Home Sweet Home...

So, for those following our journey, we have been here for twelve days. Technically, a little less because the first 2 days didn't really exist. They were twilight travel zone. We arrived in the middle of the night and went from the airport directly to a hotel. From that hotel we moved to a guest house. From the guesthouse we found an apartment and that is where we are now.

Got it? Good.

We now live in Bangkok, Thailand. We live in what is known as Khet Din Daeng. We live on Soi Intamara See Sip Hah. This is a Thai Neighborhood. By that I mean ,this is a place where actual Thai people live. There are some Falang (foreigners) here, but not that many Americans among them. We are the only Americans in our building. There are some Japanese, some Koreans and us. The people here are very nice to us. We do a lot of smiling, head bowing and trying not to do anything insulting or in any way wrong. We like them back and we want things to stay this way.

I have taken some pictures to share with you all. However, I have to give a disclaimer before I do so because there are a couple of things to consider.

First, this is the most sophisticated city in this country. They have it all here. Most missionaries hit the airport and head directly to the countryside or outskirts of the smaller cities. We are doing things a little differently than others because... well...we are not them. So for those who are expecting dirt and squalor, I hate to diappoint you. We do have that here because there are poor everywhere, but we do not live in that.

That said, the other side of the coin needs to be addressed. This is Asia. They have it going on here. Any imaginable luxury is available here. There are luxury condos and highrise apartments with maids and fitness centers and gardens and all kinds of stuff like that. We just don't live in that.

We do live in a really decent furnished "apartment." I put the quote marks there because the term apartment brings to mind certain things to the American mind, most of us having at least been to one. For instance, an apartment in the states may or may not have a balcony, but it always has a kitchen. Not so in the Far East. We pretty much all have balconies here, but no kitchens. They are not built into the average persons abode, and we are not allowed to cook in our homes. That is literally stated in the lease. I think the rules are so clearly stated because of the fire safety issue, but it is not such a strange thing. Most every building has a restaurant on the ground floor or at least several street vendors selling food outside. People work long hours here and they tend to use their homes as a place to sleep so that is what the "apartment" reflects. It is a bedroom with a bathroom and a balcony.

So, without further ado ... here is our new home sweet home.

The following picture is the left wall as you step into the door. What you are seeing is the Entertainment Center/Kitchen Area + the Vanity + the side of the closet. To the left is our totally awesome floor fan. We thank God for that Daily! Then we have the Computer which sits beside our basket of fruit and our Tea Set. The white thing next to the Tea Set is a water boiler. It is really cool. It is a Thermos. Then it plugs in and boils the water you fill it with. We can have instant coffee, tea, soup/noodles and oatmeal. It's the greatest thing. I love it. Underneath them you can see the water bottles and soups and other stuff we have in there. Next there is the Vanity. It's the mirrored thing. What you are seeing around the mirror is a strand of christmas lights with fabric roses. I put those there for a little color. The Mirror opens out and there are shelves inside there. There is a little stool and you cann see that our carry on is stuffed under there as well.

Here is another shot of the same wall, but the Armoire is showing. That is our closet because the room is basically a cement box. Troy has one side and I have the other. What you are seeing on top of it is two of our suitcases. On inside the other. You will see a theme with the suitcases. I have no idea what to do with them. My laundry basket is there and the bathroom. Lets look at it shall we.

The bathroom is pretty interesting. It was really hard to photograph because it is small, but mostly because I was taking the pictures. This first shot is looking into it from the main room. As you can see we have done what we can to store things. There are no cabinets. Nor is there any demarcation between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. It's all the same floor, which is a little weird at first.

This second shot is showing the shower. It is just there. Hanging off the wall. The little box is a very wonderful thing. It is on demand electric to heat the water. This is a God invention if there ever was one. The water can be downright shocking in the morning, but surprisingly ok at night. You can see my mop handle sticking up. There is no putting that away we have to mop the floor everytime someone showers because the whole bathroom gets wet. Again, it's all the same floor. I like it. I always know the floor is clean in there. Mildew is an issue, but if you look at the first picture you can see my little friend Clorox down in the corner. Oh yeah, that is where the drain is.





Now for the rest of the room. Next to the door for the Bathroom we have the Balcony. This is particularly bad photography so let me state again for all to hear. I took these pictures -NOT TROY. He was not involved except to spend some time in photoshop making sure you could actually see what was in the pitcure.



So, bad photogaphy aside, you get the point. There is a balcony there. That black clump in the corner are two more suitcases that have no idea what to do with and a garbadge can. If you look above the doors, you can see the other most wonderful creation of God. The air conditioner. Bless His Holy Name Forever! We have a really good unit that allows us to set it very specifically so we use it for three hours every night. It allows us to cool the place down while we fall asleep and keeps it from running all night which would be hard on the electric bill. We use the fan during the day and sweat when it is not directly on us.

Now if you were to stand at the doors you see above and then turn around, which is what I did, you have the Bed!

Here's a front shot. The beds here are hard as cement. We had to break down and buy a two inch pad for the bed that is essentially what a mattress should be. They are selling millions of tubes of ointments for muscle pain and I am certain all the pain would end if they would just sleep on something softer. We had to have the thing delivered because we were not going to be able to get it in a taxi so the staff in the office here knew when it arrived. Troy said that while I was downstairs the male manager came in with the lady that works in the office with him. They had come up to check out the pad. Troy said she walked up to the bed, felt the cushion and then went off in Thai. He did not understand a word of it, but he was pretty sure the gist was "I want one of these-go get it right now!" I'm telling you, they would save thousands yearly not having to buy the ointments.

Anyway, here's the front view of the bed.

And from here you are back to the front door and our tour is over. The empty space between the two black suitcases and the bed will one day be a table with two chairs for us to eat at. Right now, the only place to sit down is the plastic chairs on the balcony. They are multi purpose. In fact, I am sitting on one right now. We are looking for another option. The problem has been finding the right thing for a price we are willing to pay. The food is really cheap here, which is a major blessing to our budget, but other things can be expensive here so we are taking our time on the table search.

Well...Thanks for coming over. We hope to see you again soon. Don't be strangers. Come on over anytime. I mean it.