Last Week on Koh Chang

the sunrise that i was fortunate enough to wake up to each morning this week

the not-so-solid house we spent the week in

some pictures i took on a trek through the jungle (canopy, big coconut, rubber trees, etc.)

our progress from the week (the 16th house)

a Moghan woman cooking

Shopping administering medical care to the Moghan children

Pictures from Koh Chang

all of these are from our work on the island of koh chang. the girl is kwan and the guy, ang - two of our thai teammates - they are awesome. the rest are all plant life from the island and construciton photos. there are also some of the boat ride to and from the island, sunsets, a rainbow, etc.

the bug at the top was in our house...i'm not really sure what it is

most of the pictures are from staff conference and chiang mai...that park was beautiful

then there are some pictures of the building on koh chang

rain in phuket, sunsets, flowers, fishing, playing with kids, and building homes

we were back in phuket for a little while, and the three days we were there, it rained like that. i took advantage of the opportunity to get soaked.

those are two of the sunsets we've seen on the way home from the island so far. the sunsets pretty much speak for themselves.

that is the mud we walk through to get to the boat to go home when the tide is out.

that is a Moghan man climbing those beams like a simple ladder - it's crazy!

Shopping (one of our newest teammates) enjoying the boat ride home

Brittany playing with the Moghan children, and one of them wearing Mitch's shades

our house in ranong

another sunset.

some flowers outside of our house - beautiful.

Rodney and Uncle Mike doing some fishing in between trips to the island.

the worksite, "stick houses"; there are about three full rows of homes like that right now - it's going really fast.

all of the people who worked together last week (from Chiang Mai, the Moghan village, and our team)

and another sunset

the halfway point (the project is half over already!)

a flower outside our house - i only found out later what was inside by zooming in - small surprises.

WE HIT WATER! we finally hit water in the well we were digging - great teamwork!

the three-story center we're building with dean overholes' team.

driving back from the center in the rain in the back of a dump truck.

crossing the bay by ferry - beautiful!

One month - no pictures

hey all, sorry about the lack of blog updating. i have had limited time at the computer, and consequently have had to sacrifice picture updates for worded ones. anyway, one month later, here we are.

most of these are pictures of our home, or the worksite. the snake watched us take a break one day at work, and he blended in really well, so it's likely that he was in that tree all day. when i came across him, he was readying himself for a nap.

there are a few pictures of the building process which is much different (and more primitive) from that in America. the photo with our truck in it (in all her glory) is our view every morning.

those nets over the girl's beds are mosquito nets to keep us from getting bit up at night, and those cattle are mixed in with water buffalo which cross the road past our house each morning.

coffee is a must, and i have been getting up just a little earlier to make eggs for breakfast. it tastes good after a night on the floor. i have opted to sleep on only my blanket, as my mattress is really warm. and truthfully, i am more comforotable on the tile floor, except when centipedes bite my arm and ankle as they did last night - burns...for awhile.

that little fruit is a cashew nut. we eat them out of a can, but it gives you perspective when you know how much work goes into that. that is one cashew, and they can only be picked when they're like that (yellow fruit), otherwise their oil is too concentrated and burns you. i found this out when i picked a green one, broke it open, and without thinking, later that night, rubbed my eyes and took my contacts out. i woke up the next morning with swollen eyes. it was a rush.

the pictures of destroyed houses, the beached boat, and the crazy pet monkey are from ban nam khem. that's near where we'll be going next.

the night picture is of ajan preacha and rodney at the fish fry last night - great fish! and the one of the woman in the yellow shirt is of P'Nit (ajan's wife) who is the most compassionate and generous person i've ever met.

the beautiful sunset pictures are on the beach about a mile from our house. the one with the wave almost got my camera wet, but i was quick enough.

this weekend we went to ban nam khem and saw the tsunami memorial, as well as much of the damage that took place that is still very apparent. the beach was eerily quiet, and stripped pretty bare still. you can see the vegetation is just kind of starting to come back in places. it gave us a much more real perspective for why we're here.

the fish was my dinner on sunday night. it's pickled red snapper in garlic and basil. it was amazing. i ate it all (where the meat was, not the bones and teeth of course). see the smile.

monday we went to ban nai si, and helped some missionaries at a Burmese immigrant village. the first picture is todd and saimamoa (a burmese man who lost his wife and children in the tsunami, but has since remarried, and given his life to Christ), and i walking through the jungle.

the second picture is a river we crossed to get to saimamoa's father-in-law's house. there's a great story with this that will be included in my next email. it was a beautiful weekend (in more ways than just scenery).