The Phone Call, 1-3-2013

I was pretty down the first couple days of 2013.  We had prayed so long for a 2012 baby, and I was disappointed that it didn't happen.  I was allowing myself to be sad and disappointed even though I KNEW that God's plans were much better than mine.  I was hanging on to Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."  Anyone who saw me during that week knew that I was struggling.  But I hadn't given up. In my heart of hearts, I knew something was going on that was much bigger than I could understand.  Matt and I even had some serious conversations during those days.  I am so thankful for the faith of my husband.  He is definitely God's gift to me. 

On to the moment when everything changed...

On Thursday, January 3rd, I was at work when my cell phone rang at 10:03am.  I didn't recognize the number, but it could have been any number of people.  When it was our Bethany social worker, I still didn't know for sure it was a referral call.  The week before Christmas, we had talked with her about the possibility of older child adoption, so I thought she might be calling to follow up on that.  We chatted about Christmas for a minute and being back to 'normal' schedules before she said, "Well, I have some potentially exciting news... you've been chosen!"

She was smart enough to say "you're probably not going to understand all the details right now, so call me back so I can talk to you and Matt together."  So, I called Matt.  He was at home.  I told him, "We have a baby!" and I started bursting out crying.  My coworker, Veronica, ran over to my desk to hug me.  I was shaking.  Trembling.  So, Matt and I decided to both start driving toward one another so we could call our social worker back together.  

I ran around the office, crying and screaming "we have a baby!"  There were questions like, "is it a boy or girl", and I just said "I don't know, and I don't care!"  :)  My poor coworkers probably thought I had lost my mind.  I hugged everyone then went out the door to drive to meet Matt. 

Halfway to each other ended up being Dunkin' Donuts.  We sat in the parking lot and called our social worker back.  She gave us LOTS of information.  One of the most important questions that I asked was "did the birth mother pick us, or were we chosen by default?"  She told us, "She chose you... she loves your love for your family and that you have lived and traveled to a lot of places."  This was a huge answer to prayer! We were THRILLED! 

We asked lots more questions, and she gave us lots of information.  It was CLEAR to us that this is our son.  
Immediately, we called our immediate family members and shared what we knew.  Needless to say, I was way too excited to go back to work. Matt and I hung out the rest of the day and got busy making preparations. 

On the phone later in the day...

Later, I called the birth mother's social worker and asked more questions.  I asked if we get to meet the birth mother, and that was a special answer as well.  Apparently, the birth mother wasn't sure if she wanted to get to know the adoptive family or not, but after reading our profile book, she definitely wants to keep in touch.  What an answer to prayer!  We also learned her first name, which I love. I LOVE being able to pray for her by name. 

Talking with the birth mother's social worker and taking notes.
Matt took this picture because it looks like Zoe & Nala are joined together behind me.
So thankful he focuses on the important things! ;)

It finally happened!!  We're going to be parents--soon! :)

Christmas in Saluda, Part 2 (Chameleon)

After the excitement of the goats, we revisited our plans for Saturday evening.  We had originally planned to go up to the Biltmore house and walk around the village up there and eat a nice dinner up there.  Instead, we decided to get BBQ in Saluda and just chill at the house.  

After dinner, we decided to open 3 presents each.  Everything was going well (movies, earrings, etc.) until I went to get a present for Matt and was told he had to wait until last to open it.  Hmmmmm....

When it was Matt's turn, he opened up a background for an aquarium.  It took him a minute, and then he said, "does this mean I'm getting a veiled chameleon!!?!?!"  (He has been wanting one for a couple of years.) 

Valerie promptly produced a veiled chameleon from her pocket.

What!?!?! Huh!?!?  What!?!?!  My thoughts:  Since when is it okay to get someone a PET for Christmas without at least consulting them and/or their spouse!?!?  Oh, the irony. 

I am not thrilled with reptiles.  I heard a story once about a baby getting salmonella from geckos in the house, and I have been opposed to cold-blooded creatures in the house since then.  But I guess it doesn't matter because Matt was filled with pure joy, and who am I to put the kabosh on that at Christmas? 

So yeah, Matt got a veiled chameleon (with a nice hand-me-down cage and light which is the only way the gift stayed remotely close to the price limit that was set for gifts).  For the rest of the visit, the time that wasn't spent with the goats was spent with the chameleon... whose name changed from Rango to Optimus to Gage before we finally settled on Muppet. 

**Side note, can you imagine if we had driven home from Saluda with Us, Zoe, Nala, a pygmy goat, AND a veiled chameleon?!?!  My sister almost allowed that to happen.  Thanks a lot, Valerie! :)

The birth of Jesus

  This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

   But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him...

  (A few months later) 

   ...Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

  On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

~Compiled from Matthew 1 and Luke 2.    

Source

As we celebrate this Christmas, may we remember the reason we celebrate. 
We celebrate the birth of Jesus, and this part of His plan for salvation! 

A Story About Having 8 House Guests

Once upon a time there was a young married couple who had just moved into a new apartment. That apartment happened to be 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The couple's church was hosting about 80 middle schoolers from Atlanta who were coming to Charleston to do service projects for the community. The couple's church said they needed host homes, so the couple volunteered to host 2 or 3 youth for the week, knowing it would be a little tight, but they wanted to help and thought it would be fun.A few days before the youth arrived, the couple who had just moved into the apartment found out that they were hosting not 2 or 3 youth but EIGHT youth + a chaperone! After a mild panic attack, the young wife calmed down and realized that middle schoolers can sleep on the floor and share a bathroom. They would be on a mission trip, after all, not a luxury vacation, right? So, the young couple cleaned and prepared their apartment for the arrival of their guests.On Saturday night, they arrived, around 10:30 pm, with lots of suitcases, sleeping bags, pillows, and personality. The neighbors surrounding the apartment surely did not know what hit them when it sounded as if a stampede of elephants was entering the apartment breezeway. The girls shuffled in, and the couple realized there were not eight girls + a chaperon but SEVEN girls + a chaperone, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Every little bit helps, they thought.
Through the week, the girls were wonderful guests. They didn't complain about sleeping on the floor or sharing a bathroom. They were great with the giant dog that lived in the apartment and even took her out to go to the bathroom occasionally. They brought their own breakfast foods, but the young wife made pancakes a couple of mornings and french toast one morning just so they could start the day off with hot breakfasts. They didn't mind that there weren't enough chairs or places at the table. They didn't complain about having to eat on tv trays every morning. All of their other meals were eaten with the big group at other locations.The girls were out and about around town most of the week, but when they were home, they laughed and talked and played games and watched movies in the apartment's theater. They told stories and tried to talk louder than each other so each could be heard. The sweet chaperone would quiet them down, and they would giggle. And they spent lots of time with blow dryers and hair straighteners and changing outfits.All in all, it was a good week. But when the girls and their chaperone left on Friday morning, the young wife let out a sigh of relief. And then started cleaning. And she wondered whether or not she would host 7 middle school girls again. She's still wondering. :)

4 Years Ago Today

... was one of the best days EVER!Matt and I had recently returned from a mission trip to Romania. On that trip, I could tell that Matt KNEW that we were called to marriage. And then, a couple of days after that, my Mom called and said, 'hey, do you have any idea why Matt wants to come over and meet with me?' Ummm, DUH, Mom! So, then I was pretty excited. But Matt caught wind that I might know, so he did a great job of convincing me that it wasn't the right time. So, when it actually happened, I wasn't suspecting a thing! :)

... Monday, Nov. 20, we had a nice date planned. We dressed up and were going to go to a tapas place for dinner and then a fondue place for dessert. I was very excited for an official, dressy date, so when Matt came to pick me up, I had sparkling grade juice and cheese and crackers for us. I thought we would really enjoy the whole night and relax. Matt was rushing through and I had no idea why, but I just followed his lead. We left a little later than he had planned, and both of the places we tried to go to for dinner were closed.

Matt said that he had to go by his house to go to the restroom before we went to dinner at a different place. On the way to his house, he said that he wanted me to see a video that he had made with his college roommate. I sat down to watch it and heard our song. The video included a couple of inside jokes, but it was mostly full of pictures of us. In between pictures, the words, "Will...You...Marry...Me?" flashed up, and I couldn't believe what was really happening! When the video finished, Matt got on his knees in front of me, gave a little speech (which included him saying 'I Love You' for the first time) and then asked for my answer. I said, "of course!" and then we kissed and he gave me the ring.Matt had also made a video of several of our friends telling us why they are excited about us getting married. He had planned to use that as part of the proposal, but it didn't work out. We watched that video, and then he told me he had one more surprise planned blindfolded me.He drove around & around to throw me off. Eventually, we ended up at his sister's house. When we got there, a lot of our friends and family were there for a surprise engagement party! It was wonderful! Honestly, it was perfect!

Fiona Adventures: Bit by a Snake

Happy Labor Day! So very thankful for a day off today, I took little Miss Fiona to the dog park. It's something we've been doing lately (and going on long walks) to try to wear her out so we can enjoy her a little more at home.
Well, today, we were having a lovely time at the dog park. Chattin' it up with the other dog owners and watching her run herself ragged. (It's 3 hours later, and she's been asleep since we got home. This is good.) At one point, I glance behind the bench where I was sitting to check on her, and I see her playing with a little white terrier kinda dog. They looked fine, as they were playing with some kind of stick. Then, I looked again as I realized it might not have been a stick after all...Well, it wasn't a stick. In fact, it was a snake that didn't seem to take kindly to being batted back and forth between a small terrier kinda dog and a Fiona puppy. It was striking at one, then the other. And I saw it 'catch' on Fiona's neck. Twice. All this while I said rather calmly to the guy sitting on a nearby bench, "Oh, they're playing with a snake." We got up, and he threw Fiona towards me since she wouldn't come when I called her. She was having too much fun 'playing' with this new toy. And we got the smaller dog away too. By then, all the other dogs came over to see the new fun toy, and the other owners were all trying to keep their four-legged children away from this snake.

We got all the dogs away, and two of the guys worked together to pin it's head to the ground with a stick. One guy grabbed it near its head and carried it far away. During the pinning and carrying, they determined it was a rat snake. A constrictor, so not poisonous.

Fiona quickly forgot about that toy and moved on to racing around with the bigger dogs again. She seemed unfazed, so I wasn't worried about her. And even though the guys seemed pretty confident, I wanted to be sure. So I googled rat snakes on my Droid to make sure I didn't need to take her to visit her daddy at the vet. Google confirmed the picture of the type of snake we had encountered and that rat snakes are constrictors, so Fiona Jayne had nothing to be concerned about. The little terrier dog that she was playing with had cause for concern though. Even though the snake was only like 3.5 feet long, it might have been able to take down the little white dog had it been left to its own devices and not had Super Fiona to bat it around with him. :)
We stayed at the dog park for another 45 minutes or so and had a friend from small group join us. And she's fine. Even snake bites don't faze our littlest girl. She's resilient.

One of God's stories from our church in Fort Worth

In 10 years since Wedgwood Baptist shootings, gunman's brother has found forgiveness at the church...

Story is here

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How Do We Know We Are Not Ready for Another Dog?

On Monday, Matt went to the SPCA to apply for a 2nd job. While there, he found this great dog that he fell for instantly. And the feeling was mutual. He sent me pictures with comments that said things like, "I love this dog." "Can we please get him?" Somehow, he left the SPCA without that dog. We talked at one point and I said that I was surprised he didn't bring the dog home and call it an anniversary present. He asked if I would be mad if he did, and I replied that I would not be mad because I would like to have another dog. And if he did it all on his own, I wouldn't feel responsible for the decision and could just enjoy the dog ...

He took that--and the fact that grandma gave him some money to get me an anniverary present--as a blessing and went to adopt the dog.

Nala and "Gaston" (like from beauty and the Beast) got along beautifully, and Matt had no problems bringing him home and settling him in. Matt then met me in Mount Pleasant for some internet time at a cafe and then for our Financial Peace class. A couple of times he mentioned how much he would like the dog, but he didn't elaborate... and he definitely did not give away that he had already adopted him!

After Financial Peace, as we drove home separately, I spent almost the entire drive thinking about whether or not we should get another dog. As much as we both want one and know that Nala would enjoy having a buddy, we are trying to make significant changes in our spending habits so that we can get out of debt. I decided that we should postpone getting another dog.

Then I got home and was standing in the kitchen. Matt went to let Nala out of the kennel... only two dogs came running into the kitchen intead of just one. Little Gaston was so sweet and fun, and I could tell instantly how much Nala loved having him. And oh, he is so cute! I was shocked, though, and when Matt said, "Happy Anniversary!", I was still trying to absorb that we now had two dogs.

We took them both for a walk around the new neighborhood. Talking and getting to know the new guy. We decided a better name for him would be "Pumba", in keeping with the Disney theme, of course--but it seemed to fit his lumbering gate better than "Gaston". We joked about how people would think we had an unhealthy obsession with The Lion King. We talked about everything we knew about him. He had all his shots. He was neutered. He did not bark. He was very friendly. (A friend of mine from Verizon volunteers at the SPCA and told me all about his personality when I showed her the pic that Matt had texted me earlier.) We can do this!, we thought. The extra expense won't really be that much. Our new place is big enough.

After getting them home, the two dogs were non-stop energy. The condo seemed to get smaller by the minute, and the 'dog aroma' that I don't mind usually, got stronger and stronger. His cuteness and energetic personality seemed a little 'too much' compared to Nala who can be very chill. And he wouldn't stop humping her. And he peed (which sounded something akin to a fire hydrant) in the house twice--and also pooed--in the space of about an hour. He's not quite trained, so when he leaps toward you, he lunges at your face... and it's slightly frightening.

But his face is so cute. And this was his first night. He would calm down. They wouldn't constantly be play-wrestling. They would calm down eventually. We could afford him.

After a good couple of hours of trying to convince ourselves, we finally got honest with each other about our concerns. We had a grown-up conversation and realized we probably did not need another dog. And after struggling with my feelings that our 'rejection' of him would ruin him forever, and lots and lots of tears, we decided he would go back to SPCA. He's so cute, and his personality is so wonderful that we know he will find another home. One that will be much better for him than we are.

So, how is it that we know we aren't ready for another dog?

We had one for about 24 hours. We're not ready yet.

And now that we know that, we will leave you with some pictures of cute Gaston/Pumba and Nala from their 'sleepover' night together.

Flower Faux-Pas!

Background: A guy in my training class and his wife had a baby yesterday. Today, we got together some money for flowers to send to them at the hospital, to welcome the new baby girl. Around 2:00 this afternoon, the florist had just delivered a big bouquet of flowers with a balloon that said something about welcoming the baby. Matt was thoroughly confused but thinking in the back of his head that this was my way of telling him that we were pregnant. Grandma was here to take Matt to work, and I' sure she was very confused too. She then noticed that the card was addressed to me, so she said, 'Is Tricia pregnant?!?'.

Today at 2:03 p.m., I received a text message from Matt saying 'Do you have something you need to tell me?' I had no idea what he was talking about, so I stepped out to call him. The phone call was pretty hilarious because I knew that the florist had just made a mistake, but he still had no idea. Poor guy. Funny story!

Thankful for 'Leaving Well'

God has me in a continual state of thankfulness right now. Though we are definitely sad to be leaving the people and some things in Thailand, it is a huge blessing that we are having a good transition and the opportunity to 'leave well'. I'm going to miss a lot of aspects of Thai life, but I've had time to prepare myself for those things.

I can spend time with my friends, go to my favorite places, reflect on our time here with people who have known us here. All these things are giant blessings! How do I know this?

Three years ago, when I was leaving another country, I didn't have the same opportunity. I found one of my past prayer letters that outlined the events that were consuming the time and energy of my team this time 3 years ago, when I left another country. ***
Beginning Friday, April 7th (2006), we experienced a lot of pressure from the local authorities which eventually led to us having to leave. It began with problems with our registration as a result of a law that was recently passed to intentionally target foreigners. Our passports were taken from us for a few days, during which we spent a lot of time at a local government building. We ended up paying a lot of money in fines and thought that our problems were over.

However, the day we received our passports back (Thursday, April 13th), Debbie’s English class and Jordan’s English club were visited by the police. Their students were questioned and detained, and ministry materials were confiscated from the guys’ house, where Jordan’s club was taking place. During that time, it became apparent that the city authorities wanted us out. By the end of that night , our country director made a deal with the police, over the phone, that our team would leave the city instead of going to jail. We were told we had a week to leave.

On Friday, we made a decision to stay in our city until Tuesday so that we could carry out our Easter outreach plans and have enough time to say goodbye to friends and pack (though a few days hardly seemed enough). We planned to show the Passion and the Jesus movies in a local movie theatre on Saturday and Easter Sunday to our friends who were interested. However, on Saturday (April 15th), police again showed up at the guys’ house in the morning with arrest warrants. Our country director was at their house (Praise God!) and was able to keep the police outside until all of the paperwork and everything was done legally. By the end of the day, the police left (we think because the guys' house owner paid a bribe for them to leave), and the guys were able to leave town immediately.

While the guys were stuck in their house for seven hours, Debbie and I packed (in the midst of destroying ministry materials) and hurriedly left town on our own. We all met up in the capital city late that night where we spent a few days deciding what was our best next step and waiting to see if criminal charges would be pressed against us. At the end of that time, we decided that it was best for our company and for the potential of some of us to return in the future, if we left the country as soon as possible.

So, we flew out on Thursday, April 20th, to Paris to be debriefed by the regional part of our company and to explore other places for us to serve. Unfortunately, no other locations worked out for us, so we plan to return to America Thursday, April 27th.

***
It's so bittersweet to reflect back on that time. There are so many friends who I wish I could have spent time with and said goodbye to. There are many places I would have liked to visit one last time. Many things I would have packed in my suitcase had I known we were headed back to the States and not to another secure country. Mostly would have just liked to have time to spend with the people who I had grown to love.

God is so good, and the experience that we are having here is a reminder of that for me. He's giving me another opportunity to 'leave well'... something that I'm realizing is so important.

After the Fall (Part 3)

(From Tricia's perspective).
So, after moving far enough away from the elephant that I wasn't worried about being trampled, I looked over and saw Matt's croc under the elephant's foot. Despite the fact that I was in a LOT of pain, it cracked me up.

After he retrieved the shoe, we got up and started walking away. But my right knee hurt really bad. I knew I couldn't bend it. Oh. My. Gosh. I was thinking, "Are you kidding me? Who falls off an elephant?"

A lady who lived near where we fell just happened to work at the hotel we were staying. So, she drove us to the hotel clinic. They cleaned up our cuts and scrapes and were super concerned about my right knee. It had a giant knot on it and really hurt. They wanted me to go to a hospital, but I said I would be okay. I would just go and rest but if it was still hurting later, I would go to a hospital. (Most of me did NOT want to go to a hospital in another foreign country. My experience in Turkey was enough for me).

Well, they kept poking and prodding me, and it was hurting really bad. I was shaking and nauseous, so I thought maybe something was broken.

A hotel van drove us to the nearby town clinic. Two of the guys who worked at the elephant place came with us too. Thankfully, we had befriended one of them before we rode the elephant, and we felt comfortable with him helping us and interpreting for us.

When we got to the second clinic, they put me on a stretcher and rolled me into the ER. It smelled powerfully like death, and as I glanced around, I realized that there were A LOT of really sick people in there. There was barely enough room for my stretcher. I prayed that we wouldn't get something like TB just from being in that room, and I prayed for the other people who were really sick. I felt a bit ridiculous being in there. As I finished praying, a nurse came over and poked and prodded me. My right knee would not bend. It hurt a lot when she poked it. The nurse was concerned. But the clinic didn't have an x-ray machine, and THE (as in only) doctor was away on holiday. We needed to go to the next town to another hospital.

On our way out, as I'm NOT comfortable being wheeled around on a stretcher when I had just been thrown from something that should have been more sturdy, I saw a cat running around in the clinic. A cat, running around. In the clinic. Matt took a picture. He said there was also a mangy dog in there too. (More comic relief).

Alright, so were driven to the next hospital in the next town. Lots of pain but also laughter. I kept saying to Matt, "Are you kidding me? Did we really just fall off an elephant?" And I was thinking, how come I'm the only one that got really hurt? We DID fall off the same elephant. On the drive, we discussed the physics of the catapult. Since I was on the side that broke, I got thrown further and harder. Plus, that old expression 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' must be true.

When we arrived at the third place, an actual hospital, we were taken to the er. A doctor came and looked and then a nurse took me to get x-rays. After x-rays, we went back to the er section, and they did more poking and prodding. The knot was bigger. Then they took me back to x-ray the other leg, to compare, I guess. The poor driver of the van and the elephant guys were following us around the whole time. When we got back to my section of the er, there was casting stuff. I looked at Matt and was like, oh dear, this is not going to be fun. But the doctor said, "Not for you. You don't need." I felt better immediately. Life in Thailand would NOT be fun with my leg in a cast.

Turns out it was just a bad sprain and lots of cuts and bruises. He did ask if I wanted a cast anyway. Thanks but no thanks.

After getting some meds and getting BOTH knees wrapped (to help with the swelling?) and instructions not to walk for 3-5 days (yeah, right!), we left.

A huge praise is that the elephant people also PAID for the trips to the clinics, and the van ride was complimentary from the hotel. (Remember that I still have no health insurance, so that was a big concern during the afternoon of clinics.)
It's now been about 24 hours since we fell. We are not nearly as sore as we thought we would be, and I'm able to put weight on my right leg. Still can't bend it comfortably, but it could have been A LOT worse. Plus, now we have a cool story. I mean, how many people can say that they...

fell off a daggum elephant!

Thrown from an Elephant! (Part 2)

(From Matt's Facebook note)
...Next to the resort is a place where you can ride elephants. Tricia and I decided that it would be fun and that we wanted to do it. So we walk over to the place and tell them we want to ride an elephant. First, we met the baby elephant and Tricia fed bananas to it.

Then, she fed bananas to the BIG elephant. After feeding it bananas, the guy takes the elephant to get harnessed and then walks him back over to where we are. We climb up the platform to get on the seat and we start walking.

Right away Tricia didn't like it and wanted to go back. The seat was not very wide and there is nothing to hold us in and no rail in front of us either. So Tricia says she wants to go back but I assured her that it was ok and that we would be fine, so we kept going. After another couple steps Tricia asks the guy to take us back. I tell her again that we were ok. The guy driving the elephant also turns around and says, "Don't worry, safety number 1." He tells us the elephant is number 1 and then he grabs one of the ropes holding the chair to the elephant and repeats, "safety number 1!" So we kept going.

We come to a place where there is a very steep slope that the elephant has to walk down. As soon as I saw it I also wanted to go back. The guy told us that when the elephant starts to go down the slope we need to lean back. We said okay and leaned back. The elephant starts to walk down the slope but then stops. However, he was already so far down that we were sliding out of the seat. Let me remind you that there was no bar holding us in. At this point the guy could not get the elephant to go back up or down, so I knew that we were going to keep slipping out the seat. I knew we were going to fall out. (The picture doesn't illustrate the fact that we were ON TOP of an elephant, going down this slope. Slightly terrifying.)

At that point I was just trying to think of what would be the least painful way for me to land, and I was thinking that Tricia was going to really get hurt. Well what happens next is that the ropes on Tricia's side of the elephant that are keeping the seat in place come undone so the whole side of the chair flies up and we are catapulted out of the seat, from on top of the elephant and onto the ground. I landed face down on the ground and Tricia landed on her knee. After the initial shock of what happened left, we had a new fear of getting trampled by the elephant (or stabbed by his tusks). Luckily, that didn't happen. I was able to get up right away and just have a few scrapes and cuts, but Tricia hurt her knee pretty bad. She was unable to get up for a while and was laying on the ground in tears.

After both of us got up, it took some time to get adjusted and to realize that the elephant wasn't freaking out. He wasn't going to hurt us. But I couldn't find my shoe. I asked Tricia where it was, and in the midst of her tears, she laughed and said, "It's under the elephant's back foot." It really was. The elephant guy got him to move, and I rescued my croc... which is surprisingly just fine.

Here's a picture of the guy trying to put the seat back on the elephant.

(From the smaller picture up top, check out the elephant with the tusks that I was feeding bananas to. Notice the large hump on this back, above his shoulders. This is where our feet were resting. The seat was higher than that bump.)

To be continued...

Khao Yai (Part 1)

We are on a church retreat this weekend in the Northern part of Thailand. It's beautiful up here. Despite the fact that Matt has had some stomach issues, it started off as a refreshing, relaxing, wonderful weekend away from school.

Friday night, we had a service and then played games with some friends. We went to bed at a decent hour. Got up the next morning, Matt was sick, so he slept in. I went to the service which was really nice, then went back to the room to find Matt. He was feeling better. We spent some time hanging out at the hotel for a while... then, we found some lunch. Meridith and I ordered spaghetti with garlic, looking forward to some good spaghetti sauce with meat. Matt ordered frog legs. Meridith and I got our noodles with garlic cloves... no sauce. It was decent though.

After lunch, we walked around the resort grounds. It's really beautiful here.

The hotel pool. We didn't swim, but it's pretty.

You see these all over Thailand. Small shrines to the gods.
Most people add fresh food and flowers everyday. We walked up to this area after lunch. It was beautiful.
Right when I snapped this picture, Matt said, "An elephant!" We love seeing the random elephants around Thailand. I think most people get used to them, but we haven't yet. We still think they're pretty cool. So, we followed this guy around for awhile.

Because it looked like so much fun, we decided we wanted to ride an elephant too!
(To be continued...)

A Bank Run

I had an hour and fifteen minute break yesterday, and I REALLY needed to transfer money back to the States. I thought it would probably be about a 45 minute process, at most, so I went ahead and did it. Keep in mind, I've never done this before, and I was going on the advice that "it's really not a big deal and won't take long." I figured my 45 minutes left enough time for me to stop somewhere and get something to drink afterwards.

First of all, in order to do business at the bank, I needed my passport, which the school office had. It took about 10 minutes for the office lady to find it, so I was down to just over an hour for my break. I caught a taxi in front of the school, carefully noting that I only had 70 Baht with me (about $2). The taxi ride should have been about 50 Baht... but I didn't know exactly where I was going.

So, we got lost, and every time I tried to give directions to the taxi driver, Uzbek words came out of my mouth--which is not very helpful in Thailand. Though I'm thankful that I can remember so much Uzbek, it's really frustrating that it seems to be the only foreign language my brain has room for these days.

The taxi meter climbs up to 83 Baht, and he pulls over to ask someone where the closest Bangkok Bank is. He then drives me to it. Unfortunately, it's not THE branch where you can transfer money. This is Thailand after all, and you can't just go anywhere to transfer money. So, I get on my cell phone and call someone who tells me how to get there. Eventually, the taxi driver and I finally understand each other, and he gets me to the right place.

Only now, the taxi meter is at 112 Baht, and I only have 60. It's also 38 minutes into my hour and fifteen minute break. I ask the taxi driver to wait. Because I can just get more money while I'm inside and use that to pay him after he takes me back to the school.

I walk in the door to what I think is the bank, but it's only the Parking garage. You have to go up the stairs to the actual bank. Once inside the bank, a helpful woman approaches me and asks if she can help me. I say, "I need to transfer money to America." Everyone in a 10 foot radius starts laughing. I'm still breathing heavy from the stairs. Anyway, she points me to where I need to go.

The nice lady behind the specific counter helps me immediately and hands me the 4 forms that I have to fill out in order to transfer the money. Everything needs to be translated, but thankfully, I had all the necessary information with me. LOTS of information. So, after 20 minutes of sitting with the nice lady at the counter, my money has been transferred to America (I think).

I go back down to the taxi, but I had forgotten to get more money to pay him. So, I go back upstairs and head over to the ATM machines--only they are not ATM machines, they are "checkbook update" machines and "express deposit" machines. The ATM machines are downstairs. Of course they are.

I go back downstairs, to the ATM (outside of the parking garage door), get some money and climb back into the taxi. The driver didn't even ask me where I needed to go. Thankfully, he just assumed that he could drop off the poor foreign girl back where he picked her up. This was where I needed to be, only for some reason, he asked me WHICH DIRECTION to go: "U-turn or right turn?" he asked. "Leo- qua" I say, which means, "turn right." Whatever that means. I don't know which way is better.

Fifteen minutes later, I start thinking, oh dear, maybe U-turn would have been faster. I have 5 minutes to get back to school and walk back to where my next class is. I start thinking about calling the office and having someone cover my class because I'm lost, but that would be really embarrassing. I start looking for my cell phone anyway in my purse. Took a minute, but when I looked up after finding my phone, I recognized where we were. Not too far from the school.

The driver drops me off at the school, I pay him the 178 Baht with my new crisp bills, and I dash off to teach just in time.

So much for my quick bank run.