In the mind of a 12 year old

I recently asked my student to write about what they would do and where they would go if they had a time machine. I really enjoyed some of the results. This is a slight view, a short perspective of 12 year old Thai girls and what it is they really want. Here they are. Do you have a favorite?

If I had a time machine, I would like to go to Canada because in Canada have maple leaf.

I would make more merit. Talk about Buddhism more than before time. I would go back to the day of my beautiful memories. I would live with happiness. I would obey my grandma and my grandpa more before time.

I went to the beach again in the evening in order to see sunset which is very beautiful. If I can talk to the sun I will tell him he is very nice and warm in the morning and in the evening. During the day, he is very strong and brave. It is the time which I am very happy.

Make my mother to be proud to me.

If I had a time machine, I would to go to the zoos everywhere in the world and I would to fun and very happy because I liked animals very much and I wanted to give happy to every body in the world.

Go to America. I would study in University of America. I want to eat chocolate of America. I want to play snow. I want to meet Santa Clause. I want present and eat chicken. I love Thailand. I like America. I want a time machine very much.

I would go to a future city.

I would either go to the past since have magic, princess, prince, witch, wizard, and dragon. I want to know about origin of everythings. And I would rather go to the future. I want to know the progress of country/ of thought of people and everythings. And I would rather go to past life, I want to know living of me in past life and background of me.

If possible I want to talk to Buddha and important persons such as King Rama II, Santa, MonaLisa, Etc.....

According to my opinion, I estimate that time machine in 2300.

Go to edit my bad past.

I want to eat the food of the future.

Journey with my family, my family is my favourite thing my favourite people.

I will see dinosaurs.

Go back to my dad and my mom when they wedding's day. I think everyone is so happy and I want to go back to my birthday. I want to know, who is happy, sure my mom and dad is so happy, will everyone exciting?

fuchiko F fuchio, he is directed Doreamon movies but he died for long time. I want to see him. He is my idol.

I like to go to the Baroque era to visit Mozart. I want to see how he write the song. I will go around the city and try to find out, what inspired him to produce such a great music.

I will talk to myself in future or past by the words, "Hello i'm Ploy from future/past nice to meet you." I think that my friend will surprise and said, "OMG!!!"

To the Doraemon room because I can get anything from a magic bag's Doraemon. And I would like to visit Mammos in Flinstone.

Go to Koh-chang. I like the sea, I would always swim in the sea.

I would see god and fairy.

I want to see the world. Does it have Thailand? Or it disappear in 2012?

I think the present is the best. The past perhaps it has bad memory. The future is not fun. So the present is best.

I would do something for my parents.

Start all my life new. The thing that I would do is I will work more hard. I will make my father and my mother more proud in me.

Stop the time and go to some place alone, because sometime I want to stay alone, and talk with my favorite singer/ban such as Cold Play.

I would like to do American hamburger.

I would like to do Kimchi and talk to Korea people.

I could sneak my way into history and get myself hinted. I don't try to convert anyone.

I would like to go and see a Shakespeare play, with the bard himself in it. Then, I save John Lennon from being shot, and I would go to Jerusalem 30 AD. I would follow the story and report on the details.

Get my secret, and dig a soil and put my secret in land.

Go to comic, I would like to meet Doraemon. If I were in the story with Doraemon, I would tell him to put a magic pen. The special magic pen that I want, it can do all homework all subjects especially it can help me do exam tests and have grade 4.0....in fact, it doesn't have a time machine. Thus, I have to pay more attention to my study.

I would go to an outer space on the sky to see a beautiful star and a big galaxies. I would gently catch them and keep it in my pocket so nobody can take it away. I would talk with them every night every hour and every minute. And if I meet an alien I would talk with them like my best friend and I will teach them how to speak Thai language, and told them about Thai culture may be they wants to come back with us to Thailand.

My favorite singer is Eminem. (this is for you Allison...and yeah, this is really what she wrote)

Home.

Something True

SUAN PHLU

I never really use this blog - and I never really use it to talk about anything meaningful. Until now. Kyle and I have the priveledge of living in an exciting part of Bangkok. Exciting because it is in the city center, it is where the notorious sins of Bangkok take place. We are priveledged because of our neighbors. We live behind a market in a small Thai apartment building with many friendly families who greet us regularly with awesome smiles, and we have become particularly close with 2 families who live on the bottom floor - they have inspired us in so many ways.

So I want to name drop - and share some of what we have been exposed to, and some of what we do along with teaching at our schools.

One family originally from Boston has been living in Bangkok for 4 years as 'contemplative activists' with Word Made Flesh a missions organization that desires to serve Jesus among the poor. One aspect of what they do is build relationships with vulnerable families who do business at night in the red light district. I have joined these friends on night walks in Phatphong and Nana where they enjoy time with friends they have made - these friends usually very young girls, but also whole families, make a living by selling flowers, drugs, themselves, or by asking for money. There are numerous organizations we have been acquainted with who focus on providing an outlet or alternative for individuals who don't want to remain in this destructive industry. Night Light is an organization that does jewelry making with women in transition - their website has some good information to know more about the problem with human trafficking. There is also a foundation called Dton Naam meaning 'source of the purest water' which focuses on helping katoys, Thailand's transgendered "lady-boys," get out of prostitution by offering employment at a local cafe. Word Made Flesh, in building relationships, is partly connecting people to organizations that might be helpful as a service, but mostly their ministry is something different. A large percentange of this vulnerable population is trafficked from neighboring Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Vietnam - meaning they are not legally permitted to have any Thai services. At this point Word Made Flesh is advocating for these friends to have legal sustainable living which means getting people safely out of Bangkok.

I have heard about the prevelance of child trafficking in the poor districts of India, Thailand, and in parts of the Americas, but I never understood how or why it worked. I still don't understand - but I have learned a lot about particularly sex trafficking since our time on the streets. A big issue is that many people come to Bangkok as refugees, or fleeing their own country without the ability to get any documentation. Unfortunately The Kingdom of Thailand does not recognize refugees. Meaning regardless of their status they will be picked up, jailed, and deported. Therefore people come or sell their families into Bangkok with the promise of business and wealth, often resulting in prostitution and detention.

Back in Asia - Bangkok

So, Its been a while - Kyle and I moved to Bangkok, Thailand in May. We have been living in a condo near the Chao Phraya River, and teaching english to teenagers in single sex Thai schools. We have come to enjoy a lot of things here, not to mention the food, the friends, and the freetime. We have missed home a lot over the last few months, and thought we would finally post a couple photos.

We tripped to the Ancient Capital - Ayuttaya - It was the capital a few hundred years ago, and was destroyed by the Burmese in the late 1700s. The city is surrounded by rivers, making a natural moat. The island, as it is called, is scattered with ruins of temples and places of importance. We biked around the city, stopping off at some incredible sights.

Flowers from home. In our condo, there is one green wall and one gray/blue wall. Kye say's it reminds him of Seattle. We just celebrated our three year anniversary, and Kyle bought me some of my favorite pink daisies. As we sit here, it is storming outside. It is rainy season now, and it has been pouring for hours. We have been watching lightning from a distance for a few hours now, and finally way after sundown it is upon us. The thunder is louder than I may have ever heard, and the lightning reflecting off the clouds paints the sky bright white. The bolts are almost simultaneous with the claps, and it feels as though we are the target.

Its nice to be in Bangkok

And now for the most inspirational...

In the past I took the opportunity to show a film to my students - Not only was it relevent in many ways to the english curriculum - it is relevent to life - for All. The following quotes come from some of the students, who in turn inspire me.

I learnt that what you will for, you can get no matter what. As they say, every will has its way. Thankyou.
Go for what you beleive and don't worry about anyone else.
Never underestimate yourself, and don't care about criticism.
It doesn't matter if you win or lose, the important thing is to be proud and honored of yourself.
Whether you cross the endline or not, you should not lose your feeling of proudness and dignity.
If you are not enough with the medal, you won't be enough without it.
What I did really like about the movie is that although they don't have ice, they competed in an ice sport, and that means that you don't have to own something to be good at it. The most important thing is to do it in your own way.

Guesses anyone...?
Be Jamaican, Act Jamaican, Walk Jamacian, Talk Jamaican.

You may think it cheesy, but I think it timeless. I suggest everyone take a moment to watch or re-watch this classic and be inspired.

Wadi Hadhramout

Kyle and I took the opportunity to go out to the North-Eastern villages of Yemen, the Wadi Hadramout. It was majestic. We rode a bus for 14 hours through the various terrain of the country. And as usual it was all incredible.
We visited the city of Shibam, the oldest city around. It is surrounded by a wall made of mud bricks, just like the 5-8 story skyscrapers that fill the grid which is set in the valley of these monumentous ridge canyon walls.

We were able to hike a bit up on the hillsides to get stunning views that overlooked the various farm towns at sunset.

Their unique architecture is very functional, green, sturdy, and so appealing. The boxy and beautiful repitition spotted the landscape.

As we bussed along the coast, through the sand dunes, old lava cast deserts, up on the mountain cliffs, and through patchy green valleys, Kyle and I were amazed at the sheer greatness of it all.

Thank you.

The peaceful protests

Some of you have asked about the current protests in the Arab world. I am delighted to say that the protests in Yemen thus far, have been peaceful, the most peaceful of them all.

I could regurble some of the news you can find online, or from CNN, but instead i will give you a quick look into how this relates to us:

Thursday of last week was the beginning of the protests. We were told by everyone, to stay indoors at least through the afternoon. They all said it would be fine to go out in the evening because the protests would end as everyone would be chewing qat.

Students are giving a lot of input mostly pro-protest; meaning pro- new regime, and even separation between northern and southern Yemen. Some say that employment is a right and there aren't enough jobs in Yemen, others say that this is not a problem that will be easily solved by a change of presidency. From those in our sphere, the complaint is about wanting more money, and wanting more jobs.

I think that peace is one of the most powerful ways to protest.

The silent truth

The day to day in Yemen to this day is incredibly beautiful. The mundane drive to work reaveals sites that inspire.

I wanted to take a moment to mention - that one of the saddest things about blogging our updates is the limited information we share. For the sake of the privacy of our friends here, and to keep up with cultural and religious values, we don't share photos or even stories of those dearest to us. Therefore, it is hard to give a visual for the good things we are experiencing, and the fun we are having.... In spite of the silence of our friends along with so much more, we hope that you can feel the love of Yemen through our commentary.

This is a shot of the British Petroleum Division in Aden at unruly/lawless speed.

Desert anyone? I love the dusty terrain.

I miss..

Dance Parties with Jamie Spiro (they sure make the world go round)...

This morning I listened to Jim Iroquois, and Michael Jackson, on ARABIAN MTV.... music has helped motivate me, as I try a more structured lifestyle.

Kyle and I work in the afternoons from 2-8:30 pm. Meaning the whole morning can be wasted if not careful. If you know me, then you know that I HATE micro-managing. However, this seems to do the trick as I try to get the most of my time here. Today, I woke up, made a healthy breakfast, sat (sounds prodoctive right?), read, prayed, exercized, cleaned, and prepared for classes. All of this mostly accomplished while listening to some old time music (thanks for the zune).

Doesn't sound impressive? Well, you should see me most of the time, I can spend hours

Sleeping

Thinking, and

Organizing.

I have a lot to learn.

Some of our favorites.

1) Favorite food as of late- A delicious blend of veggies, and spice: Sahawik. For dinner almost every night, I soak, wash, peel, and rinse tomatoes, cilantro, chilli peppers, and garlic, blend them together with some yogurt...and there you have it: a delicious dip, or sauce for anything and everything.


2) Favorite pastime - playing table tennis downstairs with our dear neighbors. I am improving I must say - however there is plenty of good competition. And as for Kyle - he is just always a winner. But he sucks at ping pong.


3) Favorite piece of advice - In order to avoid Malaria.... don't eat off the street. (THANKS!)


4) Favorite joke - So a man walks into a bar... well, a Lebanese restaurant to order food. Before the meal, the waiter brings out a plate of clean veggies: a head of lettuce, a cucumber, a tomato, a green pepper, and a lemon. Kyle says, "Oh thanks for washing our vegetables, now could you bring us a cleaver and a cutting board? Thanks..." (*Brie, this ever happen to you?)


5) Favorite thing about teaching -

(Is there is any possible way to explain your way out of this?)

That and - the flattery, "Oh teacher, you are so beautiful, so smart...oh really, I learn so much from you, thank you, never forget me." Not so fast... you missed a spot.

6) Funniest new friend - A fellow teacher, but with experiences to trump us all - He has been there and done everything - By the way, he also befriended a stray cat who is innocently coerced into his home with the promise of food, and instead is given a bath. But sadly, the cat still wanted out. Clean-furred and sopping wet, he returns back to the filfth pit from whence he came. And then our friend remembers - well I guess cats usually clean themselves don't they? Ah well...
( Kyle says this is hard to enjoy without a visual. For a visual aid picture my dad...with a cat...)

7) Favorite new discovery - fresh kiwi juice. bomb.

8) Favorite thing about Yemeni living - the wrap around couches...and having nothing better to do than couch all day.

9) Favorite new word: Shoof (arabic for look) which quickly became shoof-a-loof, our phrase of choice for just about anything.

10) Favorite thing about Kyle - He is always right; it just takes me all day to realize it. And he has got a great since of humor! Who you do life with makes all the difference. I must be the luckiest girl in the world.

Big for anyone's Burjes

Kyle and I got the opportunity to travel to Dubai for a few days. Well what can i say. It has it's fame for the biggest, tallest, first, best and, richest everythings. I felt I was in a Las Vegas sort of Disney Land.

*Burj is the word for tower in arabic

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

We ENzOYed a Wonderful New Years party last night -and much to our delight the jumble continues on.




It just keeps on getting better. This story brings Kyle and I to tears (of laughter). We were invited to an incredible heart warming New Years party. On our way over we bot a small box of chocolates for the family. The cashier wished us a merry Christmas.









We arrive at the home of a Yemeni family with Indian Origin (They have Christmas themes because of their Christian heritage), and much to our surprise we are surrounded by a winter wonderland, Santa and the reindeer.




We pass the Hot potato nativity pillow, take pictures in front of the Christmas tree, receive gifts, and dance the Christmas congo. What a New Years party.



The Cherry to top the night, was a little after midnight. The family fumbled around with the cassett tape player searching for the new year song- Auld Lang Syne - Between the power going on and off, and the cassett not playing the crowd broke out in (* sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne) May La La La La La La la and Never La La La. For la la la la la la, and days of la la la.

We are sincerely grateful to our dear new friends who invited us to enjoy his family's holiday party. We had one of the best nights we have ever had during our stay here. We were impressed by the welcoming disposition of their family, and truely had a wonderful holiday away from home. We are ever so Thankful.

Lost in ... Translation

One of the many reasons why I love teaching english:

When asked to write about a favorite vacation, one student wrote:

'My favorite vacation when I was eight years old. I went with my family to the island. When I was there I used everything to enjoy. I used my boat, sand, rock and my brain.'

I love that language holds more than words, it holds ideas and concepts - which can not be translated word for word. In order to re-explain your own experience in a new language, you have to learn new ways to construct ideas. And like anything worth having, it takes a lot of trial before figuring it out.

The following should be read in the voice of Demitri Martin...if you can...

'The food was not very expensive in fact, it was delicious. I have experenced about Syrian food, tradition and culture and their hopitality and If the god wihes I will visit them again, I hope God wihes.'

Christmas - near Eastern style

We wish you a Merry Christmas - and a Happy New Year.

Being a former British Colony - it seems as though many Yemeni locals are familiar with the Western winter holidays - but a little confused. Today, December 29th, our last day before the weekend, one student said to me, "have a happy christmas." Happy Christmas? Yes that's right. Understandably - many people here mesh the two holidays as one in the same- after all they are only a week apart...and basically you celebrate in the same way......or so it turns out. This is Christmas - Yemen style!

Let me walk you through our adventure which took place on the actual 25th of December.

First, work - from 12-8pm...we wish a few people merry christmas, and they respond with a scrunched face in confusion, 'isn't that next week?'...
Second - 10pm We invite some neighbors over for snacks and homemade christmas cookies (well acutally a far cry from real christmas cookies...but it makes the story a little better). Perplexed some say, 'wasn't that yesterday?' and others, 'Great, Happy New Year to you!'
Our friends bring food, candies, and a whole lot of fun. After eating, we sat around wondering what is the perfect Christmas activity...cards of course! (2am) We play some spoons, have a lot of laughs, and then...

Its time for the countdown. Hamoody - brings in a huge confetti bomb - so fittingly we start a countdown in chorus...10....3....2...1... Merry Chirstams - the bomb explodes and glitter fights proceed for the next 30 mins. Is it the new year?

Finally, (4am) we finish off the night with the best way to spread Christmas cheer, singing loud for all to hear...well not quite, but we do get knock at the door from security with a noise complaint (oops)...

So we turn on the most appropriate Christmas movie for the occassion. Elf.

We give thanks for our friends and community here as we organize the chaos of dishes, food, and furniture - and promptly sleep. For the next day at work was to come early.

a NEW day on the OLD chopping block

Sometimes it seems - nothing goes according to plan. And thus I reluctantly transform.

Minaret

As I sit up, suddenly awoken by the loud friday sermon blaring into our window- from the speakers on the minaret, I remember why I am so thankful to be here. We are alive, well, and relishing in Gods graces.

This past month we have been busy with life- the good things, and the hard things. Kyle got sick with Malaria, and was out of it for a while. He spent time resting, intraveinously rehydrating and pumping the meds and Today- he is 100percent himself. Alhamduliah.

Above are some pictures of an isolated beach Kyle and I went to with some friends. A Paradise of sorts. We hopped on a boat and got dropped off along the coast....it was beautiful, but the water to our surprise was full of sea urchins. After running exitedly into the deep blue -- we were limping with sharp pains in the bottoms of our feet... yikes. Al shok - our friend 'fetu' said.... Needless to say, we were out of there with bleeding soles.

Do you see the blow fish? One of many treasures Kyle was able to find. Walking along the rocky coast, Kyle said, "Lisa come here -look at this!" He beckoned me to come see a jellyfish trapped by/under a rock in the ocean. He had a prodding stick and gently poked the reddish pink inflated blob. Hard to see because of the reflection of the light on the water, I was unsure that it was actually a fish - further investigation was needed. I asked Kyle to free it from the rock... He did, and out came his discovery - a plastic bag full of aging water, it popped to the surface to thank Kyle for its freedom im sure.

We stayed in the shelter briefly for protection from the hot sun. But not long enough. See it is winter time, the weather is incredibly pleasant, and locals say it is colder than they have ever known it to be. Our skin was warm by the sun, but not hot - well, we found the next day the power of UV, with bright red necks, and noses.

Next Kyle found a miss matched pair of shoes in the rocks. To our delight this was the key to getting back in the warm water - our feet were safe. Thank you Kyle.

On a different beach, an hour or so later, we swam, and built sand animals. It sure is good to be young and outside on our day off. I attempted an elephant... I will spare everyone of the picture as it looked more like an anteater... 'Fetu' made a bear - which was perfect because she looks just like a teddy in real life. I wish I could post a picture for you all, but for privacy reasons - you will be left to your imaginations.

Some of you have asked how I dress. At the beach and to swim, I wear long pants and shirt. The slender black figures are, women in their abayas. They are always worn in public places, even for swimming.

Last night I was walking with a group of friends, all girls, fully clothed and shapeless in the abaya of coarse and most were veiled, the eyes being the only part exposed. I was in my typical big balck pants and long, long sleeve shirt and scarf over my head. Unfortunately we got a lot of stares, as that is inevitable when you are with a foreigner - at one point we overheard a Yemeni man talking to his friend. "Yemeni women are so much more beautiful than foreign women."

That was really nice to hear. A releif and an incredible compliment to the reason behind a beautiful culture so different from the one I know. This was nice to hear for many reasons, but it did cause me to wonder. "How do you know?" One day they may really get their opportunity to see the beautiful women here.

We have been soaking up all that is around us with so much joy and pleasure. The annual Gulf Country futball tournament was hosted by Yemen this year - and it was located in ADEN! The hubub was incredible - with a week of celebrating the daily matches - big screens posted up along the main roads where you would see crowds gather around to watch the games. Lots of visitors from other countries filled the roads, and restaurants, security was everywhere. Kyle got the opportunity to go with a freind to the staidum to watch the final match between Saudi and Kuwait.

Most Yemenis were routing for the underdog Kuwait, in the blue - and with a 1- 0 score in overtime - Kuwait won!

Now its back to the regular swing of things for us. Thanks for your questions and comments.

Peace to all.