Thursday, December 24, 2009

Really I should know better. I've been told before not to be out in town alone later then 9PM. Since nothing's ever happen to me, I have taken the advice for granted and fudge the time I'm out to later. Really 9:00 seems so early to be in the house. But there's a reason.
One night I was driving home alone around 9:30. The streets were mostly deserted, but a few cars remained out. On one of the major intersections, I saw a scuffle between 4 or 5 boys. It looked like the 4 boys were beating the one boy. Then, before I had time to react, they picked him up and forced him into the back seat of the car. It was a kidnapping! I'd read about them in Phnom Penh! But to witness one! It was traumatizing. There are no police to call and report to. Even if the police were helpful, I don't know their number. I couldn't do a thing. I definitely wasn't going to get involved. It was probably gang or loan related, but it was the most terrifying thing I've ever seen.
I'll be more careful about getting home early from now on.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Out in the Village












Village life is quite different than the life I live in Phnom Penh. Still all around me, I'm reminded that the average Cambodian lives in a wood hut and makes $1 a day during the harvest season.
A month ago, I went to Retdy's (Kate's bf) village to meet his family. They were very sweet. Their neighbors were so excited to see foreign girls visit.
The whole time Kate and I were constantly bombarded with compliments. They kept telling us how beautiful we were and how ugly Retdy was (because his skin is dark from the sun).
We went for a walk through the town (which was about 20 people) and we drew such a crowd. People were watching us, and finally they asked us to sit down and talk with them. One woman kept telling us how beautiful we were, and in the next breathe she said we were big enough to have 10 children each. AH! So I'm beautiful, but I'm fat enough to have tons of kids!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Alone

Traveling alone.
So I before I left for Malaysia, I googled traveling alone. I thought it would be a good idea to get some tips about being a single girl in a foreign country. What I got was this ridiculous list of things to do by yourself. One of the things was, “Enjoy yourself”… thanks… I needed google and the internet to realize that. The last thing on the list was, “Take pictures of yourself.” Kristi and I had a good laugh over the ridiculousness of this article. So while in Malaysia, I took lots of pictures of myself. Here are a sampling of them.



Wendy's and Krispy Kreme... It's like America, but in Asia.



KL, Malaysia




This year for the Water Festival holiday we had 10 days off of school, and I had nothing to do. No plans. No trips. So Kate and I decided to go to Battanbong to visit our friend Corey. But Battanbong is a tiny little town, and there isn’t much to do. So when Retdy (Kate’s boyfriend) got a Thai visa, we decided to go to Bangkok with him. I have been to Bangkok 5 times already, so that was not exciting. But there is a train that runs from Bangkok to Malaysia.
Malaysia. Now there is a place I could get excited about! I decided to hop the train and head down to Malaysia from Bangkok. Then the more I talked to people the more they suggested I go to Kuala Lumpar, the capital. The town I’d previously planned to take a train to was Penang, a historic town on the coast.
Change in plans. Kuala Lumpar, nicknamed KL, was my new destination. It was a cheap plane ticket down. So two days before I left, I booked my flight from Bangkok to KL.
KL was awesome. I went by myself, which seemed like a scary idea at the time. I really loved the time alone though. After travelling with Kate for a week, it felt great to be alone and decide things independently.
I spent three nights in KL. The great thing about Malaysia is that everyone speaks English because it used to be a British colony.
I stayed in Chinatown, the dirtiest district in KL. It was the backpacker’s district though. Things were cheap, and temporary friends were abundant. Chinatown was a night owl’s paradise, and torture for a recovery shopaholic. The place came alive at dusk, and roared with excitement as travelers packed the streets.
During the days I scheduled tours through my hotel. I joined temporary tour groups as we explored outside the city. The first trip included a visit to a pewter factory, a batik factory, and the famed Batu Caves.
The Batu Caves is a Hindu temple in a large cave outside of KL. It is populated with monkeys who feast on the snacks of tourist. Its temple is not that impressive when you finally reach it inside the cave. The impressive attribute of the cave is the stairs leading to the temple. Apparently Hindu believers climb the 290 stairs as atonement for their sins before reaching the temple. My favorite part of the temple was the Python they let me hold when I reached the top of the stairs!
My next tour was a trip to Melaka, a small city 2 hours south of KL. Kate recommended this trip to me. She said it was a historic town where I could see lots of old things. I took this to mean it was a tourist city set up in the old lifestyle of ancient Malaysia. I was wrong. It’s just a city with some old buildings. Nothing too fascinating. An old Dutch church here. And old fort there. A Chinese temple that was 300 years old... You can only take so many pictures of an old building.
I did plenty of shopping during my time in KL. I went to one mall called “Times Square”. They had a Krispy Kreme Donuts (yum!) and a Papa John’s (heaven, I’m in heaven). It was just like being in an America except for the clothing stores were very Asian (cramped tight with strange looking, miniature-sized clothes). The coolest thing about Times Square was that apart from the two movie theatres and the bowling alley, there was an amusement park, in this 10 story mall, complete with a rollercoaster.
I never got to climb to the top of the Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest buildings until 2004. I never got to see any of the museums of KL. I never got to see than many mosques of this Islamic country. I guess I’ll have to go back.


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Policeman is in love with me...


What do you do when a man with a machine gun tries a pick up line on you? Really when the guy hits on me, and he has a huge gun slung over his shoulder, what am I supposed to say? “No way, you mangy dog!” Lol. How about, “Put the gun down, and I’ll give you an answer.” It’s more like, “Oh! Why thank you! I know I’m beautiful.”
A policeman, with a big black machine gun, was staring at me in the market today. The second time I walked by him, he jumped out in front of me and said, “hello.” He then started to follow me a little. As I fled, I heard him tell me that I was beautiful. He left me alone after that. I wanted to yell back to him, “Why thank you, scary man.”

Monday, October 19, 2009

Killing the rat

Killing the rat.
The school started a rampage against the rat population living in our educational facility. It began by putting out sticky pad traps. These traps are not affective in killing the rat but in catching it. Seeing how the traps cost money, the Cambodian staff thought it was best to save as many of the used traps as possible. So after a rat was caught on the sticky trap, it was ripped off. The ripping generally killed the rat.
One day, a rat was caught in the school office. When the maintenance worker came to collect the dead rodent, he needed to dispose of the carcass. As you do with most waste in Cambodia, he just threw it out the window. However, this particular window was above the children’s playground. Yes, he threw the rat out of the window and into the playground. A dead rat.
Of course the expatriate office staff screamed when he did this. He was sent to retrieve the dead rat and dispose of it properly.
Luckily no children were walking under the window during the original “disposal” of the rat. If I had been walking under that window when the rat was thrown out… Well, I would not be writing you from Cambodia; I’d be writing you of my departure.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Cambodian Man Stance


The Cambodian man stance
I don't know why, but all Cambodian men pull their shirts up when they are standing around. Sometimes you can tell, that they are proud of their bellies. These are not pretty bellies. I've never seen a guy pull up his shirt and have a six-pack under there. Yet, daily I see men pull their shirts up and show of their skinny or flabby bellies. To be fair, it is very hot here. I do think the main reason they pull their shirts up is to cool down, but it's not pretty.

I'm learning Chinese (Mandrin or Cantonese I'm not sure)


I was standing in the dvd stall, when I heard “why you should by the gold dvd instead of the purple dvd” and I quoted it along with the dvd that was playing. The tv was facing the other way, and I couldn’t see the screen. But I’d heard that phrase so many times that I instantly knew the words. The funny thing is, that it was in Chinese. I don’t speak Chinese, but I’ve been watching so many pirated dvd’s recently that I know their campaign ad by heart. I guess I now know one Chinese phrase.

(P.S. the picture is taken in a market like the one I buy dvds from)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Abstract Photos



While I was researching abstract art, I came across some abstract photography. I've decided to try my hand at it. Here are two pictures that I find particular interesting. I took them while I was in Thailand last month.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Reflecting after a Year

I was thinking back over all the excursions I've been on in the last year, and I flipped through some of my pictures. I remembered this one Buddhist temple I saw in Thailand. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen in the last year. It was gorgeous. The inside was equally fascinating because it has a giant mural of aliens, George Bush, Star Wars characters, and Keanu Reeves. The mural was basically crazy, but the building was breath-taking.
I thought it was worth adding to the list of things I've really enjoyed in Southeast Asia.


Dear Friends and Family,

Fourteen months. Fourteen months in Cambodia. It feels like I’m still on a short trip, yet I’ve been here for over a year. I can’t believe that I’m in the third quarter of my time here. Only nine more months until the end of my term.
Being a missionary has it perks. First of all, there is a certain confidence that you’re living a life pleasing to God. Secondly, there is the gratification of helping others. Also there’s the joy of seeing another part of the world and living the adventurous life. The last perk, is that people back home think you’re cool.
As amazing of a life that it is, it is so hard. Emotionally it’s draining to be pouring so much of yourself into everyone else. It’s lonely to be thousands of miles away from your family. It’s discouraging when small things set you back. It’s difficult when all your friends have no idea where you’re coming from because they’ve never been to America and can’t relate to why you’d miss it. It’s frustrating to get sick from the food and the water repeatedly. It’s scary when the neighborhood monkey tries to steal your lunch.
Pro and Cons aside, it doesn’t matter which outweigh the other because I’m confident I’m here because God called me here. I’m told that He’s doing a good work in me; and whether or not I see those results, I’ll trust His words. He told me that all things (even the rat in my house?) work together for good. I believe that. I don’t feel it, but I believe it.
This week has been so discouraging. So many things are tough. Work, church, and youth group feel overwhelming. I was starting to wonder if God knew what he was doing when he called me here. I was starting to think that I was not woman enough for the job. Surely God called the wrong girl. But then I heard the worship song, “You Do All Things Well.” I instantly was confident that “all things” probably includes when He calls people overseas. God did well when he called me over here. Even if I don’t see the good coming from my presence, God did well when He planned this season in my life.
To be honest with you, I’m feeling so weak. God said that in my weakness His strength is made perfect. I’m waiting for his strength to swoop in. I’m writing to ask you to pray for me. Pray hard because I need it. I live in a country dominated by evil spirits. The Devil has ruled this land for years. Cambodia is 95% Buddhist and 4% Muslim, Hindu, and other. 99% of this country is ruled by lies and deception fed to them by the Devil to hinder them from coming to a knowledge of the true living God. My apartment is above a Cambodian family’s home. I often here the grandmother saying chants and praying with monks. Even my home is open to attack from Satan and his followers, because I live surrounded by people worshipping a thinly veiled form of the Great Deceiver.
Missionaries all over this country are exhausted. I went to a prayer group on Tuesday night. When I looked around at the six of us, we were all tired. Not physically tired, but spiritually and emotionally tired. We need you to lift us up in your prayers. We need your prayers to support the work of God in this place. Spiritual warfare is tangible in this country, and we need you fighting on our side. I’m asking you to plead with the God of the universe on behalf of the missionaries here (if all missionaries here are too much, just make sure you squeeze me in your prayer).
When learning to teach, they always tell the soon-to-be teachers that notes, written to parents about how horrible their children are, should end on high notes. So I’ll end this letter on a high note.
The students that I teach are amazing. I love them so much. They are great kids who, for the most part, do their homework and respect their teachers. Everyday I have a new favorite student, because they are all so great. They are talented and energetic. Teaching them is so much easier this year. I finally know what IGCE stands for. The British curriculum no longer looks like Greek to me. In fact I got some great news from England. My two students who graduated and took the Cambridge exams scored A’s! I am a good teacher (there was a lot of doubt last year, so this is a revelation).
We’ve just started rehearsals for the Christmas musical, which I’m directing. It’s scary and exciting. The cast is talented and eager to learn their scripts. It should be an awesome show. If you want to fly over and watch it, I’ll save you a seat.
Thanks for your love and prayers. God is working in the crazy, smelly country; and I’m excited to watch His progression.

God Bless,
Carrie
P.S. Next time you see a missionary give them a hug. A BIG HUG.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A little hobby



I painted a picture today. It's been a while since I've painted anything. I think that's because I hated the last picture I painted. I'm very critical of my art work.
Kate reminded me last week, that I like painting. I guess I forgot.
It feels good to let your mind focus on a single task: to not think about the outside world for a few hours, but still to be actively engaging the mind. It feels nice to complete the task, and then step back and think "hmm, that's good."

This is my first attempt at abstract art. I think I like it.

Monday, September 7, 2009

My traveling companions


Road Trip
I have had the strangest weekend ever. So some new friends decided that it would fun to ride our motorbikes to the beach. Well, people go on riding trips all the time. They take these big dirt bikes out and just drive. It sounded like fun.
I momentarily questioned whether our smaller motorbikes could make the trip, but I was assured that it would be fine.
So the bus to the beach takes 3 ½ hours, so I estimated that it would take us 4 to 5 hours because on the roads motorbikes seem to keep good time with the buses and cars.
Right before we left my friend, April, convinced me to drive my own bike (which I wasn’t planning to do because it’s really slow). Her bike was slow and she wanted someone else to lag behind with her. Well my bike is a 50cc. So it’s tops out at 40 kilometers per hour.
The first 3 hours were great. The scenery was beautiful, and I had good music playing in my ears. We were dodging cows and pot-wholes. However, my but has been hurting for 2 hours and 45 minutes at this point.
Well my bike broke down. It just stopped. In the middle of the road. Great!
So we walked it over to a shop, where the guy took the whole bike apart. After an hour of sitting around trying to figure out why it wouldn’t start, they figured that it was the ignition switch. So the didn’t fix anything. They just put it back together and told me to fiddle with it if it happened again.

So we took off again. The sun was setting and it was beautiful as we approached the mountains! The problem with the sun setting is that it becomes dark after it sets. Driving in the dark was a little scary; plus I was getting hungry. And as if dark wasn’t bad enough, then it started to rain. Well in a 3rd world country, dark wet roads are bad! There are pot-wholes the size of coffins, but when it’s wet its hard to avoid the pot-wholes.
And April fell. She fell on the muddy road. She had some scrapes, but she and the bike were totally covered in mud.
At this point we were 50 kilometers from our destination, and with April injured and shaken, we can only move at a snail’s pace (about 10-15 kilometers and hour). At 9:30, we arrived in a town called Kampot (we were going to Kep), 30 km from our destination. So hungry and tired we decided to stay at the first guest house we could find.
I ate a granola bar instead of going to eat with the rest of the group because I just wanted to fall into bed. We’d been on the road for 8 hours.
There was a problem with the hotel room though. The air-conditioning remote was broken. It wouldn’t turn off. We were all cold and wet (it was the one night of the year that it was cold in Cambodia!). And the air was set to 16 C. It was ridiculously cold, and there was nothing we could do about it.
Around 1:00 AM I woke up freezing. I couldn’t sleep I was so cold. I tried the remote several more times. It still wouldn’t work.
After an hour of cursing the air-con remote, I felt sick. I ran to the bathroom and disposed of the very little that was in my stomach.
Head in a Cambodian toilet, freezing toes, I was wishing I was dead.
I finally got to bed later that night.
After spending the day vomiting, the last thing I wanted was to drive for at least 7 hours that day! My butt couldn’t handle it anyway.
April’s bike was in need of a re-alignment. So she and I decided to find a bus service that would take our motorbikes on the bus too. The other five were going on to the beach, and would drive back later that day.
No bus would take our bikes, so we got a van. These vans are a 3rd class way of travelling. They often pile 50 people in a 15 passenger van. Luckily ours was mostly full of coconuts and other products.

Bikes in a van.
So to load our bikes, they slab of wood and extended it from the back of the van. The coconuts were on top of the wood to keep it in place. Then our bikes were loaded onto the wood and tied to the van with a rope. But even still half of our bike was hanging off the wood (this wood that is hanging off the van). It was insanity!
So as we drove we picked up more passengers. Finally we had so many people that one guy rode on my bike as it stuck out that back! Craziness!

There were a million funny things that happened in that van…
One funny story was the second of the six times we were stopped by the police. Our drivers were bribing all the police so we could keep moving (which worked 5 out of 6 times). The second time the driver didn’t have any money out, and he was fishing in his pocket for money. Well the police officer was staring at me. Like he wouldn’t even look at the driver when he spoke to him. So finally I was annoyed and gave him an annoyed “please stop staring at me” smirk, which he took as a smile. So he gave me a thumbs-up and let us go for free. It was so great! We got off with a smile.

Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got home. My back, legs, and butt were sore from riding a motorbike for 8 hours. My stomach was weak and sickly. My head hurt from heat and lack of water.
What a weekend!

PJ Fashion


Pajamas are the coolest thing to wear if you're Cambodian.
Why not? If you saw a button-up shirt and pants that match, wouldn't you think it was cute??

This article was written a year ago in our local forum. expat-advisory.com
http://www.expat-advisory.com/articles/asia/southeast-asia/cambodia/pjs-are-khmer-girls-best-friend

Monkey Trouble



A monkey came to my front door. Not a monkey on a chain. Not a monkey with a person. Just a monkey. He crawled from the roof of our next door neighbor’s house to our door (which is on third floor), then he crawled through our laundry room and back to the neighbor’s roof.
It was surreal. I don’t live in the jungle! Yet for two days I have seen a monkey face at my front door.

The neighbors are worried because apparently they can be very destructive if they get inside your house. My roommate is scared to leave the house because she thinks he'll bite her.
The monkey is still hanging out on the rooftops. The dogs are barking like crazy. The neighbors are staring at him from the street. It's basically a circus here on street 472.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

All In a Day


Today I saw four interesting things: evidences that I live in Cambodia.

1. Early this morning, a few minutes past 6 AM, I was making pasta for my lunch. I had set the noodle to boil, when Kate walked by and asked if I had put herbs in the noodles. "No" Of course not. She laughed and told me to look in the pot. There were little black dots.
"What's that?" Weevils. They were bugs. In the pasta.
We, having lived in Cambodia for a year now and used to eating bugs, spooned them out. (they were boiled and dead) As Kate was pouring on the spaghetti sauce, she saw a few more. She attempted getting them out, but eventually she just said, "I'll just put pepper on tops so you can't tell."
It was good pasta.

2. I drove (my super cute moto) up to school, and outside school there were a few vendors walking by. They were pushing bicycles. The bicycles were heavily loaded down with their wares. They were selling rattan baskets and plastic baskets. One guy stopped to fix his flip flop. I took a picture of him. It's above.

3. After school I stopped at a gas station to get my weekly $2 worth of gas. I opened the gas tank on my moto, to find MAGGOTS! sick! I wanted to throw up! How did they get there. They started crawling around my moto! I didn't want to get back on it. My head started to itch a little when I thought of getting back on the moto.

4. 20 Dead chickens in the middle of the road. The disgusting creatures were about to get de-feathered and chopped to be sold in the market tomorrow. The point is... they were being cut up in the middle of a disgusting, filth filled street. No meat from the market for me. I'm thinking of becoming a vegetarian!

All in a day in Cambodia!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Lightning Deaths

Deadly Strikes

Lightning has killed 113 people in Cambodia since January!

Follow Up- Youth Group



There was good reason to be wary of going to Youth Group!!
They were crazy!
There were at least 50 middle school kids there! Chaos has a new definition!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Rejoice in the Lord always




Why is it the day that you need to rejoice in the Lord, you don't feel like it?
The morning I'm supposed to lead devotions everything goes wrong. It sets me on edge, and I feel frustrated. Then I'm supposed to walk in a room of 35 people and tell them how happy I am that God died for me.

Today I am supposed to start working with the youth group. Tonight will be the first night of Solar youth group this school year. I'm supposed to go and help with the worship band, but I don't want to. I had a horrible day at school, and don't want to see another kid for a very long time. My impulse is to stay home and avoid kids because of my rotten day.
I don't believe that it's coincidence.


(these are pictures of my school, HOPE)

Pictures




I stopped on the side of the road to take the "Fast Food" picture. I was thinking what an interesting concept food-on-wheels is. As I took the picture, two girls watching me wanted me to take their picture too! Then two turned into four, and four turned into a large group.
They all worked at the car wash that I had stopped in front of. And they all wanted a picture with me.

(P.S. I look like a GIANT next to them! Really! I'm huge compared to their 80lb. frame!)

Fast Food



Fast food is an interesting concept. It's food for the impatient. Well in every culture there are impatient people. It just so happens that our fast food doesn't look like your fast food.
In the absence of a Drive-Thru we have a Drive-By. This would be a small food cart that is driven, cycled, or walked around.
It's still fast food.
This particular Drive-By is glass noodles. The cart is pushed on three wheels.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Pilgram's Progress or The Wizard of Oz

I am Dorothy.

June 10th 2009
Lately I’ve been unsatisfied. I want a life more exciting more adventurous than what this Kansas farm can offer me. I want to push the limits that my uncles have placed on my life. I want to test the boundaries and see how far I can roam before I become lost to those on the farm. I’m ready for something better. I’m tired of waiting around here for my dreams to come true.


June 15th 2009
These munchkins are strange. I’m not sure I should listen to them. I’ve suddenly landed in Munchkinland apart from my own volition. Because of some strange force that propelled me here, there is a dead lady under my house. That’s not my fault. Things are happening without my approval, and that makes me very nervous. I’m going to take these Ruby Red Shoes because they are available, but I’m not going to use them. I don’t trust anything from here because it’s all too strange.

A strange winged creature just told me to follow the yellow brick road. Even though I see her and there is viable evidence that she exists, I’m still doubting that this is a real. It could all be a hoax.

June 17th 2009
I’ve made a few friends along the way. A scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion: strange travelling companions for a girl like me; but you take what you can get. They are kind, patient people. Maybe not the “fun crowd”, but they are helping me out as I make my way down this road.

June 18th 2009
This evil witch is no joke. She’s much more intense than I imagined. People always say “it’s probably not as bad as they make it seem.” Nope. She’s bad news. I’ve decided to stay away from her and the road that leads to her place. I’m going to need some help to avoid her.

June 19th 2009
I just passed through the poppy field and took a nap. It was probably a bad idea. I’m really regretting that decision now. But there is grace, and I’ll keep moving towards the goal. No need to look back at the spots in life where the evil witch tricked us into believing her lies. She makes her ideas seem so fun, but now I realize she was trying to deter us from reaching OZ.

June 20th 2009
The gates of OZ are intimidating. I’m pretty sure I’m not good enough to be allowed in. There is no way that Wizard could accept me the way I am. Too bad there isn’t a motel or at least a shower out here. I’d clean myself up a bit before I met him. But there is nothing I can do. I can’t clean myself up. He’ll just have to take me as I am.

June 21st 2009
I can’t believe I had these stupid Ruby Red Shoes with me the whole time. All I needed to make it home has been with me all the way. I overlooked their power because I thought they were just an old pair of shoes. My friends back in Kansas used to say, “That’s so out of date. It’s not relevant for today.” I was given everything I needed for the journey at the beginning of the trip, but I didn’t even attempt to use them because my lack of faith. I’m a weak traveler.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Engagements


My sister is engaged. Of course she is 2 1/2 years younger than me...
But I am so happy that she found a Godly man who adores her. I love Kevin, and I'm very excited to have him officially be part of our family.
I don't know when they are getting married yet.
But I do know that her ring is GORGEOUS!

Also my cousin April is engaged too!! Congrats to Ape and Jake. April is one of my bestest buds in the whole entire world!

To My Mother


Dear Mommy,
I was never called to live a life of safety.
C.S. Lewis put it best:

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the Great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

HOME!


I'm going home in 8 days!
This is such a big deal. It has been 1 year since I've been in America. I can't believe I've lasted this long. About 8 months ago, I was ready to flee Cambodia.
I'm going Home!
(The Daughtry song is playing in my head)

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Tiger Adventures

This lady is feeding the tigers.



So Kristi went into the Tiger Den, and tried to get the tiger's attention by banging a bottle on the plastic cage. Yes. This worked. Soon they were all clawing at the bottle. You can kind of see Kristi cowering away from the tiger's claw that reached inside! It was so crazy!


I fell in love...

Safari World

SAFARI WORLD is the coolest place in Bangkok.






I got picked to go on stage and be kissed by the dolphin! He was slimy!

We had a great time playing with all the animals!
Thailand is so great. They let us do whatever we want!