Akha Egg Game

On Easter Sunday after church in Huisan Akha village, everyone plays the "egg game." You go around with a hard boiled egg, and hit it against someone else's egg. Whoever's egg cracks is the loser and must give up their egg to the winner. In this video both Rusty and Yosu's eggs cracked...hence the yelping and drama. :>)

Easter Akha Style

My Thai friend Ichaya was visiting from Bangkok this weekend, so she was also able to experience and Akha Easter in the village for the first time.

The Akha people (both Christian or Animist)  have a ceremony where they give each other colored eggs as a blessing. Christians have used the ceremony to be on the same day they celebrate Easter and use the egg as a symbol of Jesus' blood (outer shell), holiness (egg white), and heaven (egg yolk). 

Gee

Little Yippa. Our friend Yosu drew him some lovely glasses during church.

Chanighan, Nacha and Aunglee. Gee's neice, sister, and nephew from Burma.

Nong Da and Ahmee Tuttu (cousins)

Akha treat made with sticky rice that is mashed, grilled, then dipped in honey.

Apee Meeyo, Ichaya, and I

april newsletter.

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Songkran 2011 (Thailand's National Water-fight.)

We had so much fun joining in on Thailand's national water-fight. Songkran falls on April 13-15th and celebrates the traditional SE Asian New Year. Almost everyone returns home to spend time with their families for this holiday, and all government offices are shut down. If you want to read more about the meaning behind the holiday you can click here. Songkran falls on the hottest month in Thailand, so relief from the heat it welcomed. The new trend is to buy huge chunks of ice for your water so that it is FREEZING cold. It is by far my favorite holiday in Thailand.

Pictures just weren't quite doing it justice, so I took some video footage with my camera inside a zip-lock bag.

Tukay Attack.

This whole last week we've been working on different maintenance projects here at the Akha Youth Development Center, mostly painting the girls and boys dorms. We have a wonderful family (The Campbells) here from Seattle helping us accomplish all of these projects.

Yesterday we were moving lots of dressers out of the back room in the girls dorm when we came across a batch of Tukay eggs that were all hatched. Each egg was about half the size of a golf ball. After seeing the eggs, we realized that our fun was just beginning, and that the male and female were close by as well.

In Thailand, all of our Thai friends are terrified of these large lizards called "Tukays", and have told us that if they bite you and latch on, that they never let go. If THEY are afraid of them,  of course translates into making us foreigners afraid of them as well. Here is a photo of them to give you an idea of what they look like.

Over the last six months, these lizards have been in high demand. Malaysian scientists have been buying them for over $1,000 each, trying to find a cure for HIV.

Not too long after we found the eggs, we found a big pile of poop, telling us we had at least one nearby. We found the mother behind a dresser, ready to fight with her mouth wide open like the photo above. Rusty had a stick in his hand and was yelling for me to go and get Gee (our Akha friend who can do anything). Before Gee could arrive, the protective mother leaped off the wall right on Rusty's crotch trying to attack him and protect her babies. Rusty panicked and hit the mother tukay with the stick in his hand and send her tail flying off onto the ground. The rest of us were screaming and running around trying to get some distance from it. The tail mind you, continued squirming around on the ground for the next 5 minutes, and the mama slowly died. I kind of felt like we had just killed Bambi's mother, but my hatred for amphibians quickly returned, reminding me that her babies will do just fine without her. Lizards don't breastfeed after all. : >)

Gee finally showed up, disappointed to see the tail flapping around on the floor, but full of laughter at all of the panic in the room. Rusty, Gee, and Kurt worked together and successfully caught the male lizard, but he ended up being too small for any good money.

Our poor little male tukay.

If ONLY I had captured this on video, I would be able to show you, and watch it over and over again for my own personal enjoyment.

On my way back to my house I came across the biggest earthworm that I've ever seen, so I thought I would take a little photo of him too.

Mary Oliver.

"Let grief be your sister, 
she will whether or no.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, 
and be green also, 
like the diligent leaves."
-Mary Oliver 

Esther Havens.

If you are interested in looking at some remarkable photography from a friend of a friend, check out Esther Haven's website.

"Esther Havens is a Humanitarian Photographer. She captures stories that transcend a person's circumstances and reveal their true strength. For many years she has worked on social-awareness campaigns with organizations such as charity: water, TOMS Shoes, Concern Worldwide and A Glimmer of Hope. Her images compel thought and challenge action. She has traveled to over 45 nations in the last 10 years -- and she'll keep going until she sees that every person on the planet has access to education and clean drinking water. At heart, she is a connector, fostering relationships across continents, cultures, industries and perspectives. While not traveling, Esther calls Austin, Texas home."

update on the little girl in the motorbike accident.

Here is some updated photos of the little girl who was in the motorbike accident about 6 months ago. She is doing very well, and I was grateful to see how much her scar continues to heal around her eye. She is quite the little character and kept me well entertained throughout church in the village today. : >)

photos.

hanging out with some of my favorite little people.

rusty and ghan.

Yipah getting his boogers removed during church.

Boo-doh and her daughter.

Ghan and her 2nd oldest daughter Da.

Village friends.

Apee Meeyo and I.