November 25, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We have just finished our day and you are in the middle of yours. It has been an amazing two days. We have been so busy that I haven't even had a minute to write. I will start from today and hopefully have time to backtrack a bit.
This morning we went to the Chiang Rai International Christian School to visit the school that Ruth Fox has been especially involved with over the past 10 years or so. Today was significant, as the school had a special dedication of the new elementary building as well as a Thanksgiving feast shared by over 250 children, kindergarten to 12th grade, and their family and friends. It was a lively, energetic group, each class sharing music or, for the high schoolers, someone in history that had made a significant impact on their lives... to name a few: Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein and Nelson Mandela.
The buildings of the school are built beautifully in the Thai architecture. They house organizations, including American Baptist Church International Ministries. The school is set in a rural location with rice fields and a serene temple in the distance. We spent the morning observing the activities of school and I came away wishing I could start school all over again just so I could be a student there!
The meal was a typical "American" Thanksgiving with chicken instead of turkey but many of the other trimmings. There was lots of tropical fruit to remind us where we really were, which was a treat.
After the program and meal, we hurried home to change for an afternoon outing. Our destination? A Karen village upriver where one can ride elephants! As my family well knows, elephants are one of my favorite animals, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend time on Thanksgiving, could you? To get there, we hopped in a long, motorized Thai boat where four of us sat and took in the stunning, rural scenery of northern Thailand. We sat of the floor of the boat on a padded cushion and the boat was low to the water, so we almost felt like we were in the water. Since it was a hot, sunny day it was cool and refreshing! The Kok River is wide and muddy, so we really felt like we were on a safari. There were mountains in the distance and groves of bamboo that graced the shores. We saw a Buddhist shrine on a huge rock formation; fisherman; and egrets, a kingfisher and other birds we didn't recognize. The boatman was very skillful as we weaved passed other boats, under bridges and around bends, bringing us finally, an hour later, to the Karen village.
We walked ashore with our small party of seven, and only four of the group were up for an elephant ride through the village and jungle. The elephant and mahout came next to a platform where we sat on a specially made chair that would take two passengers, Steve and I on one and Rosemary and Ruth on another. Our two elephants followed each other, the Karen mahout gently speaking to them the whole time. We were given cut sugar cane to pass to the elephants as we walked along.
When we ran out of cane, the elephant stopped briefly to grab some small bamboo plant or banana leaf or even a whole stalk of sugar cane! The mahout tried to discourage them from doing that, but it was usually to no avail! Elephants are always hungry! Our elephants moved through their paths, very relaxed and accustomed to the traffic of cars and motorbikes and even little children nearby. It was so sweet to see how they fit into the village life of their life-long friends, the mahouts.I was a bit startled when our mahout jumped down off the elephant to use our iPhone to take our picture—and then, instead of getting back on the elephant, walked behind us talking to him the rest of the way! (Just Steve and I on his back... yikes!) Then, in mid-walk, Steve was invited to climb down off the chair onto the elephant's neck for the rest of the way. He did that, and said that he could feel the muscles in the elephant's neck and its bristles through his pants. It was an awesome opportunity, and the elephant calmly continued his trek.
The rest of the group that chose not to ride—Chuck, Sandy, Cathy and Connie—stayed behind in the village and sipped iced Thai coffee while they watched village life, the elephants strolling by and the river close by.
After about an hour, we returned to the platform, dismounted and got to pet the elephant. When I did this, the elephant responded by looking me right in the eyes and giving me his trunk as a "hand shake." I couldn't have been happier! I thanked them both for this rare and great treat of spending time with them.
After a cold drink of iced coffee, we returned to our boats for a refreshing ride home as we once again took in the beautiful scenery. Steve and I both felt like we had died and gone to heaven! This is what heaven will be like, folks!
It's another late night, so I will close for now, even though I am leaving out more I'd like to say.
Love and prayers to each of you,
Nancy & Steve
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