The first picture is of desserts, fried banana, sweet sticky rice, various types of custards. Then you see various stir fried creations as well as some curries and soups with everything from snails to green beans. Also, there are a mind-boggling array of deep fried fritter/donut like things. So when I said Jake and I are going to come home tan and chubby, I kid you not people.

Fun at the Night Markets

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night here in Pattaya the Night Markets set up. Basically it is a lot like a Saturday market in Eugene, but replace all the hippies with Russian tourists. And the food is way better and cheaper. And its in the middle of the night. Okay...so maybe not exactly like the Saturday market in Eugene. But did I mention that the food is awesome? Enjoy some pictures!

Pattaya Beach

So This is what the beachfront looks like here in Pattaya. As far as beaches in Thailand go, this one isn't even in the top 20. We actually haven't sat in the sand or swam in the ocean yet if you can believe that! These photos were taken one morning when Jake and I started early doing some street work. We drove our scooter down to the beach and walked along the sidewalk facing the ocean. It was too early for the beaches to be crowded yet. Mostly, there are tourists and residents walking/jogging or just relaxing before the big crowds show up. So we try to talk to them a little. Jake is good at it, me not so much. But it is good practice for me in being bold. Most of the people we talk to are from Russia, Germany or England so far.

more bugs...

here are a few more pictures. some close ups so you can see the little creepy crawlers. I only tried the little bugs and one grub. Jake was a little braver, he had some locusts and a tiny frog! Ewwww.....

Oh Yes We Did!

Hey peeps! Guess what we did at the night markets? We ate bugs. No seriously....we ate some bugs. Like John the Baptist, except instead of honey there was chopped green onions. They tasted like corn nuts mixed with sunflower seeds, which are both pretty good if you ask me. This just proves that if you deep fry and then salt ANYTHING, it will go down. Also, chasing it with a little beer helps. I'm not saying we will do this on a regular basis or anything, but at least now we have a fun story to tell. So enjoy the pictures. Or if you are squeamish, skip them!

Ministry

Heather emailed me a few questions about what service is like here...I'm sure she isn't the only one wondering. I have put off writing about it because I wanted to spend a few weeks figuring it out myself:-)

Basically, each week we go out a few days with the Thai congregation and a few days with the English. When in Thai, from what I've seen so far, the ENTIRE group that shows up for the meeting all goes together and floods a particular territory. There isn't any knocking on doors here though. We just go from place to place, and if the door or window is open, you call out "Sawat dee ka" which is hello, and you wait to see if anyone comes out. You also talk to any and all people on the street, from business owners to food vendors. No not-at-home records because the territory is so vast it takes years to cover it all. So it is quite a bit different. Also, since we are just learning the language, our presentation is VERY simple...something along the lines of what a 5 year old might say. Sometimes the householder understands us....sometimes they just stare blankly at us. Sometimes they giggle at us big, sweaty farangs (foreigners) trying to speak their language. Its all good. When there is a doubt or an awkward pause, you just put your palms together in front of your face, smile and bow and say "kop khun ka" (thank you). The thai people are very polite and smile a lot so this seems to cover over our many many mistakes...

English territory is a little similar. It is basically in the "exploration" phase still. So we walk through a neighborhood looking for signs of english speakers. The signs might be big fancy motorcycles, english name plates on the gate, foreign flags in the window, football(soccer) stickers or flags...etc. If the house looks home, we call out and if anyone comes we talk.

I have had a few nice calls so far. Both calls were with thai women that speak english. I am hoping to return on them this week. Jake has had most of his success with street work. A few days a week we start early and ride our scooters down to the beachfront. We walk along the sidewalk there talking to anyone we meet. He has had quite a few lengthy discussions with foreign men that way. (jake having a LENGTHY discussion? no way!!!) hahahaha.

Food!

I'm sure you are all shocked that I haven't posted anything about the food here yet. The truth is we have been settling in to our apartment and cooking a little bit at home, which is an adventure in itself since I only have one electric hot-plate and one flimsy pan! However, we have eaten out a bit and we have seen many many many yummy looking things that we have yet to try. But here are a few photos anyway...

Last saturday we went out in service with the Thai congregation and afterwards, we all went to a local open-air restaurant and had some delicious beef noodle soup with basil. It is my favorite thing I have tried so far. They serve it to you and on the table are little bowls of vinegar, hot peppers, sugar and fish sauce that you put in according to your taste. I tried all of them and it was so good! We also had some thai iced tea which is delicious.

Later that same day, there was a bbq on the beach. As you can see, 2 little piggies were on the menu. So cute. So tasty:-) The other picture is of the Thai sisters making a papaya salad. Also at that bbq there were green and red coconut curries and tons of fruit. Originally, I was thinking maybe I would return to Oregon perhaps a bit thinner, but now I think I will be a little fatter:-( But at least I will get a tan. hahaha!

International Brotherhood

We all know that we are part of an international organization, but never has it been so real to me. For example, today Jake and I (who are american in case you are wondering:-) went out in service with a Thai brother named Wiiman, a frenchman named George, a Russian named Igor and a Danish brother named Lasse. We were doing the thai congregation's territory, so imagine the variations in accents all trying to master a simple thai presentation. Once we were out in the field, I got to speak with a man from India who spoke some broken english. George, the french brother, handed me a tract in Hindi to give to him as well. When the man saw a piece of literature in his language, he literally grabbed it out of my hand.

The meetings are fun as well. I absolutely LOVE languages so I am having a blast greeting the brothers in their respective tongues...buon giorno! bonjour! buenos dias! sawatdee ka! previyet! hai! Because the majority of the brothers and sisters don't speak english well, the talks and comments really need to be kept simple. There is a lot of repetition and re-capping of main points so that everyone understands. Tonight was our 3rd meeting here in Pattaya. Jake had the Bible reading, a demo on the service meeting and the closing prayer, none of which he knew about until we arrived at the hall. He is giving the public talk in 2 weeks! Lets keep him on his toes!!:-) Tomorrow we go out in service and then a sweet German couple invited us over to their house for lunch. We also received an invite from a Hungarian couple to come over to their home and try some traditional Hungarian goulash. This. Is. So. Fun!

Scooter-Cam!

Here are a few more pictures. Some are from service the other day. We had a motley crew of about 10 brothers and sisters all dressed up buzzing into the territory on motorbike! It sure beats a minivan:-) (just joking Leah, I miss your party van!!)

Scooter-Cam!

So we have been here a week now. We are really getting the hang of this scooter business:-) It is not uncommon to see an entire family perched on a tiny bike zipping through town. Even the adorable little Thai babies know how to hold on and go with the flow! Here are a few pictures to show you what our daily commute is like.

Bangkok, continued...

Here are a few more pictures of the city that first day we were there. And for those of you who looked closely at the last post, that cat is in fact sleeping next to the food...not being sold as food! Don't worry

Bangkok

We didn't get to be in Bangkok for very long, just a day and a half while we stayed at Bethel. Our first day there, a thai sister recommended that we take the canal into the city and walk around. I was a little nervous about doing it since we didn't have a map, we didn't have a great grasp on thai money, the language or layout of the land. But Jake was all "take-charge" that day, he really wanted to explore. I'm glad we did though, it was fun to look around. We got some delicious thai iced coffee (i'll post more about food later), and then Jake decided to be adventurous and bought some meat on a stick from a lady with a street cart. After one bite we both concluded that it was most definitely some sort of gizzard or innard...which I guess isn't too exotic or weird, but we didn't like it.

Bangkok is a wild city. You walk around and are constantly amazed and bewildered. You will see extreme poverty on one street. Then you turn the corner and watch as people come out of an 8 story shopping mall with Gucci bags getting into their BMW sports car. You will smell something delicious and your stomach will growl, and then a few feet later your nose picks up something so atrocious you want to gag. But at least you never get bored!