Out of the mouths of babes.  Sojo gets her picture taken a lot.  I mean a lot.  Her mother is always looking for pictures to document this child’s life and then there are the blog opps that she looks for.  That doesn’t count when Popo and Gong Gong are around and we are putting flashes in that poor child’s face.  But, who can resist this adorable face:

She isn’t one for posing, but sometimes she gets funny and gives you one of her “funny faces”.

Or she finds something she is excited about and wants to show you.

Or when she is occupied licking off the spoon for birthday cake icing, she doesn’t notice getting her picture taken.

   But, sometimes we get a bit too close and she puts her hand out and says, “Stop…you are too close…you are going to poke my eye out.”  Now, I am sure she has heard this from her parents when she has a toy in her hand or a friend has a toy in their hand and someone is concerned for someone’s safety.  Obviously, our having a camera an inch from her face reminded her of this and she wanted to make sure we knew about it.  We continue to chuckle when we think of this.  She certainly put us in our place.  But, who can resist this face?  Not us…we will be forever putting a camera in her face and we promise you Sojo…we will not poke your eye out.

Well, we are sitting at Suvarnabhumi (Sue-wanna-poom) Airport in Bangkok, awaiting our flight to Hong Kong and then on to LA with an overnight there before heading out to Tucson the next morning.  Very long day/night, arriving home on the morning of the 26th.

It never gets easy to say goodbye…especially, when you are saying goodbye to a 3 year old.  I have tried over the last 16+ years to overcome my “blues” as the day approaches and I have done a pretty good job.  I shed only a few tears as the taxi drives away and I quickly stretch to get my head out the window that Ron has rolled down to wave  one last wave.  Many years ago, I promised myself that I would not dwell on what I do not have…I choose to celebrate what I do.  And so, I celebrate and celebrate and celebrate some more the joy that comes when we are together.  I offer thanks for the opportunity to be here when we can.  I celebrate moments like this…

At Erawan Falls near Kanchanaburi yesterday:  Chasing “mariposas” or butterflies in the park.  It is easy to think about the times we are not with Sojo and in the process we can forget the precious moments we do.  I am so glad that I started this blog to record those precious moments and remember them with the joy and wonderment that we see in this sweet girl.  We are blessed to have the good health to travel like this.  We are glad we have made trips like this a priority in our budget. 

We also got to see Sojo’s delight in seeing some animals at a wild and domesticated animal park while in Kanchanaburi.  She enjoyed the domesticated cows, pigs, horses and roosters more than she enjoyed the tigers.  This was called Tiger Temple where some Buddhist Monks have created a refuge for the tigers.  Matt got some amazing pics of the tigers.  Us?  Not so much.  But here they are.  Rooster … Tiger…they were in a habitat and also brought around so you could “pet” and have your picture taken with them.  We chose not to.  I am not a big fan of tattoos, but I have to say, this Monk’s really fasinated me.  I was also fascinated by his smoking.  I guess I had this “holier than thou” attitude about Monks, thinking they would not do such a thing. This young man had tattoos all the way to his waist.  Maybe further, but I could not see that.  My understanding of Thai Monks is…most young men in their early 20’s choose to enter a monastery (temple/wat) for 3-6 months.  They do not always choose to commit to it for their entire life.  It is a way that the young men learn how to be a “good man”.  Thai women will look more fondly on a man who has had this experience, than one who has not.  It makes sense to me.  I think it would make perfect sense for young men to do that in all countries.  Women too.  Learning how to be a good man or good woman sounds good to me. 

We did a side trip with the E family and the newlyweds on their honeymoon.  Matt and Cathy were celebrating their 1st or 13th anniversary…depends on how you look at it…13 years together on the 19th or 1 year married.  They say it is 13.  Whatever…we all enjoyed ourselves…leaving them alone on the evening of the 19th for a champagne toast delivered to them by the staff of Baan Krating (house of the red bull) and we were all in bed when they had dinner alone.  Other than that…they were stuck with the rest of us for a good time in paradise on Phuket.

We stayed two nights the Andaman Sea in Patong Bay.  A little too “busy” for us, so we followed Matt and Cathy down to the tip of the bay to the jungle beach of Baan Krating.  What a beautiful place.  Little bungalows nestled in the jungle with beautiful ocean views and little patios to sit on and gaze upon the amazing views.  This was our first night from the Andaman Beach Suites at dinner time.  The ocean was just over those palm trees.  A short walk.  There was even a bit of golf played…

Being the desert rats that we are, we forget how many shades of green there are. 

When we are away from this girl, we forget how many shades of sweetness there are.

Or, how many shades of blue…

Happy Anniversary … Matt and Cathy … One and/or Thirteen…    

The only thing missing is Sean.  We miss you… A picture like this just isn’t the same without you.

Baan Krating was a beautiful and peaceful place to be for a few days.  The beach is always a place to go where one can just simply “be”.  This little piece of paradise was just what the doctor ordered for some much needed relaxation on everyone’s part.  The younger couples did some exploring on motor bikes, but we older ones and the wee one stayed behind…napping, reading, watching the waves make their way back and forth…finding peace in every wave, every palm branch swaying, every grain of sand.  It was peaceful…it was a place that allowed you…forced you to just relax and “be” in the moment…enjoying the moment…savoring it…allowing it to settle into the deepest part of your soul.  Now, remembering that feeling and wanting to hang on to it.  We are packing it in our bags and taking it home with us along with all the memories.   

Or, what’s a Catholic couple to do in a Buddhist country?  Or, when in Rome, do as the Roman’s do.

The other day, we decided to venture off on our own without a designated driver taking us like we did earlier in the week (I will blog on that one later).  This time, we leave the compound of Nichada Thani and Samakee Gardens where the E family lives and walk into a Thai neighborhood where we “hail” a guy on a motorbike who then goes to the main street and brings a taxi to us.  We tip him and get in and ask to be taken to the Nonthanburi Pier.  We arrive at the pier and after a few questions, we figure out which “river taxi boat” to take us to the Grand Palace and Wat (temple) Pho.  Along with a lot of locals we make our way down the Chao Phraya River…the main river in the city (I think) which takes you into Bangkok.  It was a lovely morning and the coolness of the river as we sped down it felt good.  We knew we were in for another hot and humid day.

  A couple of tourists on the boat.

  A view of the river where people literally live right on the river…fishing from their porch, swimming, bathing, etc.

  The Grand Palace was quite impressive.   Lots of gold and glitter, enameled tiles on the rooftops, statues, etc.  It rivals any palace we have seen…Buckingham in London, the Vatican in Rome, Forbidden City in China, the White House.  It was established in 1782 and houses not only the royal residence and throne halls, but government offices and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  It covers and area of 218,000 square meters and is surround by four walls, 1900 meters in length.  You can calculate the conversion.  We did not take a guided tour.  After doing that at Angkor Wat in Cambodia in the heat and humidity, we knew we just wanted to view it and would research it later for details.  As far as we could see, there were no areas where you could go inside, like the White House or Buckingham Palace.  It was beautiful though.

From there we went to Wat Pho.  I thought it would be a working temple where we might see Monks wandering around, but it was mostly more buildings much like the Grand Palace (it is right behind the Grand Palace), plus the temple where the huge, golden reclining Buddha is.      Ron paced it off and calculated it to be about 200 feet long.  The bottoms of his feet were made from Mother of Pearl (looks a bit like a labyrinth…maybe…if you use your imagination)     This is his big toe.

From there we had lunch at a delightful little restaurant on the river with yummy Thai food and Italian or American if you were not adventurous.    And then on to a ferry across the river to Santa Cruz Catholic Church in an area that is called the Old Portuguese Quarter.  We didn’t do much exploring as it started to rain quite hard and we were getting tired from the heat and humidity and walking we had done.  The church was closed…just as the other we found when we did our downtown trip the other day.  Not sure why that is.  Most Catholic churches outside the US are always open.  Maybe because in other foreign countries they are actually tourist attractions.  Christian and Catholic churches are few and far between here.  I could find nothing in English on anything around the church, leading me to think all Masses are in Thai.  This is a Monk who was coming on to the ferry that we were taking back to make our way back up the river.  The ferries and river taxis have special places reserved for the Monks.  Santa Cruz Catholic Church.  I believe I read that it was built in 1792. 

From there we headed back to Nonthanburi Pier where we “hailed” a taxi and headed back to Samakee Gardens.  I knew how to ask him if he could take us to Carrefour (super market…big super market) on Chaeng Wattana.  He said yes.  That’s when I got into trouble.  I knew how to get back if Carrefour was on my right…we wound up with it on our left.  So, I handed him the directions that the mae bon (Sojo’s nanny) had written for us to the apartments.  We turned around and then I was able to tell him when to turn right and when to turn left and get us where we needed to go.  Not bad for a couple from Tucson.  When we got back, we were tired but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were happy to see this sweet girl again.    I don’t want to think about when we get back to Tucson and she won’t be there when we get home each day. 

I vividly remember the day Tara suggested that we might want to consider being called Gong Gong and PoPo to our Chinese grand-daughter when she arrived.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea.  I had long thought that Nana and Papa were good names for us.  Ron didn’t seem to really care one way or the other.  Our friends who were or would be grand-parents had similar names and others, like Gigi and Grandy or Grandma and Papa or simply Grandma and Grandpa.  The adoption process took so long that after much thought, I realized that it really wasn’t going to matter much what she called us…we would be happy with whatever, so I was prepared for PoPo.  Or so I thought.  The first time I heard her say PoPo my heart melted.  Being PoPo is really special.  There are not many PoPo’s and Gong Gong’s around Tucson. 

It gets even better.  Last summer when she started her little, “PoPo?”, just staring at me and not saying anything else, I was gone, gone, gone.  She has this little question in her voice and in her eyes and I have yet to be able to figure out just what she is “questioning”.  Sometimes, I think she simply wants to remind me that she is there and wants to make sure I am right there with her. 

The very best is even better…first Tara and I were walking to catch a taxi and Sojo spied the principal from her pre-school.  She was thrilled to see her and was waving and the next thing I hear as she points to me is, “this is my PoPo”.  Be still my heart!  Does life get any better!  And then yesterday, we are on our way back from somewhere and in the parking lot and a couple that are friends of Tara and Dale’s happened by and Sojo announces as she points to us, “this is my Gong Gong – this is my PoPo”.  To be introduced like that is such a special thing.  I hope someday we have other grand children and I know that whatever they call us will be just as special.  It isn’t the name that is important…it is the child who calls you by that name that makes it important and special.  And so…to all PoPo’s and Gong Gong’s, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, Granny’s and Grampy’s, Nana’s and Papa’s, Nona’s and Papa’s, Gi Gi’s and Grandy’s…I say…”Isn’t this the best gig out there"?  ENJOY:) 

A big kiss for Gong Gong and the camera wasn’t as quick as the kiss.  She kept giving him more and I kept getting pictures of the after kiss.

Just a little trick on the scooter to show us how talented she is.

Chocolate banana pancakes and watermelon juice at a lovely little French Cafe in downtown Bangkok. 

Someone turned “3” yesterday.  She had been hearing about this big day and was ready for it.  She enjoyed the attention, the gifts, the cake and the singing of “Happy Birthday”. 

We are so lucky that we have been able to spend all of Sojo’s birthdays with her so far.  We know this won’t last forever, but we will enjoy it as long as we can.  Ron missed it last year.  It was nice to have us both here again this year. 

For her first birthday in Shanghai, Ron and I made her cake.  She loved yellow ducks at that time and I brought a duck picture from a coloring book along and we frosted the cake blue and put a yellow duck on the front.  She loved putting her fingers into it and tasting that sweetness for the first time.  I wish I had that picture to post, but it is on the computer at home.  Last year was a bit disastrous.  I attempted to make a chocolate cake without eggs or dairy, since they were now realizing these might make her eczema worse.  I put the cake in the oven and went to relax while Sojo napped.  I went in to check on the cake…long before it should be done…to find the kitchen a bit smoky and a burned cake.  I missed the memo on the oven being Celsius.  I called Tara at school and she said, “no worries…there is a brownie mix in the cabinet…just make brownies in muffin papers”.  And so, I started again.  Somehow, this time they were not done enough and as we sat down to sing happy birthday and eat cake, we were licking chocolate “mix” out of muffin papers.  Sojo didn’t seem to mind…she loved it.  Again, the pic is on the computer at home.  This year, they know for sure that Sojo shouldn’t have eggs or dairy, so they have an egg replacement they use.  So is not a girly girl…she doesn’t like dresses or playing dress up…she isn’t into the princess thing, but she does like the color pink.  So, a pink dinosaur cake was requested.  Tara and I baked the cake the day before…with help from Sojo… She especially like licking the beaters and with no egg in it…she could eat it all and more.

The next day, while Tara was at school, I cut it out in the shape of a dinosaur and decorated it.  The humidity left the cake a bit sticky and Villa Market was out of Betty Crocker icing, so I made a thin icing out of powdered sugar and soy milk and used M & M’s for decorating.  No prizes at the county fair again, but Sojo loved it.     Happy Birthday Sojo:)

One more special thing about her birthday.  Soon after we arrived I asked Sojo when she thought she might start going on the potty (she has had absolutely NO interest in it ) and she announced when she was three, so we were all waiting.  A day or two before, she started wearing underwear, but had no success on the potty.  However, the morning of her birthday, she announces to her Gong Gong and me that she has to go.  I quickly place her on the potty and voila…poop on the potty.  Woo…hoo and hip, hip hooray.  This girl has a mind of her own and does things in her own time.  Aren’t we the lucky ones to be here and share in all this fun. 

Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Who would think that in a developing country like this I would have such an amazing spiritual experience.  The Angkor Wat ruins were something to be remembered and we did it with the help of digital photography and a driver and a tour guide named of all things, “Ron”.  Ron has a great command of the English language and knows his stuff, but he is very hard to understand and wants to tell you every detail.  We did not have the heart to say, “quiet Ron, just let us look”, so we listened.    

The heat and humidity here is nearly unbearable.  I had a 24 hour bout of something near death…intestinal disaster.  Fortunately, it was on the day of our arrival and Ron had to only take one afternoon tour alone.  This makes it all sound not so amazing, right?  Wrong.  Everything about this trip was amazing. 

We are staying at the Shinta Mani www.shintamani.com a small 18 room boutique hotel in the Old French Quarter of Siem Reap.  Talk about a little gem.  It is an “Institute of Hospitality”, meaning that their staff are trained by them.  The staff are very young villagers given an opportunity to learn the hospitality trade.  They do a fantastic job.  Solomon, a young man from Seattle, WA is the general manager and quite young himself, with a heart as big as Texas.  If there were more young people like him in this world, what a difference there would be.  Yet, he is making a difference in a big way.  This is where the spiritual experience comes in.  In addition to helping us arrange a tour guide for the temple ruins, Solomon's staff arranges trips into remote villages where you can purchase things from piglets to water wells to school supplies to bicycles and take them to the village.  We got really lucky today, because Solomon and his assistant Jinni had to make a regular scheduled trip to a school that they are in the process of building. Normally, we would have only gone as far as where we were taking the bicycle.  This was an extra treat.  So, off we went early in the morning in the Land Cruiser with a bicycle in the back.  Just a bit out of Siem Reap, we took a right turn and not long after, the road turned into dirt and the further we went the more narrow the road became and more bumpy from deep ruts in the road.  Just before we arrived they had heavy rainy weather from the typhoon that had hit other areas and everything was flooded.  We would not have been able to make this trip on the day of our arrival.  When we arrived at the village where we were to leave the bicycle with a family, we were greeted by nearly everyone in the village, as well as the family receiving the bicycle and the village leader (a woman).  Bicycles are very much in need.  They are the basic mode of transportation for the children to go to school, as well as for the family to come and go.  It was exciting to see their excitement and appreciation.  It was also fun to meet the woman who was the village leader.  It is her job to keep track of everyone…like who is born and who dies and if there is a major need that can be helped.  Solomon and his staff meet with them regularly and they go over how many piglets are alive.  If one has died, why.  How many chickens, etc.  If there are any offspring from the animals, they are expected to give them to someone else…passing on the gift…like www.heiferinternational.com They have an actual ledger that they keep and show Jinni and Solomon. The village leader was admiring my earrings and I asked her if she would like them.  Although, they were a pair I love and wear all the time, I gave them to her and the smile on her face made it worth it.  Every time I think about wearing them, I will see her smile.      

On we went toward the school.  Like I said, the further we went the more narrow the road became and the more often we heard Pang blow the horn on the Land Cruiser as we had bicycles with more than one person on them or with sticks on the back or baskets or something else…or a water buffalo or cow wandering roadside or a wagon or people…man, woman, children on the back of a motorcycle.  I didn’t know so many could fit on a bicycle or motorcycle.  Finally, we reach a bridge.  This was a bridge like none I had ever crossed in a vehicle.  And, we didn’t.    Pang did in the Land Cruiser after Ron and Thieny carefully checked it out. The rest of us walked and Pang courageously gunned it and made it safely across.  We were are grateful as I didn’t know how we would get back if it went into the water.    Solomon assured me we could ride motorcycles back to town.  Great!  Off we continued until the road was completely washed out and we could go no further.  I thought this was where I was going to have to ride a motorcycle.  Not yet.  A short walk to a small creek, river, overflow of just water…I am not sure.  There was water everywhere.  I guess that is why there were so many beautiful green fields of rice paddies. I can’t remember ever seeing so many shades of green.  And so, here it was…time to roll up your pants and take off your shoes and walk through the water. Fortunately, there was always a helping hand to me…weather it was walking over that rickety log bridge or this little creek bed.  Then…it was on the back of a motorcycle.  Now imagine this…a 63 year old Popo who has been on the back of a Vespa once in her life at the age of 18 and never the likes of any other 2 wheeled vehicle except for a bicycle since.  Wooo….hooo granny…hang on! 

Safe and sound, we arrive at the school.  This is a Ramada of sorts with benches of sorts…low ones to sit upon and a bit higher one to write upon.  A very worn black board at the front.  There was not an inch of space to be had with children standing at the back.  There were `100 children for 1st and 2nd grade of all ages.  Too young for that grade, because there was no childcare at home for them and many much older than they should be for that grade, but a school for their grade was too far for them to travel to.  Right beside the school men were busy building the new 2 room school that Shinta Mani is building for them with the help of donations from others.  Also beside it is a well that Shinta Mani has helped build, where a garden will be.  A fence is being built to keep the cows out of the school yard and the garden.  You could see the joy in the faces of all.  From the babies to the elders. Hope was alive and this is where I saw the sacred and holy today.  My spiritual experience did not happen in an ancient temple, it happened in a remote village of Cambodia at a school in the middle of water and rice paddies with smiles that told me that hope rises from water, from ashes, from poverty. 

And so, today…I give thanks to God for a man born in Cambodia who grew up and lives in Thailand, but is giving back to his homeland here at the Shinta Mani…for Solomon, a young man from Seattle, Washington who I am sure could have chosen a high powered job in the US, but chose to give of himself here…for young men and women who work hard to learn a trade in their country, for Thieny who works so hard to provide for her own family and still gives to those less fortunate in her country, for “Ron” who so diligently shares his knowledge of the temple ruins of Angkor Wat, for Pang who so carefully drove us to the village, for all the people along the way who helped us and shared their lives with us, for those men who so gently held my hand or carefully drove me on the back of a motorcycle…chuckling when they heard my squeals.  For the children…where clothing is optional until you go to school…for their curiosity and smiles and desire to learn.  For the parents and grandparents who want more for those children.  For the leaders of those villages.  I also give thanks for Monks…for their prayers and their patience as people take their pictures sitting on the ruins.  I will never think of the color saffron again without thinking of a monk walking amongst the ruins of the temples or on the back of a motorcycle.     

We had a long day today and we are very tired.  It is a good tired.  It is a day that was truly a spiritual adventure…the sacred and holy is alive in Cambodia.  The next time I think about complaining about road conditions or school conditions or electricity or any of the creature comforts we take for granted, I will give thanks for all we have when so many do not. 

Well, we arrived right on time.  A bit tired, but without a hitch.  It is a very long trip from Tucson to Bangkok.  We left our house around 1 pm…got a quick bite to eat…headed to Matt and Cathy’s and Matt took us to the airport.  Our flight to LAX was on time and we had a bit of a lay over in LA.  However, Cathay Pacific Airlines was so nice and when they saw us patiently waiting in line, they opened so we could get checked in and could deposit our bags with them rather than schlepping them around the airport for hours.  They also gave us a pass for their lounge where we could rest, relax and even have a nice buffet dinner.  It helped pass the time and then it was on to Hong Kong for the next 14 hours.  You heard that right…14 hours.  Thankfully, we took an earlier flight around midnight, rather than waiting to our original flight at 2 am out of LA. We were tired and slept a lot of the way.  Hong Kong looked liked a nice city to visit on another trip. But now on to the reason we came all this way… A little girl who loved the dinosaur Halloween costume we brought over and you can certainly see that she is one scary dinosaur.  She wasn’t nearly as excited about those super hero capes I made.  Maybe another day.  She is keeping us busy and smiling.  We are playing a lot of hide and go seek.  Showing us how she can ride her “robot” bike.  Water play outside.  Sojo has a nasty cold so we have been staying fairly close to home and out of the pool.  Next week, we will hit the pool as a way to cool off from the humidity here.  We can handle the temperatures…it is that humidity that kills you.  Being here with this sweet one makes up for the hours and hours on an airplane…did I mention it was well over 24 hours…and it is worth the sweating we are doing in the tropics.  Off to dinner on the river tonight and Cambodia for a few days tomorrow and then back to this sweetie.  She is a ball of fun.  Lots of smiles, laughter and hugs.