These past few days, I've just been taking it pretty slowly. Yesterday, I went into The Centre with Cory, and I got to work on painting the block M that's in one of the classrooms! It's SO awesome, I can't wait to put up some pictures! I love how Michigan can leave its mark even halfway across the globe. After we left The Centre, Cory and one of his daughters took me driving around Korat to see some of the city. We ended up downtown at the monument for Thao Suranari, or Lady Mo, where there was some kind of plant market going on. While we were there, we grabbed some food. It was delicious, with a few minor exceptions..
That thing on top? A chicken's foot. That black thing on the bottom? Congealed chicken blood. Seriously, having the word "congealed" in the name of a food should be enough to signify that it is something you should avoid. Gross. Needless to say, I did not eat either of those things.
As we walking around, we came to some statues for Lady Mo. Just for some background, she is credited with saving the city of Korat from Laotian troops in 1826. She is deeply honored in the city, and her name, "Thao Suranari," means "The Brave Lady." Here are some pictures, one of her leading the charge, and one just of her.
In Thailand, the major religion is Buddhism, but it has taken on large portions of animism, and is also very accepting of other religions or pieces of religions. Because of that, in Thailand, certain people are literally worshiped, including Lady Mo. At her statue, people were praying and giving offerings. Near to the statue, there was a stand set up specifically for people to buy gifts to offer to the statue of Lady Mo. It totally reminded me of when Jesus drives out of the temple people selling offerings, saying that they're turning the temple into a "den of robbers." By selling offerings specifically for the statue so close by, it seems like they're taking advantage of the people going there to find hope and favor. Now, I agree that she is someone to be honored. After all, she was crucial in saving the city of Korat from utter destruction. However, it grieves my soul to see people worshiping another human being and looking to her for hope and favor. Humans are limited, and we aren't strong enough to save ourselves or others from hopelessness on our own. God is unlimited though, and He is strong enough to save the world from hopelessness. Not only this, but He longs to show us His favor and love..how could this undeserved favor and unconditional love even compare to the hope or favor we could hope to gain from another human?
To bring it back up to the surface, today was Saturday, and hence, we spent most of the day just hanging out. I went with the girls to their ballet lessons this morning, and afterward, we came back and all ate lunch together and played a game. Let me tell you- this family LOVES games. And I love games too, so I've thoroughly enjoyed playing games with them! At lunch every day, someone gets to pick a game to play! I've already learned a few new games that I really enjoy, the most recent being "Shadows of Camelot."
I went this evening with Kim and the girls to a HUGE flea market, called Saveone Flea Market. They had basically anything you could think of there, from dogs to power tools to clothes to toothbrushes. Guess what this is:
If you guessed that it's two things of live worms to feed animals, you're right! It was pretty gross. We also saw some other things though, like baby bunny rabbits that they'd dressed up in little dresses. To wrap up, I do have a few prayer requests:
1. Pray for my health- I've had a cold since I've gotten here that I can't seem to kick!
2. Pray for boldness- I'll be teaching the English class mostly by myself and could definitely use some prayer for that since I'm not really sure how to go about teaching!
3. Continue to pray that I would be open to what God wants to do and what He wants to teach me.
On a lighter note, I did manage to find another blonde in Thailand:
You're definitely the cuter of the two blondes in Thailand. Totally agree that "congealed" should not be used in the name of any food. We love you and are praying for you!
ReplyDeleteFrances! I love your blog already! I will be praying for you! Just so you know, the house is not the same without you! It is sad for me to be here in the spring without you! Love you girlly!
ReplyDeleteBecky