Lasts

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a Thai Christian funeral for the first time. One of the women at the Nakornping church died pretty suddenly from leukemia and the funeral started the next day. She had a young son and it was so sad to see the slide show of her with her family. It was really interesting to me how it is similar to a Buddhist funeral but without all the Buddhist things. It really is Thai but really is Christian as well. It lasts for several days and they have many people come visit the house and the family feeds everyone and they have the coffin there with lots and lots of flowers and pictures. At the Buddhist funeral I went to there was a long line of monks that were chanting in Pali and everyone waied the whole time. At the Christian funeral it was mostly like a church service with lots of eating and greeting the family. There was singing of some very old hymns that I didn't know in English, let alone Thai, but I was able to kind of read and sing along. The sermon after that was good from what I understood and I learned a few new words listening. One of my favorite things about Thai funerals is the shiny flashy lights that they put on the coffin. At this particular funeral, the electricity wasn't too great so all the other lights went out at one point and were flashing for a while so it was kind of crazy looking and felt more like a disco than a funeral. It was great to see all of the churches together again, even if it was for a really sad occasion so it was a good opportunity to show some unity and love. And it was the last time I will see some of them before I leave.

Dinner with P Rung and Onglee

With Becky and friends on top of a hotel

On a lighter subject, I haven't payed for any of my meals lately because everyone is treating me to last dinners and lunches. Its great! I've been able to go out with P Rung and Onglee, P Tik and Awn, Marvin and Oi, Becky, Robert, and Ying. I am going to miss all of these people so much! I also had my last English class today with my student Jo and she brought me a funny stuffed robot thing that there is no way I will be able to pack and bring home with me but it is still very sweet. I've officially cleaned out the junk from my whole room but I haven't actually packed anything. I'm planning on starting tomorrow. Ahh! That's crazy. I'm also getting ready for Amanda's wedding which is next Saturday and talking to my parents about getting my car and phone all set up and working again. I'm going to be very busy for a while at home and I think it will be good to help me from thinking too much about what I will be missing here in Thailand. Because I will, I know.

I even had to take a last picture with my favorite 7-11 man!