Take a deep breath and hold on tight

We're five months into this new adventure, and at a point of wonderment: what are we doing here!?! Everything's so strange; and by the look on faces of the hoi poloi staring at us, so are we.

Now's not the time to weary of being a foreigner & stranger in the land. Now is the time to begin to enjoy it, realizing that God created diversity, not us, we are merely participating in this eternal truth.

And so begins a three week interlude from life in Afghanistan to the land of Mangoes with Sticky Rice, or at least so it is for the sugar-deprived Seigies'!!! If this tantalizes you, catch the next plane to Bangkok, OR, pick up some mangoes and head to the nearest Asian store for khao niaow (sticky rice), then check out http://www.importfood.com/recipes/khaoneeomamuang.html or

http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Mango_on_Sticky_Rice.htm

After transiting through New Dehli and Bangkok, we landed on Koh Samui (Thailand) in the midst of a passing morning tempest. Inhale. Sweet aromas of plumeria & gardenia mingled with a gentle seabreeze pleased the nose, tickled the skin, and curled the hair.

Eight days on Koh Samui, so what to do? With a surprise attack, Montezuma landed on the shores of Chaweng Beach and made his revenge on Ann. After a couple of days of recuperation, we hit the beach, frolicked in pools & under waterfalls, fought the tide in a kayak, scoured the hills on the back of an elephant, bumped around a farm in an ox-pulled cart, adventured from beach to sandy beach, and had a gastronomically delightful remainder of the week.

Even though we had only been in Afghanistan for 8 weeks since our previous trip, we were a bit weary, and were grateful for the relaxing accommodations, complete with Christmas decorations & nostalgic songs, such as "Here Comes Santa Clause" and "Silent Night". The plethora of poinsettias and angelic creatures actually had a pleasant effect on our psyches, as they made us feel a little closer to home.

Second stop was in Luang Prabang, Laos, where we spent Christmas with friends who have been working there for the past 1 1/2 years. It was a very special treat for us to spend this special time of year with such precious friends, days of being encouraged and blessed. In addition to the cherished time of visiting & having fun with the kids, they took us on scenic tours around LP: a journey over the Namkhan River on a rickety bamboo bridge to a rice paper village, a longtail boat ride up the Mekong River to a textile producing village, and a picnic in the mist of a picturesque waterfall.

With sad reluctance, we left LP to head to Bangkok for a week in materialistic mania. We took our part in the mania, as we stocked up on hard-to-get goods, such as chocolates and dried mangoes, went to some great restaurants, and spent an afternoon at the Siam Discovery Ocean World (a fabulous aquarium in the lower level of the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre). During our stay in the land of Siam, we took the essential tours of the King’s Royal Palace, the Summer Palace in Bang Pa-In, and the Buddhist ruins of Ayutthaya for the requisite induction into the rich history and the progressive future of Thailand.

Bangkok was a reminder that we are living in an era of globalism, where difference between peoples and cultures are diminishing (for better & for worse). And it served as a reminder that being a foreigner is actually a common occurrence, and a pinch of kindness and courtesy is able to soften the stares, and turn grimaces into grins.