Learning Thai

We're renting our house from a lady named Ulai and we've been enjoying becoming acquainted with her and her family. Her husband speaks a little bit of English (but a little bit goes a long way when combined with hand gestures!). He consistently refers to his wife as "my husband," but we can usually understand what he's trying to say. Ulai doesn't speak any English and we understand very little Thai at this point but that doesn't stop her from telling us quite a bit. They both like the girls a lot and Claire and Eliza are getting much more comfortable with them.

They have been taking very good care of us - in fact we think that they may doubt our ability to fend for ourselves. They relate to us with a mixture of concern and bemusement. So far they've brought us: several meals, some plants, a lamp, an incredibly heavy writing desk and chair carved out of a tree trunk/root, pillows for the girls, pineapple, a bicycle, a TV stand, trash cans, and a telephone. We never know when they are going to ring the bell at the gate and come in with some new item for us.

We feel blessed to have this house and to have them as landlords and we hope that we'll be able to deepen our relationship with them as we learn more of the language. It will be interesting to learn more about their religious beliefs. I get the impression that they are nominal Buddhists - so join us in praying that we'll be able to share God's love with them through our actions and (later on) words.

-Tom