Chiangrai

January 29, 2012


Companion: Elder Hess


Hey everyone!
It is the end of my second week in Chiang Rai, and I am just loving it here! I appreciate all the love that I can feel here. Being in Thailand is definitely different and it does get hot enough, but being in the North does help. My companion Elder Hess says that I am lucky to be "born" in Chiang Rai because it isn't all that hot up here. I've seen some pretty things still. So on our street that we live on, we have this crazy dog that just sits in the middle of the street and waits for us. When we go by and he is out, he freaking attacks us!! Except now it is just me that he attacks. Bummer. I've seen a bagillion scooters, a lot with people just holding their babies in their lap. The baby just smiles. I've learned some pretty crazy evasive manuevers for bike riding I think; I've had to dodge car doors opening, crazy people just pulling halfway in the road before looking, other bicycles going the wrong way, near-accidents. AAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I feel like I'm gonna die here!!

I just want to say that inviting is the craziest thing in the world, especially in Thailand. We have our good days and bad, but that is not what makes it crazy. It's the people and their animals. Almost every house, we walk up and yell "Sawaadii Khraph! Mii Khray Yuu Baan May Khraph?! (Hello! Is anyone home?!)" Almost immediately afterwards, or during that, some dog starts barking and appears at the gate. What we just did, is pretty much the doorbell of Thailand. They have doorbell, sure, but our way is better. You can usually scare the dog away with one motion though, pretend like you are picking something off the ground and are gonna throw it. It makes them run away, but it doesn't help the barking. 

I've spent many a day, standing like an idiot, because, I don't know what my companion or the person is saying. I know like nothing sitill, but you can't run before you can walk. A lot of days, I just sit and look pretty, which works well by the way, but I'm getting better at putting in my two to three cents.

We think that we got a special batch of people as our members in Chiangrai. I was asked to play the piano for sacrament meeting on Sunday, and as I looked into the crowd, many members sat and made faces at me. It was weird. One of the members went with us as we taught a recent convert and her non-member Dutch husband, and I have to say, that our member is THE scariest driver that I have ever seen!! I don't know how to even describe it, besides scary. 

We also have a member that is having house issues. She was converted after moving from Burma to here and has been living with her cousin. Well, I think that her cousin got sick of her or something because he said that she could not live there anymore. We went and had a meeting with them and started to try to discuss options. We had a few options with two living with a member and the last, moving back to Burma with her family. Every time Burma was brought up, she would say, "Oh NO!" and started to tell some crazy long story to Elder Hess. This happened at least four times. We finally agreed on her trying to move into a member's house that she knew. Well, the next day, she called saying that she wanted to wait until the 31st, and so she could get her money. It goes on longer, but me and Elder Hess decided that, for someone with no more options, that she is making things very difficult. As of now, we still are not sure what is happening. 

For Matthew Underwood:
yay-big
phom-I
phxan-friend
khrobkhrua-family
nonchay-little brother

OH, the script characters are really fun to learn and to write, and I love trying to figure out what signs say. 

There are people here that only know the "Tourist English" and some know full English. It makes it fun to try to talk to people here. The markets are also really fun and I love walking through them and just looking at what they were selling. A lot of shirts and phone cases, but there was some traditional stuff as well, also a ton of food was being made. We sat in a market on Saturday and passed out a bunch of English class papers, and we almost gave them all out. There were some very excited people, (especially a drunk, I'm pretty sure, farang (white person) holding a beer in hand). 

Well I think that that is all and I will talk to y'all again soon.

โชกดี!!
Elder Anthony Susi

P.S. I have a bagillion mosquito bites.