Back on Blogger

Well, I am finally posting again. My long absence is not due to busyness or lack of subject material, but my problem of being functionally illiterate. I can read a little and know all my letters, but reading in Thai is not the same as reading in English. The consonants go from left to right, but vowels that belong to the consonant can be before, after, above or below the consonant, or they might not be there at all, and you must understand that they are there. This wouldn't be so difficult if the sentences had word breaks, but they don't, so as I read a line of text, I get hopelessy muddled in trying to figure out what vowel belongs where. So if I know what I'm looking for, I can read it. Unfortunately, I know very little language that pertains to blogging.

As a result, when I came back and I must now use blogger in Thai, I can't really read anything on the website. It wouldn't accept my password, and I couldn't read why. So I just kept trying and finally got in today. With a little trial and error, I'm managing to figure out how to publish, but I don't think I'll be changing the appearance or settings of my blog anytime soon.

Anyway, I am posting one of the reasons we went back to America over the Bhuddist new year holiday. To the left is a picture of my grandma with me and my siblings. My grandma is quite old, as you can see, and I really wanted a chance to see her one more time. We had a great time in America and were able to be there for my friend Christina's wedding, for Eric's dad's 65th birthday celebration, for Eric's mom's birthday, for Easter. We were able to pack lots of family into our three weeks there.

It took some time to get back as I was stranded in Chicago by tornadoes, but it was nice to have a little extra time, even though many hours of it were spent at O'Hare.

When we got back, we were greeted by much cleaner air and rain every day. It was actually cool when we arrived back, by our standards. The temperature has now climbed and it's very hot and humid, but that's OK. With the rains and humidity come an abundance of delicious fruit and the promise of the slower schedule of summertime. Plus we get to wake up to this lovely sight in the morning: Wet mango leaves brushing up against the windows. It's more refreshing than this picture can capture.

For right now, we're trying to make it till the end of the year. Eric is even busier than before break with lots of meetings and games and end-of-the-year concerts, plays, shows, grades and all that that entails. As always, it's a bittersweet time of year. We know we will soon say good-bye to many friends and students that Eric has seen daily for three years. On the other hand, many students have come back for summer vacation and almost daily we have the joy of greeting old friends again. Another bittersweet part of this year is the end of an era. Gabe is finishing preschool. He is leaving behind the part of his life when his world is basically his home and his neighborhood. I don't think that it will change much next year, but it still feels like the end of an era.

Speaking of eras, this picture is from our mini-trip for our 10th anniversary.