Fishing Villages

First stop in Samasaen. Dried fish, boil at home to make fish stock for soups & sauces

Textured islands off the coast

Colorful boats

Wondering the age of those stilts, may no tsunami ever strike

Fish & squid drying out all over town, in parking lots, front porches, and the street

We see dried fish & squid galore in shops, cool to see where it all comes from & how some are dried using basic techniques

Hot day with fresh watermelon & pineapple from vendor on the dock, 10 baht a bagful (about 30 cents)

Pool!

After Samasaen, we had lunch on the sea in Ban Amphoe. a bigger village closer to touristy Pattaya

Renegade Rob ordered the spicy crab dish

We even got a little cold sitting here, very breezy, felt wonderful to have goosebumps without the aid of air conditioning

Sunday morning excursion to some fishing villages. Sleepy Samasaen is a tiny little treasure... charming like Europe with narrow streets, shop & residential doors just cm away from the occasional motor bike or car. The number of smiles perfectly matched the number of people we saw.

We stayed just over an hour. Extremely quiet, no bustling or desire to do so with the heat. I wonder if there is an early morning rush with the fishing boats. I could have easily uncovered that pool table, racked a game, and played away the afternoon while taking breaks to cross street & help the woman bag her dried fish. I would have to convert to beer. No fru-fru drinks in pineapples in this place. Ry especially seems to be struggling with the temps, so we kept our visits short and were home by 3pm for a heated family game of Monopoly in the cool of our home. I hope the girls can better adjust to longer stretches out in this climate. The heat is paralyzing us in ways and we're not spending nearly as much time outdoors as we did back home. But I do love all the family games we're playing again. Venture part of the day, reconvene at home for simple family bonding... here's to living the dream.

Random II

Morning market bounty

5 orchids for $2 TOTAL. I think I'm gonna tie these to some trees outside & see what they do, you see that everywhere here & they flourish

Sunday markets, these funky manequins are all over the place

This little piggy went to market

On Sunday we went to a very traditional Thai market. Kind of overwhelming for the girls, very hot day did not help the variety of pungent smells. I thought Ry might hurl (it was strong for even Rob & me), but she held on. Stayed about an hour & then we wimps made our first trip to McDonald's

Al & I loved going to the morning markets in Europe. We have hopes for here, but it may take time to appreciate the Thai charm

Wish we could share with you the smells

Including some wonderful smells, like Korean/Japanese BBQ 

Drove to Bangkok Monday for a lovely visit with the Boehms and orthodontist

Tessa & Riley lazy rivering at a Bangkok shopping center roof water park

Madagascar movie night sleepover with popcorn at the Boehm's

Weeding the golf course?

Girls on fall break + Rob traveling all week = working overtime for me, but I love it. I was helping Ry tidy her room when I looked out & saw the golf course scene. Every day we come across something new, somewhere that grabs our attention or makes us stop. The quilt of hats & squatting ladies did it for me this morning. We opened the window for a while and listened to them gabbing together. Does the friendly chatter & sense of community help them forget their achy backs & knees?

Random

My lunch, leftover pad tai from the night before. Pad tai & kao pad (fried rice) are the fast food backbone of Thailand, whipped up fresh in front of you & the flies in just 10 minutes

Rice aisle at the local Meijer. Advice has been to find the most expensive jasmine rice, and buy it. I apply that principle often here. Pesticides are rampant and rumor is that Thailand & China recently purchased a bevy of chemicals newly banned in the US & other places. If something says "organic," I always buy it over the alternative and hope the product matches the organic label. FYI $1 = 33 baht

Ry about to have her first Thai massage. They took it easy on her, and towards the end put a sweet little braid in the top of her hair

Silk jammies are worn and move perfectly over your body so no oils are needed. Lots of stretching & focus on legs. The woman giving your massage really cozies up with you, resting you in the crook of her leg at times, getting on your back, kind of lifting you up with her knees & feet. It starts out relaxing, builds momentum, and is almost acrobatic by the end. My family loves it, but it will take me some time to learn to relax & enjoy such closeness with a stranger

This weekend we visited an eery crocodile farm

Throwing raw chicken to hungry jaws, eeek

On the subject of scary animals, how about some cobras... I was picking up Ry from a playdate yesterday & talking with the Mom who lives near the girls' school. This summer they had a cobra in the house. Their massive dog knows how to open the slider to let himself outdoors, but hasn't yet learned to close door behind him. In came cobra, a good sized one almost a meter long. The family was out, dog went crazy, their maid killed the snake, and the maid & Bruno were fine. The golf course on which they live is much more "rugged" with taller grasses than our manicured course, but it's still just 5 minutes away. Yikes. There has never been a snakebite at our school or on its golf course neighborhood in the 20 year history of people taking over this particular snake habitat. By now you may have guessed I'm kind of snake-phobic. I believe it's rational here, and it's biblical. 

You can see in pics, Allie still has her braces with a good 2 years to go. Probably would've waited to start treatment if we'd known this Thai thing was gonna happen, but so it goes. First appointment next week with a (U of M grad) Thai orthodontist in Bangkok. There are orthodontists in our area, actually slews of them in shopping mall, cosmetic dental clinics. All sketchy looking. There's a new law banning "fake braces" that places have been putting on kids. Colorful, status symbol, look-a-likes and much cheaper than real... because they're applied with crazy glue by someone with no DDS who is just looking to make a baht. It's been messing up kids' mouths, and now any true ortho is required by law to take them off for free for anyone who shows up at their door. Soooo, although we could likely find a true ortho with good intentions in our area, we're gonna make the hour and half trek every 6 weeks to Bangkok for comfort in the U of M brand.

Ry just walked through the door and is sporting another new smile. Tooth #2 lost in Thailand.

School

Bus stop outside neighborhood

Bus and super sweet helper woman. She lifts Ry's big backpack a little while Ry climbs in

Elementary campus. My eye is always on the lookout & those are garden hoses, not snakes

Ry's classroom

Al's building. Open-air between classes, art class-painted columns

School pool shared with adjacent golf course. A lot of golf here

Exactly one week after arriving in Thailand, the girls began 2nd and 6th grades at the International School Eastern Seaboard (ISE). School had begun Aug 18 and that is the reason the girls & I came over before Rob, so they wouldn't miss any more than necessary while he wrapped up work in Holland. Kind of strange packing lunches & doing homework from a hotel room the first few days before we were in the house, but all part of the adventure.

ISE is an American curriculum school with 375 students in grades pre-K through 12. With the exception of language classes, all teachers are native English speakers and pretty evenly mixed from USA, Canada, Britain, and Australia. The kid recipe is about 15% American, 15% European, 30% Thai, and the balance some highly motivated other Asians... Korean, Indian, Singaporean, Chinese, and Japanese. There are several other international schools in the area with British curriculum, but their demographics are primarily Western. We like the Asian flavor at ISE.

Bus picks up our girls outside neighborhood at 7:25am, school runs 7:55am-3pm, home by 3:25. All classrooms & indoor spaces are air conditioned. Outdoor gymnasium has only fresh breeze, if they're lucky. Surprisingly, not too many complaints yet about the consistent 90+ degree, high humidity days, but the bus ride home is hot & Ry isn't as excited about gym days as she used to be (they haven't had class in the pool yet... that should change her tune). Ry eats lunch at the indoor canteen, Al has choice of inside or out under a sun awning. Her Asian friends like to eat out, Europeans in, and she goes between the two depending on the day. They killed a snake a month or two ago next to the outside tables. Girls bring a lunch maybe two or three times/week, and pick canteen food when the menu suits their fancy. Rotations of Italian pasta, Indian curry, Chinese noodles, paella, burgers/dogs, and always a sandwich and Thai noodle option as well. This canteen has been pretty good to them. The girls are amused by what their friends bring in their lunches from home. Ry was recently offered sushi by a friend, but declined.

Riley's 2nd grade teacher was born & raised in Greece, and fluently speaks 5 languages. There is also a full-time Thai teaching assistant in her classroom. 2 other Americans in her class of 18, but she's the only one with blonde hair. Her best friends are from Brazil, France, US and Thailand. Jump rope is the hot (literally) recess activity of choice for girls. A French girl was jumping and counting in French when Ry started counting along in French on her first day of school. The girl was shocked and now will only talk to Ry in French, "like we're BFFs," says Ry kind of rolling her eyes and kind of smiling & proud. "It works my brain." She has lost a lot of her French, but still has her accent. She studies Thai twice a week. Signs posted all over school read, "SPEAK ONLY ENGLISH," but native English speakers are encouraged to venture into other tongues. Ry is looking forward to a Circus class offered after school, as many of her friends can ride unicycles at recess & Ry wants to hop on. I must re-read our health insurance policy.

Allie is a middle schooler! Grades 6-7-8 are set up like home with students changing classes/teachers every 90 minutes. There are 2 sections of 6th grade, 12-16 students in most classes, Math is still her favorite. First field trip is next month, 2 nights hiking a national park, playing in waterfalls, being little Thoreaus with pen & paper. ISE has an IB program in the secondary school. Al was thinking to do IB at West Ottawa when its program gets running, so perhaps there will be some continuity for her upon return stateside. No beginner Thai class at school for Allie, so it's Spanish now and trying Japanese next term.

Allie's girlfriends are from Korea, India, Danish twins, Sarah from the States, and about 5 Thais. The Danes, Sarah and Al are called the Blondies. First sleepover this Friday night at the Danish house. Al is enjoying being queen bee of the 10-12 person swim team. We're working on being humble and turning her aquatic gifts into leadership opportunities. Practice just twice a week, and total yardage isn't much more than her warm up length back in Holland. Perfectly fits her work less/play more mantra. First swim meet at the end of this month, maybe another one or two during the year, and then a huge meet in May in Vietnam. Her coach was happy she arrived so they can now field a girls relay.

I began twice a week volunteering of English reading comprehension with a sweetheart of a 5th grade German boy. Hope to spend good time in the girls' libraries, as well. And looking forward to starting a twice/week yoga class for parents. I hear it's the real deal & hope I have the chops. Can't do that until our house gets put back together. Stuck home today with no running water & both bathrooms look like puzzle pieces & now the air con in our bedroom as well because it was leaving puddles all over the floor & I'm still desiring my oven to work soon cuz I'm craving carrot cake & the workers keep telling me things in Thai & we're playing some fun charades. Namaste...

Home

Looking out Ry's bedroom window, some very hard working gardeners, but a few took time to decorate their hats

Outside our gate

Along Rob's running route are rural fields adjacent to our neighborhood & golf course. Workers nap here in hammocks during hot afternoons

500 m down road from our neighborhood

She thump tests for the perfect one, does the dirty work and slices up the entire thing... all for about 50 cents. Always feels like I'm stealing a little piece of heaven

Laundry room, love it! Can you spy the gecko? Just a bitty one. Yes, it is both a washer & dryer, but drying feature takes forever & I like hanging things out. Trying to get more green

Girls' bath repair. Water started dripping through ceiling below soon after moving in, thankfully just into the laundry area

Alternate bath for little mermaid

Neighborhood spirit house, every neighborhood & establishment has one. Pool is on the right

Laem Chabang golf course from our yard. Another little piece of heaven

Our little yard with golf course behind

Fall foliage

Between 9 & 9:30am and in the course of 3 minutes (I timed one. It's been a slow week stuck home with sick child & maintenance guys) this little bud opens into...

...this.

We picked a country home away from town. Sort of in the boonies, very green & lush with small conical mountains nearby. 25 minutes inland from Pattaya, about half way between the sea and Rob's office. School isn't walk-able, but just a 5 minute drive. In good traffic, Rob can be to work in 15-20 minutes, but 30-40 is proving to be his norm. We picked the closest home to Rob's work, and it happened to be very close to the school we liked as well. Shortest commutes for all. We have a couple of my beloved small markets & local vendors close and will search out more. To Pattaya when we must buy from the chains.

Never thought I'd live on a golf course in a brand new cookie cutter home, but here I am. When Rob & I visited here in August, we learned that in the Pattaya area it is safest for expats to live in gated expat communities. Most all neighborhoods, except slums, are gated with guards. Still a very poor country, thievery and break-ins are common problems.

On September 24, the girls & I moved out of hotel and into our new single family, fully furnished home, rented for us by JCI (grateful, we are). Sits on the Jack Nicklaus designed Laem Chabang golf course... beautiful, peaceful setting... gonna have to pick up golf again. Our neighborhood has 17 homes built last year. We are the 6th family to move in, so it's still pretty quiet here. 2 German families, 1 Italian, 1 Japanese/USA, 1 Thai/USA, and us... some Aussies with kids the girls' age come next month.

The laundry room is on a covered terrace outdoors with coconut trees in view. Twice now I've had a frog keeping me company out there. Sat right next to me while I hung laundry and the teeny Thai washer chugged with challenge from our averaged-size american family. We hear the frog at night and very unusual bird sounds, especially just before & after dusk. Hope to identify some birds when our dust settles a bit. Little 18" cobras are of the common variety in our area as in the way garter snakes are common back home. Haven't seen any snakes yet, but the school principal tells me every 2-3 weeks they get a snake on campus. My prayers now have "snakes" in the subject line.

We had taken pictures of our new house for the girls, their bedrooms, yard, etc. but we didn't tell them about the pool in the green space 30 meters away. They were happily surprised and have been enjoying it daily. They are spoiled by our new pad complete with satellite TV, and I'm afraid may never want to go back home to our little cable-free house in the woods. No geckos to chase in Holland either. Ry hasn't caught one here yet, she did on Corsica, so she knows it's possible. We will enjoy our new setting all the more when we can take hot showers & bake in the oven. Shower #1 hasn't had hot water since we moved in, shower #2 went down a couple days ago, and I was about to bake a carrot cake last week (I'm already missing autumn) when I found the oven locked. So much for brand new house & minimal issues. Appears to be form OR function, not AND. Our new neighbors had similar issues upon moving in, but have been happy ever since so there is hope. Contractors will apparently need to break open a wall to fix one of our showers. All in Thai time... slow.

In many ways this is a charmed existence for our family. We hope to share with the girls some more typical Thai housing arrangements, slums, corrugated metal roofs, dirt floors, pit toilets. We see these homes daily when driving from here to there. The first time we passed a slum, Al's jaw dropped, "They LIVE there?" Then we passed another, and another, and another.

Yes, my little Yankee, many people live there.