The Long Saga

Sivy's home village pictures

2009-01-10T08:42:00.004+07:00

Picture #1 - The family home raised on stilts. Water surrounds all of the homes in this village. It is a rice farming village.

Picture #2 - Paula is cooking on the wood stove which is located at the back of the house.

Picture #3 - The dishes have been washed at the well and now are drying in the sun.

Picture # 4 - Sivy and her brother-in-law are grinding a mixture of rice, water and tamarind in preparation for what we all decided to call Khmer pizza!

Picture #5 - The final product - Khmer pizza which looks like an omelette filled with various ingredients.

Orphanage pictures continued

2009-01-10T08:35:00.002+07:00

The first picture is where the older boys sleep. These beds are new within the last 6 months. Previously the boys slept on mats on the floor. The next picture is the kitchen 'stove.' The last is a picture of one of the babies asleep in his hammock.

Sharing the Gospel

2009-01-10T08:32:00.003+07:00

Sivy is sharing stories from the Bible using story pictures. She is quite comfortable in this role and especially with these kids! This was her home for over two years!

Orphanage - meal time

2009-01-10T08:29:00.003+07:00

Rice is a staple food that they eat 3 times per day. The boys sit at one table and the girls at another long table.

Orphange - meal time

2009-01-10T08:24:00.002+07:00

This is the kitchen area of the orphanage. Sivy is helping to serve the rice. The smaller boys are sitting on this platform eating their food.

Orphange pictures - caring for the babies!

2009-01-10T08:21:00.003+07:00

We were told there are about 70 children living in the orphanage of whom 10 are babies. Many of the older orphans help with the care of the younger ones - especially the babies!

Orphanage pictures

2009-01-10T08:19:00.003+07:00

All of these children clung to us throughout our visit. The guy in the lower left fell asleep in my lap later on. I dubbed him "Mr. Baseball."

Sivy and a new-found friend!

2009-01-10T08:14:00.002+07:00

Sivy has a heart for everyone in need. She got off our tuk tuk and gave this woman some money. Her red-checked scarf is common among many of the older Cambodians - a symbol they hold onto. Sivy asked her age and she is about 60 years old! I can only imagine what she has witnessed and experienced in her lifetime.

Sivy and Sopheak's orphanage - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2009-01-10T08:04:00.001+07:00

Our first visit to Phnom Penh was the orphanage where Sivy and Sopheak lived for several years. The suitcases are full of items such as vitamins, medicine, underwear, toothpaste, towels, pencils, paper which were donated through gifts from church friends in the states. It is a very poor orphanage and if you look thoughtfully the children look quite sad and forlorn. Many hugs later, I wept realizing that each one of these children is desperate to find someone to give them a real home!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Typical Intersection

2009-01-10T07:58:00.003+07:00

Cambodia and particularly Phnom Penh, the capital city is influenced by the French architecturely and culturally. Intersections and boulevards are wide and curved. I particularly like this photo as I view the face of this cyclist - a typical rider!

Philippines Trip 2009

2008-10-26T19:05:00.002+07:00

This is the American Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. Once you enter the gates you are on American soil. Those buried in this cemetery were all killed during World War II. The crosses are all in perfect alignment and the grounds are exquisitely manicured. The names of all those who died and never found are listed on walls along the top edge of the cemetery. It is a most compelling memorial!

Time to meet my housemate - Beth

2008-09-20T15:42:00.003+07:00

Beth and I decided that we needed to introduce each other to our collective friends and family. In 2005 we both came to Chiang Mai and Grace International. We did not know each other previous to our arrival. It just happened that there was one place and two people wanting to share cost. What could one do? As a new missionary, I benefitted the most from that linkup because Beth had served in China, Kenya, Pakistan and a group of islands that I can never remember. She provided a most steady environment for me in a not so steady world. Beth teaches the 8th grade core classes at Grace and comes with a 25 year background in gifted education in Roanoke, Virginia. Her love is history and Chinese history in particular. We have learned to live in this most different place and have been housemates for the most part of 3 years. I took six months off for furlough starting the 2nd semester and Beth took off the 1st semester of last year and came back 2nd semester to cover for me. For some reason for which neither of us can figure out, we are often mixed up. We will let you decide if there is any similarity. Students and teachers alike often call us by the wrong names. Someday we might even dress alike. Now, that would be a hoot! We do have a good time together and have traveled to Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and soon will fly to the Philippines. I am most blessed to enjoy her cooking and Beth is most blessed because I cleanup after her. It is a good arrangement!! This picture is taken at Raffles Hotel in Singapore. We enjoyed 'High Tea' in a most beautiful dining room of the hotel.

Suda's picture

2008-09-07T06:25:00.003+07:00

The mahoots bring Suda's picture closer to the gallery where people can take photos of this most amazing accomplishment! Can you see the signature! Most incredible!

The elephant artist!

2008-09-07T06:21:00.003+07:00

My church family has seen a picture painted by an elephant. It has to be one of the most amazing feats and this elephant was the star of the show! Here is Suda the elephant not only painting a picture but signing it as well.

Thai oxcart

2008-09-07T06:18:00.002+07:00

Most of the cows in Thailand are white! These brown cows truly stand out and I just love this picture! It is a keeper!

Elephants love to eat!

2008-09-07T06:15:00.003+07:00

For 40 baht (about $1.50 US) one can buy bundles of bananas and sugar cane to feed the elephants. Our elephant easily ate 4 bundles of each!

Elephants bathing - takes a large bath tub!

2008-09-07T06:11:00.003+07:00

In no uncertain terms bathing is a large job for an elephant! The mahoots (trainers) have a wire brush that they use to clean the skin of the elephant. One must get too close to this event. The elephants love to spray people!

Thailand and elephants

2008-09-07T06:04:00.002+07:00

The Thai people love their elephants. This weekend we traveled north to an elephant camp near Mae Tang where they train elephants to help with various tasks. This particular camp features elephants doing various stunts such as soccer, basketball and log rolling. In addition one can go on a bamboo raft and oxcarts. The river is quite high so we did not attempt the bamboo raft.

The Secret Cupboard alias puppet theatre!

2008-09-04T21:00:00.002+07:00

Theresa has some hidden gems in the secret cupboard to go along with her story. She chooses a different child every week to open the doors. The suspense and joy are visible every time with the younger students as the secrets are revealed. Tough job, but somebody has to do it!

New Thai-style playground equipment

2008-09-04T20:35:00.002+07:00

You are looking at the elementary school playground with its new playground equipment. It is quite colorful and quite well used! Behind it is a climbing wall! With some imagination you can see the door to the elementary library. We are located on the second level just above the tall palm tree. Any wonder why I love this place! In the background is the World Club Mubann (village) where we live!

Our new classrooms in progress!

2008-09-04T20:22:00.002+07:00

With an increase in enrollment, new portable classrooms are being built. The 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes hope to move into their new rooms by the October break. Right now these grades are in various odd sites - 2 squash courts and an upstairs room at the restaurant across from the entrance to the school. Not ideal - but these people are definitely copers!! Each day we see progress! Note the children in the foreground. The workers live on site with their families. Some children actually help!

2008-08-18T19:13:00.001+07:00

Sivy Meas Jarot, the adopted Cambodian daughter of Paul and Paula Jarot, is helping her Mom prepare the kindergarten classroom.

Books ready to shelve!

2008-08-18T19:04:00.002+07:00

The school library was open during the summer to those families who stayed in Chiang mai. There is no public library in Chiang Mai! Reading is a very large part of everyday activity for missionary families and the GIS library is a most precious commodity to this English speaking population! These are the books returned to school and ready to be shelved the week before school started.

Meet our elementary school nurse!

2008-08-18T19:00:00.002+07:00

The staffing needs of Grace are enormous. One most indispensable position is the school nurse. Paula Baker comes from New Hampshire. She is looking at the student roster with one of the teachers and discussing some of the medical needs that she will need to be aware of throughout the year.

Our computer specialist! Meet Nueng

2008-08-18T18:54:00.002+07:00

Nueng's assignment is to keep the elementary library computers functioning. He is a joy to work with and a very busy guy. We doubled our student computers from 3 to 6 this year. One computer is dedicated to the library catalog. All the others are multi-purpose with access to the microsoft office programs and the Internet.

GIS - Elementary Library

2008-08-18T18:50:00.002+07:00

Theresa Jackson and family love animals. Thus, meet Latte our library rat! In China it is the year of the rat! Theresa brings great enjoyment to the library. She knows all the children by name and they all return that favor with a hug.

Jarots at Aurora Christian School

2008-07-04T08:07:00.003+07:00

From left to right - Sopheak Jarot, Judy Long (standing) Marge Smalley, Sivy Jarot
Marge Smalley taught 6th grade at Grace this past year and will return for the coming year. Marge lives in Peoria, IL. It was pure joy to see the Jarots and the girls.

Jarots at Aurora Christian School

2008-07-04T08:02:00.003+07:00

Paula Jarot shared the many hurdles of adoption of Sivy and Sopheak - all of which had been declared impossible by the Cambodian, Thai and US Embassies. Their story exemplies faith and trust -just get out of the way and let God do the work!

Jarots at Aurora Christian School

2008-07-04T07:59:00.003+07:00

Sopheak is singing "In Christ Alone." In the background Sivy is playing the piano. Sopheak will be in 6th grade and Sivy will be in 10th grade this fall.

Sivey Maes Jarot

2008-07-04T07:52:00.002+07:00

The Jarots invited friends to Aurora Christian School Thursday, June 26. Both Sopheak and Sivy spoke. Sivy performed a Khmer (Cambodian) dance. This picture shows Sivy in one of the many graceful positions of an Asian dance routine.

Rockford Work Camps - Kishwaukee storage site

2008-06-07T18:54:00.002+07:00

The Callaway, Nebraska group also worked at an old Kishwaukee fire station facility. The goal is to restore it to its former purpose - a fire station. It has been used by the city for a number of years as a storage facility. The youth moved boxes, shredded lots of files, and tore out inside framing that had been added over the years. They also painted the outside of the building. Note the message behind the group. At both sites, neighbors stopped by to watch. See how God works in our lives!

Rockford Work Camps - First week

2008-06-07T18:50:00.002+07:00

A great picture showing the type of work that these young Nebraskans tackled! They completely stripped the bathroom. Ask anyone how hard it is to remove a toilet and a bathtub from any bathroom! Nice job kids! They also stripped and painted all the rooms and windows.

2008-06-07T18:46:00.002+07:00

Rockford Work Camps Project had its very first work crew June 2. 39 youth and 10 adults from Callaway, Nebraska arrived Sunday evening. Monday they started rehabbing the Christ the Carpenter parsonage. They were amazing workers! Here they are taking a most deserved break. They also met a new friend, Stan - a member of Christ the Carpenter Church. I doubt I have to explain which person in the picture is Stan.

Rockford Urban Ministries Work Experience

2008-06-07T18:34:00.003+07:00

A six month furlough starting December 20 created a whole lot of open-ended time. I no longer had 500 kids to wake me up each morning and keep me going all day long. What to do? I searched for volunteer work and ended up with Rockford Urban Ministries. Stan Campbell asked that I serve as the winter workcamp coordinator. I gladly stepped in and helped bridge the gap between last summer and this summer's college work camp leaders. At first I had no clue how this work camp project worked. It all came together this past week with our first work crew from Nebraska. Thanks Stan! You provided me with a most satisfying and meaningful experience during a horrific, most confining and boring winter!

Graduation - Special Friends

2008-06-07T18:29:00.005+07:00

Collin and Kaila Bubnack. In our youth we see hope and we certainly wish these two the very best!

Graduation Open House - Friends

2008-06-07T18:25:00.002+07:00

Eugene & Carol Quinn and the twins helped make the party extra special!

Graduation Open House - Fun stuff!

2008-06-05T19:45:00.005+07:00

Brian Coulter and Kaila Bubnack - Usually Kaila is with Collin! I think Kaila won the bean toss!

Graduation Open House - Coach Green

2008-06-05T19:39:00.002+07:00

Dan 'Coach' Green remembers going downstate for the high school basketball tournament to Champaign with the West High Warriors as a kid. He sat next to me on the bus. Do I remember? No, but he does and that is OK! He was a good coach and friend to the boys during their basketball experience at Lutheran.

Graduation Open House - Church family

2008-06-05T19:32:00.003+07:00

Our Church family sustains us. The smiles tell you why! My sister Mary, Mary Erickson, Patty Campbell

Graduation Open House - Coulter's backyard!

2008-06-05T19:26:00.003+07:00

The weather was perfect. The tent provided wonderful shade. We were so pleased to see family, friends and classmates come to enjoy this special time! Above are two of our relatives Bryan Wald and Joyce Holtman.

Graduation Evening - First Evangelical Free Church

2008-06-05T19:19:00.001+07:00

Jim Coulter Senior, Mary & Jim Coulter, John Rateliff & Jan Coulter

Baccalaureate Evening - Twins they are!

2008-06-05T19:16:00.002+07:00

Collin and Brian Coulter - They do look ready to move on and though identical twins - each has matured into a unique personality! God bless and keep them both!

Baccalaureate Evening - First Lutheran Church

2008-06-05T19:09:00.003+07:00

From left to right :
Jim Coulter Senior, Collin Coulter, Mary Coulter, Jim Coulter Junior, Brian Coulter, Judy Long

New Beginnings

2008-06-01T08:26:00.003+07:00

Time to celebrate family. Brian and Collin graduate from Rockford Lutheran.

Meet the JV Girls Coaches

2007-03-09T11:06:00.000+07:00

It is my privilege to coach with Stephen Keefer. He is a gentleman, great teacher and passionate about basketball. We are having terrific fun together and I am grateful that Stephen allows me to be the bench coach...

New Books from the States - Merry Christmas GIS

2007-02-25T07:04:00.000+07:00

It is a bit late to show a picture of Christmas books. However, I thought those of you who look at the blog would like to see the fruits of your work. We are fortunate to have a buyer in Texas, Janet Matyas. She worked at the GIS Library last year and has continued her support back home by buying our books and shipping them to Thailand. We received over 40 M bags worth of books during the months of November and December. Her efforts have saved the school hundreds of dollars and provided the library with excellent new books. We were able to get the Christmas books ready before the holiday break. What a blessing!

Mrs. Jarot's 4th Grade Class & Twilight the Tiger

2007-02-25T06:53:00.000+07:00

The Elementary Library received a beautiful stuffed tiger from the parent organization last October. We needed to name the tiger and had a contest. It was a tough decision and we even had a run-off to narrow down the many choices. The winning name is Twilight and the winner of the contest is the lovely young lady - Bailey - in the center of the picture. Her entire class helped her win by voting for the name Twilight. Talk about team support!! Twilight is loved by all grades and has a mate named Gracie. They often can be found leaning against a favorite book.

Meet Flat Stanley

2007-02-25T06:43:00.000+07:00

My friend Sarah teaches 1st grade in Bagabag, Philipines. She wanted her students to see how far Flat Stanley could travel. So, 3 of our lunch-time library buddies met Flat Stanley, colored him fancy and sent Flat Stanley back to Bagabag. Of course, a tootsie roll sucker was earned in the process! Meet Sanna, Amos and Bible.

Trip to Malaysia

2007-02-25T06:36:00.001+07:00

During our Christmas break I was fortunate to visit Malaysia. It is really not that far from Chiang Mai, Thailand - like going from Rockford, Illinois to New Orleans, Lousiana. We visited Kuala Lumpur (capital); GeorgeTown and Melaka. My favorite city was Melaka. It was formerly known as Malacca and is historically known as part of the spice routes through the Straits of Malacca. The Dutch, Portuguese and then the British held dominance over this country until 1966. This church was built by the Dutch in 1757 and still has an active congregation.

GIS Junior Varsity Girls Basketball Team

2007-02-25T06:28:00.000+07:00

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the 2007 Junior Varsity team. What a lovely bunch of young ladies. We are 2-0 in conference play (if we can claim to have a conference). We actually are 2-1 - losing our first game to the Thai school - Sacred Heart. These young ladies range in age from 13-16 and practice 4 days a week after school. They have a great heart, love the Lord, and share that love with each other.

Meet Mollie, Jessica & Leila

2007-02-25T06:20:00.000+07:00

These young ladies are waiting for their first customers. They started a Saturday afternoon cafe with high tea, cookies, biscuits and brownies. Money raised will be given to the school building fund to support the new multi-purpose building project. Great fun and good food!

Final view of the desk - Ready to Use!

2006-12-24T11:15:00.000+07:00

New Circulation Desk delivered December 21, 2006

2006-12-24T11:11:00.000+07:00

We designed this desk and had it custom-made by a local contractor. It took 3 drafts and several meetings with the builder to get to the final stage. And, it was worth waiting for. Wait till the students see it in January.

Circulation Desk - Merry Christmas GIS

2006-12-24T11:02:00.000+07:00

Puppet Theatre Comes Alive at Christmas

2006-12-17T11:32:00.000+07:00

Our cupboard finally became a real puppet theater in November and gets transformed almost weekly by Theresa. She uses it with her stories to the primary grade students. It is magical and the children love to open the doors to find out what is on display. Theresa always gives them something to hold on to as she reads the story. Fun stuff for all of us!

New Books - Secondary Library

2006-12-17T11:30:00.000+07:00

Must also show the new books for the secondary library. Kristen, our faithful teacher assistant is holding one of the new books ready just in time for the holiday reading rush.

New Christmas Books - December 2006

2006-12-17T11:16:00.000+07:00

We had all the new Christmas books cataloged and ready for checkout before the school holiday. Thanks Janet!
Here we are, myself, Juanita and Theresa showing off our new books. What a gift!

Honoring the King of Thailand

2006-12-17T10:31:00.000+07:00

The Elementary students celebrated the King's 78th birthday with a lovely tribute.

The Chasong Choir first sang Thailand's national anthem.

The two young ladies in traditional Thai dress performed a beautiful and elegant dance. Quite a transformation of their usual look. Each girl is a 6th grader.

2006-12-17T08:49:00.000+07:00

I let Dan finish the kneeding. We used 10 cups of mashed potatoes for our project which expanded with flour, butter and cream His hands were much more able to work through the dough. For any Norwegians who are viewing this, there are some great websites about making lefse. Oh yes, only Norwegians are allowed to make lefse. That is Dan's final message!

2006-12-17T08:47:00.000+07:00

Here is my introduction to kneeding the dough. Dan was a great instructor. We had flour all over the kitchen including the floor. Who would have thought I could or even would make lefse in Thailand.

2006-12-17T08:44:00.000+07:00

Here is Dan finishing one of the lefse sheets. He rolls his lefse sheets. We made 50 of these little guys...

2006-12-17T08:42:00.000+07:00

God is amazing. He brought me to this place and provided abundantly. I am in the kitchen of a missionary family. The guy on the left, Dan is a Norwegian orginally from North Dakota. He and his wife are long term missionaries and have carried on the Norwegian tradition of making lefse. And, that is tradition that our family has also maintained in the US. Note the pastry cloth on the left.

2006-12-17T08:41:00.000+07:00

Marie, whose parents are Thai and French, was the tallest of the young adults. She got the assignment of starting the lights at the top of the tree. Great job Marie!

2006-12-17T08:33:00.000+07:00

We invited the Hangdong Church family to join us in hanging of the greens (putting up the Christmas tree) This church family meets at the school every Sunday and is mostly Thai. What a blessing to have them. Most were young adults who were eager to tackle the 12 foot tree.

2006-12-17T08:31:00.000+07:00

One last kid shot. I do not know this young lady. She simply was overwhelmed by the number of books. She and her family were from the village and wanted to come see the fair. May her visit be one of many to look at books!

2006-12-17T08:28:00.000+07:00

Khun Nid with her daughter Netty. Nid is a special friend who helps almost every teacher and librarian in the school. She is bilingual and her husband owns a construction firm. They do or coordinate many of the maintenance projects for the school. Nid has 3 older children who all attend Grace and are gifted musicians. This family is a good example of why I love being here!

2006-12-17T08:25:00.000+07:00

Lots of guys in this picture. That is because they are looking at the TinTin and Asterik books - favorites of the boys, especially the British ones! :)

2006-12-17T08:22:00.000+07:00

This shot gives you a good idea of how we organized the books. Teachers and secondary students also enjoyed the book fair.

2006-12-17T08:21:00.000+07:00

The stairs were a favorite resting place to take a look at the books. We gave the elementary classes special time for a visit.

2006-12-17T08:19:00.000+07:00

Almost ready! We filled the entire lobby of the school with books. Wait till you see the faces of the children as they walked in the door.

2006-12-17T08:17:00.000+07:00

Book Fair - 1st Annual at GIS: The truck arrived at 6:15 a.m. We busily set up shelves and tables hoping to be ready by 7:30 a.m.

2006-11-18T10:26:00.000+07:00

We invited Vietnamese seminary ladies to our home for a meal. We had a wonderful time sharing - especially about our experiences in Vietnam. Each of the ladies is from a different part of Vietnam so we were able to clarify ideas we had from our trip.

2006-11-18T10:09:00.000+07:00

I love this picture because you can see that this whole class came together to support this name and Bailey. It is so exciting when a project works this way!

2006-11-18T10:05:00.000+07:00

Boys and girls both enjoyed this activity. The contest was open to all students K-6th grade. We had a run-off because of the number of entries!

2006-11-18T10:02:00.000+07:00

one more with 6th graders - One year does make a difference both in physical size and focus!

2006-11-18T09:59:00.000+07:00

One of our fall projects was to paint the very institution-style doors into something 'library' friendly. Here our students stand in front of the completed project - an open book - story from Alice in Wonderland...

2006-11-12T11:19:00.000+07:00

What is a yard sale without food. This picture gives you a good idea of the size of this sale. Booths took up the entire school yard and the gymnasium. The guy cooking happens to be the school guidance counselor. He is a man of many gifts!!??

2006-11-12T11:15:00.000+07:00

In addition to the puppet show one student did his juggling routine; another did magic tricks. The show brought in good donations and certainly entertained the little ones while parents shopped!

2006-11-12T11:13:00.000+07:00

The 7th grade class decided to put on a puppet show. Guess where they go the puppet stage? The students did a wonderful job of getting it prepared for the event! We have some budding puppeteers!

2006-11-12T11:11:00.000+07:00

Now isn't this creativity in motion. Need a lift? Need help in setting up your booth? We aim to help!

2006-11-12T11:08:00.000+07:00

Parent, Christine Dill is setting up here yard sale items. Simplicity and low pricing is a key to making this work!! She sold all of her linens very easily to the Thais. They swarmed her tarp as soon as the gates opened.

2006-11-12T11:05:00.000+07:00

Each fall and spring GIS sponsors a yard sale. It has become a well known event in the entire community. Teachers, classes, parents, and Thai people rent space and sell whatever! It works. This is my housemate, Beth starting the setup for the 8th grade class. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and left at 1 p.m. 2,000 people came through the gates!

2006-11-12T11:02:00.000+07:00

I thought you who are following this journey would like to meet our current library team on site. From left to right ~ Juanita Feniak (cataloger) ~ Connie Eckerle (secondary librarian)~ Judy Long (your blogger and head librarian ~ Theresa Jackson (elementary librarian). We have one valuable person off site ~ Janet Matyas (US book buyer)

2006-11-12T10:58:00.000+07:00

One more time. Students came in during lunch to continue adding names to the box. It will be most difficult to sort through all of the great names.

2006-11-12T10:56:00.000+07:00

Name the tiger contest. The boys eagerly were submitting as many names as they could generate. Fun stuff!

2006-11-12T10:52:00.000+07:00

More students - just want to show the reason I am here. I challenge you to guess their ethnicity. (English, Korean, American, Australian)

2006-11-12T10:51:00.000+07:00

Time to show some pictures of our library work. We asked the art students to make our entry doors more friendly. They took the double doors and made them into an open book. Great job!

2006-11-05T10:54:00.000+07:00

Also a part of the holiday is the releasing of a paper balloon. A candle is lit at the bottom of the balloon. As the balloon is filled with warm air, the balloon lifts up to the sky. This symbolizes a release of any misfortune. If the balloon fails to life and falls into the river or gets stuck in an overhanging branch, bad luck can be expected.

2006-11-05T10:52:00.000+07:00

This young lady is a senior at Grace. She is on her way to the river's edge to release her lotus flower float.

2006-11-05T10:51:00.000+07:00

This picture is taken at the restaurant where our staff had a meal. This lady is walking toward the lower deck of the restaurant to release her lotus flower float.

2006-11-05T10:49:00.000+07:00

Vendors along the roads are selling the lotus flower floats. These lotus flowers are selling for 10 baht which is about 25 cents in our currency.

2006-11-05T10:46:00.000+07:00

Chiang Mai, Thailand - We are driving over the Nawarat Bridge. Note the beautiful flowers covering the rails of the bridge. November 4,5 & 6 the Thais celebrate the Loi Krathong Festival. Started centuries ago, the holiday has evolved into a time to honor the water Gods. Lotus flowers and floating balloons are released on the rivers to let go of all misfortunes and hope for better times.

2006-10-21T15:59:00.000+07:00

Ruby was our tour guide in Saigon. She is standing in front of a cooking house. We are still in the Cu Chi region known for its tunnel system. The tunnels were actually built during the time of the French inhabitation. This day was the most sobering of the entire trip. I chose not to put any pictures of the war museum on the blog. I did tour the museum but could not complete it. War is never pleasant no matter who provides the interpretation. It is always ugly, brutal and senseless!

2006-10-21T15:54:00.000+07:00

Here I stand in a dugout area of one of the original tunnels. Behind me is the entry to the top level of the tunnel network. There are actually 3 levels of tunnels at differing depths. The first level contains small rooms for eating and sleeping. The second level is used for travelling underground to the outer edges of the area. The third level is used mostly for escape routes and usually end up at the Saigon River where the men could swim out into the river.

2006-10-21T15:52:00.000+07:00

Our last day in Vietnam and in the city of Saigon. We visited the tunnels used by the Cu Chi people of Vietnam during the Vietnamese/American war. This young man is demonstrating the size of the tunnel. He is holding the stone that would normally cover the entrance. He slides done vertically and then kneels to crawl through the tunnel. Note the sand hill in front of him. It is an air hole that goes down into the tunnel.

2006-10-21T15:47:00.000+07:00

This is another shot from our 3rd floor room. A family home is at the bottom left hand corner. Rice paddies are just above it.

2006-10-21T15:45:00.000+07:00

This picture is taken from our 3rd floor hotel room. It is a home and is typical of the amount of space for each family. This family is fortunate to have land surrounding their home.

2006-10-21T15:42:00.000+07:00

And, in the very heart of Saigon is the Notre Dame Cathedral. The French played a very important and influential part in the development of language and culture in Vietnam during the 1700 and 1800's...A French priest is responsible for giving the language a written form - using Roman characters for letters. Though heavily influenced also by the Chinese, the Vietnamese have a written language that looks very European. However, it does not sound European and has five tones for many of its words.

2006-10-21T15:39:00.000+07:00

This is a Buddhist temple in Saigon. However the statue is Confucius. Obvious example of how belief systems become mixed. Buddhism is followed by 90% of the people in Vietnam. We found that the beliefs of the people are mixed with many variations of Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism and Catholicism.

2006-10-21T15:37:00.000+07:00

This is a statue in the temple of King Tu Duc near Hoian in central Vietnam . The bird symbolizes dignity and the turtle supporting the bird symbolizes stability.