A Bug's Life

TIREDDD.

After the tree planting, Tete and I had lunch with the officials. Apparently they have connections with the royal family, and a lady kept showing me pictures on her camera from a banquet with the princess or whatever. And they all busted out their digital cameras to take a picture with me. Haha. They thought it was so amusing that I'm from America...but I'm Chinese.

I spoke again last night so Tanin's friend could practice translating. But his friend never showed up!! What a trickster. I still spoke anyway. Tanin & his friend have been watching this "Learn English" DVD. They're ridiculous. Like Thai soap operas.

The sharing went well. I'm speaking again on Sunday...yikes. After worship, I helped some girls with homework. Then some of us just sat outside singing & talking. We sometimes bust out in spontaneous song. Tanin really likes "Who Am I?" by Casting Crowns & wants me to lead it with him on Sunday. Decked out in Karen attire. We'll see!

It's good to have friends here. Even though we can't always understand each other, it's a blessing. Tanin's 25, and Akhom's 23 (just 2 days younger than me!), but they take care of 45 children. Whoa. I can never get over this! Both of them send money home, and Tanin even saved up all his money to build his mom a new house. Many of the homes in the villages are high off the ground so your pets can roam underneath. And you just throw your scraps through the floor boards. It makes sense. But Tanin's mom doesn't have the best health, so it was a burden walking down all the steps. So he built a house. Just like that. One of his brothers goes to college in Chiang Mai, so Tanin supports him. And the story goes on & on. This culture is amazing. This is what the Karen people do for each other.

So last night, I get back to my room exhausted, but I'm happy. And then I spot these STUPID ANTS! Like a whole army. Marching one by one. Hurrah. UGHHH. I hate bugs. I've been getting better because you just can't avoid them. And God created them, so I can't completely hate them. But I almost completely hate them. I look outside to see if I can locate some ant spray, but everyone's light is turned off. So I'm alone on this one. I take Kleenex and attack the army. One by one. Hurrah. They're marching in a row up & down my mosquito net. And they can burrow underneath it. Gross! And they're smart. They play dead. And when I look away, they scurry off & hide. So each time I thought I was done with my killing spree, I spot 5 more.