Bob and Carol's Neighborhood

After the Monkey Mountain we headed to Aranyaputhet which is about 30 minutes from where Bob and Carol live. It's basically a bus stop with a few restaurants (thai style booths) and a hotel that was exceptional considering where we were! When we arrived we checked in, ate crickets, and then headed to the village to see Bob and Carol's house and take a walk through the village. The children in the village were so surprised to see us and although we tried to talk to them and give them candy they were still afraid because we were so different from them. We stopped and met a couple of Carol's friends who own a little restaurant and always give her ice water when she's walking to the schools.....we also met another woman who doesn't speak very much English at all - but she and Carol have connected and she is a very sweet woman. She owns the only oil press in the village and she also makes shirts and gave one to Lindsay. Everyone we met in the village cried when they saw Bob and Carol's family....they were so excited and so happy to have met everyone and it's obvious that Matt's parents have had a huge impact on this small village near the Cambodian border. As pretty as it looks it was still miserably hot and humid...and there are a LOT more bugs in the village!! I looked down several times and noticed that a few of them were feasting on my infection...I felt like I was in an episode of survivor ;) That night we had dinner with the principal and a few of the teachers they work with. A couple of them spoke GREAT english and we learned a lot about the Thai culture that night - although I think they thought we were a bit nosy!! Visiting their village was the BEST part of the entire trip... here's just a few pictures of their house and neighborhood.