Thailand Letter
Dearest Family, March 4, 1998
BOB - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I LOVED the snow pictures of the children in your backyard and I appreciate so much your “re-sending” them. I can't believe all the snow and I would just love to roll in it for hours on end - Ha!!! Your home is SO beautiful and the children look SO happy. I also appreciate your explanation of how the pictures DO NOT overload the computer - I had my roommates read that!!! I also showed it to Vicky so she could tell her son in Arizona about that JPEG Format but she doesn't understand enough to do that - OH WELL!!! I have SO much to tell you when I see you in person. She has been assigned to Virginia so she will be moving soon - WE ALL HOPE!!!
I HAVE PUT JUNE 5 - 16 ON MY CALENDAR and that will be wonderful!!! I am concerned about the immunization shots all of you who are coming will have to have - BE SURE to plan to have them in plenty of time in case you have reactions. I am not sure which ones you will have to have but I'm sure you will know - the mosquitoes here don't care if you come for two weeks or two years so please take the proper precautions. A missionary here died several years ago because of the malaria she got from a mosquito bite. I don't believe you will have to have all the ones I had like Japanese Encephalitis, etc. but you can find out. It is VERY important for you to have the hepatitis ones.
Janet, one of my roommates, is having her sister and other family members come this weekend from California. They are going to stay at the Marriott by us and she told me it would cost them $100 per night - that is surely a lot. I don't believe the three of you would be comfortable here with me but if you would I know my roommates would accommodate you in some way - we have a couch where I could sleep. The Thai food here is VERY cheap so don't plan to eat your meals at the Marriott. It wouldn't be safe to eat from the vendors on the streets but there are other places close by where it would be safe. There is an abundance of fruit sold all along the streets that you will be able to peel and eat or rinse in a Clorox solution.
I taught a Phratom 1 (first grade) yesterday and there was a little boy who had a scar from surgery for a cleft palate and I wanted to cry for him - he didn't speak very much and was so shy. I asked his teacher if I could talk to him so she brought him to me but I couldn't understand anything he said - of course, it was all in Thai!!! He is a rather large child and I am assuming he has been retained for several years. The children in this area all come from VERY POOR places!!! I don't know how they afford good medical help but I do know it is available - there are many, many huge hospitals!!!
RON - THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP WITH ANN IN USING THE COMPUTER. Ron wrote that Ann has learned how to access the KSL Recipe Line and is using some of the recipes. I THINK THAT IS GREAT!!! I had to laugh at Susanna's letter where she wrote that she had to wait for her “smart Dad” to help her write to me on the computer.
Speaking of computers - we can't get “on-line” to send any or access any of our messages as of March 1st. They sent us a letter saying they had changed some of our access numbers but we can't get them to work. I will call the company later this morning - the problem is that most of the people I talk to speak Thai - Ha!
My sweet friends from Saimai called and invited me to go to the Floating Market with them on Saturday. I invited Vicky to go with me so she would not be left out!!! We left our apartment at 5:30 a.m. and took a taxi to a place where I thought we could catch a bus but it didn't come so we took a taxi to where we could meet these friends. A teacher's husband drove us to the “Damnernsaduak” Floating Market. I thought I had seen everything there was to see in Thailand but I HAVEN'T!!! It was just spectacular - I have NEVER seen so much fruit and so many vegetables - we got in a little boat and went up and down the canals where they were selling all kinds of souvenirs and all the food. We stopped and bought coconut candy and walked around the coconut orchards, drank coconut milk, ate pomelos, green papaya and mangoes all the way. I LOVED IT. On the way home we stopped and visited the Thai home, museum and gardens of Rama 11 and had Japanese noodles. We didn't get home until late on Saturday but it was just simply WONDERFUL.
Sunday, we went to church and then to our Teacher's Seminar. We were all very anxious to hear the new assignments because of the many rumors going around. Virginia's former companion will be with the sister who used to live where I live now. There are three in that townhouse now and that is too many. We think five women in this apartment is too many!!! I simply can't believe the things that have happened. There is a rumor going around in the mission that my sons objected to having me be transferred again - AND THAT'S OKAY!!! Virginia looked terrible at our seminar - I believe she has “had it”!!!
Bob - I had to laugh when I read about your interest in “Phuket”. GUESS WHERE I AM GOING MARCH 15 - 20??? The BMA is sponsoring a trip for us to the Southern part of Thailand and we will visit many of the beach resorts and go to Phuket and stay overnight. It will be HOT, HOT, HOT but I am excited!!! I bought a bathing suit so I could swim in our pool here and I plan to take it even though it is too small and I look huge in it - Ha!!!
I AM SO HAPPY UTAH is getting some publicity in USA Today about the Olympics. I am going to teach the executives at Channel 9 tonight and I will use that article to encourage some conversation with them.
I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B