สัตว์ป่าท้องถิ่น - Local Wildlife

And by local I mean in the school. This is a short post about what it is like to live in a school, on the out skirts of small town in tropical Thailand.

1. Bugs

Bugs are no longer a big deal. I am used to having over ten itchy bites at one time and I have learned that even though some of the girls have only had one bite in four months that I can't blame them (sorry Lindsay). I have bug bites just about everywhere, palms of my hands, face, ears, you name it! One night we left on our light on and our windows were still open and we had a complete infestation! All of us helped clean up and we have always closed the windows in time since then. I am excited to no longer have applying bug spray multiple times a day be necessary.

It is difficult to see, but these are all bugs!

Eight bites on one side of my foot, from one night. It reminds me of chicken pox.

2. Bigger bugs

So we have found a few large bugs in the school as well. One was a praying mantis and it fell on my head from the cupboard! It was the largest one I had ever seen and I just took it outside and released it, but it took a while to catch, it was very fast! We also found the biggest spider I have ever seen! It really scared us girls and we have seen multiple around the school since then. The cleaning ladies thankfully killed this one the day we found it inside the school. The students and teachers didn't even act like the spider was a big deal and were thoroughly entertained by our reaction to it. 

Praewa being very brave!

It was SO scary!

3. Bats

We had a pet bat for about a week and then it disappeared as discreetly as it appeared. It stayed in the light fixture right above our bathroom door in the hallway, so we just kept our doors closed and he didn't bother us. 

4. Lizards

These lizards are all over the school! We see around 10 of them in our room throughout the day. It is not an unusual occurrence for one of us girls to randomly inform the other of a lizard being right above her head on the wall (they are notorious for jumping on us when we least expect it). They shower, eat and practically live with us and we all think they are kind of cute (not to mention they eat bugs)! They also make an interesting chirping noise that has just became a part of our life here. The other week we found a very small dead lizard in our toaster and we simply cleaned it out and continued using the toaster. One day I might be disgusted by that but here, and now it is just normal. 

This little guy was SO tiny!

I have waited to do this post because I know that my mom worries a lot about me here, but I figured due to the fact that I leave Thailand in a week (still having mixed feelings about that) that it would be ok. So mom, don't worry, I have lived like this for 3 months and 3 weeks, one more week won't hurt!

เทศกาลจีน - Chinese Festival

Last week we had a Chinese Festival here in Phichit and there was a lot to eat and a lot to see! We went for one night and it was really crowded. Most were food vendors-- food that we didn't really want to eat but that the Thai people loved, such as:

Octopus

Squid

The lanes were really crowded and we weren't going to eat so we turned down another lane and found a Chinese temple with young performers.

Crowded festival

Mock fight

This group did somersaults through not only a ring of fire but a ring of knives. 

Large Chinese dragon

We love the elderly here in Thailand, they are too cute!

We aren't too sure who the group of youth were who put on the small show but they were incredible and we enjoyed watching! We also saw dances with whistles, a man with fire crackers wrapped around him and other mock fights. 

On our way out of the festival we stopped at some clothes vendors and one lady handed us two sheets of paper. We all tried to figure out what they were and why they handed them to us. We saw that one looked like a hand-drawn map of Phichit county and the other was a brochure of some sort for Phichit. The lady then returned, and with pens. She motioned for us to write something and we realized that she was asking for our signature. After I made sure it was only a map and brochure, we signed the papers and then took a picture with the lady. We realized that the map and brochure were simply random sheets of paper that were closest to the vendor. I will never forget when we were asked for our autographs at the Chinese festival. 

โบสถ์ - Church

As many of you know I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church) and I have been lucky enough to attend church here in Thailand!! All over the world my church has congregations that worship the same way we do in America. They teach from the same books, have the same lessons and the organization of these congregations are identical with missionaries, bishops etc. If you have more questions about this ask me! Or you can visit this link to learn more about my faith: (http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng)

So our branch (a small congregation) is in the town Phitsanulok just about forty minutes north of Phichit. We go to church by train at 6:40 am like I have shared in my post about the train station. It has been such a blessing to attend, we feel very much at home there. The spirit of Christ is very strong and I have loved being surrounded by converts (members of my church who convert later in their life) and investigators!! Our first few Sundays were made possible by our good friend Mink. She would meet us at the train station and tell the taxi driver to take us all to the church building. The church is not a chapel, it is actually a five-story building that has been made into a church building but is it furnished and decorated identical to a chapel in Utah.

Us with Mink, we love her SO much.

Mink joined the LDS church about eight years ago and speaks English very well! Her parents are not members but she hopes that one day they will convert. She helps the branch so much! She befriends every investigator and even girls who have been members their whole lives and don't speak Thai :) Mink is going to be attending Dixie College, in St. George Utah, this coming January and is very excited to go to America! We are also excited to see her when she will visit Salt Lake and BYU. 

Us girls, along with Mink, are part of the YSAs in the ward (the young single adults). Many in this group are investigators or recent converts who do not have support from their traditional Buddhist parents but they are strong in the church and are fully devoted to Christ. 

On Sunday, November 18th, these young single adults sang a musical number in church. They sang "Love is Spoken Here," one of my favorite songs. The song was in Thai but I knew the lyrics. The spirit was unbelievably strong and I was overcome to the point of tears! At first, my emotions stemmed from missing my family and wanting to be home and then they transformed into products of my admiration for these stalwart youth. The song speaks of mothers who offer heartfelt prayers to our Heavenly Father and fathers who preside over their homes with priesthood power (the power of God here on earth). I looked into the eyes of my friends and saw their devotion to Christ. I know that they did not have support to be christian, let alone Mormon, from their parents and families. I knew that what the song meant to me was not what it meant to them. I was overcome with appreciation for my parents! My parents who raised to love Christ. My parents who supported me in attending church. My parents who taught who to be the best christian I can be. I have learned a lot from these YSA's examples and I wish them all the best in their futures!

Church magazines in Thai

We each got our own Book of Mormon in Thai

Due to everything being in Thai at church, the missionaries who were called to serve in Thailand translate for us. All of the ones we have met here in Thailand have been from the United States and have English as their first language. Because church is three hours long, it is exhausting for them to translate but we are very appreciative of it! Especially Sister King, who is from Utah and will return home the same day we do! She has been so helpful!

Us with part of the ward for a baptism. Sister King is wearing the red skirt.

Relief Society is an organization in the church that is just for the women. We gather together as a sisterhood and study the gospel together as women for the last hour of church. The sisters in this ward have been incredible! They love to involve us as mush as they can and we enjoy Relief Society each week so much because of their sweet spirit.

Sister Eve is in the middle, she wanted us to take a silly photo.

Some of the Relief Society sisters, aren't you loving the silver dress? They are the greatest.

I have strengthened my testimony SO much by attending this wonderful branch! We really feel part of the community here. I don't know if I could have made it four months away from my family, in a foreign country without feeling so close to my Savior every time I attend church here. I love this gospel. I know that Joseph Smith restored the only true church to earth; the same church that was on the earth with Christ in New Testament times.  I know that we have a current prophet, Thomas S. Monson, who speaks to God on a regular basis and I love him dearly. I know that The Book of Mormon is straight from the mouth of God and that by reading it I get closer to Jesus Christ. I am very grateful for this church and for my valiant parents who raised me in this beautiful gospel. I'm thankful for the leaders of the Phitsanulok branch, the ones who keep things going behind the scenes. I have a new appreciation for missionaries and all they they do! I'm so thankful for the missionaries all over the world who are dedicated to the work of the Lord. I love this church and I know it is true and I say these things in the name of my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen. 

เทศกาลลอยกระทง - Loy Krathong Festival

Loy Krathong is a festival that originated in Sukhothai (where we saw all the ancient ruins) and is now a national holiday in Thailand. A loy krathong is a floating offering that you put into a lake or river for the festival. The festival was started by Buddhist monks to honor Buddha but now it is more common for everyone to make loy krathongs and release them into the water to thank the Goddess of Water.

Many tourists know this festival as "The Lantern Festival" but lanterns are a more of a new addition to the Loy Krathong festival but it was the only part that we were familiar with and we had been waiting months for this festival! We had seen pictures like this

and thought that the festival would be like this but because the lanterns are a new addition to the Loy Krathong Festival there only these beautiful sights in Chiang Mai and Sukhothai. But Phichit's festival still had PLENTY to offer.

The day started out with the kids, in traditional Thai clothes, playing traditional games with their Thai teachers. 

Sydney, Bonus, Praewa, Phuvit, Ongry, Mhew, Max, Yada, Gui, and Fei-Fei

Then the kids went to their classrooms to get their Loy Krathong that they had made the day before.

Making their offerings with Teacher On

Maenie, Me Me and Chef

Chef, Me Me and Maeni from the back so you can appreciate their fake hair pieces.

Tunwa

Pear and Mon Mai

Me Me and Moo Pee trying to smile

Praewa and I

My K3 class!

Next, what I called "limo golf carts" pulled up to take us to the lake to put our loy krathongs in the water. The entire ride to the lake (around ten minutes) the K3 class, my class, sang a traditional song for the festival that their teacher had been teaching them. Everyone we passed loved it and we all waved, we felt like we were in a parade! It was so fun to be out in public with our kids! They were so funny, anything of importance that we passed they would yell, "Teacher, teacher! Look!" I remember refusing to admit my teachers in elementary school had a life outside of school... and the fact that us English teachers ACTUALLY live at the school I'm sure it makes it much easier for them to imagine us as I imagined my teachers. 

Me on the limo with the kids

Phuvit, Fei-Fei and me... obviously the most excited one for the ride.

Don't worry Fei-Fei is just growling... it's a common occurrence. 

He pretends to be a Ben Ten alien at least twice a day.

Once we arrived at the river, we lined up and one class at a time, we put in our offerings.

Fei-Fei

Waiting in line, Preawa is so cute!

One class placing their loy krathongs in the water

Ongry and I 

Fei-Fei

Yindee and Gui (in the background) with their loy krathongs

These were next to the dock where we let our offerings off and there was a competition that night for the best one, we thought they were all beautiful.

SO detailed!

Us teachers

On our way back to the golf carts we ran into some of Phichit's special needs children! 

They were SO cute and loved taking a picture with us as we did with them!

That night we went to the festival!! Tang and her brother Ton took us and it was very fun.

First up: Lanterns

This was our first attempt and the lantern had holes in it

Second attempt

Letting the air in the lantern heat up

It's almost ready! 

SUCCESS!

More of the festival:

Muay Thai boxing

These little dragons were everywhere and I loved them!

It was a great day full of adorable kids, tradition and amazing food!