Ummm... I just found a 7-8 foot King Cobra snake in our yard! Blargh!

November 18, 2010 1:10 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@two10eleven

Brook Sarver

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Remember the last time we had a snake in our house and Sara ran around the house like a scared 7 year old?  Well that was more snake experience than we ever really wanted to have.  I mean, I’m not scared of snakes.  I just don’t like them.  They creep me out.  Not to mention that snakes in Thailand are no garter snakes like we were used running over with the lawn mower growing up.

King Cobra

Sadly, our first Thailand snake saga wasn’t our last.  Last week I was back behind our new home here in Bangkok tending to some laundry that Sara had put up to dry in the intense Thai sun when I heard some rustling in some weeds around our water tank.  This isn’t the first time we’ve heard animals messing around under our water tank, so I went to have a closer look.  Usually we would find an assortment of frogs and lizards (and to be honest, probably even a rat or two).  But this would be no usual day.  It didn’t take long to see the dark color of a snake starting to take off across our yard as I came closer….  And this was no small snake either.  At least 7 feet long and probably closer to 8 feet in length!  Not only that, but it’s body was nearly as big around as my wrist!

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a King Cobra.  After our previous snake encounter I did quite a bit of reading up on my Thai snakes trying to figure out why in the world a snake would come in our home.  At least this time it didn’t come into our home, but seeing as King Cobra snakes are one of the most poisonous in the world, it could have done a lot of damage had I got in a wrestling match with it.  In fact, they have even proven able to kill a water buffalo and elephants with a single bite!

I quickly ran inside yelling for Sara to bring the camera but by the time we both got outside with our cameras, the snake had left.  And, like any good & curious missionary, we spent the next 40 minutes in the Thai sun looking all over for it.  We tore through our yard, bushes, pots, our neighbors’ yards, drain pipes, etc.  Still, it just seemed to vanish before our eyes.  And, honestly, I can say that I’m glad.  I’d rather believe that it was just visiting our yard and is now gone for good rather than find out it has a nest and 14 little snake babies under the bush in our front yard!

So, just when we thought our lives in one of the largest cities in Asia would help keep all the snakes away we find out we were mistaken.  And come to find out, I guess they aren’t all that uncommon here in our area of the city.  Most of our friends and neighbors said that this wasn’t the first time they had heard of or seen a King Cobra…  Oh boy!

So I guess now we should start a checklist of creepy crawlies that we’ve had deal with in Thailand.  It seems like ThaiPulsedotCom’s YouTube Channel would be a good place to start.

Here’s hoping our King Cobra snake friend doesn’t come back anytime soon, but if it does, we’ll have the camera ready…

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It was a whirlwind of a few days.  Jetlagged and confused, our guests pushed through and by the end they were already talking about when they may be able to come back next!  It’s been so long since Sara and I have looked at Thailand with “fresh eyes”, so it was a ton of fun to experience those first-responses once again after we first experienced Thailand 5 years ago.

One thing that our guests were able to bring from home was a box of camera equipment that didn’t make the trip over when we moved here last July.  There just wasn’t the space for it then.  But our friends gladly brought what they could fit in their spare suitcase space.  Since then I’ve been charging batteries, brushing up on my camera 101′s, etc.  But even before playing around with my new toys, I was able to pull a few shots out during the time when our friends were here.

…Which brings me to this next Foto Friday…  Both were taken from our visit to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.  We even got to take a river taxi to get there, which Sara and I haven’t done since I swallowed a mouthful of disgusting Chao Phraya water those 5 years ago on a similar boat ride.  Anyways, here’s what I could salvage from the day trip.  And now that I’ve got more gear to grab my attention, let’s all hope for more Foto Fridays to come!  (click on the images to see them at higher resolution)

Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand.

Wat Phra Kaew. Thailand's home to the Emerald Buddha. Bangkok.

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One another note, protests once again brought downtown Bangkok to a stand-still as the Redshirt protesters came to the city celebrating the 4 year anniversary of the coup that started the most recent turmoil in Bangkok.

This just another reminder that, although the protesters have gone home, and the most recent bloodshed has ended, at any moment the Thai government may find themselves once again the middle of another siege on their city.

Where does “freedom” of speech and overall “freedom” to gather combat Thai “democracy”?  Well, that’s something that I feel is still yet to be seen…

This short video helps to shed some light on today’s gatherings downtown, where just a few months ago, Bangkok was halted to a stand-still, shopping malls were burnt down, and lives were lost.

Pray with us as we hope to be a light in this darkness…

There is still a LOT of unknowns having to do with the protests, the government crackdown on the redshirts, and the deaths/injuries that came from the month + long rallies held in downtown Bangkok a few months ago.  Many Thai people still don’t know how to react and many are still hurt from all that happened during that time.

It’s difficult to explain all that happened during that time and the deep, deep tensions that drive apart the Thai people.  But today I came across this great story that explains both sides and the “what’s next” for our new city and this country.  Yes, it is long at 45 mins., but break it up in segments and watch it all to get a better understanding of the conflicts and please continue to join us in prayer for the Thai people and Thailand.

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I’ll be honest.  I don’t know where to start.  Last time I posted on here I was dealing with a snake that climbed walls and our final exams at the language school in Lopburi…

Woot! I've finished my 1st year Thai exam! What a huge weight off my shoulders! Tomorrow is moving day!

July 7, 2010 2:20 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@two10eleven

Brook Sarver

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Our new house!

But, here we are several weeks later.  Happily settling into our new home.  We love our little place.  The neighborhood is great and the people are even greater.  Kids playing in the street in front of our house every afternoon before dinner call me out to play soccer or badminton nearly everyday.  Neighbors who are anxious to get to know us and what we are doing in their backyard.  A Christian Thai family from the church we are partnering with has all but adopted us as their long lost children and have been SUCH a blessing.  They helped us navigate our rental agreement, purchase furniture, get internet in our home.  They’re so close that they even feel total welcome coming in our front gate and front door without warning! :-/

Seriously though.  We are so blessed to be here.  Sara has been able to sleep.  Our neighborhood is AMAZING!  The church we are partnering with is slowly getting to know us and we’re getting to know them….

We feel so blessed.  Thank you for your prayers through yet another time of transition in our lives.  We’ve not had a solid year of just “being” in quite a while…  We hope and pray that our new little nest here in the North side of Bangkok proves to be that little bit of “being” that we’ve been looking for lately…

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I even got to ride my lang. tutor's 4-Wheeler for a bit. Sweet!

The exam went well today also.  Spent nearly the entire time just talking about the little victories I have had lately in using my Thai and getting things fixed or done.  It’s nice to once again… finally …feel useful.

Coming from the States I felt useful.  I was involved in a lot of things, I was effective at what I did, had a lot of things on my plate (as is my personality).  So, coming to Thailand has been a bit rough in some ways.  Without a good amount of Thai, I felt useless.  I couldn’t tell the mechanic that I needed my motorbike tire changed without both getting a headache and handing them out to everyone I was trying to talk to.  If something needed done at our home, I didn’t know how to give directions to our home and describe what the issue was over the phone. Early on, I couldn’t even describe how short or long I wanted my hair cut when going for a trim on the ole’ Fohawk.  But, finally, I am able to do all of these things… and once again feel a bit useful here.  I bought the parts needed and replaced a sink drain in our bathroom yesterday afternoon, I’ve helped move air-conditioning units at a local church, I’ve taken our washing machine to get repaired, I’ve called for a professional to come and service our Air-con unit when it stopped working…  Oh, and I’ve ordered pizza over the phone and it was successfully (after them calling nearly 4 times because they were lost) delivered.

So, maybe, just maybe, we’ve turned a bit of a corner in our language learning and our lives here after 10 months.  And in good time.  We’re looking to buy a vehicle soon, next weekend we will be traveling to look for housing in Bangkok for when we move next month, and the following week we will sit before the church board in Bangkok to finalize details of us partnering with them to plant a church in the coming years.

Thanks for all your recent prayers and encouragement.  Maybe we’ll be able to do this missionary thing after all…

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I’m sure most of you have heard at least something about the political turmoil brewing in the past month or so here in Thailand.  What started as a peaceful, large gathering turned violent–leaving police, protesters, army men dead and injured.  It’s a sad state that Thailand finds itself in.  Now more and more people are gathering in the nation’s captial of Bangkok to protest other redshirt protesters, defend their political parties and show support in numbers either for or against the current government.  This video clip by CNN does a good job to give a bit of the background of these protesters and images from Bangkok in recent weeks.

(RSS readers, click through to see the video)

If you’d like to read more about the details of the clashes, the bombs going off in and around Bangkok, or stay up to date on what’s currently happening here in Thailand, check out a few of the links below…

CNN news stories on Thailand
The Bangkok Post – Thailand’s main English newspaper

Twitter – the best way for up-to-the minute updates
@bangkokpundit
@terryfrd
@veen_NT
@tulsathit

And of course, you can always find up-to-date info from my twitter feed @two10eleven or Facebook page.

Thanks for all your prayers for us and the Thai people.  This nation could sure use them about now…

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I happened across this short video clip produced by OMF (the organization we are partnering with here in Thailand) which helps paint a picture of life in Bangkok, the people living in this HUGE city and ministries that are taking place there.  The video is a few years old now, directors mentioned here have changed positions, but life in the City of Angels is still much the same.

If you have a minute or two, this will be worth watching!

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