Home from Thailand

Rebekah and I made it home today.  I am really glad we went.  I do think it's invaluable for adoptive parents to do their best to keep their child connected to their birth families and birth countries.  I've been convinced by the literature that an adopted child's identity is always completely wrapped up in their birth family--even if they were adopted right out of the delivery room.  It's better for them to have a more complete picture of who they are than to wonder and be haunted by questions and gaps in their information.

We went to Thailand with the agenda to see Rebekah's birth family, orphanage, and other family friends and to eat a lot of Thai food.  To those ends, the trip was a success.  When Rebekah has been asked what her favorite parts of the trip were she has said celebrating Songkran (the Thai new year and water festival during which everyone in the country engages in a three-day long water fight) and seeing her friends at Im Jai.  Her visit with her friends was pleasantly surprisingly really sweet.  The visit with her family was painfully surprisingly discouraging.  The Thai food was wonderful.  Seeing family friends was great.  And Songkran was the icing on the cake.  Interestingly, Rebekah was able to understand all the Thai that was spoken to her, but unable to respond in her native tongue.  Only English came out--much to the chagrin of some and the hilarity of others.  Enjoy the pics below of our visit.

At Im Jai with friends. 

At the Botanic Gardens with family--two half-sisters and grandma in the front row. 

Goodbye with the family. 

The kids at Im Jai are constructing an adobe building and Rebekah got into the thick of it. 

She wanted to play piano for her friends. 

She crocheted them headbands, which they loved. 

Songkran with the Rathmells in the back of their truck. 

Water fights at the moat downtown. 

I am super sick now, by the way, from this festive event.  The girl next to me in the truck is too. I'm guessing we got a mouthful of moat water and some germs too.  Such a bummer.  May need to go see a doc tomorrow. 

Last dinner in Thailand with Jen Rathmell and her kids.  Their family was a great blessing to me and Rebekah.  I am so glad the Lord moved them to Thailand, because it's really handy for me.