Four Moms, Two Friends, and Fish at a Floating Market

Woah...it's been a while.  But now that you know my schedule (maybe...I go to prison MR and to English class at Prathunam TWFS).  I think I'll abandon a rigid replay of the day by day, but I'll definitely keep you up with the highlights!  This also may mean that I actually think of titles for these posts...maybe...

So, Thursday I went to a different prison with Mark and Charlotte.  This art class is only about 6 students but they've been taking the class for a few years now and are oil painting.  Then they sell the paintings.  Most if not all of them are Christians.  I got to talk to the leader of the group, Boy (a pretty common nickname actually), just about random stuff.  He's getting out in a few months, so they're talking about that transition and what it will mean for the other guys.  

Update:  The class Charlotte teaches on Monday and Friday mornings in the maximum security prison is made up of the big dogs, the drug lords with long sentences.  I think they said there are about 33 of them in the building, so I don't how many take the class, but since this Friday was the last class, they did an invitation and 19 of them responded!  How amazing is that?!  Definitely be praying for them.

Friday evening I went to the Friday Night Life program and was the only native English speaker in the group.  It was a lot of fun though.  Afterward, this older lady told me I did a very good job and that she had a gift for me.  She gave me a coin that was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the king's ascension to the throne.  That was really great!  I told you these people are nice!  After that a few of us went out to eat and that was a lot of fun too.

Saturday was one of the best days so far!  After the morning English class, six of the students took me out to eat!  Here's the class:

We went to the floating market, but I didn't actually get to see any of the market wah wah....but maybe another time.  We rode the bus to get there.  And this lady, Ote, said that they all would be my moms while I'm here :)  So I call her Mom Ote, she is so nice and we all had so much fun.

We ate this whole roasted fish and several other dishes.  They wouldn't let me pay....again, they are so nice!  They ask if I like Thai food and I say yes.  Then they ask if I like spicy food and I say, "a little spicy."  Then they tell me which sauces are spicy.  I went to try one any way and someone stopped me and said, "You cannot eat."...She was probably right.

This is me in front of the market.  The restaurant was on a boat, but the market is not right there next to it.

This is Joe whom I told you about.  Keep praying for him.

Oh, and some random guy behind us I didn't mean to get in the picture, oh well.

Here is me with all my moms! (except Lek, second from left, she's not old enough :)

Here is a stand at the market that sold orchids....lots and lots of orchids...less than 50 cents a bundle!  

Today I went to New Vision Church again and before I went up I saw Chuan, a guy I met the week before at Friday Night Life.  I think he was supposed to have a class or something (the church is on the fifth floor (or really the fourth floor because the ground floor doesn't count) or the BSC), but I said I was going to church upstairs.  So he came with me.  I know he's a Buddhist because he said so and because he always will wai a spirit house when he passes one.  This is common.  The wai is the traditional Thai greeting in which one places his/her hands together in front of the face and bows from the neck.  Usually Buddhist wai the spirit houses or statues as they pass, but anyway, Chuan came to church this morning.  I don't know how long he's been taking classes at the BSC, but this was the first time he's come to church.  Pray for him.

After church they serve lunch, but as one girl said, "It was not delicious."  So I went out to eat with her (I think her name is Bet) and a guy, Mon, both of whom I met today.  I had Pad Thai for the first time since I've been here!  It was really good too.  Then we went to see the new Terminator movie (in English with Thai subtitles).  After the previews a screen comes on that says, "Please pay respect to the king."  So everyone stands and they play a slideshow of pictures from his life.  It was actually really cool.  The Thai people love the king!  It is illegal to say anything bad about the monarchy, but you can still tell the respect is genuine.  They really love him.  Also, because his picture is on all money, you can't step on a coin to stop it from rolling.  Anyway, I had a really good time with them too.  Bet has been a Christian for 10 years now, but Mon is a Buddhist.  Pray for both of them.

Well, that was a long update, but a lot has happened.  Things are going really well.  I'm getting comfortable with everything and beginning to relax!  Thanks for reading!