Red Bull (Kratingdaeng)

I admit, neither one of us are fans of energy drinks. Besides a strong morning coffee anyway. However, Red Bull is hugely popular in Thailand, for giving that extra boost in your day. A kick in the pants.

We had a Red Bull kind of weekend. J got to come to the Friday seminar with me, which was a real treat. Our SO couldn't go so he got to go in his place. 184 there. Then we had our Sat. & Sun. C.A. 1,300 were in attendance despite the snowstorm that dropped close to 2 feet on us. Friends from neighboring halls spent the entire night shoveling, snow blowing and plowing so we could be there. It was really touching. There really was allot of snow. (and I say that as a native Adriondacker..even!) The entire program was moving. J got to be a "dunker" for the first time. He says it was the best privilege to date he has ever had. Although, he had to laugh because a fellow dunker looked @ him and said, so this is how a zoo animal must feel..looking back at the crowd with cameras. Our CO was all emotional talking about the "needs" and the economy. You could have heard a pin drop. I don't remember ever seeing a CO weep publicly before. This little state, the smallest state in the USA also has currently the highest rate of unemployment and has a foreclosure rate of 1 out of 14. Needless to say you don't have to look to far to find someone going thru a trial. But, it's like that everywhere...

In spite of the program ending early on Sunday (they abbreviated things) to get us all home before dark (it was *still* snowing) I don't think anyone wanted to leave. Everyone just kept talking about how needed the weekend was. We agreed. You know, the past few blogs I've written have talked about some trials we've had. But now, we both feel like we downed a can or two of that classic Thai Red Bull. Ready to go. yippie ki aye. : D

Things have been progressing nicely in our local area with Lao. We've got a small regular group meeting on Thursday and have started a small class once again. We have 4 out of 8 maps done with the tract in Lao .. first time they have all been worked thru @ this rate. It'll be interesting to see what the follow ups are.

Also... I'd like to introduce another little blog to your right. Jeff & Meli. (Bunchoclowns) They are also headed to Thailand in Dec. (Poor guys, had to change plans with the earlier airport closure) They are going to be working with sign language there in Bangkok. We can't wait to meet up with them.

PS. I know I still keep this blog on the downlow, forgoing many names etc. I know it was because we originally thought we'd be headed to Laos, not a Thai border town. But according to our letter we may still one of these days be in Laos after our time in NK, so thanks for being understanding about our lack of specifics at time. ; )

Much love.