no pain. no gain.

Massages here are dirt cheap. I got a full body massage the other day for nine bucks....and it's not like what you get in the states. these tiny Thai women crawl all over your body digging their elbows into every kind of knot that they can find. Probably the most painful, but the most enjoyable thing ever.
I seriously love the Ketchams. Every single one of them. They are so welcoming and caring. I think Uncle Dawid needs a little bit of testosterone being around six females all day. But I know deep down he really loves it. We like to poke fun at each other. It's great fun.
I told him how I will be learning Arabic this semester and am so excited, and how I love women's ministry, and love making coffee....He ran with it. The crazy guy has already talked to someone who is planning on openening a women's only coffee shop in Amman, Jordan. He's determined to get me there. He told this guy about me and apparently he's ready for me to come whenever I'm ready. Something to pray about. i don't know what God has for me in the future or where. But I know that I want to be working with women and somehow revealing to them how God created them. Beautiful and precious. Full of worth that they can't even imagine. Although their culture tells them different, and everything around them and in them tells them that they are nothing and ugly and deformed; it's not true. They have value. Immeasurable value.
The women here in Bangkok are precious! Never before have I been complemented on being so white. They love my pink cheeks. They don't understand that the lack of ability to tan is not the greatest thing in America. :) So anyway, I like it here.
I love teaching them english. Yesterday we talked about families and houses and we showed them pictures of our families and houses. When I showed them a picture of Justin and Nathan the whole room of 60 or so women all ooed and awed. It was so funny. They were all giggling and saying how cute the white boys were. I loved it.
Em, Kate, and I have the opportunity to teach a girl (she's 45, but looks 19) English who is still working in the bars. It's so weird when they hour is up and she has to go to work. What do you say? "Okay, have fun, Pen!" But no...don't have fun. It's awkward. We hug her goodbye and then she goes off to sell her body to the first buyer. For what? 20 bucks for the whole night? She's worth much more than that.
All of Bangkok is cement painted in bright colors. To cover the ugly beneath. There are skyscrapers that are just left empty, people too afraid to go near or to use. There was an economic crash in 97 and 98 and these buildings used to be thriving with business, but crashed down with the economy. The Thais are much more in tune with the spiritual world and are much more supersticious than Americans. They say that the evil spirits all went into these buildings after they were abandoned. They see them.But they also say that they see the angels that surround the Ketcham's house.
Their faces are too bright with God's glory.