’ down next to my passport number on her scrap of paper and I went on my merry way.

I find it a little troublesome that I never know what I’m going to encounter at the airport with regard to security and my diabetic supplies. Usually internationally, I encounter a few extra hoops that I have to jump through, which while frustrating especially when you’re literally running to catch a flight, are not horrible. Unfortunately the next post will tell of one experience that I had on this trip that was a great example of how systems and policies can sometimes do harm to innocent travelers – even those who aren’t involved in politically sensitive activities.

Andrea

Final Days in Bangkok and Looking Ahead…

2009-05-23T21:36:00.001-04:00

It is hard to believe that it was three months ago that we literally stumbled upon our apartment in Union Tower that has been our home here in Bangkok. It has been a wonderful place for us to study and accomplish one of our main goals of this part of the trip – learning and/or improving our Thai. But on Monday we will check out and begin the last month of this nine month sojourn that we have been on. We have begun to say our goodbyes this week to the people we have spent the most time with here – Pii Oo, our Thai teacher for the past four months, Pii Fai the receptionist/manager at the front desk and Eak, one of the security guards for the building who has become much more than that to us. We have also had some great hang out time with Iven and Kashmira and Roy and Bonita, our friends who have greatly encouraged and walked with us during the past four months. Each of these people and many others have left their mark on us and we are so grateful. They have helped fill our lives while we were leaning into the studying and language learning. (Photos are in order mentioned.)

We are acutely aware of how much we haven’t done over the past four months. I think we had grand but somewhat unrealistic expectations that we would study during the week and then go explore and visit beaches and national parks outside of Bangkok on the weekends. But apart from our week in Manila and my trip to Maehongson, we really haven’t done much other than study. We decided this was ok as goal number one was language acquisition.

We know there are some who probably think we have been just taking it easy and having a very long extended vacation, but the reality is, life carries on. Studying has been our full time occupation for the past four months, interrupted by various medical maladies and illness, having to deal with our credit card numbers (not our cards!) being stolen from the ten days we were in the US in January, Andrea having to take an online Statistics course (which we haven’t written about yet - we are waiting to get her final grade!), and even making decisions about where we will be and what we will be doing after we return to the US in July. However we still realize it is a grand adventure and one that we are so privileged and blessed and grateful to be on! We’re just hoping no one comes up to us and asks how our nine month vacation was!

And as mentioned, the journey continues for our last month beginning on Monday so we want to give a little itinerary of sorts. On Monday we catch the train from Bangkok down to Penang (another wonderful 24 hour journey!) where we will spend the night before going to the Cameron Highlands, where I went to school in the Jungle…at Chefoo for five or six days. (By the way, for all who have read the book ‘I went to school in the Jungle,’ I had dinner with the brother of the main character the other week –without knowing his family was the inspiration for the book until halfway through the evening! How cool is that? He and his wife are currently working here in Thailand. Another great couple!)

From the Cameron Highlands we travel to Pangkor Island for a couple days and then down to Kuala Lumpur for a two nights before we fly to Cambodia for about a week. We will be hanging out with Dave and Fifi Rickards and also hoping to connect with Steve Hyde who also works there. Fifi and I started at Chefoo together in first grade and went all the way through Faith Academy and Steve is also a former Faith classmate! From Cambodia we fly back to Bangkok and then directly up to Chiang Mai in N. Thailand for a couple days before going out to Maehongson from June 13-21. Then we will make our way back down to Bangkok and head down to the beach at Huahin and one of our favorite places to stay, Veranda Lodge before returning to Bangkok for a couple nights. We fly to Singapore on June 29 and leave for the US on July 1.

We will be in the Seattle-Tacoma area for about a month before moving to North Carolina where Andrea will begin graduate school in August. As with any journey there are still many unknowns in front of us but having the experience of the past eight months gives us much faith for what lies ahead.

If you have wandered and kept up with us via the blog over the course of the past eight months, please know how grateful we are for your emails and prayers as we have wandered the globe. Thank you for following along!

We aren’t sure how much internet/email contact we will have during the next month but we will update the blog as we can and certainly when we reach the US if not before. We also have a few posts scheduled over the next few days including the Khlong Boat (promised long ago), navigating airport security as a diabetic, and why President Obama is good for African Americans and Thailand.

Duncan

April 30 - May 3, Maehongson

2009-05-15T09:49:00.000-04:00

Two weekends ago I took a quick trip up to Maehongson, the province I grew up in in North Thailand, right next to the Burma border. It was mainly a scouting trip for when Andrea and I go spend ten days there in June. We didn’t want to just show up and hope former neighbors and friends would take us in for a week! I stayed two nights in the village of Napajat (Fish Fields) which was the last village my parents lived in before they returned to the US and also a night in Pa Tyng where we lived for about eight years before my parents moved to Napajat. Here are some musings from my brief time back in Shan land. (The people we lived with are called the Shan or Thai Yai.)

7AM Friday morning.
The sky is cloudy and overcast bringing blessed relief from the heat. It’s a cool 80 degrees. Breakfast consists of rice, fried fish, freshly caught from the river that runs through the valley where Napajat (Fish Fields) is located and a stew/stirfry of forest greens. As we eat the neighbor who caught the fish shows up. Another neighbor drops off a bottle of honey recently gathered out of the forest. So many things are provided for this family that aims to live very differently than many of their peers and neighbors. (Pii Lee is the shepherd and acknowledged leader of the little church which is flourishing. Pii Toi, his wife, is the dynamic innovator. Together they allow each other to lead with their strengths, supporting each other when they need to, stepping back when that is needed. Neither want fancy titles like ‘Teacher’ or ‘Pastor. Both say there is only one teacher and everyone else is level on the playing field).

Throughout the kitchen (and the whole house actually) as we eat, I see traces and reminders of my former life here – a knife holder I made for my parents in elementary or middle school, our old screen cupboard, maybe an old kettle of ours, now blackened with use. (Photo to the left, Lee, Toi and their daughter Honey. Pii Toi loves to do something silly whenever a picture is taken!)

Outside the fruit trees close in around their house. Lychees are just coming into season, cascading and tumbling down the branches. Peak mango season is still a few weeks away. Ten to twelve pound jackfruit are hanging high up in the trees. The fish pond teems with fish. Chickens scratch around. Creepers and vines run tangled up the trees. The real rainy season hasn’t arrived yet but there have been a few rains to bring new growth to some trees including the mighty teak trees whose young leaves will soon span a foot and a half. The undergrowth isn’t yet the jungle that it will be in a couple months. When someone mentions Shangri la, I think of this valley that Napajat is in. The scenery from the road into the village is one of the most picturesque and pastoral anywhere!

Out on the porch, neighbors talk. A young twenty five year old mother whose baby died of AIDS in the night sits impervious and seemingly unaffected by her loss or by the future that she faces as she lives with this disease as well. Did she become HIV+ from her “work” in Chiang Mai? Maybe. Pii Toi has a dynamic but very down to earth ministry working with those who are HIV/AIDS affected. She doesn’t want a house to care for those who are dying. She wants to train and empower volunteers and family members to care for their own. This way she and other volunteers are able to have greater access to other family members as she is invited into their homes to share good news and truth in spite of the circumstances the family is in.

Pii Toi is one of the most perceptive and honest people I have ever met. My Thai still leaves a lot to be desired but she is able to intuitively know what I am talking about all the time.

Friday 9PM
My reality…My world is so big. My world is so small.

My reality is this... I have never been to a huge family reunion that you read about or see portrayed in movies. My family isn’t that big. But returning to the village of Pa Tyng where my parents lived for eight years and where I spent significant amount of time growing up from eighth grade well into my college years feels like a huge family reunion.

My reality is this....I have a great picture of a skinny white boy surrounded by a gaggle of wizened village grandmothers. When I walked into the temple grounds with one of my friends several of them leaped to their feet, eyes alive, mouths, many with missing teeth opened in huge smiles. These are some of the old generation that I grew up with. So many stories to share. Ladies whose gardens and fields I visited, whose buffalo I helped bring in from the fields and forests every evening.

My reality is this... I have a 20 year old ‘little brother’ whom I last saw for an hour or so ago eight or nine years ago when Andrea and I shared a meal with his parents and him when he was twelve. Prior to that who knows how old he was when I last saw him. Gop didn’t really register on my radar and I’m sure I didn’t register on his. But today when I knocked on his parent’s door, and after the briefest of moments of not recognizing me, he has been by my side (along with his sweet girlfriend of five years) taking me places on the back of his motorcycle, making sure I am well fed and being a very gracious host. He is gentle and has a good heart. He wants to be a PE teacher. Like many of my friends scattered around the world – super athletic and super into sports of all kinds. (Photo below- Gop, his girlfriend and a neighbor visiting over some Shan tea.)

So here’s this kid who barely knows me yet treats me like an older brother. His parents are somehow uncle and aunt to me. Again, ones with whom I have plowed the fields, drank much salty Shan tea when younger and probably provided much amusement for. Tonight I am in their bed which they vacated for me despite my protests.

My family’s former landlady Metow Moon (Gop’s grandmother) died in October. Her house was the first house I went to today in the village. It was all shut up and I knew right away. The man renting the house next door which we used to live in confirmed the news for me. I had to fight back the tears, for this sweet woman who you couldn’t outgive. Many who read this blog knew my Great Aunt Mary who died a year and a half ago. Today I grieve another sainted aunt – not a Christian – and despite what Oprah might say, I’m not sure all ways do get you to heaven so I am doubly sad, but so grateful for the years we had together.

Tomorrow is the Rocket Festival. Gop and I saw different men creating some of the rockets that will be entered into the competition tomorrow. Apparently there are some guys who think it is a good idea to make home made rockets - stuffing gunpowder and who knows what else into a four foot plastic tube - while a little (or a lot) tipsy.

It’s a different world today than twenty, even ten years ago. Everyone, even here in a remote village has a cell phone. Gop has cable in his house. There’s a satellite dish in the back. Solar panels are attached to some of the thatched roofs in the village. Rockets have become a little more high tech also. While they used to be made with a with a 3-4 foot hollowed out bamboo pole about 4-5 inches across packed with some sort of explosive, too many blew up upon ignition, so now they have graduated to plastic pipes of the same dimension, which are attached to a 30-60 foot bamboo pole and then fired high into the sky. (Photo to the left. Rocket being carried to launch site. If you look close you can see the man on the left in the black shirt is carrying the fuse which will be placed into the center of the rocket right before they light it. More pictures coming in a future post!)

The Rocket Festival originally had some religious meaning (and maybe for a few it still does), asking the gods/spirits to bring abundant rain for abundant harvests, now it’s much more about the competition to see whose will go they highest/farthest. And they really do go far. Three years ago when Andrea and I led an Act Six Team here to Thailand, we were flying down from Chiang Rai to Bangkok, when shortly after takeoff we looked out the window and saw a rocket trail outside the window. Assuming that we weren’t fired on by a real rocket, the only explanation is that one of these bamboo rockets had made it some distance in the air right before we passed!

Sunday Afternoon
I didn’t realize how much I missed the hills of Maehongson and North Thailand. Bangkok is just two short flights away this evening but a world apart in so many ways. My head is spinning, my heart is full. My head spins from a million conversations, kids I grew up with now have kids of their own. My heart is full - so good to be back. Tomorrow I might be a bit of a mess when our Thai tutor shows up. I’ve been learning Thai solidly for three months now but was surprised at how much Shan tumbled out from somewhere in the back of my brain. Though similar, there are many differences and I expect many ‘wrong’ words to come out tomorrow. Family reunions can wear you out. Last night I went to bed at 8:30 and didn’t get up until 8 this morning! Longest sleep I have had in…a long time. So looking forward to coming back next month.

Duncan

Wilsons Published...

2009-05-05T03:00:00.000-04:00

Two interesting things to note with regard to this blog and our travels so far. As you know Andrea really wanted this to be a resource for others with Type 1 Diabetes who want to travel internationally. This past week The Wilson's Wanderings and specifically Andrea's diabetes supply packing list was highlighted among many other resources on www.sixuntilme.com . Sixuntilme is a blog read by many around the world written by Kerri Morrone Sparling who writes daily about her experience with diabetes. Andrea has found Kerri's words encouraging and entertaining. Because of this exposure over 100 people checked out Andrea's packing list and our blog on the first day it was listed!

Here's the link to the specific post: http://sixuntilme.com/blog2/2009/04/grand_rounds.html

Then we also learned that a letter I wrote to the editors of Go! magazine is featured in the May 2009 edition. Go! is one of the two premier travel magazines in South Africa. The letter highlights the story of my encounter with the lifeguards back in December. What is really cool is that though much was edited, the magazine left in the main point of the story and published a photo of the lifeguards along with all their names. I had told the lifeguards that I would write their story and am really glad and grateful that Go! picked it up as an acknowledgement of their hard work! I am excited that so many will read about them.

To read Go! Magazine's Letters to the editor click on the following link:
http://sites.google.com/site/thewilsonswanderings/Home/LetterstotheEditorMay2009-Go!mag.pdf?attredirects=0

To read the original story, click here: http://thewilsonswanderings.blogspot.com/2008/12/luthando-bonginkosi-and-patrick-three.html

Duncan

And a few more Songkran Photos...

2009-05-02T03:00:00.000-04:00

During Songkran many wear loud, colorful, floral print shirts. One word: Fun!

One word: Joy.

One Word: Trouble! These kids were great! They walked by me and I could see them contemplating getting me, but they also saw I had a camera so as they turned around and walked past me again, the oldest one came up to me and gently poured his bucket of water on my feet. One more word: Grace.

Have Super Soaker backpack attachment...Will travel. Even in Thailands infamous Tuk-Tuks!

The only reason you would want to travel in these open to all sides Tuk-Tuks during Songkran is if you wanted to get a little wet!

Duncan

Songkran Shots...

2009-05-01T03:00:00.000-04:00

We are wishing Songkran days were still here. Ever since then the temperature has been rising. Our apartment which has remained at 86 F/30 C degrees inside now creeps up to 92 F/ 33 C by the end of the day before we turn the aircon on. Outside it has been up to 100 F/ 38 C. As in S. Africa, I put our thermometer on our window sill in the sun and it quickly popped up to 121 F / 49 C. Thus we would love a little water sprayed at us as we walk along the hot sidewalks of Bangkok.

The other day we were in a taxi and the person on the radio was saying it had been Bangkok's hottest day so far this year - which means two things: 1 - It's Hot and 2 - Our thai (though it has a long way to go) is getting a little better since we can understand some things on the radio! The hot and supposedly dry season continues until the monsoon rains come in late May or June. This year however has not been a normal year weather wise. For the past two months there have been ferocious thunder storms - definitely the loudest and most terrifying thunder either of us have experienced. One day a very fast storm came up - it blew iron piping off our building, a satellite dish from the roof, as well as other random debris! Not what you want raining down on you from 20 stories up!

Anyway, here are a few more pictures illustrating the basic facts of Songkran: Fill up whatever container is at hand with water. Either drag that container out to the side of the street or put it in the back of a pickup truck. Begin water fight. Wave people down to let them know you want to soak them (or run into the street and don't let them pass you). Douse passersby with a hose or your Super Soaker. And don't forget to smear white paste on their faces as well. No one is safe!

I love this picture: Bucket of water flying through the air. No one holding on to it!

Duncan

More Manila/Faith Academy Pics

2009-04-29T06:24:00.000-04:00

As promised, a few more shots from our week in Manila...

The city skyline as seen from Faith Academy- it's grown quite a bit in the last 20 years!

But some things don't change - Still the land of Jeepneys!

Robby and Deanna Nichols in Faith Academy's stunning new "auditorium" - really more like a symphony hall - one of the best in Manila at this point.

Andrea with long time legend but still young (that's what happens when you start teaching at age 20 something!) art instructor Dave French in the school's new high school art room. Again another great facility but the soul of Faith's art program and the one who has inspired so much creation and creativity over the years is Dave. Though I never took art at Faith(!!) it was great to see the class of 90's former class advisor.

And finally, on the way to the airport, another amazing sight! In an attempt to prevent (or help) all the men who so flagrantly disregard the 'Bawal umihi ditto' signs painted all across the city, Manila has installed these - well it speaks for itself - male urinals in various places. This called for a quick U-turn and photo opp. Inside, a urinal like thing with a pipe going straight into the ground. And this is literally the first thing you see as you leave the airport!!

Duncan

Yellow Shirts...Red Shirts, Songkran and Manila

2009-04-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

The streets of Bangkok during the latter part of last week were back to being jammed and congested, in sharp contrast to Monday through Wednesday when they were largely empty and quiet (except where there were ongoing protests). Whether this was because of the protests and violence that occurred or because of Songkran (Thai New Year) we are not sure. Many Thai people would say it was because of the protests and blame the protesters for preventing a fun Songkran.

Much could and is being written about the ongoing political turmoil that has entangled Thailand for the past three to four years. If you want a good summary of the players and which color shirt supports who, go to the following BBC site:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7584005.stm

You can also read much more detail and stay current at: www.bangkokpost.com

And for another scathing no holds barred editorial by Voranai Vanijaka who we have previous quoted here click on:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/15267/where-thaksin-went-wrong

Though the government has managed to diffuse the latest tension (not without some extensive embarrassment, pictures of tourists running to the airport and hotel room vacancies instantly skyrocketing) there are still continued challenges that need to be faced and solved. What do you do when a popular and populist freely elected former prime minister of a country, but one who was steadily changing the laws to benefit himself, putting more power in his hands is overthrown in a coup, has since been convicted of corruption charges but is overtly doing all he can to get back into power even though ‘free’ elections were held after the coup? What do you do when those subsequent elections put back into power most of the former prime minister’s fellow governing party members (under a different name since his party was banned) and then the ‘middle class, educated, elite’ (yellow shirts) largely located in Bangkok decides this isn’t right and they protest and take over the country’s airports ultimately bringing down the party of the former prime minister (as well as continuing to degrade Thailand’s reputation) only to be replaced by another party and prime minister which now the red shirts are protesting?

Easy huh?

In past years when Thailand experienced coups, either ordered or sanctioned by the military, that put someone new into leadership there wasn’t necessarily a large opposition to it. Life carried on. Now the situation exists where there are two groups that both feel very strongly about certain issues and who are fiercely opposed to what the other group is doing (hmm, sounds like another place we know). Both groups bear blame for recent actions and certainly the former prime minister has revealed his true colors as he is willing to bring down the country in his pursuit of power and ego. There are many who do wish for his triumphant return as there are definite issues of justice and economic inequality that need to be addressed. Complex! And though the latest crisis is over there is danger that the power struggle will now become less overt. Last week, after the protests were over, the leader of the PAD ‘Yellow Shirts,’ (but not the current prime minister)experienced an attempted assassination on his life.

The protests did put a bit of a damper on Songkran – although as you will see from the pictures, not too much of a damper. There is enough water spread around during Thai New Year to keep everyone cool! Songkran/Thai New Year occurs during the hottest time of the year – and what better way to celebrate than douse everyone with water. For three days or so almost the entire country participates in a water fight. Of course there are cultural and religious symbols as part of this. (Traditionally water was thrown as a symbol of good luck for abundant harvests. Later the focus became more associated with the yearly cleansing of the Buddha statues which still occurs. Many stores will have a Buddha statue at the entrance which customers pour water over.) But mainly it has become one big party/three day national holiday (although this year it was extended an extra two days so the government could finish dealing with the remaining protesters) and is meant to be a lot of fun. Literally, wherever you go, people throw water on you. Sit down for a meal and your server might pour a glass of water on your head and down your back. Walk down the street and you will be a target of young and old with Super Soakers, buckets, hoses and white paste that is smeared on your face. Ride in a bus – same deal. Many will get together with their friends and drive around in the back of a pickup full of barrels of water and have water fights with those they pass on the road. It is fun, often bedlam and often dangerous. Each year hundreds are killed in accidents usually involving alcohol but also as a result of the water throwing. Imagine you are riding a motorcycle down the street and a bucket of water is thrown at you. Maybe you get wet, maybe you get knocked off!

We didn’t venture out too much partly because it was a little more quiet which let us study more, partly because an insulin pump even though well wrapped to keep it dry doesn’t fit in too well with Songkran activities. But we did take pictures from our building of some of the fun below us in the street.

We had a great week in Manila the week before Songkran began, leaving Saturday, April 4 and returning Saturday the 11th. We needed to leave the country to renew our visas and thought what better way to take advantage of this than by going to the Philippines so Andrea could see Faith Academy (Duncan’s high school) and spend some time with our friends Robby and Deanna Nichols and their three great kids. (Robby and I graduated from Faith together almost twenty years ago! Deanna graduated the year before us.) The week started off well as we were bumped up to Business class for the flight over. (For all those who used to dread flying Philippine Airlines (PAL) back in the day, they have done a great turn around from when they completely shut down a few years back! I’m officially a fan!)

The Nichols Family were great hosts and much fun to be with. The highlight of our week was just hanging out with Robby, Deanna, Ellie, Douglas and Patrick. Andrea and I had planned to go spend a night on Corrigidor, (famous WWII Island) but after spending five hours one day on public transport just getting to Fort Santiago and back we decided we were done with trying to get anywhere in Manila and decided to just hang out with the Nichols in and around Faith.

It had been nine years since I was last at Faith when I was part of a group that spoke at the high school’s Spiritual Enrichment Week. Since that time the school has experienced a massive building spree that most Faith alum know about so we won’t bore you with details here. But let’s just say – the new pool (or Aquatics Center) and the new auditorium (more like a symphony hall) are amazing. The Southern Baptist pool and the long narrow auditorium of yesteryear are distant memories.

In addition to physical changes there have also been changes in the student population. Now, 30 percent of the students are from Korea. Where 20 years ago, 15 mission groups made up 60 percent of the student population, now there are over 150 mission groups.
Due to the many increased opportunities in other countries OMF (my parent’s mission) closed the last of their dorms several years ago. There are still a handful of OMF MK’s at Faith but certainly not 4-5 dorms full. (Andrea and I went and looked at the old OMF Double dorm which is being used as the home of a family who have a large orphanage across the street next to the old dirt basketball court that used to be there. It was really cool to see how this family and the teams they host are so invested in the immediate barrio/village on the street. And they are still raising chickens there – a gracious note to one who was wacky enough to start rearing chickens there a couple decades ago!)

There are many other changes – email if you want to know more details. (Faith alum...there is a Jollibee at the entrace to Valley Golf now - right opposite the Golf Ball!!) Faith however is at a unique turning point in some ways. Though they have expanded their physical facility incredibly, attendance is down a little. This is bound to happen if just one mission closes all their dorms! Yet the school is also being given amazing other opportunities like hosting teachers from closed access countries in Asia and the Middle East who get to come to Faith and take back what they learn and see to their countries!

It was interesting to be in Manila again for holy week and Good Friday which is such a huge thing there and then back in Thailand for Easter where it is largely nonexistent. On Maundy Thursday evening Robby and I jumped on his motorbike and drove out to Ortigas Avenue along which were walking hundreds of thousands of people making the annual all night pilgrimage to Antipolo and a revered shrine/statue. And then to be back here where many Thai Christians were on vacation at the beach on Easter Sunday. No special service, music, hardly a mention of Easter in some places.

One last highlight of our time in Manila – reconnecting with Nick Clarin a long time Filipino Faith (former OMF) employee who I hadn’t seen for 19 years – And he remembered my name with no prompting!! Faith continues to be a special school with some special people there!

Look for more Manila and Songkran photos to be posted shortly.

Duncan

Transportation in Bangkok

2009-04-16T03:00:00.001-04:00

Transportation in this city is...I don’t even know how to finish this sentence. The variety, the options, the stifling madness is never ending - depending on the time of day and where you need to go. Bangkok has over 5000 buses that run on hundreds of different routes. The buses can be in any sort of shape, have air conditioning or not and come rush hour are usually standing room only. There was a recent article in the Bangkok Post that discussed the condition of many of the buses lamenting the fact that perhaps a third are long past their expiration date but the law of the land allows them to keep going. There is apparently one bus that has been on the road now for 54 years!!! That’s almost twenty years longer than I have been around. I sure wouldn’t have lasted that long on the streets of Bangkok! Many others are in the 30-40 year old bracket! But buses are cheap and plentiful so they are used.

Another cheap and plentiful mode of transportation is the motorcycle taxi. Thousands of men and their motorcycles hang out at end of streets and sois to take you where you need to go. Cheap, plentiful, sometimes a little scary. Many foreigners choose not to ride on them as they think it is putting your life unnecessarily into someone else’s hands. I always say that it’s survival of the fittest. Those who aren’t good drivers aren’t around anymore to put me at risk!

Also plentiful and sometimes cheap (actually always cheap compared to fares in the west) depending on where you need to go and whether you get stuck in traffic are Bangkok’s eye catching taxi’s. As one article I read recently states “Bangkok taxis have dyed themselves into a catalogue of candy hues to stave off the capital’s traffic blues. They come in shocking pink, lollipop yellow, lime green, ruby red, deep ocean blue, aubergine purple and tooth-aching orange.” How many taxis can you see in the line up of cars in the photo below (third one down)?

Then there are Tuktuks – Thailand’s famous three wheel…well it’s a tuk tuk. Enough said –Google it if you don’t know!

What has saved this city (or at least many of the people who live here) in the last decade or so is the advent of the Skytrain elevated mass transit system and the MRT (underground subway) that quickly and conveniently zips people from one end of the city to the other passing either above or below the congestion that everyone else is sitting in. Both are cool and clean in contrast to many similar systems around the world but identical in that they carry easily and efficiently thousands of people plugged into their ipods and phones. Both the Skytrain and MRT are great but if you know anything about Bangkok and Thai ways, the MRT is really really impressive. The Skytrain is elevated. While that is complex in and of itself knowing that Bangkok consistently floods and is sinking at the rate of an inch a year or so (or so they say) and knowing that there are 50 year old buses still running because the laws are funky – it is amazing that an underground (and not ten feet underground – but a long long way underground), very modern and well built subway system exists. The first time I went on it I thought “This is impressive for anywhere let alone Thailand!”

And for those who want to keep up on what is going on in the Kingdom, the new elevated line out to the new Suvarnabhumi Airport (there’s another reason the MRT is impressive – it was clearly not a rush job unlike the embarrassment that the new airport was and continues to be) runs right behind us and is scheduled to open August 12 – Here only, on the thewilsonswanderings blog is a sneak peak of the trains that will run on it!

But our favorite, well perhaps most interesting mode of transport and one that we seem to use the most is the Khlong Boat. Bangkok is a city that was built on the edge of the Chao Phraya River (River of Kings) and has continued to spread out. Often called the Venice of the East it spread out not based on a road grid but along canals or khlongs as they are called here. Many of these canals have been paved over now but there are still a few that are used for daily transport. One of these is the San Saeb Klong which runs east west almost all the way from the Chao Phraya River on the eastern historical side of Bangkok out to the edges of the city in the west. It is cheap, incredibly convenient and the most interesting ride you will take in Bangkok. So much so that we are going to give it its own post soon!

I think that all readers of this post who have lived or traveled in Bangkok at any point in their lives should post a comment with a story or at least one word to describe transportation in this wonderful city.

Duncan

Duncan's Favorite Things, Part 3

2009-04-14T03:00:00.000-04:00

Finding Green Spaces – In a city this big, this congested and this hot, finding any quiet green spot is a fabulous thing. Whether it is a park, walking in the quieter suburbs or the top of our building with its pool and potted plants, without these places, I probably wouldn’t survive too well. (And yes, the pool on our roof is a definite favorite. Most mornings I am up there to ponder and pray before taking a swim before anyone else arrives on the scene.)

Speaking of Cold/Cool things - Anyone who has experienced heat and the tropics knows how good the first refreshing icy blast of air conditioning can feel (and smell!). Add to that a cup of cold water, a fridge that keeps things cool and a cold shower – all luxuries that many many people don’t have in this city and for that I am very grateful

Our apartment – We remain so thankful for our two rooms, three counting the bathroom. While not exactly cool, for the past month it has stayed a balmy 86 degrees inside which may be warm but compared to the oven outside when the sun is baking down, is really quite manageable. Somehow, due to how the building is designed the temperature stays remarkably consistent – although it has started to go up a degree or two in the last couple days. The hot season is truly coming. Anyway, we are thankful for it and can we just give a shout out to great Asian tiled bathrooms! (Ok this may be a mystery to those that haven’t experienced nice tiled bathrooms in Asia!)

And finally one of my favorite things here in Bangkok - closely related to finding green spaces (and which again might only mean anything to someone who has been here – but I know there are a few of you out there reading this!) is walking as dusk settles and smelling the sweet fragrance of frangipani/plumeria and other flowers as the day comes to an end. Often this exquisite scent is mixed with the other special Bangkok scents ( a little garbage, some klong water, incense) but for whatever reason frangipani in Bangkok calms my soul. Again you probably have to have experienced it!

Duncan

Duncan's Favorite Things Part 2

2009-04-12T03:00:00.001-04:00

More Simple Sweet Pleasures…so many to list – an endless variety of cold drinks – all sweet – usually from sweetened condensed milk, from numerous stands and carts – Cha Yen (Iced Thai Tea), Cha Dum (Iced Thai Tea – no milk), Kaffee Yen – Boran or Nes (Iced Coffee the ancient way or Nescafe), Coco Yen (Iced chocolatey something!), Cha Khiaw (Iced Green tea with Milk), Nam Takrai (Iced Lemongrass – really good, we have started making our own too), Nom Yen (Cold milk with Sala or Crème Soda flavor)…the list goes on. As does the list for all the Thai khanoms and sweets – sticky rice and mango, bananas in sticky rice, deep fried bananas (deep fried lots of things!) There is a grace and art to so many things Thai people do including what they eat and drink. A few more favorites…Banana Roti, Real rice cakes for breakfast, and of course Sticky Rice and Chicken (and Somtam if you like – green papaya salad).

Sweet Desserts!

Sweet Banana Roti!

Rice Cakes for Breakfast!

Someone enjoying a typical sticky rice and chicken meal. Everything is served in plastic bags. (These last two photos were taken when we were staying at Roy and Bonita's before we moved into our own place.)

Duncan

Duncan's Favorite Things, Part 1

2009-04-10T03:00:00.001-04:00

We know that we have had several heavy posts – that’s the nature of what we encounter here much of the time. But lest you think it is all gloom we have a couple lighter posts coming beginning with a list of a few of my (Duncan) favorite things in Bangkok at this time:

Street Food Vendors – No other country does ‘Gin Len’ (literally ‘eat-play’) as well as Thailand does. Thais will eat three meals a day – usually rice or noodle based – but they may eat several other small meals or snacks throughout the day ranging from coconut/sticky rice creations to fresh cut up fruit to a variety of deep fried creations, you name it. We eat most of our meals either at or bought from stalls/vendors on the street. Whether it’s a spicy stirfry or Gway Tiaw (noodles – like Pho in the US) or sticky rice and grilled chicken most of it is created in little push carts with the particular chef/vendor specializing in a couple dishes. And the best thing about great tasty Thai food off the street is that it is usually under $1US for a filling healthy meal! (Initial three pictures show one of our favorite vendors and Andrea having lunch with Pii Oo, our Thai tutor.)

Vendors (of food or whatever) that make it easy on a farang (foreigner) whose Thai isn’t that good at times - Some just make it so easy to engage with while others are so thrown, discombobulated and uncomfortable with a farang speaking thai that they miss everything that is said – or maybe our thai really is bad. But then these others disprove that and completely put us at ease and understand everything we say.

Building relationships - Becoming a regular with a vendor is a great thing. Love getting a smile each day. It’s much cheaper to become a ‘regular’ here at anything than in the US.
It’s also great to build relationships with the people that we pass every day. Most apartment/condo buildings have one or more security guards that are on site every day. Much of the time they are sitting around bored and more than willing to engage with us which can be super helpful when needing to practice Thai.

Orange/Tangerine Juice – I know there’s a theme so far in this list, but one of the many options of refreshment on the street are the vendors who spend their day squeezing and/or selling fresh Tangerine juice which hits the spot every time – and again, you can’t beat 10-20 Baht per bottle! (35 baht to $1US)

Marian Plum/Ma Phrang – Twenty years ago I spent six months with my parents here in Thailand instead of being at boarding school. It was during the same time period we are here currently. ( Jan/Feb to July) At that time we were in Chiang Mai at the old OMF mission home/guest house which was a beautiful decaying home that formerly belonged to a Thai princess. On the grounds there was a Ma Phrang (Marian Plum)tree. Ma Phrang fruit come into season in February and March so this was the first time I had ever been in Thailand at that time since I was usually off at boarding school. Thailand has spectacular fruit of all kinds and shapes and flavors, but I had never experienced the delight of a Ma Phrang. It’s almost as if a Mango and a Kumquat were magically combined – about the size of a plum but with a tougher skin, you bite into it and hmmm, it’s an explosion of all things good in your mouth. For the month they were in season that year I ate and ate but it’s been twenty years since I have tasted one again. I knew they would be coming into season right as we got here but I was shocked to see them being sold for 200 Baht a kilo. I thought at some point the price has to come down – and sure enough after a few weeks, boom – 60 Baht a kilo – and twenty years later the tongue experienced it again. You have no idea what you are missing!

Duncan

Tell me what to do???

2009-04-08T03:00:00.000-04:00

"I saw their temples and I lived in their cities
And I could not believe what took place all around me
I walked the streets and I rode their trains
And everywhere I went I could not escape the pain"

My old pal Sheila Walsh has an old song called Dorai Sani which starts out with the lyrics above. In many ways it is our experience as well. Really, no matter where we are in the world, if our eyes are open, this should be our reality. But this sentiment is very acute for us as we go about our daily lives even if we take away all the sex trade/human trafficking issues that are so overwhelming. Poverty shows itself in many forms. The least, last and lost are all around us. Most days when we walk to buy our lunch we cross an elevated pedestrian bridge across the busy road we live on. There are often three or four older people (seniors) who sit and beg there. One man disfigured and scarred by leprosy raises his tin cup to us as we walk by, his eyes drooping like a sad but hopeful beagle. Another woman has her leg amputated at the knee. She has an artificial leg but it is hard not to be moved by someone with a stained sock on her stump. I see her and often think of how my late Aunt Mary would have survived in this situation after she fell and could no longer walk. There is another man who isn’t scarred physically but his mind bears deep wounds. He appears comical at times but his jitteriness and awkwardness betray something deeper.

I don’t give money to people anywhere. There are too many people working a scam, too many having to work for someone who doesn’t treat them well. Many kids are trucked in by pimps to beg. So money for me isn’t an option. I will buy them food and I have for each of these three. There’s nothing heroic about it. It costs me less than a dollar. But it assuages my heart that wants to do something but doesn’t know what. I’m not the only one that buys them food. Other Thai do and many Thai drop coins into their cups they hold.

But is that it? Should I buy them something every time? Now can I walk on with a somewhat clearer conscience? I don’t know.

Tell me what to do???

And while you are at it, tell me what to do with the thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of women who are prostituted in this city?

And maybe you can tell me how best to love the men both tourist and local who buy their services. I love the Chesterton quote – “Every man who enters a brothel is looking for God.” It rings true. I’ve sometimes joked that I want to start some sort of outreach to the customers here – I would call it “Anonymous Johns” Catchy huh? Actually one of the YWAM missionaries here has started an outreach to Male Sex Tourists here in Bangkok – ironically named…MST. It is done quite well and they have a good response. But this is just targeted at the foreign sex tourists, who, though they receive all the press, make up only a small percentage (10-20%) of the customers here in this country.
Tell me what to do in a culture and country where it is expected and accepted that many men will have multiple mistresses and where the sex trade related income makes up such a staggering amount of Thailand’s operating budget. While no one can put an exact number on it, we have heard that up to 60% of Thailand's budget comes from this.

Tell me what to do with this?

One of my favorite things to do in the morning before we have our Thai lessons is to go up to the top of our building by the pool to pray and ponder and then take a quick swim. There have been several mornings where visibility had to have been less than a mile due to the smog and pollution. It’s not great for the lungs but makes for some fabulous sunrises and sunsets. One day it was particularly bad and I told Andrea around 6pm that it was going to be a great sunset, which it might have been had we actually been able to see the sun…set. Usually the sun hangs like a red ball in the sky. That evening we never even saw the sun it was so smoggy.

So what are we to do when the visibility is so bad we don’t know what to do? When we can’t see very far ahead literally or metaphorically? I guess we will try and simply focus on what and who we can see. So I will continue to pray and ponder in the mornings but if you have any ideas, tell me what to do.

Duncan

Marriage Encounter

2009-04-06T03:00:00.000-04:00

It’s kind of random and kind of cool that on each of the three continents that we have wandered, we have been able to attend a conference of one kind or another – AND largely for free which we are super grateful for as well! (If you missed the first two – Youth Compass in Italy and the Ujamma Center in South Africa, Click on the Meina and Ujamma Center labels on the side of the screen.) Our latest conference was the ALMA Marriage Encounter usually associated with Christian Missionary Alliance denomination/churches. If you google ALMA Marriage Encounter you won’t find too much information as they really want everything to be somewhat of a surprise for the participants. I think ALMA weekends are being presented in over 20 countries including the US and Canada – as well as here in Thailand where it has been held for perhaps the last 8-9 years. Throughout the weekend there are presentations given by 4 couples who share their stories, then time is given to the participants individually and as couples to reflect on what they have heard. We want to honor their request to not give too much information away but it was a fascinating 48 hours.

We were actually invited by our Thai teacher Oo and his wife Nu, who became our ‘sponsors.’ They are quite heavily involved in it after attending a weekend three years or so ago. We weren’t sure what we were going to encounter but we could tell Oo really wanted us to go and we were encouraged by our friends Iven and Kashmira (who had also been previously) to attend if we had even a slight interest in seeing and experiencing a marriage encounter weekend from a Thai perspective. While we do have a few reservations and concerns about context and how some of the stories were presented, we both feel it is a vital and worthwhile tool here in Thailand where not many tools exist (let alone a toolbox) to help anyone’s marriage. The weekend encourages couples to talk about difficulties and challenges in their lives, of which there are many here in Thai society and culture. Andrea has already written a little on the overwhelming nature and prevalence of the sex trade in previous posts. While it is often the foreign sex tourists that receive the most press, the reality is that 80-90 percent of the customers (those buying sex) are Thai men. It is accepted and almost expected reality here that many (I’m trying to be careful with my words here – perhaps the majority of) Thai men but of course not all, will “explore” both before and after marriage.

We walked away from the conference realizing that this is also true within Thai Christian culture even among pastors. While it may not be accepted, it is a reality that it is not surprising to any if not expected. This was startling to us. But to hear the presenting couples during the weekend share as candidly and frankly as they did was even more startling. Such open sharing just does not happen within the culture here especially within a Christian setting where even more so than in the west, there is the desire and expecation of needing to have it all together. The stories that the couples shared and the conversations that came from them would be difficult for many of us who have grown up in a self reflecting and sharing kind of world. To see this happen here was pretty amazing, but as mentioned earlier, not without concern. But given the overwhelming statistics and issues of adultery, abuse and AIDS and the silence that often greets these issues, we are glad ALMA is here and doing what it is doing!

It was good for us to see and experience it and despite the intensity of the weekend (not much down time) it was a gift for us to be away at a hotel – and run the air con the whole time! (We just turn it on in our apartment before we go to bed!) Oo and Nu were lavishly generous with us as sponsors giving us all sorts of edible treats(as you can see in the picture) throughout the weekend!

Duncan

The Lotus and the Cross

2009-04-03T03:00:00.000-04:00

Ravi Zacharias has written a short little book called The Lotus and The Cross, Jesus Talks to Buddha. The prologue to the book is a good set up to our experience and some of the issues encountered here in Bangkok…

"It is the first blush of dawn as I step into this long-tailed boat after haggling with the boatman for a suitable price. He has agreed to take me on a journey along the famed River of Kings. We wend our way through back canals that teem with life, dotted by the corrugated iron rooftops along shores that house a large part of this megacity. The morning air is fragrant with aromas ranging from lemon grass to fish sauce, all being prepared for the day’s consumption. Yes, the food here wins the palate of virtually every traveler. It’s people are among the most winsome in the world. The smile, the graces and the charms exude as in no other land. A carefree attitude toward life is writ large in the cultural ethos, and strangers make you feel very welcome, even when one may have just cheated you into buying a fake name brand watch or a pirated copy of the latest movie.

There is a reality here that compels me to ask some hard questions about life. Within this culture, the most reverent of expressions mix with the most unashamed abandon for the sensual. I see a monk walking in the distance, a bowl for begging in his hand, but I also see a man who spends most of his day waylaying tourists and seducing them with pictures to come visit a nearby brothel. He does that from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. It is quite a juxtaposition: the monk, austere and in pursuit of nirvana; the man, with a roguish smile, promising a different kind of bliss.

Here a cultural immersion would be impossible without visiting a host of temples – the Emerald Buddha, the Reclining Buddha, the Golden Buddha and a long list of others. But here, too, the newspapers sound a somber tone. The income from prostitution, they declare, exceeds the entire national budget. Here, drugs and AIDS have ravaged the population, and sincere politicians are trying desperately to deal with it. But this very city is exploited by money-hungry opportunists who bring in planeloads of men, promising them orgies to fulfill every imaginable craving.

And so as I sit in this sputtering boat, smothered in a misty spray, I feel nearly drowned in a sea of emotions. How does one talk about the eternal when both religion and riotous living argue that nothing is permanent? An odd mix of the glory and the shame of humanity within this microcosm ignites a series of difficult questions.

As we make our way down the canal, I cannot shake the memory of a newspaper article on the front page the previous day. It told the story of a young attractive woman who left home to earn a living, only to pay the heaviest price of all. At seventeen, young and beautiful Priya decided to head to the big city to work. Within hours of her arrival, the very friend who had enticed her with the promise of big money mercilessly raped her. Thus began a fourteen-year stretch of untold heartache and tragedy. [. . . ] She was soon being used and abused to deviant ends, only with a new twist – she was paid for satisfying their perverse pleasures. By the age of twenty-three she had become a full-fledged prostitute, managed by a handful of thugs who shared in the spoils.

She discovered that she was HIV-positive. She could not discontinue her lifestyle, for she needed the money to treat her disease and hang onto life. Hardened, calloused and almost vengeful, she continued to sell her services to hundreds of customers, including bankers, businessmen and doctors, of whom she kept a detailed record. She knew she was signing each man’s death warrant, but she was drowning in despair, and her life had lost all value.

Eventually she could no longer hide the disfiguring marks of her disease. Blisters blanketed her body. She resorted to desperate methods in search of a cure. She made numerous attempts to kill herself, only to fail each time. Finally Priya poisoned herself once more, and this time she set the house on fire and lay down for the last time, enshrouded in flames. Her once beautiful body was reduced to ashes. No one would even come close to her charred remains for fear of infection. She died alone. And not far from her others played the same deadly game, thinking that this same end would never be theirs. "

He goes on to ask the question – What Lord Jesus, would you have said to Priya, had she brought her decrepit body and aching heart to you? And what would Buddha have said to her, this being a land where 95% of its people are Buddhists?

It’s a small book, published in 2001 if you want to find a copy. I thought the introduction laid a good foundation for the beauty and devastation that we see in this city.

Duncan

12

2009-04-01T21:19:00.001-04:00

Andrea has written a couple posts about the ‘Massage Parlor’ Brothel next door to us. This isn’t a tin shack by the side of the road but a large windowless three story building with a footprint about 100 x 60 feet. Its parking lot holds 30-40 cars and there is plenty of room around back to park although many men come in taxis. This is one of the smaller of the ten massage parlors/entertainment venues within a mile of us on the road we live on. Here’s my take on what we see outside our window.

"12"

Morning
An older woman washes the clothes
Treated with such care
Always the same clothes – sun dresses and short shorts
Flags flutter in the breeze
The sign reads
Always cheap – Always Good

A fruit and vegetable truck pulls up by the back door, barred and locked
A girl in a red dress reaches through the bars to buy some oranges

Inside
the fishbowl
the girls wait

12 Noon
The gates are unlocked and opened and the first cars pull in
The dresses and short shorts are dry and pulled off the rack
So are the girls

Another shift

12 Midnight
Taxis wait to take the customers home
Dogs wait
A six year old boy waits, legs swinging from a chair outside the back door

Psalm 52:1-7; 58:1-3; 83:1-3; 62:11-12

Duncan

Mutual Butchering of Language

2009-03-20T00:50:00.000-04:00

Our 1 month anniversary of Thai language study has come and gone and while my understanding of spoken Thai has increased my own spoken Thai is, umm, leaving much to be desired. Namely, the correct tones.

Thai is a tonal language. There are five tones in Thai: mid, low, high, rising, and falling. English speakers understand this a little as we generally change our tone when we ask a question, but that's about where our familiarity stops.

When I first took formal Thai lessons it was for one quarter as an undergraduate at the University of Washington. It was the hardest class I ever took and the only class I ever changed from graded to pass/fail. I figured that if there was a remote chance that I did pass, the grade would still be so low that it would bring down my whole GPA. I did manage to pass, barely.

Picture 1: Is this a threat?

The class was only 10 weeks and I spent the first five seriously doubting that there were tones. Language tone deafness. . . miracuously I awoke on the sixth week and finally heard the difference in the tones.

Sadly, the fact that I understand that there are different tones doesn't mean that I remember which one to use when I am speaking.

This results in some bad mistakes. The more vocabulary I learn the more I realize the potential to make mistakes. Currently I am in fear of trying to say that something is beautiful. Beautiful in Thai roughly transliterated is 'suway' said with a rising tone. If you say 'suway' with a mid tone it means unlucky. Thai people like to make things look beautiful and there is a cultural appreciation of the aesthetic. They also (as a general population) take their luck seriously as the majority wear amulets for protection and good fortune. Thus you can see my weariness at trying to compliment someone's handiwork as beautiful for fear of calling them unlucky!

Picture 2: 'miss are we she am you' ????

If there is any consolation in this it is the knowledge that Thai speakers generally have as difficult a time learning English as I do Thai. We have noted this on every trip we've taken to Thailand mostly in the hotel information guides or signs. One hotel welcomed us to try their 'potato sheep' in the minibar (meaning potato chips).

Recently, on an adventure to Big C, the Thai equivilant of Walmart but sooo much more exciting, we perused the clothing section hoping to find shirts that fit me. We eventually did find one in the men's section (hmmm. . . not unlike my wardrobe choices in the states). Anyway during the hunt we managed to find several gems - t-shirts with really confusing English. I can empathize with my really bad and confusing Thai, which I now believe I have license to put on mass produced t-shirts.

Enjoy the wisdom of Big C. :)

Picture 3: Front of the shirt, 'Seriously Inventive Bank Chat Him' HUH!?

Picture 4: Back of the shirt: 'Seriously'

And the winner of the Best Worse English is. . .

Picture 5: (on a notebook cover) This poor tomato is about to get eaten on a hamburger, but his cry of 'Hell me, Hell me' probably won't save him.

Andrea

The Girl Next Door. . . is Locked Inside a Brothel

2009-03-15T01:10:00.001-04:00

Our living room window looks down on a large three story building. This building has no windows and from 12pm until 12am the parking lot is full. It is one of many brothels of this size in Bangkok, but is advertised as a massage parlor and coffee shop. We have only ever seen one woman go in and we have never seen any come out. A few days ago, Duncan heard a truck selling fruit (they advertise with megaphones) down by the railroad tracks behind our building. By the time he reached the truck it was parked by the back entrance to the brothel. A woman in full makeup and a red ‘working’ dress was buying some vegetables and fruit through the barred and padlocked back door. These are not women who have a choice.

It is ironic to us that the brothel strictly obeys the regulation that states opening and closing times of entertainment venues but that it completely ignores that prostitution is illegal let alone its abuse of human rights. Everyone knows what this building is. Everyone. And it is not supported with the dollars, euros, or yen of foreign men. This is Thai supported as is the majority of prostitution in Thailand.

There was an op-ed piece in the Bangkok Post several weeks ago where the author, Voranai Vanijaka, implores his fellow Thais to stop tolerating injustice. It is titled No More ‘Mai Pen Rai.’ ‘Mai pen rai’ loosely translates into English as ‘nevermind.’ You hear this all the time. It is closely tied to the Thai concept of ‘cool heart’. Do not get angry, don’t show frustration or anger. While several cultures could take some cues from this and limit anger over trivial things, I’m afraid that this concept has permeated everything in Thai culture to the point where there is an unhealthy level of apathy. Sometimes there is a righteous anger required in the face of injustice. Every culture, nation, and person (including me) should remember this.

Here’s an excerpt from the No More ‘Mai Pen Rai’ article:

“That seems to be our attitude. We don't express outrage. We don't demand justice. We don't monitor action. We just sit back and let the authorities pay lip service to having an investigation, then a few months later everyone forgets about it. Mai pen rai.

We Thais have it easy. There's fish in the sea and rice in the fields. When we run out of fish in our sea, we just fish in other people's seas and either get kidnapped by Somali pirates or thrown into prison by Burmese authorities. But that's okay, mai pen rai. They are just poor people.

Mind you, this attitude of mai pen rai, this cancer of apathy isn't just confined to just Thailand. It's a worldwide plague. However, at least to my knowledge, no other country has ever used "mai pen rai" (or the apathy of a culture) as a proud tourist attraction. There are even books written about the beauty of the "mai pen rai attitude".

Dear people, this mai pen rai attitude, for the sake of our King, our country and for the future of our children, we need to stop it. We really do.”

Read the full article at: http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/12098/no-more-mai-pen-rai

Andrea

P.S. The pictures are as follows: 1 & 2) the women's work clothes hung out to dry, 3) A graffiti message on a bridge overpass in Bangkok

Bangkok, The City of Angels

2009-03-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

How do you describe Bangkok?

In trying to write this post I’ve sat here and looked at a blank computer screen for 20 minutes.

How do you describe any city?

In my work with Northwest Leadership Foundation, Center for Transforming Mission, and other influences like Pastor Ron Vignec, I’ve learned to recognize cities as living, breathing things much loved by God. And much like each individual person reveals something unique about the character of God, cities (as conglomerates of people) can reflect Godly traits and personality as well as the way people fall short of their potential.

Bangkok is a city of between 10-12 million people. The official census says 6 million but for many reasons, including how census questions were asked, this is not accurate. Over the last four trips to Thailand (this time being my fifth) I have come full circle with Bangkok. My first trip to Thailand (when Duncan was testing me out to see if I could love Thailand and thus if I was marriage material :) ) we walked outside of the airport at midnight tried and failed to find a taxi so we took the only available vehicle option - two motorcycle taxis. My taxi sped off into the night with one of my hands tightly grasping the handhold on the back of the motorcycle and the other arm hugging my suitcase to my body, trying and failing to make it more aerodynamic. My driver, having heard Duncan speak Thai assumed that I could also and kept turning around and asking me questions that I believe were about our destination to which I couldn’t answer. We sped along on a 4 lane road, deserted except for food carts being pushed home and then. . . an elephant (with his/her mahout) ambling along. While there were many other events and feelings (namely the sheer busyness and chaos of this huge city) that threw me into culture shock in the following days, I think this story of my first ten minutes of introduction to Bangkok summarizes it well. The first time to a new country is incredibly overwhelming if you don’t understand customs, culture, religion and language.

The second and third times that I visited Bangkok were through my work at Northwest Leadership Foundation. These trips provided an excellent opportunity to partner with another organization on excursions to experience, see, feel and hope for Bangkok. Finally the last time I was here was on vacation where Duncan and I spent one week in Bangkok exploring and meeting up with people who call this magnificent city home.

These trips were building the foundation that I have come to rely on now. Living in this city (even for a short while) is and will be an amazing adventure. As with any honest relationship, I love Bangkok and I hate Bangkok. There is a kind of indescribable beauty here that I have not experienced in other cities but this is coupled with some of the ugliest and darkest things I have ever witnessed. There is a heaviness to Bangkok that cannot just be attributed to its humidity or chaos. This heaviness, I believe, is directly related to Thailand’s and more specifically Bangkok’s position as a center of human trafficking and its huge sex industry. Thailand is not alone in harboring people (traffickers, pimps, mamasans) who make a living off of selling others, in fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find a country that did not harbor, willingly or not, such individuals. However, there is a difference here. Thailand for the most part tolerates these injustices, especially the sex trade. Like most evils of such magnitude in any country, it is accepted (because what can be done?) or at best it is ignored. These are blanket statements that do not accurately reflect the heart of every Thai person, but as an outsider, the blatancy of the sex trade speaks volumes.

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand, but walk down one of the notorious sois (small road) in Bangkok and you will pass beside bars and brothels that house 1000’s of prostituted women, children, and men. It is not hidden, in fact it is advertised, sometimes with glossy menus set up outside the brothel, not listing food but tricks.

How do they operate so openly if it is illegal?
Bribes, economics, lies, desperation, apathy, indifference. . .

Eventually this blog will have many postings on Thailand, some silly, some showing great beauty and innovation, some day-to-day descriptions of how things work, but I feel it is accurate to start out our thoughts on Thailand with the background on what consumes us the most and will receive many more postings – the sex trade (and human trafficking).

Andrea

Getting Started in Bangkok

2009-03-02T00:32:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Bangkok the afternoon of February 5th, made it through immigration with our two month tourist visas (secured at the Portland, OR Thai consulate before we left the States), and proceeded to jump in a taxi and quickly get stuck in Bangkok’s notorious traffic. We were headed to meet up with two friends (Iven and Kashmira) at the condo of another two friends (Roy and Bonita), who graciously let us stay at their condo while they were back in the States for a couple of weeks. Iven and Kashmira are working with YWAM in Bangkok with prostituted males. Before moving to Bangkok they had been living in Seattle. We never got a chance to meet them in the States but connected with them in Bangkok on our last trip here in November 2007 because of a mutual friend. We really enjoyed their company and they evidently didn’t dislike us because this trip they have truly welcomed us to Bangkok and done whatever they can to be helpful in getting us situated. (We will write more about both Iven and Kashmira and Roy and Bonita in coming posts.) That night we ate the first of what will be many wonderful meals from street vendors with Iven and Kashmira along with Van, another mutual friend of both of ours from Seattle who also just happened (unbeknownst to us) to be in Thailand exploring opportunities in her native land of Laos. It really is a small world.

The last three plus weeks here have been a bit of a blur. We hit the ground running. Thanks to Iven and Kashmira we started Thai lessons the first Monday after our arrival with their former Thai tutor. Phii Oo comes to teach us Thai 4 days a week for 3 hours each day (we each get 1.5 hours with him). Despite Phii O insisting that “Thai is easy, easy,” there are sounds my tongue refuses to make and I have literally had to resort to holding my tongue with my fingers (not in polite public of course) for a certain sound I still cannot make. I’ll let you know when I can.

After our Thai lessons during our second week here we pounded the pavement in different areas of Bangkok looking for an apartment. We were hot, tired, very dirty (SMOG!!!), and a little irritable (okay just me). Finally at the end of one day after walking miles, we came along New Petchburi Road, a very busy street, to look at one more place, called Union Tower. When we saw the outside of the building it looked a little run down and partly because of the busy road and immediate surroundings we thought, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ But we decided to look at it anyway and when we saw inside it was the nicest place we had seen, and of all the places (about 30) it was the only place that we liked, could afford, AND could actually move into right away. You can't judge a book by its cover. . .

The next day (Friday Feb. 20) we told Phii Oo that we were going on a field trip for our Thai lesson, and he graciously agreed to go back to the building to meet with the manager again to make sure there was nothing we had missed due to lack of language ability. It was really encouraging to see him negotiate (in a very Thai way of course) with Phii Fai, the manager, over anything that he thought we could get cheaper, looking out for us but also helping build a great relationship with her at the same time. Everything looked good and so the following Monday (a week ago today!) we loaded all of our stuff into a taxi and drove the ‘short’ distance (short being a very relative term depending on the traffic) to our new home which you can see in a previous post.

We had hoped to get a place here between US$200-$300 per month and with everything included (including internet but not electricity) we are paying about $310 a month. Thank you to those who were praying. We could have found something cheaper but by paying just a little more we got much more in terms of space and light so we are very grateful. And we have a pool up on the roof which we are also really grateful for.

The windows in our living room face west toward many of the high-rises of Bangkok including the Baiyoke Tower, the tallest building in Thailand (85 floors). Thus we have some nice sunsets brought about from the not so nice pollution. The busy Petchaburi Road runs in front of our building east –west and is parallel to Sukhumvit Road which becomes Ploenchit. Immediately across the road is Saen Sap Khlong (Canal) which is an easy and cheap way to move east or west through the city. More on transportation later. Behind our building, or the view from our balcony/sink is to the North. Right below is a set of railway tracks that are in regular use throughout the day as well as a new rail system that is due to open in August linking the downtown corridor with the new International airport to the south-east of us. There is still a lot of work going on around this new transportation link so it feels a little industrial and is a little loud some of the time. Beyond the tracks you reenter somewhat normal (albeit pricier) Bangkok neighborhood, with large houses intermixed with high-rises.

Andrea

Our Bangkok Apartment

2009-02-27T04:07:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our new apartment! There has been a lot of interest in what our apartment looks like in Bangkok (even though we know we still need to catch you up on our last three weeks), so let me give you the tour! Just, please, take off your shoes first as this is what Thai people do (very helpful in not tracking in whatever you just stepped in on the street).

We are on the 5th floor (but really it is more like the 10th because of a few floors of parking and businesses) of an 17 floor apartment building that we suspect used to be a hotel. The building is Embassy Suites style (for those of you who have stayed at that hotel chain), meaning the middle of the building is open from the top floor to the lobby floor. This makes the building much brighter. The other fun part is that the elevator is glass so that you can look out (or not look out as Duncan does) and see the rapidly approaching ground.

We have a coveted corner room. This provides us with much more natural light than the other rooms at a bit more of a premium. We knew that this would help save our sanity though, so we gladly coughed up the extra baht. When you enter our front door you are in our living room/kitchen. (It came furnished with what you see.)

Here is our living room (looking from our front door).

Here is our 'kitchen' in the living room. We looked at about 30 or so apartments before finding this keeper and none of them had kitchens as we know them in the US. Part of this is because space in Bangkok is expensive relative to the working wage; because you can fix up a small kitchen by buying a fridge, a kettle, and a small wok with a portable gas/electric burner; and also because there is tons of cheap street food (more on this later). We are renting this fridge for about $11.50 USD/month.

Our bedroom.

And our lovely bathroom! Behind the shower curtain is a shower sprayer with just cold water. If we want hot, we flip a switch in our bedroom, but we haven't needed to flip the switch. That should tell you something about the temperature here. :)

And finally our balcony! This is traditionally where our portable kitchen would go (burner, etc.) but we don't have all those fixings yet. In a later post we'll put up some of the pictures of our view from our windows and in particular the view from the balcony looking down. It's a long drop!

More updates soon. . .

Andrea

Ostrich Mating Dance Video

2009-02-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

Come on, you know you want to watch it!

This is actually the sad story of unrequited love. This male ostrich has fallen in love with either the beat up truck that carries his food or the farmer that spreads his food on the ground. Neither is going to reciprocate the love.

Here is his dance of affection. . .

Playful Monkeys and Red Duiker(?) Video

2009-02-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

Attached are two videos that we took in Cape Vidal, South Africa from our campsite several months ago. This adventurous red duiker (?) is playing with the monkeys. Thought some of you might enjoy it despite the shaky camera work. :) And as a suggestion turn down your volume before you hit play.

3.5 Months on the Road - Diabetic Travel Update

2009-02-21T06:20:00.000-05:00

As the first portion of our trip is finished it is time to update you on my general diabetic health. The 3.5 months were a wonderful experience and have given me a gift of not only great travel but a reminder that anything is still possible for me - it sometimes just takes more work. Securing the 9 months of diabetic supplies was probably the most tangible example of this. (See post titled '18 Bottles of Insulin and 2700 Test Strips - Securing Diabetic Supplies').

In the past 3.5 months I have been generally healthy. It has been a little more work to figure out food and carbohydrate counts of meals, but this is a daily diabetic task wherever you are. However, what I wasn't expecting was getting colds once a month. Right after we first arrived in Europe I got a cold. Then right after we arrived in South Africa I got a cold and finally another one almost a month later.

I chalk this up to 'new enviroment = new germs' and a generally weakened immune system. However, of all the illnesses to get I am thankful it was just colds.

Besides taking malaria pills there was only my toe problem that had to be dealt with. There was nothing else that had to be treated or prevented. In the spirit of transparency about diabetic problems, despite my strong aversion to talking about my feet, I will explain the problem for all who care to continue reading.

For several years on and off I have had problems with infections along the side of the nail of one of my toes. This problem has nothing to do with diabetes but the necessity of getting it healed quickly has everything to do with diabetes. One of the complications of diabetes is nerve disease (neuropathy) which results in limited feeling or no feeling especially in the feet and hands. I have the very beginning signs of neuropathy in my feet. Neuropathy can cause diabetics to not realize when they have cuts, infections, blisters, etc on their feet and thus can subsequently result in a lack of treatment which in the case of infections can result in gangrene and amputation.

Knowing that we were going on this trip and knowing that we would be walking everywhere made the reoccuring infection really irritating. The problem arose again in June 2008 and I went to a podatrist who treated the infection. Two and a half months later the infection was back and I was particularly worried. The podatrist suggested that I have part of the nail removed from that toe and a chemical put on the skin so that the nail would not grow back, hopefully solving the problem. I had this procedure done in September only two weeks before we took off. For the first few days I seemed to be healing fine but then I got a horrible infection, much worse than I had ever experienced before. A full course of antibiotics helped the infection to go away but the toe remained puffy and irritated. For the next month and a half on the road I soaked my foot in hot salt water almost every day to keep infection away and try to get the toe to heal, but it would not heal.

It wasn't until we were in Nelspruit, South Africa that we had the time and relationship with people to understand how the health care system worked and get the recommendation of a good podatrist. In the private sector of health (South Africa also has state run health care) you are able to completely choose your doctors but you are also fully responsible for the bill. And while private care is certainly much more expensive than state care, compared to US prices even when insurance is paying, it is ridiculously cheap. I paid a total of $30 USD for the entire appointment. Another bonus of the South African private health care market is that doctors have more time to see you. In the US I am generally given just 15 minutes with my doctor which is never enough (for me or any other patient) and which usually results in doctors running late for all their appointments.

Dr. Fuhrie (in Nelspruit, South Africa) saw me for an hour and explained many things that my podatrist in the US should have explained to me before the procedure, namely that the chemical he put on my skin to ensure that the nail would not grow back is harsh acid and often times wounds the skin. Thus the reason for my horrible infection. The acid also made the good (not removed) part of the nail splinter which resulted in a piece of the nail sticking into the toe making it red and puffy. Dr. Fuhrie removed this piece and the toe healed in a week.

When we were back in the States briefly in January I had my regular, every three months, appointment with my endocrinologist and I had my regular labs done. I expect my A1C (three month blood sugar summary) to be higher than normal, not because of travel, but because of getting three colds. When diabetics are sick it is much more difficult to control blood sugar. Because of this back-to-back cold record I fully expected to get another cold when we arrived in Bangkok (again, simply because of being exposed to new germs) but I'm happy to report that I haven't seemed to pick anything new up yet.

Thus, my conclusion from the 3.5 months of travel is that while there is a certain inherent risk when traveling internationally as a diabetic I believe that with a lot of forethought and work before the trip any diabetic travel. Also as a result of this trip there is a certain courage that has replaced some of the fear that I used to carry as a diabetic, and that far outweights the struggle of getting supplies and three colds.

I hope this will encourage other diabetics to not feel limited in their travel dreams.

Andrea

January 17 – February 5 Part 2 CPT to JNB to AMS to SEA to PDX to NRT to SIN to BKK – 4 Continents, 2 weeks

2009-02-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

This is where our travels get a little goofy and kind of cool if you are into somewhat odd things that can happen. Because we are using miles for all our flights we had to take what we could get, so we started out our Asian leg of the journey separately. Duncan left the evening of February 1 and flew to Portland for the night. From Portland he left at 12:20 PM on February 2 on the Northwest flight to Tokyo. 40 minutes later at 1PM, Andrea flew out on the Northwest flight to Tokyo from SeaTac. So we were both flying across the Pacific at the same time actually both sitting in 29A. We’re not sure how often that happens but we don’t think it is every day that spouses fly across the ocean together but in different planes. Somehow Duncan got to Narita a little early and Andrea’s flight was a little late so Duncan was already getting settled on the next plane to Singapore when Andrea came running through the concourse to catch it as well. All was well. The Wilson’s were reunited in 29 A and B. And then Duncan had to go throw up as he wasn’t feeling well. Then the flight got better and both slept most of the way (another 8 hours) to Singapore arriving just before midnight on Feb 3.

Not sure why I’m writing in third person but hey...

So we woke up on Wednesday February 4th in Singapore at the Fragrance Pearl Hotel which for $30US was a great deal but was also located right in the middle of Singapore’s red light district. If you know anything about Singapore, and it’s fierceness in going after littering and gum chewing, you might be surprised that it has a red light district but it does. Andrea might write more on this later.

Many people find Singapore pretty bland and not so fun to visit, but I think it is one of my favorite cities in the world. For starters it is so clean you can almost eat off the sidewalk – ok, not quite, but you can eat pretty much anywhere and rest assured that you won’t get sick. It’s efficient and organized, beautiful, lush and green, and is so incredibly multicultural, you often don’t know where you are. And for shoppers it is truly one of the shopping capitals of the world. That’s not us, so we spent the day walking, oh and we had roti for breakfast and lunch both days we were there – if you don’t know what roti is, you are missing out on a great treat!

OMF, (the mission organization my parents were with in Asia) has its international headquarters in Singapore on a nice piece of real estate right next to the unbelievable Botanical Gardens (perhaps the oldest in the world?? 150 years) so first we stopped in there to see if there was anyone we knew. It was a bit chaotic as the offices are being remodeled so all the offices are located in the mission home for this year. (Those who know what I am talking about, know what I am talking about! – Too many audiences here!) Then we went and spent the afternoon wandering through the gardens. Again, stunningly beautiful.

The next day we checked out of our hotel and headed back to Changi Airport (consistently rated the best airport in the world – with movie theaters and anything else you might possibly want, including roti!) to catch our flight up to Bangkok. Thanks to my sister giving us a heads up we had been able to snag a couple free flights on Air Asia as they were giving away 100,000 free tickets to Bangkok to help encourage people to visit Thailand after the airport was shut down for ten days in December. So for a two and a half hour flight, we paid the princely sum of $25US each which covered taxes. Thanks Esther!

Approaching Thailand we flew right over Koh Samet (an island) where I have been a couple times so that was pretty cool. We landed in the peak of rush hour and caught a taxi to the lavish pad we have fallen into for our first three weeks here in Thailand. More on this and our first week in the next post!

Duncan

January 17 – February 5, Part 1 CPT to JNB to AMS to SEA to PDX to NRT to SIN to BKK – 4 Continents, 2 weeks

2009-02-16T07:13:00.001-05:00

It’s been almost a month since our last post and we have covered some ground by almost every mode of transportation except being pulled by something with four legs. Here’s a brief summary.

The Premier Classe train from Capetown to Joburg was great. If you are ever in SA and want a great way to see the country in style at a really affordable cost this is it. We arrived at the Capetown train station early Saturday morning on January 17 and were welcomed into the Premier Classe lounge where we were offered tea and snacks. Our bags were whisked away to reappear in our little compartment when we boarded later. We’ll include a couple photos but basically we were waited on hand and foot for the next 26 hours as we chugged across the South African landscape. All meals were included, one course after another – we could have rolled off the train when we arrived the next morning after witnessing an amazing sunrise as only Africa can do. It was a great way to wrap up our time in a enigmatic country we have come to know a little better and love even more than when we landed two and a half months earlier. Unfortunately though the experience on the train was great, the powers that be are not doing a great job of promoting it, so there were only 19 passengers on a 20 carriage train that can hold 124 guests!

We flew to Amsterdam from Joburg on an 11 hour flight which turned out to be kind of fun as the Purser was retiring after 38 years flying for KLM. She had all her family on board and all the flight attendants and crew were helping her celebrate her last flight. Her daughter is also a purser for KLM and was also on the flight. We only had a couple hours in AMS and then on Northwest for another ten hours back to Seattle where we were picked up at the airport with a warm welcome by Andrea’s parents (which was good given that it was a little colder than we have grown accustomed to) as well as shortly thereafter by Duncan’s parents where we stayed except for two nights down in Tacoma with friends. We were really thankful for this time with our parents and all they had done for us during our travels so far.

We are also so thankful for our renters who have made our house into a lovely home for themselves AND have looked after the chickens and kept all the plants alive. No small feat! This was really encouraging and reassuring to us and a continued sign of God looking after us. Each of us were able to connect with a few of our friends and catch up on a little of what has been happening in our old stomping grounds over the past few months. Much of our time was spent taking care of business – doctor appointments, getting our taxes done and organizing and repacking for our next leg of the trip. Time flew and it got a little hectic at the end but by Feb 1 we were ready to go again.

Duncan

20 Years

2009-01-22T03:00:00.000-05:00

Dear Kagiso,

I have been thinking about how to offer some concluding thoughts and reflections on our time here in South Africa and the many conversations we have had about life, race, culture and hope. I have decided that maybe the best way to do it is in a letter to someone I have had some of those conversations with and who has given me feedback to think about. Thus you are the lucky winner!

Our time here has been amazing. We have seen so much – beaches, mountains, animals, birds, long long drives (I think we have driven over 6500 kilometers!) never ending vistas and views, all of which have been good for us. Refreshing, clearing our heads, bringing some rest and healing to our emotions. And we have met so many wonderful people who have befriended us and been so kind to us, South Africans and other travelers alike – even when we haven't agreed with everything they have said. We knew we wanted to come back here to listen and learn and I think we have accomplished that although I think we still more questions than answers.

You know that many of my questions have been about racial relations and every day life. I'm not sure why I am so interested, some could say even hung up on how it really is between black and white South Africans here today. And honestly, talking with you and Dumisani and Bernard, you made it seem like it isn't an issue. Our conversations with you were actually the beginning of many hopeful conversations – up until that point, many of our conversations were much more pessimistic. But we have also had those conversations as you know that leave us discouraged, believing that there is still a huge divide and a long way to go before true equality between skin colors. When I hear statements that there is just a different mentality among black people or even the horrific “You can take people out of the bush...” You know the rest, I'm not even going to finish it. I'm not sure what to do with that because that is such a degrading generalization. The reality is that there are stupid, senseless people of every skin color everywhere in the world.

But I also know that there are many white and black South Africans who don't think their country is in as good shape in terms of infrastructure, education and health care as before apartheid. I know there are many young white people who are leaving for Australia and Canada. You may wonder why I titled this letter (post) '20 Years'? I had the chance to have a great conversation with a well known newspaper editor in Capetown and his wife. I asked them the same question I have asked you and so many others: Do you have hope? Where do you see hope here in SA? He quickly replied “20 Years.” I thought, that's fair, others have also said it will take a decade or two before thing catch up here. And then he continued, “20 years until we are just like Zimbabwe.”

That is discouraging. Anyone who knows anything knows that is not good. And this man is smart, educated, well traveled. He can back up what he is saying. It's easy to point to some of the African track record of mismanagement and corruption all over the continent. But it's also easy to not mention European and American mismanagement and corruption currently and over the years. I wrote in my journal that night:

The only difference between Africa and the Western 'Developed' world (and its leaders) is time (and perhaps some colonization issues!!!) The west/developed world has just as many corrupt/power hungry people but as countries or societies, they have had time to put in a system of checks and balances. Go back 100 or 500 years and you will find just as many Mugabe's in what we now call developed first world countries. The west is just as guilty of ethnic cleansing and often it is our colonialism that helped to contribute to some of the issues today.

20 Years. I hope he is wrong. I must believe he is wrong. For his sake, for yours, for everyone here in SA. Against his statements I have yours and Dumisani's and others, black and white, who believe that there it hope and that it will get better. Yes there is catch up time. People shouldn't forget that SA is a baby democracy. There is work to do. But there is work to do everywhere in all countries. Ending our time here in Capetown is also encouraging as have been other cities. When I walk the waterfront I see every shade of skin represented. Every shade of skin prospering and succeeding, working and walking side by side. I hope this continues. But I also know that for everyone at the V&A Waterfront there are hundreds of others who are not moving up and who still lack much. And I also know, as you and Dumisani said, if there are racist issues that are alive and well, it is often black on black. Like I said, there is much work still to do.

By the way, thanks again for watching Crash with us. It was good to hear your thoughts – and you made us your first popcorn! It's interesting that it wasn't a well known movie here as there are so many similarities in it to what we experience in the US.

Is there a different way of governing, leading, doing things here that will be successful? An African way? I think there probably is – which is a good thing. Certainly not everything the west, especially the Unites States exports is good. If there is a way not to buy into our celebrity, consumer obsessed society that will be a good thing.

It will also take people staying both black and white. And we have met those who are staying and who want to stay, black and white, but mainly black. I hope there is a way to encourage the many white young people who are leaving to stay. Perhaps I am naive. After all what do I know after two and a half months. But again I have to believe the editor is wrong.

You know, it's interesting, we arrived here in SA the day Obama was elected and we arrive back in the US on the day he will be inaugurated and become president. These are momentous and significant times in the US. Obama has huge expectations placed on him, many of which should not be his to carry. Yet he is a huge symbol of hope for the US and for everyone around the world. I really think his election helped open a few friendly doors for us in the past couple months:-) And as you know Kenya had the national public holiday the day after he was elected! Hopefully the Obama's will inspire people around the world to continue working toward positive change. Hopefully he will not succumb to the power which is so easy to do. That is my hope and prayer for him.

So there are my thoughts – and I haven't even touched on Darfur/Sudan/Congo where straight out hate/evil is ruling the day and seems so impenetrable. I hope the editor is wrong. I hope that in 20 years I am still able to visit South Africa and meet with you freely. I hope that 30-40 percent unemployment will be a thing of the past. I hope that there will be a strong, successful government that cares for all its people all the time, not just at elections. I hope...for me, for you. We have much to hope for.

And I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with all my random thoughts! Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us.

Stay well and know that our door is open to you wherever we are in the future.

Duncan

The Wilson's Wanderings

Friends/Small World Photos

What causes more offense? (Part 4 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

Skin and privilege (Part 3 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

Outrageous!

It's a Dog's World (Part 2 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

Sticky Rice and Chicken (Part 1 of Meat, Dogs and Skin)

It really is a small world after all...

Week One – The Good, the Bad, the Ugly - but mainly just the good!

Merry Christmas!

Wander with us

Best Secluded Hotel/Get-away Alternatives

Remembering...

Writing Projects...

Blue Christmas

Andrea's School Update

Summer Summary

Switzerland - Take Two

Seasons

Christmas Images and Thoughts

It's been three months...

Settling In - Initial thoughts and observations about Duke and Durham

An American Post

Final Thoughts (but not really!)

More Videos...

Thoughts on a 90km stretch of road...

Assorted Videos

Khlong Boat

Obama and Thailand

Return...Reality?

Back to Thailand June 6-29

Cambodia, June 6-11

Pangkor Island and KL, June 1-5

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31 Part 3

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31 Part 2

Cameron Highlands and Chefoo, May 27-31

Finally...Bangkok to Butterworth

Diabetic Supplies and Airport Security Part 2

Diabetic Supplies and Airport Security Part 1

Final Days in Bangkok and Looking Ahead…

April 30 - May 3, Maehongson

Wilsons Published...

And a few more Songkran Photos...

Songkran Shots...

More Manila/Faith Academy Pics

Yellow Shirts...Red Shirts, Songkran and Manila

Transportation in Bangkok

Duncan's Favorite Things, Part 3

Duncan's Favorite Things Part 2

Duncan's Favorite Things, Part 1

Tell me what to do???

Marriage Encounter

The Lotus and the Cross

12

Mutual Butchering of Language

The Girl Next Door. . . is Locked Inside a Brothel

Bangkok, The City of Angels

Getting Started in Bangkok

Our Bangkok Apartment

Ostrich Mating Dance Video

Playful Monkeys and Red Duiker(?) Video

3.5 Months on the Road - Diabetic Travel Update

January 17 – February 5 Part 2 CPT to JNB to AMS to SEA to PDX to NRT to SIN to BKK – 4 Continents, 2 weeks

January 17 – February 5, Part 1 CPT to JNB to AMS to SEA to PDX to NRT to SIN to BKK – 4 Continents, 2 weeks

20 Years