. . . a glimpse into my heart.

Thailand is an amazing place! The smells are something you have to experience because there’s no way to explain them. Some are good and some not-so-much. :-) It’s just so different than the typical town in the US. There’s such beauty and yet a lot of poverty. There were little vendor carts all along the streets. People had woks full of hot oil and were cooking food right on the streets and selling to people just walking by. We saw a lot of familiar things and a lot of VERY unfamiliar things. On the bus ride out of Bangkok I saw mostly rundown buildings and homes but then out of nowhere there would be a decked out building that looked similar to the ones we saw in the Palace. There’s a lot of laundry hanging on porches and trash on the streets. The traffic was a little chaotic but not nearly as scary as in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We left Bangkok in two double-decker busses along with the international workers. They served us a box lunch consisting of a bottle of water, a sandwich, bag ...

Here are a couple fun pictures before I get into the more serious stuff: We got to enjoy a "not so safe" tuktuk ride. It was a lot of fun! Today we got to go see the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha. It was an eye opener and quite amazing! You had to wear long pants or skirts and couldn't show your shoulders (I had to put on my sweatshirt in the humid heat). The buildings and art were beautiful and very extravagant. It was unlike anything I had ever seen and almost felt unreal. We saw people doing little ceremonial offerings and their own form of worship to Buddha. We went into see the Emerald Buddha where you're not allowed to take photos and you're required to take off your shoes. People were bowing before it. I felt strange being in there and watching these people worshiping this false and dead god. The emptiness was so sad and heart breaking. I'm not sure how to explain it but I felt sick and it was difficult to breath. I didn't like being in there ...

We flew out of Seattle Tuesday afternoon. Traveling included a 3 hour drive over the snowy pass to Seattle, an hour and a half bus and train ride to the airport, one 10 hour flight to Tokyo, one 6.5 hour flight to Bangkok, and a half hour or so van ride to our hotel. We were able to get to bed by 2:30 AM Thai time which was 11:30 AM in Yakima. Although it was a very LONG stretch it all went well with out any delays or issues. We were thankful for that. Dave and I were able to stay awake when needed to be able to more efficiently adjust to the time difference. We're 15 hours ahead of Yakima. We are feeling pretty good today. We got to walk some of the streets of Bangkok which was quite an experience. We went to the mall and although they did have a nice department store, they also had a whole level dedicated to all these little stores selling a lot of Thai souvenirs, clothes etc. Things are pretty cheap which made shopping so much more fun. :-) We ate lunch in the mall restaurant an...

I was in the left turn lane to leave the grocery store parking lot. On the right, standing on the curb, was a man holding a sign which simply read "Hungry $1.00". The thought crossed my mind that I could give him a few bucks but I from where I was he would have to cross one lane to get to my window. So, I didn't. As I pulled out into traffic Gabriel says, "Mom, I saw a guy without a house and without food." I responded with something like, "Yeah, that's sad huh?" He then says, "We should give him money." I explain that it would be difficult to turn around from where I was in traffic. He drops the topic but only for a few moments before he says, "We should give that guy lunch." I again tell him that we're almost home and it would be out of our way to get him food and go all the way back. After a short pause and he says, "I'm really sad we can't give that guy lunch!" WOW! I cried. His heart is so soft and swe...