Phukket

December 13

Last weekend was the weekend we spent in Pukket. It was pretty amazing actually being in the place that the Tsunami had devastated last year. It was funny to think that everything we had seen was different than it was last year. I think the thing that amazed me the most was the emotional effect it had left on the people in the area. The fear of another Tsunami is so large that the sound of any siren still sends the people running for the surrounding mountains. We stayed in a small community of houses the following two nights that was build for the people who had lost their homes in the Tsunami. I can’t help but think that the fact that every house on the four small streets that make up the community looks the exact same serves as a constant reminder of what brought them there.

The children we brought from Bangkok seemed to really enjoy being down there though and were able to encourage some of the local children to share their experiences with the Tsunami. The area is beautiful down there though and the children seemed to really enjoy swimming in the ocean, even though a couple people were stung by jellyfish! The evenings were filled with programs where the children would go and share a performance for the others. Of course, this meant that we foreigners also had to share a program which left us scrambling for ideas (we always seemed to be informed of these things shortly before we are supposed to give them!). The Thai love for Kareokee eventually led into singing where I was called out to sing for the people. I chose “Kung Fu Fighting” at the request of Sarah. During the musical solo I broke into some Kung Fu moves. In the end, none of the Thai people could understand if I was singing in Thai or English! After that, 4 little Thai girls who prepared a dance for the evening requested that I come up and dance with them. Apparently they thought it was funny enough to ask me to join the following night when they did it for the other children.

Our large colorful bus which we rode in for about 40 hours or so during these pas four days also had a kareokee machine which got plenty of use.