Alone in Thailand on Thanksgiving

Well, I guess the title is only a partial truth. I (Jaime) am in Mae Sot, Thailand for Thanksgiving while Jason is in Florida.

Here in Mae Sot, I am lucky to be “orphaned” along with many other expatriates and temporary volunteers who are also missing their families this Thanksgiving. It’s a wonderful community of friendly people, so a large group of us are going to have a potluck Thanksgiving tonight. It won’t be a traditional Thanksgiving feast, since there are no ovens to cook and no turkeys, cranberries, etc. But we’ll have chicken, mashed potatoes, long green beans...and probably pad thai with a side of rice and fish paste.

As for Jason, a few weeks back he received the sad news from his family that one of his grandmas was diagnosed out of the blue with stage 4 gastric (stomach) cancer which had already spread throughout her body. Her prognosis was very poor, so Grandma, with the support of her kids, decided to forego harsh radiation/chemo, and enjoy her remaining weeks, and possibly months, at home until she moves into hospice care. Grandma Bates is an incredible woman who lost her dear husband to cancer a few years back. She has a strong faith in God and is ready to go to heaven, although she understandably doesn’t want to experience too much pain.

Jason’s entire extended family decided to meet in Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving with Grandma. Apparently she said she’d rather have everyone visit while she’s living than to attend her funeral. We totally agree! As Jason would have been the only of many cousins not to attend, there was no doubt that he must jump on a plane to Florida to care for and encourage his Grandma, to provide emotional support for his mom during this difficult time, and to celebrate the reunion with his family. If I’m counting correctly, Grandma will have nearly 30 of her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and spouses to chow down on some good old-fashioned turkey. Gobble, gobble!

If all of you can pray for Grandma Bates’ strength and courage as she nears the end of her extraordinary life, and that she will not experience much pain, we would really appreciate it. And of course, please pray for Jason’s safe return to me, as I miss him so much after just five days…it’s hard when you’ve been together every single day for seven months!

Other than that, let’s all be thankful and remember that I can eat more mashed potatoes than any of you...just ask my Grandpa Taylor!!!

Volunteering on the Thai-Burma Border

As part of our travel plans, Jaime and I (Jason is writing this post) decided that we would like to volunteer for a portion of our adventure. Little did we know back then that we would be helping Burmese refugees at the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot. Jaime and I arrived in Bangkok after our African adventures and spent a little time in Bangkok, Vientiane (in Laos), and Khon Kaen before arriving in Mae Sot. We've seen lots of interesting things, like elephants wandering around bus stations, lady boys looking for someone to love, and people selling everything under the sun from a tiny little market.

Upon arriving in Mae Sot we hung out for a few days before meeting our head organization's coordinator. We went through an intriguing orientation for a few days before getting placed in our volunteer positions. The orientation was eye-opening as we learned quite a bit about the current situation in Burma and what is going on at the border. A couple good books we would recommend are Restless Souls by Peter Thornton and From The Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe. The immediate good news is that we, as a couple, were able to get our own bedroom. We don't have hot water though...sorry, Jaime:(...but I am loving the cold bucket showers. And the cockroach-to-human ratio is not in our favor!

I am teaching English to 13 adult students who are quite forward-thinking people. The culture is very conservative (most of the population is Buddhist), and they share everything (I have problems getting my sandals back from one of the students before I head home in the evening). I am enjoying teaching, but am needing a bit of patience at times as resources for teaching near this town are extremely low (a lot of creativity needed for the job at times).

Jaime is doing research and report-writing for a political prisoner advocacy group. Jaime's job has made both of us more aware of the injustice with the Burmese legal system (i.e., a Burmese can go to jail for almost anything they do that directly or indirectly speaks out against the ruling military regime).

We will be volunteering for about three months and hope to take more photos of the area before too long. Due to the security situation for our organizations, we are not allowed to mention the names of our organizations on our public blog, and we are not allowed to take pictures of anyone in our organization to post. If you want more specific information, feel free to send us an email. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We love and miss you all.

Kenya Safaris

After Tanzania, we got to spend a week in Kenya with my (Jaime's) parents on safaris (cameras only, no guns). Jason took on a new safari identity, Teddy Roosevelt, and insisted that we call him that during the trip...even the staff called him Teddy. And my dad was referred to as Lord Delamere (the financier of the expedition) or Big Pumba (after the warthog in Lion King.)

Our first stop was at Loldia House on the shores of Lake Naivasha. The accommodations were top-notch and the food was stellar. We walked around the farm and met some of the adorable kids who live there. We had to be escorted any time we left our room so the cape buffalo wouldn't attack us.

We went on several game drives around the area, including around Lake Nakuru which is famous for a huge presence of flamingos, along with numerous other animals.

Our second stop was at Little Governor's Camp in the Masai Mara. The camp consists of 17 tents along the Mara River, and the tents are more luxurious than most homes, including showers, toilets, and even bidets. Before we even checked into our tents, our driver took us to see three cheetah brothers "go shopping" for a wildebeest. The cheetahs prevailed, despite my cheering, and eventual tears, for the young wildebeest.

During our stay, we went on several game drives each day, and even had a picnic under a wide open tree. We saw a gazillion animals and birds, including lion, leopard, giraffe, gazelle, elephant, hippo, crocodile, cape buffalo, rhino, zebra, mongoose, elan, impala, bush buck, water buck, baboons, warthog, ostrich, hyena, and many more. The camp is set on a marsh where the wildlife graze all day long. The elephants in this photo hung out in front of our lunch table most of the day, but Jason/Teddy would not share his Tusker Beer!

From Kenya, we flew off to Thailand where we'll be spending the next few months. In the mean time, we want to thank my parents for treating us to a world-class vacation with luxury that is light years away from our backpacking adventures. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Lots of love, Mom & Dad!!!

Zanzibar, Tanzania

Well, a special thanks to Jaime's parents for letting us meet up with them in Kenya and then taking us on a wonderful adventure on the island of Zanzibar and on safari in Kenya. Jaime and I had a wonderful time with Mom and Big Guy and it was so great to see some family after over 5 months of travels.

The water off the north coast of Zanzibar was some of the prettiest ocean water we have ever seen in our lives. We stayed at a lovely resort in the village of Nungwi on Zanzibar. All of us got too much sun and had a relaxing time at Ras Nungwi Resort where we were able to snorkel off the coast of Mnemba island near Zanzibar. The underwater life was so vastly different than the diving/snorkeling we've done in Hawaii and Indonesia. The Lion fish was one of my (Jason's) favorite fish near Mnemba.

We also spent some time relaxing, touring the village of Nungwi, heading to Stone Town, and I even got to witness the local fish auction in Nungwi village where many fisherman were coming in from their catch of Tuna, Wahoo, small black Marlin, and even Hammerhead Shark. The Dhow boats that the locals use are a true testament that solid wood construction can still rule the seas in many parts of the world. Our time spent in Zanzibar was relaxing and it was a true blessing to be able to catch up with Jaime's parents (thanks guys...I mean, thank God for people like Jaime's parents:)).

Flores & Komodo Dragons

After Sulawesi, we spent nearly two weeks on the Indonesian island of Flores. We had a fantastic time getting around the island with our new friends, Andy & Laura from England, and we all loved dodging the mainstream Indonesian tourist track...one day we saw only two other tourists! The energetic local kids would chase after us yelling their only English phase, "Hello Mister," desperately trying to get us to wave at them.

In the town of Bajawa, the four of us hired a local guide to take us to the nearby traditional villages. The Ngada tribe clans live and farm in the hillside, and many of the women make colorful ikat weavings on the front porches of their bamboo-sided, thatch-roofed homes. The Ngada culture is very alive in the villages. Afterward our guide took us to relax in a river where an icy mountain stream converges with a boiling hot-spring river.

Near the small village of Moni, we awoke at 4am to ascend Kelimutu Volcano and watch the sun rise over three crater lakes near the crest. The volcanic crater lakes change colors over the years (red, white & blue in 1965), but they were jade green, aqua green, and black when we saw them.

Next we took a bumpy road to a small, rustic, dusty, not-as-friendly, fishing village on the north coast of Flores. A local boatman took us out for the day to see the tens of thousands of fruit bats hanging around the coast. He also took us to excellent snorkeling sites off of the most luscious sandy beach islands I've ever seen. We lounged (and got sunburned!) in the warm, shallow waters.

After galavanting all over Flores, we embarked on a 2-day boat-ride from Flores to Lombok, stopping at Rinca Island and a number of other places. Rinca Island is one of the three islands in the Komodo National Park, and home to the deadly Komodo Dragon. The bacterial enzymes in the dragon's saliva easily kill the native water buffalo, but we were confident we could outrun the old lady in our group, so we felt pretty safe!

We only have one week left in Indonesia, then we're meeting my (Jaime's) parents in Zanzibar and Kenya, before heading onto Bangkok for more backpacking adventures. Can't wait to see you, Mom & Dad!!!

Sulawesi: Those mosques sure keep you up at night.

To say we've had a hard time getting internet access the past month would be an understatement. We had an amazing couple of weeks in Sulawesi. Jaime was, however, sick for a few days when we first arrived in Makassar...not much fun when it is hot out and the mosques keep you up at night:( Makassar is a bustling city with a huge Muslim population and a bit of Dutch influence. Jason met a new friend, Iwan, when we arrived who helped teach him a little Indonesian and showed Jason around his village where he currently lives with his sister. Iwan has a great personality and showed such hospitality on Jason that he will never forget Iwan.

After Makassar we headed to Tanah Toraja and saw a funeral ceremony where seven (7) bulls were slaughtered to take away the earthly sin of the married couple who were buried that day. We also saw a kick fighting match, which is part of the harvest ceremony in Toraja. The young men literally kick the heck out of each other while the family applauds. Our insightful guide, Set, really gave us a lot of helpful information for the few days that we were in Toraja. Set is an amazing family man, and by far one of the kindest men we met in Sulawesi. After Toraja we had a great time in Sengkang, where we got to witness how the local fisherman live (they live on bamboo house boats in communities on the lake). After Sengkang we chilled out in the small village of Bira on the Southeast coast of Sulawesi. The people in Sulawesi are some of the nicest we met in Indonesia. A special thanks to Dodo, who took us into his home for a few nights and made us feel like family.

Our only problem in Sulawesi was our first driver, Sam, who managed to get us into a car accident and had a few weird problems to say the least. We got to spend the morning of Indonesia's National Day (August 17th) at a local police station after our car accident. We made great friends with the local officers, who provided us with great coffee and good conversation. Just goes to show that even in a cruddy situation one can find kind people and enjoy the moment for what it is. All in all, we had a great time on Sulawesi. Jason does miss Iwan though:)

Learning Batik on our 9th Anniversary

First off, a big thanks to Denton Earnhardt (I probably spelled his last name wrong) for wishing us a happy 9th anniversary on our blog!

Our 9th was spent in the small fishing village of Padang Bai in Eastern Bali. We took a class to l

earn the amazing art of Batik. Nangah was our thorough, and very

patient, teacher. Nangah spo

ke very little English, but was able to help us with our first Batik experience despite not knowing anything about the procedure. My (this is Jason writing)

first thought on my anniversary is that I wanted a nice hotel, a lovely meal, and other unnecessary things in order to celebrate our 9th. As the day went on, and during our amazing course, I realized how lucky both Jaime and I are to have each other. I further realized that not many people can say they learned how to Batik in some small village in Indonesia on their 9th anniversary...we are

truly blessed to have these experiences.

When the day ended, and knowing that Jaime's piece of artwork was quite a bit "prettier" than mine, I realized that a nice hotel room (you needed to hand fill the toilette in our bathroom before each flushing:)), an overpriced dinner, our any other material thing would not have made the day more enjoyable. I looked at my bride, enjoyed my $1.50 plate of marlin fish, and we drank our

extremely cheap bottle of wine overlooking an amazing sunset in a place I will never forget.

Jaime and I both know that many of you were at our wedding. To those of you, both friends and family, that have supported us throughout our marriage...thank you! We can't thank you all enough for the love and encouragement you have shown us throughout the years. We love you all and we are truly thankful to have been married for 9 whole years.