Thailand Letter
Dearest Family, Wednesday November 4, 1998 7:50 a.m.
We have a free morning today and I am SO grateful - we will teach a workshop this afternoon. I awaken every morning about 3 o'clock and it is a thrill when I don't have to get up - we are much TOO busy but we are having success in getting the boxes and copies all ready for this next phase. Yesterday was one of the funniest days we have ever had in the schools. We were picked up at 7:30 by the driver from a school that is by China Town so it is a long, long ways from where we live. The school was very, very poor and when we told them we wanted them to buy a box for 92 bahts (about $3.50) they said they couldn't SO we said we would buy it for them. To make a long story short we ended up by driving miles and miles to get to a store and when Myrth and I found they had the kind of boxes we wanted them to have we ended up buying them three boxes for all the schools in their district and also the dividers for them. We were SO frustrated that we told them to leave us at the store and we would get a taxi to go home and then we found some chairs and we just collapsed and laughed and laughed until we were sick.
It was LOY KATRONG day here yesterday and even though I was here for it last year the one yesterday was SO fabulous I will never forget it. The school we went to by China Town was busy making their "Katrong" when we got there and we were just amazed at the work involved - we saw children threading flower petals and they had been doing it for four days. Their float was then taken to a special place where many floats from other schools were on display and they were judged later last night. I AM SO LUCKY - I have served in so many areas here in Bangkok that when I go places like that I constantly run into people with whom I have served and it is getting to be like a big reunion for me. Then this school took us out to dinner to a restaurant right by the Chao Phraya river and the food was delicious - we laughed that they couldn't buy a box but they could take us out to dinner - that is the "Thai Way".
Nut - my friend who is an executive with Channel 9 came to our townhouse about 4:30 to make sure we were "taken care of" for this special celebration. We had been invited by the district where we serve to go to their Festival at 6 p.m. so she stayed and went with us. I took many pictures but there is no way I could possibly capture what we saw last night - gorgeous Katrongs which are boats that are made from banana leaves and then they have jost sticks, many flowers and a candle in the middle. They had made us huge katrongs to put in the river - I hope so much that my pictures turn out. They also put "living things" in them like fingernail clippings and hair and some of them put coins in them. They had a program of every kind of Thai dancing that is known in Thailand and they wore costumes that were "out of this world". They introduced Myrth and me as LDSC Volunteer Teachers from America and had us present gifts to some of the dancers - the church is getting so much publicity from our being here. We didn't get home until quite late and then Myrth was so excited that she stayed up until 2 a.m. typing (and she hunts and pecks) a letter to her family. She has a bad headache this morning so I reminded her of our mission rules - I am SO ornery!!! This celebration is to give thanks for the water and the people here are so sincere in their traditions and beliefs - they told me last night that this has been going on for 200 years and each year it gets a little bigger and a little more competitive. They give awards for the best Kratongs.
BOB AND JOHN - Nut wrote out some cards for you with addresses in Thai for you to give to the taxi drivers. I will send them to Bob and I hope he will make copies for you John because I believe they will help you.
JOHN AND JULIANNA - my friend Anne Smith surely does like you both. She has been SO good to write to me. She told me that Heather Steel's new baby has some health problems - did Heather get married or did she mean the other daughter and I can't remember her name?
The weather was quite cool last night and it is again this morning. The town house is much fresher and cooler than it was on Ruam Rudi because of all the high buildings there.
BOB - Thank you SO much for your message. I would like to meet your Bishop - he sounds like "your kind of guy".
I LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY, VERY MUCH. PLEASE BE SO VERY, VERY CAREFUL. Grandma B