People we meet

The Thai people have been very kind and gracious to us. We are not in a tourist area so most of the Thai people we meet are just ordinary people going about their daily round of activities. We are a bit out of the ordinary for them, but we are just rather innocent and harmless Falang (whites) so they smile and try to be helpful.

The lady at the hardware store was quite mystified when I was there looking at paint. I just wanted to see the colour selection and she was doing her best to sell me some paint. Finally we both gave up. I redeemed myself the next day when I went back to get a new tap. I took the old one to show her. She was very happy to show a new one at a very good price which I bought. We were both happy.

We attended a cell group Bible study from the church we have been attending. The cell group has about 7-9 members and they are young university types. They like to practice their English on us and they are quite fun to be with. We are just struggling with names, but we are learning. The church they attend, and where we have been going has been very welcoming. We recognize a good number of the songs they sing and one of the ladies who is an English language teacher has been very graciously translating the sermon for us. We feel cared for there.

We buy eggs, bananas and papaya from an old lady down at the corner usually early in the morning. I don't know what she thinks of us but her produce is good and she pretty we'll knows what we want now. The day starts early, the roosters wake up at 4 am, the geese start honking around 6 and the loudspeaker with the community news comes on shortly after. It really is the best time of the day so we should get up and enjoy it. Everyone else does.