Gabe, the ring bearer

Over the week-end, Gabe was in the wedding of two of our friends. We met the groom, named Man, through a friend of Derek's about 5 years ago. When we returned this time, he was dating Eaw, whom he married yesterday. It was a lovely wedding, though a very heavy rain prevented us having the reception outside, as had been planned. Gabe did a very good job. He had to stand in the front for about 15 minutes until they got to the part with the rings. I was very proud of how well he did.

Gabe's Wrting

If you don't want to read a long account of Gabe's new accomplishment, skip this post:)

For at least six months, we have been trying to get the kids at the playgroup to learn to write their own names. We haven't been trying very intensively, but we make worksheets so that they can trace their names and provide opportunities to see how it's done. Gabe is the only one who never seemed to pick up on it in any way.

The other day, I was having lunch with another mom from the playgroup. Unlike the rest of us, she actually is a professional early education teacher. She was talking about the learning styles of each kid, and mentioned that Gabe was a mostly auditory learner. I had recognized previous to this that Gabe's auditory memory is amazing, but had never thought about trying to teach him in this way. So I thought, "I wonder if I told him how to make the letters, if he could do it." It seems very difficult to me for a 4-year-old to learn to make letters by description, but nothing else had worked with Gabe.

The next day, I sat him down and described how to make the letters of his name. Sure enough, on the first try he made crude, but recognizable letters. This was a great improvement over previous attempts which were basically scribbles. He even makes them in the right direction. After he worked on his letters, he asked me about how to draw people. I told him what he should draw, and he drew it. It's pretty amazing because he's never drawn before. So here is his first drawing ever. His portrait of mama & papa is surrounded by some A's, E's & B's.

Public & Religious Life

What would you think if on your next trip to Jewel-Osco you saw people lighting votive candles to an image of Mary next to customer service? How about a minister offering communion in Meijer? You'd probably feel uncomfortable and strange. Why? We (westerners?) think of religion as mostly private--as not belonging outside church or our homes. However, Thais don't see religion the same way. For them, religion is very public. As often as Westerners talk about quiet times, Thais talk about "making merit" which involves public actions that better the karma.

Yesterday I went to Lotus (like Walmart) and right in front of the store were placed some shrines to a bunch of golden idols in the shapes of various animals. I'm not exactly sure how people worship them and I didn't stop to watch, but it wasn't the first time I'd seen worship of an idol at Lotus. Sometimes they have shrines set up inside the stores and people worship right there in front of everyone coming into the store.

Despite the obvious issues here (idolatry, for starters), I did think it somehow refreshing that they aren't ashamed to bring their religion into the public sphere. I realize that there are corrupting factors in public religious practices, but in the West we are often embarrassed to bring our beliefs into the public. I would be nice to feel that displaying our faith wasn't impolite. In many workplaces the employees make offerings at shrines and burn joss sticks first thing in the morning. It is a normal part of their routine. I just can't imagine anything similar in most American workplaces.

Octopus hat & fishy sunglasses.