May 5, 2008We were going to spend the day lazing around as it is a holiday in Thailand, and all of the boys were home. This is one of the last weeks before everyone goes back to school. Vanessa is still in Thailand and was going to take the rest of Mercy 6 on a boat cruise. We decided that it was not fair for the boys to not have the chance to go so we called and asked if they could come too. However, when we called we only asked for 10 boys and found out after the phone call that there are actually 15 boys here. There was not enough food for all of the boys to go so we only took 3 of the boys who have never been there before, Folk, Spicy, and Bird. We were pretty excited to take them as they are definitely our favorites. Last time we went on the boat cruise there was not enough food for all of the children, so we took them to one of the street vendors to get something to eat first. The cook put their food into plastic trays so they could take what they couldn’t finish as we were in a hurry to go.
We all crammed into two vans and off we went. We met the boat at the Oriental hotel again. This time Vanessa wanted to do something different besides the snake and alligator farm, and the children wanted to see a temple, so we went to the temple of dawn. Folk was carrying his food tray on the boat with him and someone who worked there asked him why he was taking food. Folk responded with (in Thai of course) “Last time the children were hungry so this time we brought our own rice.” We were pretty embarrassed with the staff translated that to Vanessa but it was also pretty funny. There was a lot more food this time, and each child was given their own little box of lunch. They liked the temple of dawn but it felt really rushed. We all piled back onto the boat and then went a little further along the river before we turned back again to head back to the Oriental.
The children said good bye to Vanessa as she was leaving tonight. The van dropped SiJie, Misty, Bird, Spicy, Folk and I off at Lumpini park where we played on the playground for a few hours and then rented some paddle boats. I have not played on the playground like a child in years. It was fun to take my sandals off and play with the boys; swinging on the swings, going down the slide, etc. The children looked like they were having a great time and they seemed to enjoy it more than the boat ride. After our afternoon at the playground we treated them to an ice cream and a drink at McDonald’s watched them play in the playground there and came home.
We had a scary accident today. After leaving the park we flagged down a taxi and were running to it. I was guiding Spicy who is nearly blind, but also trying to make sure we were all going to get to the taxi on time. There was a big hole that was tied off with rope and sticks, likely where a tree was going to be planted on the sidewalk. The children all ran around it, and Spicy followed. Naturally we would see a hole like this and avoid it, but Spicy is not able to see things like this until he is really close to them. Since he was half running he ran right in it. I yelled to him, but the language barrier prevented him from understanding and he fell, face first onto the sidewalk, tangling his legs into the ropes. I felt so bad. He hurt his leg and sat there for a few minutes before he was able to get up and be guided to the taxi. His new glasses have very deep scratches where his face hit the sidewalk. After this accident I need to be reminded that we have to be his second set of eyes, and we cannot take even the smallest things for granted.
The rest of the day was pretty laid back. We had supper with the boys and then came here (internet café) to catch up on our blogs.
These first two pictures are of the inside of the Oriental hotel.
Vanessa and the children.
All of these plants come from Ayuttua and were going down the river. It makes it difficult for river traffic.
The Temple of Dawn, which we visited today.
Spicy!
Batt - He loved the timbits for lunch.
New and Jame - Jame was confinded to a wheelchair until when he was younger, and through the help of staff at Mercy he is now able to walk, and is getting better by the day. :)
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