…to some degree:
- cockroaches in my bathroom every evening
- loose floorboards in my main room
- the sound of rats in the room my landlord uses for storage
- waiting 25 minutes for my electric water heater to heat up enough water for my shower
- little lizards all over my house
- having no light in my bedroom if I don’t turn it on before 5 p.m.
- sometimes not seeing a piece of bread for many days
- spirit houses on every corner (okay, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that)
- drunken karaoke at 3 a.m.
- being called “farang” (foreigner), even by people who know my name
- comments on my “beautiful” white skin and “blonde” hair (in the States I’m really not a blonde, and many with my skin tone would work on their tan)
- being cheated by fruit vendors
- causing double-takes when I walk down the street
- noise– all the time, everywhere, except a rare late night in Permsup
- cat fights, dog fights, family fights
- roosters crowing at 5 a.m.
- packed sidewalks of people who are oblivious to everyone else
- frequent comments on my weight and language abilities
- sitting on the floor, eating off of the floor, sleeping on a mat on the floor
- hanging my clothes to dry, timing my laundry so there will be enough sun to wear the clothes the next day
- gossip about how I don’t have a TV (a big status symbol in the slum), how I only shower once a day, how much money people think I have
- my three-year-old neighbor barging in to help herself to my candy or gum
Praise God for giving me the grace and perseverance to live in this place. He really does give us everything we need to respond to his call. I wouldn’t choose to be anywhere else.
Comments
Hey Sara! This is Juliana, do you remember me???
I found your webpage through Miyuki’s xanga..juz wanna say hi and see how you’re doing. Didn’t know you left for Thailand, r u going to be gone for a while? How’s everything so far? After reading your post I just wanna applaud you for your perseverance in bringing more people to Christ. When I used to live in Bangkok, I never thought how it would be like to live in the slum and evangelize the Gospel..so I really thank you for giving your time and effort into this. Wishing you all the best, and keep up with the posts! BTW, if you want to reach me, you can email me at puplova@hotmail.com
take care and God bless!
Juliana
hmm, I’m with you on being cheated by fruit vendors, timing laurdry to dry, but by far you’ve had to adjust to much more! I am a fan, Sara, I like the way you write and the way you express the culture. I look halfway hispanic, but my hubby is white with blue eyes, as is my daughter and what black haired people like myself would call blond. (really a brown, I guess) and he often will say “What is it that I seem to attract all the beggers” or attention or whatever you’d like to insert there. I keep tellig him - cause you stick out like a sore thumb! He feels more Mexican than I do, so I guess it always kind of surprises him.
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