Ban AYO - Thanksgiving

It was great to sleep in our own bed last night.  We bought an independent pocket spring mattress this spring and we are glad we did.

Yesterday afternoon, we talked with Newt about our trip to Chiang Mai.  Newt is Hlong's cousin.  Hlong is Daeng's sister-in-law.  Wow, I think I got that one right.  Here is a picture on Newt and son getting ready to go home on her motorbike. 

They are all dressed up like it is freezing out and the temperature is about 90 degrees.  Thai girls do that because they want to keep their skin light colored.  It may be a good idea with all this stuff about the sun and skin cancer.

We got a call from Chom-nom yesterday saying that there was a get together for his Mother, Mechu.  I don't quite understand the get together except that it has something to do with everyone getting together to pray for his Mother's health.

We got up around 6:00 AM, had breakfast at the local market and did a few things around the house before dressing to go to Ban AYO.

By the time we made the 46 kilometer trip it was about 11:00 PM.  They had already killed the pig and were starting to roast it over a charcoal fire.

It was great to see all the kids and the Akha folks.  We now know most of them.  A lot if the kids were playing on a pick-up truck rack that was placed under the big tree in front of Mechu's home.

When another Akha lady saw me she started dancing, kind of imitating me as I'm always doing stuff like that.

We hung out with the kids on Mechu's front porch eating cookies and pineapple with the kids.

It was only about an hour and Chom-nom drove in with his motorbike.  He had to travel about a hundred kilometers from the Doi Chang Coffee Company.  He was looking well.

We talked for a little about his work at Doi Chang Coffee and then headed down the road to see the children's shelter.  The roadway to the shelter had been cleared.  The buildings were about the same as when we saw them in spring. 

You could see the water tanks and all the brush was cleared back from the building so they could now be worked on.

We talked and Chom-nom said it was hard to get people behind this project again until they trusted him.  He did say that the video production company that helped before were planning on coming up to help more this month.  He did not know the dates, at this time.


Another good thing is the electricity is now withing 150 meters of the shelter.  The water is available at the road, as well.

We headed back up the road but stopped at the little church just above the children's shelter.  They were have a Thanksgiving Dinner and ask us to stay.  We just could not say: "No".  We knew a lot of the folks and kids, as well.

Thanksgiving here in northern Thailand is celebrated on different dates by each town or village, all sometime during this month. 

After we ate, the ice cream man showed up so Daeng bought all the kids ice cream.

When we got back to Mechu's home the lady across the street was cutting up banana plants for pig food.  I had never seen that done.  I tasted the banana plant center and it tested okay.

It was almost two o'clock.  We talked with Mechu, wished her the very best and told her we loved her.  We took some pictures and she laughed at us because we are so much bigger that she is, even Daeng.

By this time the ice cream man made it up the hill so we had to have more ice cream.  I love the coconut favor.  Yep, everyone loves ice cream.

It was now prayer time.  The elders all sit together and everyone bows in front of Mechu, holding her hands, passing some money to her and praying for her health. 

Daeng and I both did that but did not pass any money as we had given her some when we said "Good-bye" before the prayer session.

We think we stayed within the tradition.

We said our "Good-bye's" again.  We told Chom-nom we would call him next week and come see him at Doi Chang Coffee Company.  That trip will be an over night trip.

We headed home and our Nissan March ran well.  I think we got great mileage and it passed other cars and trucks on hills much better than I expected with a 1.2 liter engine. 

Sunday is for Church?

Although I don't consider myself religious I have been known to go to church once in a while.

We got up and did our morning walk, came back to room, showered and dressed. We then hopped on the old motorbike to go see Pastor Lota's service at the little church run by Rev. Sunit.

We arrived late but I've been told that you are never late if you get there before the collection is made.

I don't know why but Thai parents always want me to hold their kids. I feel like a politician. Usually I scar the kids and they start crying. That may be because I'm almost twice the size of the average Thai person and look pretty scary with all my hair.

It was nice to see Pastor Lota speaking in Thai and then being translated to Akha for some of the member of the congregation.

After church Daeng's family rode over to the new restaurant around the corner. We had driven by the other day and saw it advertised on cable TV, too.

The name of the restaurant is "Coconut Restaurant". I think they picked the name because they have coconut ice cream. Sorry to say the food was terrible and the service was every worse.

The coconut ice cream was average if compared to the ice cream carts that sell ice cream on the road stands.

We had to try it once. The building was fixed nice and will probably be up for sale in a few months.

As we returned to our room we stopped to take a picture of the renovations at the place next door to our hotel called "Monkey Island".

July 4, 2009 - Dunk Tank

Daeng and I headed to the Mission Viejo Street Faire around 3:00 PM to help our friends Tom Riehl and Catrina with the Dunk Tank.

This is an annual event at the Mission Viejo Street Faire on Independence Day each year. All the proceeds go to the American Cancer Association.

When we arrived it was a warm and sunny day. There seemed to be something for everyone, train rides, food, music, shops and the DUNK TANK.

People were lined up so they could throw balls to dunk the folks that took turns in the dunk tank. I noticed from the roster that our friend Tom was going to be in the dunk tank from 6:00 - 6:30 PM right after the ice cream eating contest. I made a note to save my money so I could dunk Tom.

The day went fast as there was good music of all types. The bands and singers would perform for about and hour and then another group would take over.
At 5:30 PM Daeng, Catrina, Tom and I set up the plastic for the ice cream eating contest. Three teams of two people each made sundaes and feed them to each other blind folded. It was messy but fun to watch.

Then it was time for Tom to take his place in the dunk tank. I was lucky to get a picture of Tom on his way down for the first dunk. Check out the expression on his face.

I also was able to dunk Tom three times out of ten throws. Pretty good for an old guy.

We shut down the dunk tank when it was starting to get dark.

We hung around to watch the fire works.

It was a pleasant day! Happy Independence Day!