Learning Thai

We had another little adventure this morning coutesy of our landlord Khun Seri (his wife is visiting her family so he's alone for the weekend). He picked us up bright and early this Sunday morning and took us to a river market. It was a small market with lots of vendors- mostly food right along the river. We all enjoyed the boat ride, trying lots of new treats (like fried bananas with butter sauce, unknown meat meatballs, and other sweets and fried things and drinks with no American equivalent!) and checking out some fish and turtles. We noticed something looking suspiciously like bird bills on a grill and Tom deciphered the Thai on the sign advertising "Duck Mouths." We were trying to figure out what part of a duck bill is edible! It was a fun little trip and we started so early that we were back home and had the girls cooling off in the pool by 10:00!

The boat that ferried us to the market.

House on the river

Claire and her friend Khun Seri.

Eliza fascinated by the snails. She called them "ponytails" (she calls toenails and fingernails "ponytails" too).

Claire had fun holding the turtles but as you can see from her face, she was a little nervous too!

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This morning I was at home with the girls and we had just finished eating breakfast when our landlord, Khun Seri, showed up and invited us to eat breakfast with him. I explained that we had already eaten, but he persuaded us to accompany him and eat "just a little." The girls were still in their nightgowns. He didn't think that it would be a problem to take them as they were, but I've been married long enough now to know what Candice would have said about that! So I quickly changed them, put on their sun hats (which also covered up their messy hair) and out we went. We ate at a small restaurant down the street and had rice, boiled chicken, and bowls of chicken broth. Claire looked at it skeptically and declared that "this doesn't look like breakfast. It looks more like something for supper." But she and Eliza both dug in and ate a suprising amount. Claire said that she would like to go back again for breakfast - but the next time do it for the "real, first breakfast."

There are some foods that Thai people eat only for breakfast but there don't appear to be many dishes that are off limits. Many restaurants and food stalls offer the same food all day - and people seem to eat it interchangeably for breakfast, lunch, and supper. Occasionally on my way to class in the morning I'll get a serving of rice with some kind of spicy meat topping. Eating that in the morning tends to make me feel full for the rest of the day. (But there are some mornings when my stomach is just not ready for basil, garlic, and chili peppers!)

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Look at these poor guys that got caught in the rainstorm this afternoon! They went to the market to get some veggies for a stir-fry and look what happened. Liza was a pitiful sight, soaked and perched on the front of the motorcycle crying and shivering! A huge thunderclap sent us all inside pretty fast and then Eliza recovered with a towel and some TLC on the couch from Claire (who was desparately worried about Eliza on the motorcylce when it started pouring!). The weather remains extremely hot, but we welcome the rain (usually) and love the relief and cooler air that it brings. The stir-fry was delicious by the way, thanks to our brave hunter/gatherers.
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was trying to think about some of the day to day kinds of things that we experience here that we may not have mentioned before. Did you know....

1) That medical costs here are a small percentage of medical costs in the States. Example? Today Claire had her annual check up for VSD (a tiny hole in her heart that should close on it's own in a few years). She had an EKG. Any of you who have had those in the states know that they run into over a thousand dollars. Our bill today: $10. What???!!! And Claire's heart looks fine by the way.

Claire this morning. Only a little worried about her upcoming Japanese Encephalitis vaccination.

2) We have no hot tap water in our house. We do our dishes in cold water, etc. Around noon, the sun warms it enough that it's warm from the tap. We recently bought a water heater for the girl's bathroom, so if you come to visit, we can now guarantee you a warm shower!

3)One of our favorite nighttime snacks is Tom's mango smoothies (other delicious flavors we've tried- strawberry/banana, passion fruit, pineapple).

4)T-shirt messages here can be pretty funny. Often they are a string of English words that don't make a huge amount of sense together....check out this one of Eliza's. I bought it purely for the message....

"If you think you want to be not to eat mutually." Can anyone interpret?

5)We see lizards in our house almost every day. They can scare you to death when they jump out of the sink in the morning or from some dark corner of the bathroom!

6)We have a nest of birds in our bathroom window! It's been a special event for the girls to watch the little eggs and now the tiny birds!! They are less than 24 hours old in this picture. When we come near to look at them, they open their little mouths and chirp away!

7) It is now raining almost every day. We never leave the house without an umbrella- works for sun or rain!

8) Fruits we eat often: pineapple, oranges, apples, mangosteen, rambutan, mango, bananas, watermelon. Fruits we don't have: grapefruit, plums, peaches, cherries, lemons.

This is the mangosteen (mangkut)- it tastes like a plum/pear. We love it!! This is the month of the year that they are in season, so we eat them on a daily basis.

9)Our house has no: bathtubs, closets, or cabinets.

10)Our neighborhood of Thippawan is familiar to taxi driver's right now for two reasons: road construction (they are raising the road and putting in storm drains and it's been a mess for months) and flooding. On a rainy day you can get turned down by 3 or 4 taxi drivers not interested in navigating our messy streets!

-Candice

p.s. A note about our visa and a job for Tom. We are seriously considering the new teaching offer at this point. Tom has filled out all the paperwork and gotten his pictures and physical (cost $1) for the labor department and hopes to go in this week to apply for his work permit. Tomorrow we'll all go to an open house at the school to meet some of the teachers and parents.

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, we had a lovely vacation/mother's day/Tom's birthday celebration on Koh Samet over the last few days. We traveled 3 1/2 hours by bus and a half hour by ferry and were in a completely different environment from our city home. Aaaaaah. We enjoyed the sights of countryside on the way down- rice fields, wats, coconut palms, etc. On the bus, Claire summed it up for all of us by saying...."Every day I see something new that amazes me!" (a quote from one of her favorite Peep movies). So true!!

We weren't able to make hotel reservations before we arrived on the tiny island, so we were a little nervous about what our accomodations would be like. We traveled on the island in the back of a pickup over incredibly rutted roads. After observing the party scene and crowded beaches on the way, we were even more nervous. BUT, we ended up in a lovely spot with semi-rustic wood cabins right on a sparsely populated beach. Perfect!
Highlights of our time:

-Night and morning rainstorms that cooled things down and were really refreshing, and lovely sunny afternoons
-Endless games of Yahtzee on the front porch after the girl's bedtime (huddled around the mosquito coil!)
-Eating every meal on the beach- and I mean literally ON the beach. Heavenly! The girl's favorite? What they called "eggs on the beach" and discovering oysters.
-Sleeping with the sound of waves.
-A long walk on the rocks and beach for Tom's birthday supper and chocolate cake and coffee on the beach by laternlight on "our" beach.
-Swimming in the nice clear water. It was perfect for the girls because the waves were small.
-Eating lots of fish and shrimp and squid...mmmmm.

Of course you can't have a vacation without a few lowlights too.... two were the mangy dogs that roam the beach-(just like the streets of good old Bangkok) and swarms of mosquitos after dusk. Oh and the several days a bunch of trash washed up on shore and had to be raked up by the staff- it was really horrifying. As Claire said, "that's not taking good care of the earth!"

But overall, we had a terrific time and are feeling nice and relaxed and refreshed and ready to get back to work and school. Here are a few pictures of our time.....

Our little cabin. We loved being in a woodsy area but looking straight out on the beach!

Day one: Armed and ready to dig!

Lovebirds on the beach.

How beautiful is that!? Right around the corner from our beach (Tom took this picture on a very rainy walk one morning).

Claire on our walk to Daddy's birthday supper. She loved every minute of playing in the sand and walking on the beach!

Tom's birthday supper. We ate every meal like this right on the beach! Happy Birthday Baby!

How Claire and Eliza spent 80%of their time at the beach!

Another one of those "just because I took this picture and love it" pictures. (Claire on the ferry on the way back to the mainland).

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Happy 31st Mother's Day!

Found this Mother's Day picture in the stack Dad sent me! 1981 I think?? Remember the sign we made you?

Mom, what always amazes me is that you kept your sanity with 7 kids ....I get tired with just my two girls and you had the ambition to take us on big trips and move a bunch of times, work as a nurse, etc, etc. It makes me tired!! And not just that but you were calm and cheerful too! We were so lucky to have you for a mom- I am full of gratitude when I think about my childhood and the happy growing up that I had. It's hard to be away from you now..... I miss things like being able to bring the girls to your house, eating your bread, sitting at the kitchen table talking, calling you for advice (well, I can still do that one!) and getting your hugs. I love you and miss you!!! Have a wondeful day!
And lastly, a verse that always reminds me of you...."(Your beauty) should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."
You are more beautiful all the time because your spirit is beautiful!
Love, Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Earlier in the blog, I introduced my tutor Ju, so I also wanted to introduce my other Thai teacher from Inlingua, Tuk. She took Joe and I out to an Indian restaurant (she is from a Thai/Indian family) for lunch today and showed us around her university. It's been really good to study with her- I only have about 5 classes left, so will miss that!
Our family is really looking forward to spending a few days at the beach at Koh Samet- leaving Sunday and coming back Wednesday to celebrate Tom's birthday. Claire packed her sand shovels today and can't wait to leave!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today the Royal Ploughing Ceremony was held here in Bangkok. What I read about it reminds me of Groundhog Day in the States - but instead of a groundhog they use cows and instead of predicting weather the cows indicate what kind of harvest the country will experience in the next year. It's a ritual that has Buddhist and Brahministic roots.

A pair of sacred cows are presented with seven choices - rice paddy, maize, green bean, sesame, hard liquor, water, and grass. Whatever they eat or drink first has significance for the country's food production and economic outlook. For example, if they drink the liquor "transportation will be convenient and commerce with foreign countries will be prosperous." I'll have to be sure to watch the news tonight to see how it turned out. (You can read more about it here.)

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're cautiously excited about a teaching possiblity that has suddenly materialized. This past Sunday we visited a new church and while we were there I met Manat, a man who is in charge of the English program at a small private school. He seemed interested in what we are trying to do and offered to help get me a job that would include a work permit. At the time I wasn't sure if he was just being polite or if he was really intending to follow through with this. However, he called me right away on Monday morning and set up a meeting with the school administrator. As it stands now, they are interested in having me work for the school as a "special teacher" assisting them with their English program. They are not requiring me to work full-time (which would be really nice given our other team-related responsibilities) and it seems like a good chance for me to get some teaching experience and develop relationships in that context.

Manat is going to be checking with the appropriate government departments to determine what requirements the school and I need to meet in order to qualify for the work permit. He told me that since he rarely attends the church where we met on Sunday (and it was our first time) he is taking that as a sign that God is leading us into this. We are praying that if that's true Manat would receive a favorable response to his inquiries about the work permit.

We still have a few more months on our current visa and I want to continue checking into other options, but the time is rapidly approaching when we will need to have a longer-term plan in place.

Thanks for your prayers for us, Manat, and the labor department officials involved in making this decision.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In other weekend news....

Claire caught a very fancy centipede (at least we think that's what it is) outside our house of which she was extrememly proud. She put him in a jar, picked him a nice assortment of greens and has been admiring him from a safe distance (he makes a little rattling sound that makes her nervous). She asked me to look up on the computer and find out what centipedes eat ("minibeasts" like slugs and worms evidently).

Also, we are trying to return some of the food favors that have been bestowed upon us recently by our incredibly generous neighbors (everything from custard to oyster omlette) and took our neighbors across the street some spaghetti and meatballs and biscuits. Well, of course they can't return an empty dish, so we were gifted with a bowl of chicken feet! Check them out!

And one more random animal note... for some inexplicable reason, there was a squirrel in church this morning. I happened to glance at the girl in the pew across the aisle from me and thought, "wow, that is an extremely life-like squirrel purse she's got there", and then it moved and I saw that an actual squirrel was crawling all over this girl! She had him on a little chain going into her pocket. Of course the girls were totally fascinated and got to check him out a little more closely after the service.

- Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 07:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Today we did some more exploration of Bangkok. We started out at a wholesale clothing market (where we found some good deals on shirts and skirts) and then walked to Baiyoke Tower 2, Bangkok's tallest building. At 997 feet it's the world's 28th tallest.

We were wowed by the amazing views from the revolving observation deck. We sometimes forget what an enormous city we live in! There are an incredible number of buildings with at least 10 stories (and more are being built all the time).

We had fun picking out places we know from way up there.

The girls enjoyed a Shirley Temple in the rooftop skybar and also loved the little museum and "driving" a tuk tuk.

We ended our excursion at a big mall where we tried the new branch of MOS burger from Japan. Apparently it's wildly popular there and judging from the line we had to wait in, it's a big hit here as well. Liza and Claire tried out their spidey moves in front of the mall. The new Spiderman movie is a huge box office hit here.

Tom and Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we're trying to learn Thai we have of course been overwhelmed by all of the new vocabulary. Many words sound similar (at least to our ears) and slight differences in tone create important differences between otherwise identical-sounding words. Today I had a very practical lesson in the difference between the words กะเพรา (ga-prao) and กระเพาะ (gra-pao). The first word means "basil" and is an ingredient in one of my favorite Thai dishes - a stir fry of meat, basil leaves, and chilis. I learned that word a long time ago but have never practiced reading it and have never been exactly sure of the pronounciation since Thais don't always stress the "r" in the "pr" sound. Anyway, as I walking back to our house today I saw a sign advertising what I thought was basil fish. Although I had never heard of this I hoped that it was a delicious stir fry of fish and basil leaves so I ordered a serving. However, what was advertised was actually "gra-pao" and as it turns out that refers to fish maw (the fish's air bladder). It comes in a thick gelatinous soup along with chunks of coagulated blood and the optional toppings are cilantro, chicken, and hard boiled quail eggs. It actually tasted OK but the consistency of the fish maw and the blood were enough to keep me from eating the whole serving.

In other news...
-Tomorrow is my last day of this module at language school. After that I have a two-week break. We're looking forward to that and hope to finally visit a Thai beach. This module has consisted of reading short stories about Thai culture. Here's a sample:

-The weather has changed drastically this week. Some kind of tropical depression has moved in and we've had more rain in the past week than we got in the previous 5 months. The temperature has also dropped to a comfortable 85 degrees and we are not complaining!

-English tutoring with our Thai friends continues to go well. It's fun to see their interest in learning. They've invited us to go with them to some kind of large church service this weekend. We haven't had much exposure to the broader Thai church so I'm looking forward to experiencing this.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)