A day at the Chatuchak market

Chatuchak market is open only on the weekend in northern Bangkok. If you can't find what you are looking for at Chatuchak, you probably didn't really need it. It's a huge market that sells everything from jewelry, pottery, home decor items, to antique buddhas (if that's your thing), hippie clothing (no kidding), pets of all kinds, textiles, antiques... I think you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here are few pics of the day. I did go along this morning for a couple of hours, but after that, I bailed out and let Caitlin and Claudia enjoy the rest of the day on their own.
This is the Sky Train station near our apartment; Chong Nonsi.

Caitlin and Claudia are into "full contact" shopping. Fortunately, no one got hurt with this aggressive move...a move that she apparently learned well from her mother. Anyway...as I always say, "no blood, no foul."

a bunch of beautiful orchids

after a long day of shopping, it's time to come home. Claudia's probably thinking of either taking the Sky Train back home, or maybe the elephant taxi in the background. I'm not sure the elephants could carry the heavy load that Claudia is trying to bring home.

Apartment Pictures

Our living room
living room

Master bedroom
Master Bedroom

Caitlin's room

Week 3: Assimilation improving & Getting Around "Thai style"

At the end of week three we have now moved in our apartment...praise the Lord for that! It will take us awhile to really get settled in, but at least we have unpacked and hung up our clothes.

On the day we moved in (Sept 11), I knew our comfort level of being in Bangkok had improved when Melinda (who is an old pro in living in Bangkok; she's been here for 2 years) ordered 3 motorcycle taxis to save us a bit walking (about 1/2 mile). It was indeed quick and a cheap thrill ! It only cost 10 baht each or about 30 cents US money. On this particular day, the only casualty of speeding down the street and over a few speed bumps was Claudia's hair! Well, let me just say that the humid air and brisk ride on the back of a motorcycle was all Claudia need to add some volume to her hair. Just think about it...people pay good money for "volumizing shampoo" and Claudia did it for as little as 30 cents. LOL!

Well, that's all it took...just one trip on the back of a motorcycle and now we've done it several times since then. I guess we are getting braver day by day, or maybe we've just lost all common sense.

The problem with Bangkok is TRAFFIC! There are 10 million people in Bangkok and I think everyone drives a car plus about 5 million taxis. I've never seen traffic like it. And, if it rains (which it does often now that we are in the rainy season), the streets flood and you can imagine what that does to traffic. It puts a whole new meaning to the word "GRIDLOCK" in a Swamp!

Our modes of transportation varies depending on when, where and how fast we want to get there. The quick and easy way to get around if your not going but just a few blocks (less than a mile) is to take a TUK TUK (a small motorized type of golf cart) or a motorcycle taxi. The advantages of taking the motorcycle taxi is it's fast, and can go around cars (even in a traffic jam), but the obvious draw back is...it's not really that safe! I find myself praying more when I'm on the motorcycle but so far there have not been any accidents...just a close call or two.

Speaking of assimilation...Claudia is doing much better this week than last. I only say that because one evening last week that we were heading back to our apartment and walking down a busy sidewalk of vendors, cooking booths and along with hoards of people a small elephant(maybe about 5 foot tall) was passing by on the sidewalk with it's owner! The owner had food for sale that you could buy to feed the elephant as means of financial support. The elephant was so close to us that you could have easily reached out and touched it...if you dared. Or, if you weren't paying attention you could have been a casualty of an elephant "hit and run." I'm not sure when it comes to the law in Thailand in such matters, who has the legal "right of way?" So, as the elephant passed by I commented to Claudia about the elephant and she said, "what elephant? Where?" Things are, at times, so chaotic and busy and there are so many things to distract your attention, that you can, indeed, miss an elephant in your pathway. Enough said about that. Claudia is now on full elephant alert.

Pray for us...sounds like we need it! Thank you guys for your friendship and your prayers. Miss you guys. We'll keep in touch. Love you!

Gary

Moving next week; our new address plus more...

After being in Bangkok for 2 weeks, we have finally found a permanent apartment. It's a spacious furnished 3 bedroom in the downtown area. Actually, we are in the same apartment building as Melinda Burnette (BSF teaching leader) who has been living in this apartment building for a year. So at least we know one neighbor in the building. We are pleased to have finally landed on something and very much look forward to moving in on Thursday Sept. 11 and getting out of our suitcases and getting settled.

Of course after moving in, Claudia will enjoy making our apartment feel more like home even though it's already fully furnished. Claudia's already scheming how to improve it by moving some furnisher around and she's already commented on how the lamp shades are too small for the lamps so I'm sure that will change as well. We still need to buy sheets, towels, dishes, etc, and of course, she will most likely add some "fresh flowers" to make it feel more like home. She's is awesome at making a home feel special. I'm looking forward to seeing it transform.

Our new address is:
Baan Thirapa
11 Soi Phra Pinijt Tung-Makamake
Apt 202
Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Cell: 084-349-6655 (Gary)
011-66-84-349-6655 (outside Thailand)
Cell: 084-349-6633 (Claudia)
011-66-84-349-6633 (outside Thailand)

Up coming this week, Tuesday Sept 9, the BSF Women's class will be starting for the new year. This year's study is "The life of Moses" (Exodus, Lev, Nu and Duet.) Claudia will be joining the leadership team as a childrens leader.

Also, this week Caitlin's school will be on holiday Thursday and Friday which will be a nice break for her. So as not to waste this "out of school" holiday, Caitlin will be going with a youth church group to Koh Ta Lu (an island) for a beach retreat Sept 11-13th! Sounds nice, but Caitlin has already informed her mother and I that they do not need us as student sponsors...too bad:(

Today (Sunday Sept 7) we visited the International Church of Bangkok which is located very near to our new apartment. We enjoyed the service and met some new people this morning. Upon arriving, Caitlin saw her math teacher at church. He's a member which is nice to know that he is a Christian (unlike our experience in Greece). Next Sunday, we plan to attend the Calvary Baptist Church. Hopefully, after 4 successive weekends of visiting different churches we can find a church home. This is just another step in getting settled in Bangkok.

I'll close for now and hopefully we'll write more next week to keep you up with what's happening.

Blessings

Gary