The Frohne Flier

Volume 1, Issue 2

P. O. Box 4 Muak Lek, Saraburi, Thailand Monday, June 18, 2001

Phone: 66-36-344-726

 

 
 

Welcome to Monday. We were already starting it as you were going to bed. When I'm awake, you're asleep, so I look forward to checking my email in the morning to see what you wrote while I was sleeping.
 

Homesickness and Culture Shock
We have been in Thailand a little over a week now. Jet lag has finally subsided, but there are still plenty of adjustments to make. William seems to handle everything just fine as long has he has his Mama. Araya on the other hand is having a hard time. She can't seem to find enough to keep her busy, as we only brought a very few things to play with. And the rules are all different here. There are too many things that have the answer, "No". "No, you may not climb on the light colored couches with dirty feet." "No, you may not wash your sippy cup in the slimy puddle water." "No, you may not go over to see if the ten year old neighbor boy wants to play at 5 or 6 in the morning." "No, you may not hang out of the upstairs bedroom window when you are supposed to be taking a nap. Poor thing, she has a lot to learn. The biggest shock to her is that not every one knows what she is saying when she talks to them. For example, the Thai workers who care for all the yards, do maintenance on the houses and such. They all stare at my kids, talking about their beautiful skin and hair in Thai. She thinks they are friendly so she goes up and asks them a question, like "Why are you doing that?" They just look at her blankly and she gets frustrated because they don't answer her question.

I'm not having as much culture shock as I am homesickness. We are living in a fancy house, but none of it is my choice of furnishing, so I am having a hard time feeling at home in the place. Also I haven't been here long enough to develop friendships. I am missing all my friends at home. I feel really limited because I am at everyone else's mercy as to when I can go to the market or to the next town to the department store. There is no public transportation from the campus, unlike Bangkok. I realize I haven't been here very long, so I am sure it will get better as time passes. All I need is some patience to help me be happy while I wait for that future time.

Rob seems to be doing really well with his classes. There are some things that are different, but everything is mostly the same. He is spending his days teaching classes, preparing for the next day and helping students. He has been having a good time taking photos of insects, spiders, birds, lizards and snakes. He has been missing his bicycle. It is about five miles into Muak Lek and so getting there is more of a walk than anyone wants to take, especially in the heat of the day. Rob doesn't really like jogging in the morning for exercise, and walking is hardly any exercise. He would just prefer to ride his bike like he does back in College Place. There is a very nice dirt road to walk or jog on. It goes out through the jungle, past a dairy farm, and on to the main highway. It is about five kilometers long.
 

The "Hair Cutter Lady"
As I said, Araya has been looking for things to do, most of which spell trouble. One night when Rob was in charge of the kids and I was at the market, Araya found her sissors and started looking for something to do with them. Apparently she thought she could improve on the haircut I gave William just before we left. So did a little art work on the back of head and then then tried to hide the evidence in our little Russian stacking dolls. But just as it impossible to hide from God, it also hard to hide such a deed from the eyes of Mama. William looks ok in the front, but there are some interesting bare strips on the back of his head waiting to grow out a little until Mama can even it up. Araya's sissors are on the top shelf now. The next day Sue Dixon asked Araya what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said, "A hair cutter lady."
 
Bread and BUTTER!
I gave you a story on Araya, so I thought I should give you one on William too. Last night I made bread for the first time. Araya, William and Rob were all eager to try it for breakfast this morning. Araya and Rob helped themselves while I was taking a shower and then left for their morning walk with Rob pushing Araya up the hill in the jogger stroller. I didn't realize they had left already or I would have been more concerned when I heard William fussing about something downstairs, thinking Rob would take care of the problem. But the noise didn't stop and got louder. So I went down to investigate. Yikes. William had found the stool and had climbed up to get himself some bread. He had spread margarine all over the bread board, the side of the bread and applied plenty to the counter and yes, himself with a butter knife and the sharp bread knife also. It was a little difficult to reach, and by the time I found him he had slipped and was trying to hold on to the edge of the counter for dear life and at the same time trying to figure out how to get down. I am glad he didn't poke himself in the process.
 
The Local Swimming Hole
Araya has been begging for some water to play in. There is a swimming pool up the road at the Health Center. We can swim there for 30 baht per person, but it doesn't have a shallow area, and I don't have a way to get there except walking in the hot sun. When Yin took me to Wednesday night market I was just the thing. I bought the largest tub for doing laundry they have for 39 baht (45 baht to the dollar). It is probably 2 1/2 feet across and nice and sturdy. The next day when I put water in it, Araya tried to tell me it isn't big enough, and in some ways she is right. But every day they have enjoyed using it to get wet. If it was a little bigger, I think I would get in too, but it is a one kid at a time pool.
 
The Ice Machine
The kids favorite way of keeping cool is not the air conditioner, though William likes to watch the fans go round. It is the ice machine located on our refrigerator. Very shortly after getting up they are asking to eat ice. Even William has learned to say "Ice" and asks for it frequently. For a while, when I had a durian in the refrigerator, I am sure the water and ice tasted funny, but they kept asking for ice. The problem is it hard to eat ice out of a sippy cup, which means that there are always pieces of ice melting on the floor to step in. Most people only get a wet foot from this. William on the other hand tends to slip and fall on the tile. We go through our limited pile of towels quite quickly trying to keep up with the ice puddles. Rob hopes the kids get tired of ice before we get back to the states, because he doesn't want to buy a new refrigerator just for the ice machine.
 
House Helpers
One of the teachers found a couple Thai students to work for me. The school fees were raised and they are struggling to pay their bills. I am glad to help, because it also helps me. One girl, Guitar is her nickname, is my main workers. She comes most every day for 2 - 3 hours. She works slow, but does a really good job. The house looks really nice when she leaves. My second worker is Pu, Thai for crab. She isn't as dependable, but did a great job ironing all our clothes that got very wrinkled in the suitcases on the way over. Both girls are very friendly and courteous and willing workers. Guitar speaks a bit more English. She is an English major but has a hard to with spoken English. I am finding that if all else fails, I can spell out a word for her and she will understand.

At first I didn't know what to do with myself when they came to clean. But I realize now it is a gift of time that I get to spend with my children. Now I need to figure out what I can do with my kids with very few supplies. It is going to be an adventure in creativity.
 

Potluck
I decided to have a potluck at our house our second Sabbath here. I invited 15 people and set about to make some food myself. Then I had a terrible thought. What was I going to do. I only have 6 plates in my house, and about that many forks! I am used to having a well supplied kitchen at home and didn't even think about not having enough plates. I had to ask the lady accross the street, Leona Gouge, if she could help me with my problem. She had been invited too. She came with plates and forks and spoons and cups and enough black rice pudding for dessert! Next time I go to the department store in Saraburi I will have to see if I can buy some more supplies for my kitchen.

I have already purchased some more towels for the bath and kitchen. They gave us four bath towels and a couple kitchen towels, but that number doesn't last very long when I am cleaning up all my kids messes, especially since I don't have paper towels or napkins to rely on either. I will just leave the new ones here if there is any good left in them for the next visiting faculty to use.
 

Visit to the White Buddha
On Sabbath afternoon the Gouges invited us to go with them and a couple other families to see a nearby Buddha. It is HUGE and sits up on a mountainside. There are over 600 steps up to the base of the Buddha. It is actually is a nice Sabbath afternoon climb through the jungle and the view is great from the top. It was a clear day so you could we quite a ways. We way intersting vines, butterflies, flowers, and a green tree snake on a tree down below the wall at the top. I was really glad there was a thick wall separating us and the snake. It wasn't just any old garter snake.

There is a monastery at the bottom. They have prayers at 3:00 a.m and 5:30 p.m. every day. We got in on the 5:30 prayer over the loud speaker.

Mrs. Gouge knew of a nice little park like place nearby. We went there and had sundown worship by a little play area. Araya and William were delighted when they saw there were two slides just like the ones they have at home. They were sad to leave because there is no play area at the College.

Pictures available for viewing.
The good news is that yesterday Rob downloaded pictures onto his web page for your viewing enjoyment. Go there and see photos of where we live and what we have been doing.
Photos
 
Phone
I now know our phone number for any of you who are interested. Phone: 66-36-344-726. You may call if you wish, but do check with your phone company to find out their rates before you call. There are cheep rates available if you look for them. Try an internet search. Don't expect us to call you though, unless it is an emergency, as I have heard it costs about 40 cents a minute. I don't think we can change long distance companies either. We plan on using email to communicate.

That is all for now. I am looking forward to hearing from you soon. I could really use some email in my box. You may use my regular email address frohba@wwc.edu. Rob's is Frohro@wwc.edu

Barbara, Araya, William and Rob