avocado: give it a week.

Sunday, August 18.

So you can get a feel for Thai

I arrived late Tuesday night and today is the end of the week. That means five nights in Bangkok. The learning curve is always steep for a new place, but so far it is great. Janine’s been easy on me, letting me enjoy the city, people and work. Probably the thing that has surprised me most about this week is how international this city is. Actually, all of Thailand for that matter. Besides there being every kind of restaurant within walking distance of where I am staying, there are tourists from every corner of the globe and ex-pats from all over. When I walk down the streets, I obviously cannot tell which are here for a week and which are here to stay, but it is a strange sight for me to see a woman in a burka walking past a prostitute with gaudy makeup and small, tight clothing. The juxtaposition is almost cartoonish because it doesn’t seem like it could really happen on the same street, but as sure as my eyes have seen it, I can tell you it is true.

Today, Janine and I went out to the outskirts of the city (about 1.5 hour commute one way) to help with a Spotlight English Club taking place. The students were all Chinese! And one of the guys facilitating discussion is a student from Nigeria. So here I am in Thailand, where they speak Thai, teaching English to Chinese students who speak Chinese, with a volunteer leading English discussion from Nigeria. Confused yet? Globalization at its best. Anyway, it was fun and I will probably be helping with this club on Saturdays in the future.

We could've taken the cheaper option...but there was no room.

In other thoughts and news, the Buddhists shrines on the corner just confuse me. Roofs of buildings are sometimes shaped in a way to catch or kill the evil spirits. Shrines are put up in order to receive a good spirit/success for businesses. The one in front of the mall is quite large. (And the mall does great business.) The taxi driver today had a cough and pulled out a little stone with the Buddha on it and prayed while we were at a light. It is interesting to see the public display of religion in blatant shrines and incense and prayers. So often I think about how my acts of devotion are often private. I think about how growing up with this idea that “separation of church and state” is the most excellent way to live and yet when there is a fairly homogenous religion for a people group, there is no concept of needing or wanting to separate the two.

Notice that the spirits need straws to drink their soda.

It is amazing how quickly I feel like I am meeting people and making a home here. When walking back from the subway, we ran into two of Janine’s friends and the friend I am staying with for a couple weeks! Less than two weeks and the city is feeling smaller. (Granted, we all live and work in a relatively small area, but this bumping into people in strange places does seem to be a theme in my life.) In the evening the small group Janine is a part of hosted a dinner and a showing of a family favorite….Mamma Mia! I, of course, felt right at home and tried not to be too enthusiastic about singing along. The worst of jet lag seems to have cleared, although by 10pm, I feel like I’m going to pass out.

Today is Sunday and SPOTLIGHT CLUBS will have a volunteer booth at church, so I will probably meet a lot of people today since it is my first day at church and I am helping run a booth. I feel like an insider already. ;)

Keep in touch! Loves.