Today was a great day! First of all, we hhave been told by our families that a lot of you are worried about the Typhoon incident in Myanmar(Burma) and its effect on us and our itinerary. We would like to let you all know that we are safe and not effected by this occurence in any way other than the fact that we are saddened to hear of the many casualties that have been reported. We just wanted to clear that up. We slept through the whole night. Jon got up for an hour from 3:15 - 4:15, but went back to sleep after that. Other than that, we got a great night's sleep. We got up and went down for breakfast and after that Kittipong picked us up at 8:30 to head out to Frontierland for our first day of the carpentry class. We got to know our eight students and their individual skill levels, then started teaching them basic things like how to use a ruler and square and measure all kinds of things accurately, while Deezi translated. We showed them a number of tools and taught them what they are for. We then went to have lunch at the very nice Dining Hall they have on the property. The lunch was an appetizing combination of pork, rice, leafy greens, onions, and potatoes. In the afternoon, we let the students practice cutting various boards with hand saws so they could learn to make a square cut. We also taught them to safely use a skill saw, which none of them had ever tried before. Tomorrow will be the use of a table saw and a drill. The students range in age from 18 to 44, and they are all eager to learn. Kittipong has a dream of being able to build much of their own furniture (simple tables and chairs) for the new dormitories they are constructing right now. We will be building two or three of the following projects: a podium, a chair, and a table. After finishing at 3:00, Kittipong drove us back to the hotel where we relaxed until 6:40 when we took a "Tuk Tuk" (Thai for "taxi) to McThai (Thai McDonalds). The food was almost the same and may even be better. The Big Mac had a cardboard circle around it as to keep it looking fresh and good. It was nice to have something other than rice for once and to have a little taste of home. After that we went to the Night Bizaar which was a street lined with shops of hand made crafts and other Thai goods. Jon had a crazy Thai lady following him around asking each time whether or not he would like a wooden frog or a bracelet. After shopping around some, we went to a Haagen Dazs for some ice cream. We then took another "Tuk Tuk" ride back to the hotel where we settled down for the hopefully restful night ahead. Thanks again for checking in and we'll send more updates soon.
- Jon & Michael
(Jon teaches carpentry class about a table saw)
(Michael using the skill saw while the class watches)
(Jon says, "Sawat-Dee-Kahp Ronald...")
(Big Mac wrapped in cardboard circle to keep fresh)
3 comments:
So, is Sawat-dee-kahp how to say hello TO a boy, or if you are a boy? You should make an extra effort to try to learn how to say phrases just the way the "natives" do. Maybe ask your interpretter to train you to say the words just right. Many oriental languages depend on the force of the sylables, not just pronunciation. Of all the things you've faced, so far, I think the sleep patterns and food would weigh on me the most! God be with you and we pray for you every day.
Hey guys - it's so wonderful to hear that everything is going pretty much as planned. Thanks so much for the storm update too - we'd been wondering. Glad you got a 'little' taste of home at Mickey-D's! Take care and thanks for keeping us updated.
Jon & Michael - we're so glad to see the two of you are safe and doing so well. Such a wonderful experience and we're so glad to be a part of it with you here from home. We'll continue to keep you in our prayers. Love, Gabe, Lisa,Danielle & Ricky
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