Noah with Mom and Dad

I had to put in another picture of my very cute nephew Noah. Here he is with his mom Brandi and his Dad, my brother, Shawn. Im telling you what...looking at his pictures he is going to be a heart breaker one of these days.

I will be posting more picture I have taken in Thailand soon. I cant upload pictures into the computer at this computer lab and havnt had a chance to get to the university, where I usually add pictures. So keep a look out.

Sun After Dark

This past weekend I read Sun After Dark by Pico Iyer. Out of 5 stars, 5 being the best...I give it a 2 and a half. I hear that he is a fabulous writer, but this is apparently not one of his best, in my opinion. He is a travel writer. I really enjoyed when he wrote about some of his travels. He went to some very impoverished places and gave some interesting perspectives about them. He wrote about Cambodia, which I found very interesting as I will be going there with my parents in November. Each chapter was something different, so it wasnt one continuous story line. He wrote about his travels to visit some people, which I only liked one of those. He also gave his commentary on some books that had to do with travel, which I didnt like at all...I mean who wants to read a book with chapters all about another book. At any rate, its a good book to read if you are about to travel to a country like Cambodia, Haiti, or Bolivia...but other than that I don't recomend it.

The Devil Wears Prada

I read so much that I have decided to do book reviews on the books I read. I know that I am always looking for good selections to read as well...but unfortunatly, I dont have a very big selection of books to choose from, or places to buy books in English close to me.
Anyway, The book I read this past week was the devil wears prada. It was about a woman who works as the personal assistant to the biggest person in fashion in the world. It was smart, funny, and a very easy read. This has to be one of my favorite pieces of fiction I have ever read. I couldnt put the book down. It is also coming to the movie theatres next month, and looks really good. I suggest you read the book before seeing the movie because you will have an appreciation for how much you are going to hate the boss.

Noah Zayne Lawrence Mills

My new nephew Noah Zayne Lawrence Mills was born at 8:03 p.m on April 30th, 2006. He was 8 pounds 6 ounces and 21 inches long. Isnt he a cutie! The bottom pic is my brother holding him.

Whip Scorpion

Last night I discovered this lovely creature in my bathroom. I have had this kind of scorpion in my bathroom before and have always referred to it as the spider scorpion, as they look like some mutant combination of a spider and a scorpion... and im sure you all realize how much I love these scorpions for my love of spiders. These scorpions are quicker than the usual, so after this picture he died. I did a little research this morning to find out that this is what is called a whip scorpion, and is completely harmless to humans. They are actually more beneficial as they kill cockroaches and other little pests. I think I may stick to Mrs. Ethridges cockroach eradication methods of powdered sugar and baking soda than depend on these guys.

Ms. Mousy

My friend Bryn, a volunteer in Lampang, got a "mouse" about a month ago because she created this elaborate house out of future board for it. When I finally saw it we discovered it was in reality a hamster. She refuses to believe it, as she really wanted a mouse, so we still have to refer to it as a mouse. Its a cute little mouse though.

Teacher Training CooCooness

My fellow Peace Corps volunteers Bryn, Merissa, and I were at a teacher training recently where some of the coocooest and funniest things that have ever happened to me happened during the teacher training...there is no need for an explanation or pictures... use your own imagination!

1. After hours Circle of Life/ Bohemian Rhapsody Interpretive dance
2. Environment lesson created by and for Thai people: fill in the blanks to the song "Heal the World by Michael Jackson"(while listening to the song over and over and over)
3. Fake Thai Tribal Dance
4. Froggy hat play while a drunk guy meows over and over in the audience
5. Teaching the Macarena
6.Game where a coocoo and favorite teacher of mine participates by shouting..."run if you have underwear"
7. Middle aged women break out in a dance party
8. Secret room of drag queens
8. Beauty contest skit...first contestant asked, what part of your body do you like the best...answer...my milkies(translation, my breasts)
9.Closing Ceremony: Three Peace Corps Volunteers get kicked off of the stage while smelling scented paper certificates
ps...check out the site www.elephantdungpaper.com for great elephant poo made products from Lampang Thailand Elephant Camp

Elephant Show 1

On Saturday I went to an elephant show in Lampang. It was after the English camp I went to. This is a picture of all of the elephants in the show doing a bow.











Here the elephants are doing a parade while holding each others tails. I really like this picture.












Before the show the elephants all took a bath in the pond with their trainers.












They have even trained the elephants to paint pictures. This one was painting a self portrait. It was really good too, for an elephant.










This little elephant is doing a curtsy.

Elephant Show 2

They showed how elephants were once used to move logs in Thailand and do heavy work. This elephant is rolling a log.











These elephants are ringing bells after raising each other around polls.












These elephants were playing a song on these chimes. This was pretty amazing as it was a good rhythm.











At the end of the show you could go and feed the elephants. The show was really amazing and im really amazed at how much you can train an elephant to do.

Elephant English Camp

This past weekend I went to Lampang for an English camp at an Elephant Camp. It was so much fun being around the Elephants and my friends Bryn and Merissa as well.










I got to ride an elephant as we were taking them back to the forest, where they sleep at night. It was actually very hard as this little girl and I had nothing to hold on to but a chain around the elephants neck.