I love working with kids

So on Monday I got to work in a class of special kids. One little gem of a girl (4 years old, I think) is on the Autism Spectrum, not engaging socially with others in the same way as a lot of other kids. Somehow we made a little connection, as we were about to leave the gym after the class had finished running around like mad. She filed into line just like everyone else, an accomplishment on its own, looked back at me with a half-turn and gave me a cool thumb-up. So cute, especially because her Autism can make that sort of social engaging difficult or impossible.

Then she topped herself by turning again and giving me a huge face-scrunching wink. Awesome.

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Dut, Dut, Doose

Got to work as an assistant in a preschool speech-therapy class today. Guess what game we played...

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Mandi Eats a Grasshopper

There are markets everywhere in Chiang Mai. Cheap produce, cookware, clothing, you name it, you can get it within a 10 or 15 minute walk.

This video was at the Sunday Walking Street Market, a large-scale weekly market that blocks off drivers from several streets, making for (what felt like) miles upon miles of Thai goodies. I'm not a huge market person, as I'm very much a goal-oriented shopper. I have to know what I want, get in and get out. Markets don't cater well to someone such as myself. But I can enjoy them for a short time. Or tolerate them for a slightly longer time.

And don't worry, I ate a grasshopper right after Mandi, but I neglected to tape myself doing so. If you don't believe me, ask Mandi or Jason. And they're right, it's not bad at all, aside from some strange textures, though I wouldn't go so far as to say it's similar to chicken. Chicken doesn't have tiny legs that can get stuck in your teeth. Unless you have an enormous mouth.

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Sweet Juicy Clarification

Yesterday I had a wonderful video conference with the PI communications people in Orlando. It's been a long time since we all have spoken, a bit too long, actually. Having been in Chiang Mai recently, a lot of questions and thoughts have been lingering on the tip of my brain, and I wanted to get them out before they disappeared into the recesses of my brain.

Actually, yesterday was just a great day overall. I went to bed early and got up at 5:00, (Hopefully it won't be happening again anytime soon. Thanks jet-lag!!!) spent a long while thinking about the questions I had, and then went on a 40 minute walk in the crisp Central Oregon air, smelling faintly of juniper. I've discovered recently that I do some of my best thinking while walking, so I spent a while praying, truly grateful to my creator for his answers to prayer. So when I got back home, I was ready for our conversation, despite it being at 7am Pacific time.

It was wonderful having the time to really process through my thoughts and questions, though it meant Matt and Caryn would get a bit of an earful of substantial questions. They were able to give me significant clarification on some issues, and not as much on others, though they weren't even aware these were things to ponder before I asked them. It was a great conversation, and I was totally energized afterward. Not all of my questions were answered, but the turbid waters of my poor little brain experienced a small stream of clarity, sweet juicy clarity.

This morning I got an email explaining my stint in Orlando before heading to the field. It will be a time to "get a taste of what happens from the mobilization end of things, and also get a greater idea of the intended audiences for the pieces [I'll] be creating." I'm excited at the prospect of spending time in Orlando with purpose, and this is such a great reason for staying in there for a bit. Feeling a couple steps closer to the field, I had begun to feel like time in Orlando was going to be a bit of a waste of time, one more thing to keep me from the field, but now I'm excited about the prospect. Thank God for the wisdom of others. So now I'll be in Orlando for as little as 2 months with purpose and direction. Woo hoo! And now you're all caught up and the various goings on of the last hour.

Cheers.

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New Pics Online!!!

Hey, I posted a bunch of photos of our trip to Thailand on Facebook. Check them out right here!

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What I Need and What I Want

I've been reviewing the video footage I captured in Thailand. My poor little camera (my better camera was too big to take on this trip) has seen better days. It began crapping out a little, the tiny flip-out screen beginning to flicker and sputter every now and again. The footage I got with this stalwart soldier of a camera is adequate, but I've certainly reached the end of its usefulness. Perhaps this was this little camera's last hurrah.

Working within the limitations of my equipment is something I'm fairly accustomed to. I'm used to taking sub-standard equipment and either making do, or pushing it to it's limits of use. Using my little camera has given me reason to reflect on whether my dissatisfaction in my equipment is justifiable: am I ungrateful for what I have, or do I really desire to do the very best I can? I long for the chance to work with equipment that does what I want it to do, that allows me to be limited more by my own creativity and less by my gear. I've begun to pray that God would allow me to have a couple pieces of equipment, including a particular video camera which would be perfect for the kind of work I will be doing. This camera costs thousands of dollars, but I'm beginning to understand trusting God in prayer. Please pray with me that He will allow me to have the proper tools for this work. I want badly to give my very best, and while I don't know how I can get this equipment, I know He can do it. Pray with me. Thanks.

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Impressions Part 1

I shall return to Chiang Mai.

I’m starting this blog around 11:45 pm in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport, arguably the least comfortable and least inviting airport in the world. We are wrapping up our two and a half week trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand, desperately trying to reset our internal clocks back 14 hours by staying up far beyond the point of exhaustion. Well, I’m staying up as late as I can. Mandi is currently trying to sleep on the cold and hard airport floor, which seems to be inviting the stares of every Thai person walking by. I don’t know if we’re being culturally insensitive or just some sort of farang freak show on display for everyone to gawk at. Either way, I’m just tired enough to be less understanding and more irritable about the one-sided staring contest. Great time to write and reflect on our trip, no?

Mandi and I, on our plane ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, were talking a bit about our return to the states, and the slight dread of the inevitable repeated question, “How was your trip?” Every major trip involves about a week of that same question, slowly driving you mad, or at least motivating you less and less to give trip details, and motivating you more and more to hone in on that elusive under-one-minute synopsis. So I’m going to provide my take on our trip here in digital form so that we have a place to refer people to if they desire further information.

The phrase “I shall return” seems to encapsulate my feelings about this trip. I began the trip with the goal of impartiality, to observe and weigh my options without getting too caught up in the experience. That mode of operation didn’t last long. Once we really got into the trip, experiencing life in Chiang Mai, meeting loads of Pioneers personnel, I was hooked and sold very quickly. Coming in, I really didn’t know what, or rather who, to expect. I had “met” a handful of the people working in Chiang Mai via email or Skype, but had no concrete reference as to who these people were and what they were really like. I can get along with a wide spectrum of personalities, but I truly enjoy a much narrower slice of that same spectrum. It’s like my personality can coexist with a full rainbow of colors, but really does well with emerald green, or chartreuse, or mauve. Much to my surprise, I found that many of the people working in the SE Asia area are remarkably close to that emerald green, chartreuse, or mauve I was really hoping for, a huge blessing and relief, to be sure.

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Impressions Part 2

There were three distinct parts to our trip, so distinct that it felt a bit like we had taken three separate trips. Our first trip was with our friends the Sheahans, who were extraordinarily generous with their time, and kind in helping us secure some fabulous and inexpensive housing for the first few days. We were shown around several markets in town, given pointers on how to navigate the city, and were exposed to a variety of ethnic foods (and to the concept of ridiculously-cheap eating out.) We got lost for the first time, took our first songthaw and tuk-tuk rides, and began our crash course in Thai culture. Our second trip was out at Pioneers’ SE Asia retreat. There we got a chance to meet the area and team leaders before most of the others arrived, got a chance to meet handfuls of really great people originally from the US and Australia and all over Asia, and told our stories over and over (a bit of foreshadowing of telling about this trip over and over up our return...?) We spent a lot of time in the sun, chatting with new friends, and played the coolest game of Ultimate Frisbee ever with the youth and their incredible retreat leaders. (Ever played Ultimate at night in the dark with a light-up frisbee and 2,000 glow-sticks marking the field and the two teams as a thunderstorm approached? If you ever get the chance, take it!) We were able to make some real connections with real people, and it was awesome. Our third trip was back in town, a whirlwind tour of CommNet’s (the team I’ll be joining as soon as I can) future beginnings and teammates. We celebrated Easter with the regional leader here and felt very much like a part of the family. We participated in Songkran, a three-day Thai celebration centered around the world’s largest waterfight. (I’ve never experienced anything like it. People stand on the side of the road near the center of town, or drive in vehicles around the center of town, and spray, splash and douse every human being in sight for three whole days. And everybody loves it. Not a sour face to be seen, despite perhaps having been sprayed right in the face while riding a motor scooter. It’s crazy.) I ate my first calamari (in a fantastic curry) and my first grasshopper (deep-fried, everything tastes the same, though the texture of eating a good-sized bug was a little unnerving.) I also got to drive for the first time on the left side of the road, shifting with my left hand (Thanks Kelly!) My future CommNet teammate, Jason, is an intense, insightful, and passionate photographer (and an INTP like me, for those of you who know Meyers-Briggs) with whom I am very excited to work. He’s the man, for sure, and I very much look forward to working with him. And now we’re heading back home, despite not really wanting to. Three trips, all great in their own way.

I took plenty of video footage on this trip, but it’s going to take a bit to compile it and make something interesting and useful out of it. I’ll post it here when it’s ready, but it’ll probably be a couple weeks.

I think to a small degree this trip feels like a bit of a tease, a glimpse at what could be, but won’t happen for a while. But I’m going to see it as a taste of things to come, a shadow of things to come. I can’t say I’m looking forward to going back to life as usual, a job I’m not always satisfied with, but now there is the tiniest glimpse at what God has for me, and that will have to be enough. Please pray with me for the thing I’ve been praying for for so long: patience. I just can’t seem to understand the years of waiting, culminating to more waiting, soon followed by still more waiting. I’m sure my lack of patience is in part due to my inability to fully relinquish my life into His hands. I know that He is good and everything happens for a reason, a good and perfect plan, and I need to learn to put trust in that. He certainly answered my prayers for this trip: safety, revelation, and good health. And where He is faithful in the small things in life, he’s unbelievably faithful in the big things in life. I pray I can give it all to Him. If anyone can change my impatient heart, surely the creator of the universe can do wonders. Thanks for your prayers, and keep ‘em coming. Blessings to you all.

I shall return to Chiang Mai.

More video goodness!!!

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It's a video update!!!

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