04.28.09
In the Land of Ali Babba
It was a 28-hour flight but at this moment with little Eva, worth every minute.
I’ve just had the adventure of a lifetime and my mind is spinning with images of a sweet baby girl and the magic of Ali Babba fairytales.
I just returned from a trip to Thailand where I got to visit with granddaughter, little Eva Leilani, for the first time. She was exactly two months old when we arrived, just a slip of a thing, and it was magical to hold her in my arms. I’d just completed a 28-hour flight but one look at that pink mouth and long fingers and it was all well worth it. Her mama and daddy say she doesn’t sleep nearly enough and she needs a lot of attention. They are pretty much worn out. But on our taxi ride home, she could not have been more perfect. She never closed those eyes though, in spite of its being 1 a.m.
This is “Good Eva.” I didn’t get as many pictures of the baby her mama calls “Bad Eva.” Didn’t matter though…she is perfect!
I had nearly two weeks with them, and we’re in danger of my telling long and boring grandmother stories here. I’ll try to keep it to a minimum except to say Eva liked the mobile I took her after her daddy fixed it with more brightly-colored stuffed toys to watch. And she also liked the swinging chair we got. She watches Baby Einstein videos, and we have mixed feelings about that. Her very favorite thing is to be ensconsed on her “throne,” which means sitting in one of her daddy’s hands while he holds her upper body with the other one and pumps her up and down. It takes more biceps than I can muster, but her daddy has worn a path down the hallway outside their apartment where he walks her and swings her up and down until she literally falls over in his hands. She has an uncanny ability to tell when she’s headed toward bed though. We’re pretty sure things will be easier for this alert little girl when she can distinguish more of what she sees and can entertain herself better. For sure she’s the most beautiful baby ever.
This is the famous floating market.
Nid at a wonderful cultural show demonstrating how rice is tossed in a basket.
About Thailand…it is all you have heard and more. Fantastic architecture, glittering tiled buildings, enormous Buddhas, fantastic food from street vendors, great open markets where everything in the world is sold at very low prices, tourist attractions and destinations, incredible beaches, the amazing floating market, elephants and snake charmers…all this and much more. Most importantly I’d like to say something about the Thai people. This was the most gracious, warm and open people I’ve ever met. In spite of recent political unrest, which I never got a good sense of, I felt safe and cared for the entire trip. Partly that was due to little Eva’s mother, Khannita or Nid as she is nicknamed, who helped us negotiate in Thai. But it also is due to a culture which laughs a lot, plays some, and has not yet been caught up in the commercialism that has permeated ours.
One small part of the Grand Palace, an enormous walled city.
Me being utterly amazed at the detail and workmanship at the Grand Palace.
A very impressive elephant who turned out to be pretty friendly too.
Oh, and about soap…because of the heat and humidity, the type of soap I make which is very heavy on olive oil, is perhaps not the best. Olive oil attracts moisture all the time, and in a humid, tropical climate that can have drawbacks. I did see one soap vendor at the market but did not have a chance to talk to her given the language barrier. Her soap was wrapped in plastic. Ingredients looked good although I couldn’t get them all. The label did say they were all vegetable. Also, at the Grand Palace there was one booth with soaps that were brightly colored and molded in shapes. They were beautiul and I made a mistake not buying some to bring back.
Very fancy carved soaps for sale for 100 baht…about $3.50
The one thing I did buy to bring back was sheets of mulberry paper for special wrappers (not sure what yet), two sizes of bags made of mulberry paper, and some beautiful ribbon. There were a number of paper vendors at the open market. What a joy it was to shop there. I could have gone back again and again, just to see what was there.
Now I’m home and trying to outsmart jetlag (not doing well on that one!) and get caught up on work here. Markets have already begun and I’m the late arrival. But when I take those grandbaby pictures, I’ll get no argument from anybody.
Sharon
Eva loved her turtle and tried hard to stare it down.
