votes for the little Asian cavemen

hooray! national holiday!

though far from Thai, today, my inner Thainess is rejoicing that there's no school all thanks to the fact that today the Thai's vote on whether or not they're going to accept the newly written constitution or not. Government savvy? I'm anything but-
BUT, Mike says "the new constitution is a bit less democratic which at first sounded like a really. Allowing the government to have more of a say in anything seems like a bad idea; BUT, it's a good constitution.... i'd say go for it."
so, umm... there's the news.

back to life-
so, here i sit in an internet cafe as the ONLY person actually using the Internet for anything "useful". Embarassingly enough, no- facebook is not necessarily "useful"..BUT, I am using it as a portal to communicate with all those back the great US.

So, I apologize for the lack of new blog entries for all of you who so faithfully read this scripted nonsense I post. However, if my business degree is worth anything..the laws of supply and demand tell me that the less i write, the more YOU will want to read.
so, sorry.. business first ;) heh.
(this also being a lame excuse for my laziness and recent lack of clever wording and ability to post anything of worth). Though teaching English I do believe there's been some sort of opposite impact, whereas the Asian choppy English/grammar skills are influencing me more than my proper execution of the English language is influencing them. I find myself looking for shortcuts around the English language.. cutting well-needed words such as "the" and "I" out of spoken sentences.
I believe this Asian English could also be called:..... caveman.
yes, little Asian cavemen... "teacher, go to store, get book need for school".

okay. sure.
i'll go to store, get book..and then, teacher make fire.


speaking of fire, since the day school started my classroom has been filled with smokey residue and ash floating throughout the air. why? well... just so happens (like in Virginia,) when there's stuff around that no one wants- BURN IT!
Though in VA it's usually piles of leaves (or maybe, that was just on MaryAnn Dr.) but here, it's piles of desks, chairs and books. What a lovely playground backdrop.
We're out on the field playing "American football" (they think i'm really good. haha!) and off to the side of a mountain of old school supplies and furniture on fire! I remember that recess would be cancelled if there was a slight chance of rain- and here, they're creating forest fires and still the kids just run around it!
crazy.

so... friday night there was yet another long journey. the single kids: mike, myself, sarah and jen, decided that a five day week of babysitting and correcting papers wasn't enough to tire us out- so, we went walking through the city looking for adventure. we met a man on the sidewalk when we had our faces buried in a map of lies (the American tourist map for Bangkok. DON'T BUY IT,) and he told us this tale of a grand fireworks display in honor of mother's day (which in Thailand is actually mother's month).. so, we took every means of transportation to find this firey wonder. after the taxi was the subway. after the subway, the tuk-tuk (the glorified speedy little golf cart complete with decorations and open sides).
walking. walking. a little more walking. a blister on my foot. walk. another blister.


walk walk walk walk walk walk.

and,
no fireworks.

we've found what when asking directions, or, any question really, the common answer of thai's ends with whatever you want to hear-
We asked for directions to fireworks..and here's how the converstaion went:
S= silly Americans asking a Thai for directions
T= them. the thai's.

S: "excuse me, are there or aren't there fireworks around here tonight?"
T: "no."
S: "there aren't?"
T: "no. there are".
S: "there are! great? where?"
T: "nowhere".
S: "what? I thought they were around here..?"
T: "yes! yes, they are! they're ALL night long!"
S: "wow! all night?!"
T: "umm... they were at 10 o'clock"
S: "oh, so..we're too late.." (it was 11pm)
T: "no. 1 am. they're at 1 am, but not here"
S: "okay. 1 am. not here. where are they?" (showed them the map)
they pointed to a place. we foolishly followed the directed path.

needless to say- no fireworks. none at all.
and why? well.. the next thai we met said they were "last night. last night at 9.." (showed them the map)"..over there".

yea yea yea. i bet. i bet there were fireworks over there, at 9..
i think those might have been the new color of fireworks..: INVISIBLE!

Anyway, while walking through the city we went through Chinatown. Chinatown is basically just a big temple surrounded by many places to eat meat on a stick.
I've seen so many temples since I've been here. All I keep thinking when I pass these temples and see people offering overflowing baskets of gifts- flowers, food and money..how they pray ALL the time- such dedication, ritual and routine..and still SO LOST.
So lost that they either cover their heads or uncover their feet to visit these so-called "gods". So much worship. So much lost, aimless worship. I stand with my camera in hand snapping a picture when possible, and everytime I do I'm lost at how dedicated these people are to these idols.. their gods..their gods of nothing.
the god of fertility? of passion? of peace? healing? And their faith?
I keep thinking, what good is faith apart from God? What good is faith in SOMETHING and not someone? something. some. thing. a thing that cannot give peace. a thing that cannot give rest.. these things that cannot give salvation.

Instead of neglecting their blind pursuits in disgust.. I am challenged. I believe and trust in the ONLY GOD..and ONLY Creator and ONLY Savior- and yet, here I am.
I pray when I feel like praying. I read His word when I "have the time" to. My faith is so dependent on convenience, and yet, these people blinded by golden idols are so inconvenienced by their religion. Praying several times a day, offering everything to something that will never give in return...
where is my spiritual offering? where are my buckets, my gifts and my flowers? where is my never-ceasing prayer? WHERE IS MY FAITH?

Though their faith is blind, their faith is strong.
strong in nothing.

My faith is rooted in grace and salvation through Jesus Christ.. and yet, at times, my life is just as much a blinded maze as theirs. An endless maze when it is I who puts on the blindfold to lead the way...