Teacher Pook at the AUA Songkran Festival

I have anticipated the Songkran New Year's Festival ever since I first started studying about Thailand. It is one of the most exciting holidays of the year. The celebrations include many activities including games, visits to the temples, a ceremony with water, and water fights. My first taste of the festivities took place at my language school where my teachers comically recounted the events of a family's Songkran Holiday. Several of my teachers performed Thai dances and even did a show Thai boxing match.



Students at the Festival


Teachers Performing Traditional Thai Dance

Of course, the school festival only began the interesting experiences I had during this year's Songkran. On Friday, one of my students invited me to join her on a trip to visit "The 9 Wats." The Thai believe they will have special luck if they visit all 9 of the most important temples in Bangkok in one day. So we set out to conquer the task, and the heat, crowds, and starvation finally conqured us. We made it to 5 of the 9 before we called it quits. We still had plans to make it to Khao San road for the city wide water fight. Just picture the road so full of people and water and squirt guns that you can hardly move. Imagine your clothes soaked through as the sun starts setting and you actually begin to shiver. Imagine hundreds of people smearing white paste on your face and telling you "Happy New Year!" It's amazing and fun and very exhausting.

I don't know if you've all gottena chance to know my team, but they're pretty funny. And they constantly support and bless me. I don't know how I would survive without their wisdom, their friendship, or Allison's mashed potatoes.


(On left) Andy our techie/handyman/guitar player and his lovely and funny wife Jen the "on the bubble girl"
(Middle) Greg Coley (the man with the van/team leader extraordinare) and his wife the greatest American cook in Thailand/ great idea first lady Allison, with their children Zula and Moses.
(Then) Me the crazy artsy fartsy theatre girl
(Finally) Kristin the '06-'07 does it all Intern



Many of you have been praying for our very first Thai intern Goi. Here she is, and isn't she cute? She's also my Thai tutor and good friend. We're so excited to see how the intership works out this coming year. Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to a multicultural team. Also continue to pray for Goi as she raises her support.

During March and April, 6 Grapevine Students, Greg, and I helped our local church with a summer education camp. About 60 highschool students from Roi Et lived at the church for a month learning English, Math and Science. Every year the church uses this time to increase the kids exposure to the Christian life, and enhance the missions work they do in the village. It is especially encouraging to see the students singing worship songs and participating in services every Sunday and Wednesday. For our students at the Grapevine, the program porvides an opportunity to help in community service while enhancing life skills and deepening relationships.

I think the students were especially fond of "Teacher Mic, " because she was the craziest.




Or maybe because they knew I'd knock 'em silly if they didn't participate.