a collection of thoughts.

Thoughts 1.

We visited the local Burmese market tonight and loved it! It’s open every Friday and Saturday, and had a beautiful selection of fruits and vegetables. We’ll be visiting each week, I’m sure, to stock up. I love that it’s cheaper than the stores, supports locals, supports some of my favorite people groups, and supplies delicious, healthy foods: it doesn’t get much better than that.

Thoughts 2.

Our plan is to move into our new house either Tuesday night or Wednesday, and I’m quite excited. We don’t officially have it yet, but it’s reserved for us–we think. I suppose you never know when a big Bangkok boss could come and ruin your plans, so I’m trying not to get too set on it. But, we’re excited!  Here’s some of the high points that won us over:

– It’s a two bedroom house for 6500B a month, which is roughly $220. We like this 🙂

– It comes partially furnished, which includes things like: a refrigerator (about a foot taller than a dorm room one), a sink, one gas burner, a water heater, a bed for each room, a wardrobe for each room (we think), four chairs (we think), a dining table (we think), and air con in one room. (Notice there are quite a few unknowns at this point. It’s challenging when you’re not sure what’s being said.)  We initially were looking for something empty, but the more we looked at how much things would cost, it would be alot of up-front expenses to furnish a house.  And, getting one unfurnished would save us between 500B and 2,000B, which is $16-$65. We thought it was worth it to take the furnishings, especially because we liked them (overall) in this house.  This way, we can move in quickly, settle in, and see how long we’re here before we purchase too much.

– It’s new, with just the landlord having lived in it for a short time to keep it up. I really like the cleanness of this. It’s a cement-style house, and the older ones can be quite moldy.

– It has a yard! It’s small, but yards in general are quite rare here.  So many of the houses are in neighborhoods where they put cement all around the houses and you have NO GRASS around your house. Granted, ours is just dirt really, but it’s still dirt! I’m planning on starting a compost pile and eventually starting a garden, which is really exciting.

– It does have air con in one room, which we’re very thankful for. This is real privilege, and we won’t be taking it lightly!

– The landlord is very sweet and actually wanted foreigners to rent from her. I think that’s a good sign, mostly because I don’t want to feel like they’d rather us not be in the country at all…

– Its close to the Partners office, which is nice.

– It has a full gate and fence. This sounds cold, I know, but if you look around here–everyone has 6 foot or more fences of some kind–metal, bamboo, cement, etc., and all have gates that guard the house. We like that ours is a full gate so it seems safer.

Also, the landlord actually owns two houses right next to each other that look pretty much identical. We looked at both since neither is rented and both go for the same price. But, only one had the yard, so we’re pretty excited to have that!

So, hopefully we’ll be moving in soon. We’re headed out of town Monday to Tuesday with some other staff members to visit a refugee camp and children’s home along the border that we support and will bring teams to at times. The plan is to move in when we return…

Thoughts 3.

I’m really thankful for Stephen. He drives us around on the motorbike, and really enables me to get anywhere beyond three blocks. I’m much too scared to drive here, let alone on a motorbike. He’ll ask every once in awhile if he should go right or left, which I have no idea. He’s been pretty amazing at getting around, handling the chaos, and remembering where things are.  I unfortunately still have no idea how to get to our Karen lesson that we go to every day.

Most people on motorbikes wear these cheap helmets that really don’t do much at all for you. Partners insists we wear better helmets that cover your jaw and better protect your head. This is a good rule, but a little annoying now because we’re currently borrowing some old and disgusting ones from other staff members. Helmets are kind of gross to borrow in a hot and sweaty country where everything molds during rainy season.  And, it’s surprisingly hard to hold your head steady while you ride, but with a big helmet on, I bang my head into Stephen’s about ten times per trip (maybe a mile or two).

Thoughts 4.

Did you know there are no Targets in Vermont? Poor state.