White Elephants

If everyone else has family reunions similar to ours one of the notoriously strange episodes that occurs at each one is my brother Dan trying to explain to people why he thinks the earth is hollow (he's an engineer people--apparently they have equations for this kind of thing). But that's not the weird family reunion thing I wanted to write about. That honor goes to the 'white elephant' gift exchange. In the educational portion of our blog we will explore exactly where this term comes from (seriously this entry is bound to be just as boring as it sounds).

In Thailand the legend of the white elephant begins with the origins of the country's main religion--Buddhism. One night the Buddha's mother had a dream in which a white elephant ran into her womb (I'm really not sure exactly how to use the word 'womb' in a sentence, but that was my best shot). The next day she awoke from the dream to discover that she was pregnant, and several months down the line Buddha was born. In honor of this episode Thais began looking at white Elephants as holy. In reverence to them these creatures are not used for labor (unlike the elephants at the elephant farm by our house who are forced to make weird looking paintings with their trunks to sell to tourists--it's like some kind of elephant sweat shop). Farmers and other landowners quickly realized that owning a white elephant was not necessarily a good thing. They still had to feed and take care of them, but the lazy albino behemoths didn't work. Representing this dynamic the term 'white elephant' came to symbolize something that didn't have any particularly useful function. At some point this phrase was adopted into the English language, from where it was borrowed by family reunion planning committees (I imagine that things as serious as family reunions must be planned by committees). So without further ado, here are some pictures of 100% real white elephants:

Not as white as I imagined either before seeing the pictures, but still...


Yep, this guy is as useless as Julio Lugo, or Jason Giambi (that one is for you odeman)


Picture published in Thailand of an elephant voting. He's also wearing a Santa hat, so I think he might have another gig booked after this one at a local mall.


So this one is a normal, non-white elephant. Notice how useful he looks. As a matter of historical record (and as her facial expression indicates) this is Maisy's first view of one of these guys.

In Memorium: Nikon Coolpix 5600

A quick check of the dates between our last entry and this one will reveal that we haven't posted anything new in a while. Contributing to my laziness was the fact that our old beat up digital camera was 'borrowed' permanently by some Thai rapscallion. Without pictorial proof, finding a coherently themed topic to blog about has been more difficult than usual. However, to honor our fallen camera I am including several as yet unpublished pictures in memory of the Coolpix 5600. True the lens cover only closed half-way, and it was also instrumental in alienating us from all of our friends who have any animal rights tendencies (see below), but it will still be sorely missed (until our new camera arrives with some friends from the States). Without further ado, some of our favorite shots from Thailand as recorded by our ill-fated friend, the 5600:

In case some of you were curious, they do indeed sell pieces of meat on sticks to feed the leopards with at the Chiang Mai Zoo. Also pictured here is the beginnings of the mullet that I am cultivating.


Close-up proof of the fact that for roughly the same price as a pack of M&Ms, and less than the cost of a Nutrageous (which per ounce costs about the same as gold in Thailand) you can feed a carnivore of your choosing.


Maisy and her new friend at the park. As a result of Maisy's combover hairstyle the pictures to follow occurred.


This was what I believe Dianna refers to as a 'girls day out'. I'm not sure what that means exactly, except that it did allow me plenty of time to lounge around the house reading Red Sox articles in my underwear.


First haircut. Sadly on this same day my dream of growing father/daughter mullets died.


One of my favorite pictures taken by the 5600. In response to their queries I showed this to a group of NGO workers at the Thai-Burmese border, after which I was referred to as the 'guy with the wife who looks like a model'. That was an improvement on my previous nickname (the guy who only wears Red Sox t-shirts).

Mad Walking Skills

As we were setting up our Christmas Tree (straight from the green plastic Christmas tree farm), Maisy decided to add to the festivities by using this as an opportunity to showcase her first steps. She had an ornament in each hand and nonchalantly pushed off the chair and took a few steps towards us. This video is actually of her 17th-35th first steps, but its the same general idea...

Loi Krathong

Each of us has a holiday that we seem to relate to better than others. For people that love spending $400 for a dozen roses this may be Valentine's day, if you are into free candy than probably Halloween is more your thing, and if your last name begins with the letter 'O' or has an apostrophe anywhere in it chances are you have a ridiculous affection for St. Patrick's Day.

I am overjoyed to announce that for the heretofore ignored group that a.)never saw that career as a pyrotechnician materialize, or b.)stills thinks back longingly to the days when charcoal grills were more abundant we have discovered the perfect holiday. It is called 'Loi Krathong' and is really very simple: thousands of people gather together and release 3-foot tall mini hot air balloons (powered by large open flames) into the night sky. My simple description begs several important questions such as: 'isn't that a lot of fire', 'isn't that dangerous', and 'do people ever lose limbs during this holiday'. To which I would answer 'yes', 'yes' and 'it has been known to happen'.

With that in mind a couple of pictures to prove that I'm not full of it (at least in terms of what I'm describing here):


Hot air balloons. Each comes equipped with its own mini bonfire (yes I recognize the oxymoron--you had to be there to understand)


Those are lanterns. Lots of them. At this stage the risk of losing a loved one to third degree burns decreases by 30%. Word.

Loi Krathong II: the video

Video of Loy Krathong captured by Dianna!

Maisy and Her Dad

Shaun tells me that it is my turn to post a blog. I figure I'm getting off pretty well if I only have to do one for every 17 that he does...

So, I'm going to use this opportunity to post some of my favorite pictures of Maisy and her Dad. Maisy and Shaun have become quite the pair since moving to Thailand. They have a Daddy-Daughter Date every other morning at about 6:30 a.m. while I sleep in and then they spend time together EVERY evening while Shaun gets her ready for bed...bath, p.j.'s, story, and a song. It is one of my very favorite things about living in Thailand--not just because I love the free time, but because I love that they have so much time to spend together.

Feeding the Birds...


Chasing the Birds!!


The Merry-Go-Round


Close up of the Monkey


Dancing with Dad

They Love Mopping

Seriously, a lot of joyful mopping goes on at the Odell household in Thailand. I can't explain it, but I like it.

I realize....

...that this is a stretch, but I thought I'd devote this entry to one of the oddities of Chiang Mai--getting to feed over sized animals. I figure that in that this is one of my greatest joys in life it is worthy of mention here (to all of you who are surprised/dismayed by this statement remember I am more easily amused than the average third grader or even monkey who has borderline intelligence).

Without further ado a few pictures:

Check out the tongue...

This giraffe had horrible, horrible breath. Seriously.

Apparently elephants eat 100kg of food a day. We gave this guy 6 cucumbers each, so no one can claim we're not doing our part

Took Maisy a little while to warm up to the elephant

I guess this falls in the 'animals that rule' category more than the 'extra large' animals category, but I couldn't help myself, I just love goats. No really can anyone name an animal that is more versatile than a goat? They can be ridden, milked, used to get rid of extra tin cans, or simply kept for pure aesthetics. You can't go wrong here.

The New Ride

In our branch (our church congregation) on Sunday we were talking to one of the members about the price of cars in Chiang Mai (they tend to be expensive for the quality you get). One of the members, Sister Natthamon (pictured sharing a hymnal with Dianna in the Thanksgiving post), overheard and immediately offered to let us use an extra car that she had. Even more strikingly, she refused to let us rent it from her and even put gas in it for us. I'm not sure exactly how to qualify this generosity, but to those of you who know what I'm talking about, because of this (and several other strikingly similar situations) Dianna and I have a new appreciation for tithing.


Oh yeah, also pictured is our home here in Chiang Mai (or maybe the lower half of our home)

Also for good measure I'm throwing on a couple of pictures of Maisy (let's call a spade a spade, I know that there are only five of you actually reading the stuff I write, everyone else is just looking for pictures of Mais):

Maisy's favorite spot in Thailand--the kidzone at the local mall.

An Early Thanksgiving

There are two wonderful women in our church group who spend a good portion of their year here in Chiang Mai as a part of their business (Rainy's outdoors), the corporate office of which is in my hometown (Logan). Each year they throw a Thanksgiving dinner for Thai and farang (foreign) friends in Chiang Mai. Their travel schedule during the holiday season this year allowed this feast to take place a little early. Words can't describe how good the company or the food was. It felt so good to dive into the holiday season while amongst friends that we've gotten to know while here. Sadly no single picture can accurately take in the entire spread that Rainy and Ellen (our hostesses) prepared, but needless to say it was one of the most delicious and memorable Thanksgiving meals we've experienced.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the evening was singing Christmas songs, as is tradition at this yearly gathering. It may sound a little early in the year to break out the Christmas music, but just sharing this time with new friends made for a great experience regardless of the time of year.

Sharing Christmas hymnals:



Branch President Ken and family:
It is always interesting for us to hear what brings people to this amazing little spot on the globe. In the group pictured here we have missionaries, moms, English teachers, representatives of oil companies, business owners, nursing students, members of the US consulate and those on HIV fellowships accompanied by social work geniuses (that would be us).
As we draw closer to the holiday season we wish all of you the best. We miss you all and wish that you were here with us!