the adventure I find myself in / das Abenteuer in dem ich mich finde
I was up in the mountains for two days. I had to bring the building materials for the Hui Ba Rai Water-project. As we were up in the jungle I saw this flower. It stood out in the sea of green. This was beauty to behold and for the blessing of digital photography to capture for the future and for the readers of this blog.
Yesterday I brought my truck to the Toyota garage to get fixed. I have over 200,000 km. and the "tiger" is starting to show it. Specially the off-road driving on the front wheel base. I had to replace the cooler because it had a crack all the way across. Then I had to replace different part connecting with the front wheels. I really don’t know what those parts are called. But it sure cost me quite some money. When I was driving home immediately felt the difference in stability. Such a difference. I thought my truck is just old and the way it handled was just because of age. But actually it was that some of the part were bent and some ball bearings were totally warn out. I can take a corner without the feeling that the truck is kind of giving way like it would slide. Would you believe it there are no noises anymore when I go off-road.
The only thing I need now is new tires. As you can see on the picture I am driving them "Thai-style" till there is no tire tread left. But unfortunately on a dirt road it is like driving on ice with these.
The storm past over and left a shocking picture of destruction. It reminds me of the Tsunami when I see the pictures of dead bodies. But maybe even more it reminds me of what happened in New Orleans. Again the Government failed to do what they are supposed to do. There was no warning and no evacuation. People were totally unaware of what was to come. Whoever has been in Asia knows how flimsy the buildings are. There is no chance of staying secure in a house. There are no shelters.
The Burmese Government is notorious of doing the opposite of taking care of it’s people. I still cannot understand and it make me sad. Why do the innocent have to suffer so much. One organization said 40% of the more the 22,000 dead are children. I pause and I am speechless.
In a week or two no one will talk about the disaster anymore. The strange thing is that in the nine years I have been in Asia thousands of people got killed, maimed by mines, raped, and driven into the jungle by the Burmese Junta.
Please pray for the Burmese people!
Today I will talk to a larger Christian group of Thai people at a cell group gathering. It is the first time I speak in front of a bigger group in Thai without a translator. Strange, because I used to lead worship in Thai for two years at a Thai church. Most of my sharing is with smaller groups or one on one. So I am a bit nervous. Especially with talking about what God has done in my life and how it came that I would go to Thailand. It is a long story and it seems such a long time ago. Every time I think of God’s gentleness in the way He led me and gave me directions touches me and gives me a sense of security.
My Thai has improved a lot since i went back to Thai studies and I am still motivated to go on. My goal is to be able to preach in Thai and to translate simultaneously. This was my goal back when I was 20 years old and went to learn English. After being here for 9 years I know that even when I go back to Switzerland part of me will be with the Thai people and South-East Asia.
I wasn’t able to go up to the mountains. It is still sporadically raining and the jungle road I need to take is not passable. Yesterday I phoned Mongkun the project leader. He was in hospital with his wife. She just gave birth to their third child. So I congratulated him and said we would post-bone the project to the end of the week.
The weather seems to get better. This morning I was able to maw the lawn and clean up around the house. Today is a public holiday. So I enjoyed one extra free day with my family. Then tomorrow back to the office and Thai studies.
Today the newspaper gave a sad report on the destruction Cyclone Nargis brought to Burma.
Storm kills hundreds in Burma
RANGOON : At least 351 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when Cyclone Nargis tore through Burma, razing thousands of buildings and smashing up streets, it was reported late last night. (Bangkok Post)
Here in the North of Thailand it seems quiet down. I mean we had nothing like Rangoon in Chiang Mai. I haven’t heard of flash floods in the North yet. Read here what flash floods are:
"Flash flooding occurs when the ground becomes saturated with water that has fallen too quickly to be absorbed. The runoff collects in low-lying areas and rapidly flows downhill. Flash floods most often occur in normally dry areas that have recently received precipitation, but may be seen anywhere downstream from the source of the precipitation – even dozens of miles from the source." (Wikipedia)
Cyclone alert
"Sixteen provinces in upper Thailand went on alert on Saturday as tropical cyclone Nargis moved so close to Thailand it ripped off Burmese roofs and closed down Rangoon airport and broadcasting stations." (Bangkok Post)
Since Wednesday we get hit with high winds and heavy rains. It comes and goes. My plans to go to Hui Ba Rai to drive building material into the jungle had to be post-boned. I am planing to go on Monday, but doubt that I will be able to go. The beginning of the dirt road into the valley has an extreme steep incline.
I am also waiting for spare parts for the truck. (I have no clue how they are called, but has to do with the front wheels)
Friday and Saturday I have been teaching English at Lanna International Church in the English camp they are going to have every month. It was fun! I did my first "official" simultaneous translation from Thai to English. It was exciting to see that my Thai studies are really paying off.
There is some storm over southern China. This is why it rained the last two days. Forecasts tell us we will have rain till Saturday. It is not rainy season yet, so the rain is kind of strange. But it is very refreshing after so many very hot days.
This morning Lillian and I were in Prao (about 100km. North of Chiang Mai) to visit the Boarding home we support. The local Government installed a new water system for the nearby Thai village. We got the permission to connect a pipe for the children’s-home. This morning we brought a water-tank and money for the project.
Yesterday evening I went to play Irish folk music at the UN Irish Pub in Chiang Mai. We have been playing together for quite a while now. It is a lot of fun. I remember back when I was a teenager I would listen to Irish and other folk music. The kind of music I was drawn to by it’s purity, honesty and relevance to life (my opinion 😉
If you are in Chiang Mai and want to enjoy some Irish music with your pint of Guinness come on a last Friday in the month from 8.00 p.m. (except in Juli 08)
This morning I got up to get the children ready for school. One by one they came into the kitchen to get their breakfast. Suddenly Timmy came with a painful expression on his face. On the kitchen floor a huge Centipede was running for a corner. It was about 15 centimeters long.
It was the same species as this one a Vietnamese centipede or “Scolopendra subspinipes” They have a serious bite and i heard Thai people saying they can kill a baby with their bite. I don’t know if this is true.
Luckily the centipede kind of bit into Timmy’s toe nail and could really dig in. so with some ice and Fenistil gel we got the pain in check.
Timmy had is share of creeper attacks over the years. The worst was waking up in the morning with a snake around his neck. Read about it here
The last days were so hot it was getting to me. I could sense it in the traffic. I mean driving in Thailand is very dangerous as it is. But when it gets so hot over many days we all get short tempered and traffic becomes even worse. Two days ago there was an accident on Hang Dong road when I was driving home around six. I saw a Pick-up Truck that slammed earlier into a Electricity pole killing all for passengers. The driver apparently was drunk.
Yesterday afternoon the clouds were building up. Sometimes it is hard to see because of the pollution that is closing up the sky here in Chiang Mai. But suddenly it started raining, and the it even hailed for a moment. Very strange. It went on with a heavy downpour for a while. It rained more or less the whole night.
So this morning Chiang Mai is reborn with clear fresh air. What a treat for us living here in this heat.
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