Courage

Hi,

Chiang Rai had a chance to dry out a bit today.  The ground was still pretty damp from last night’s rain.  Daku probably wished it had rained this morning since he got a bath.  Oh, the look on his face when the water hit.  He has always hated baths.  

September 1, 2007 we arrived in Chiang Rai to begin this new life.  It has now been eight (8) years of living in Thailand.  Wow.

The ‘Easy Monday’ song was “Taxman” by The Beatles.  That means it’s time for a ‘One-Line Zany Day’ song.  See if you can get it from just one line.  “Take out the papers and the trash…”  Hint:  The title is not a specific language, but the noise of one talking.  Hmm.

This morning, while we were exercising Daku, I took a photo of what I’m calling ‘Banana Mama’.  This is the tree that started it all.  It began life in our yard looking much like the plant I showed you yesterday.  There are two of her kids in the back yard in addition to the one across the road.  

On our way to Big C we noticed a lot of activity on the grounds where the Friday Farmer’s Market is held.  Tomorrow we may have to stop and investigate.  There are lots of booths and banners.  When we got to the intersection by the Police station, we saw a small caravan of giant police vehicles that presented an ominous presence.  They parked in the Provincial Police Station lot, so maybe they are going to the border, or into the jungle.  Hmm, who can I ask about this and get a straight answer?  

At Big C I went into the tiny pharmacy.  While I was waiting to check out, a small boy in front of me kept turning and looking up at me.  I smiled, but all I got was a stare of curiosity.  Blue and I get that a lot, just blank looks with a big question mark attached.  Sometimes they smile, and there is a connection.  My speculation of the day is that they’re trying to figure out if we are ‘football players’.  That would be the major reference point for most kids here.  Chiang Rai United has some players from Africa and Europe who ‘look like’ us.  There is also the fact that we just don’t look like anyone in their community.  I might add that those same looks also come from adults as well.  Understanding that we are a novelty to a certain extent, and that there is nothing negative, it becomes a different feeling than the looks one gets in other places.

When we’re out and about, we can usually find some humor in almost any situation.  Today we had to go to HomePro for a second attempt at getting service on our new refrigerator.  It has been leaking water.  A guy came out last week and took it all apart and determined that it needed a part.  He returned a few weeks later and did something and said it was fixed.  It still leaks.  Today we were told, after two calls to the service guy, that it needs a new part and he’s waiting for it to come from Bangkok.  Oh my, that was all we needed to hear to spin into laughter.  It says right there in the service manual, ‘If you can’t fix it, tell them a part is needed from Bangkok’.  Who could argue with that?  Bangkok is a long way off and we don’t know when it will arrive.  That’s the beauty of living in a small town at the other end of the country.  And besides, we’re foreigners and we won’t know the difference.  Ha, don’t they know we’re from America, and we know how these games are played?  We had a good laugh and finally came up with a way to deal with the whole thing.  More will be revealed.

It feels like a Wacky Wednesday.

                Peace,

                          Danny

“Most of us have far more courage

than we ever dreamed possible.”

~Dale Carnegie