Just Keep Swimming

Unlike my life in the states, Mondays are always a welcomed day because they are our day off, so I, attempting to sleep in, awoke earlier than I had wanted to the sound on construction on the building next door. Even though they were logically at least twenty feet away, it sounded like they had taken a jackhammer to my windowpane. I decided to give up trying to sleep any longer and practice some of my Thai before our lesson later that morning. My brain was still kind of in a fog, which only added to my frustrations. I guess I must have snapped out of it by the time it was Thai talking time though because I had a lot of fun! We learned about school supplies and colors. I think Janhom thinks we are all bababobo (crazy) though. When the five of us are all together, we definitely exemplify the typical American girl behavior with all of our giggling and goofiness.

After Thai lessons, P'O took us all to Carrefour for lunch and grocery shopping. I got to stock up on all of the necessary essentials, mainly peanut butter. P'Wut had come with us too, which made me really happy. He had been gone for about a week for a business trip to Bangkok, and we were all glad he was back. He and P'O keep us all well-entertained. On the way back from Carrefour, P'O offered to take whoever wanted to go to Grace International School to swim and work out. Melanie and I both accepted his offer and went upstairs to make a quick clothes change. I am so glad P'O is here. He has been so great about helping us get to where we need to go, and he has been such a wonderful encouragement. He always seems to have this great connection from a person he met once or somewhere that he used to live. His networking system is quite impressive. I have really enjoyed hearing all of his stories. At Grace, I ran on the treadmill for a while and listened to another Ray Vanderlaan sermon. P'Sean was there working out as well, and I got to talk to him and get everything set for another French Toast equipping time on Wednesday-very exciting! After my run, I met Asia down by the pool. She was swimming laps with her friend Marie. They invited me to do some laps with them, and I accepted, but I was a little out of my league with them because they were both record holding swimmers at their school. I was kind of relieved when they decided to take a break and lay out for a while. It is kind of funny to see what the missionary kids pick up from America and what Thai customs they take one. Most Thais don't really like to lay out because it makes their skin darker, which is quite the opposite in the states. I don't have any qualms about it though, so I joined Melanie in one of the lounge chairs. I guess I was a bit more tired than I thought because I ended up falling asleep and waking myself up from my snoring. No one around me seemed to notice too much though. When P'O had finished his workout routine, he took us back to the zone. The five ACU interns decided to go out to eat dinner all together and have some team bonding time because it had been a while since we had done that. We all took a taxi to the Night Bazaar to eat and walk around. We all split up to purchase our respective dinner choices. I got Subway-my favorite. After dinner, we went to Starbucks for a while to talk some more and grab some dessert. It was really good to spend time with everyone without a whole lot of distractions. After about an hour, it started to rain, so we thought we had better grab a taxi while we could. We managed to make it back to the zone safe and sound with just enough time to close everything up at 11.

Fiestas and Siestas

Today was a new Sunday adventure! Melanie and I got to go to church at Cheung Doi! P'Gahn picked Melanie and I up to drive us across town for services. It has been quite an experience getting accustomed to Thai time. I have come to the realization that I just need to block off a one hour block of time for the start of an event in my day because there is never really a consistency. Being on time has either made me thirty minutes early or thirty minutes late for activities, and there is no way to decipher which one it will be. Today when I was on time, I was thirty minutes early. I wasn't too worried though because church services here have a running trend for starting about that late, so it worked out perfectly. On the way to the church, we picked up one of the members and her daughter, Jade. She was adorable! Her mom is Thai, but her dad is British, so she had this cute little British accent when she spoke in English. It amazes me how kids just pick up two different languages here as they are learning to talk. It is so hard for my brain to comprehend how they can decipher the difference.

I really enjoyed seeing all the members at the Cheung Doi church. I don't get to see them very often, so it is fun to catch up with all of them. In the churches here, it is really cool because they don't have just one person who is responsible for preaching every Sunday. They have a sort of rotation for all of the responsibilities associated with the service. It seems like kind of a cool way to do things, and it gives everyone a chance to learn and appreciate each responsibility. Sean Todd was preaching this Sunday, so David Allen sat in the back with all of the English speakers to translate. After the sermon, everyone split up to go to their respective classes. Melanie and I were leading our first joint class, so we walked with Asia and Ben to grab a slurpie and then have class at their house. Butter and Yam were mysteriously absent, so our class seemed un-ordinarily bare today. At the Todds' house, we set up the computer and watched a Bruce Almighty clip on prayer, and then we had a short discussion on it. Asia and Ben seem so mature for their age. Sometimes I forget that I am hanging out with high school and middle school kids. They seemed to really enjoy our discussion, which was encouraging. We also decided to meet on Wednesday for a youth group lunch.

For our lunch, most of the Cheung Doi members met at Miguel's to celebrate David's birthday. I was definitely all for that, so Melanie and I decided to join them. I almost felt bad for eating there without the other girls, but my guilt soon subsided when my food came. Back at the zone, I decided to take a nap, but I ended up sleeping a lot longer than I had wanted to. Everyone woke me up in time to leave with the for a fun-filled night at Walking Street to eat dinner and hang out. The five of us decided to hit up Mike's hamburgers again, but I was still full from my Mexican food lunch, so I disappointingly did not order anything. After we ate, we explored Walking Street for a bit before meeting up with everyone at Wawee. Ball and Bom were there when I arrived, so I hung out with them for a while. They make me laugh so much! Their attempt to teach us Thai words always proves to be pretty entertaining. It drew some attention from Tommy, one of the American visitors at Cheung Doi. He is from California, and he is here for the summer to visit his Thai girlfriend. He met her here last year, and he has been here about a month, so his Thai is pretty comparable to our level. It is definitely nice to have someone to relate to like that.

One of my more exciting experiences of the night was my first Thai pay-to-pee bathroom adventure. I still am not sure if that was worth five baht, but I guess if you are desperate enough, any amount sounds like a deal. At about ten, we all loaded up our vehicles and headed back to the zone. I used the rest of the night to catch up on emails a bit before going to bed.

B-E-A-utiful

I woke up today kind of late, but I decided to go ahead and go running. It was so hot! I really need to start getting up earlier to run. When I started out on campus, it was quite entertaining to see all the freshmen out in their goofy garb for their new student activities. When I got back, I ate a quick breakfast and then went to my Thai lesson. I really feel like those help a lot with my Thai vocab and grammar. Janhom is so patient with us-I know five American girls must be overwhelming. After the lesson, a group of us all went out to eat lunch before our fast started. I got Kao Soi again, except this time I got it with pork which made it even better than the first time I got it. On the way back to the zone, P'Pui dropped us off at Relaxland, and Jordan, Emily, Melanie, and I all got Thai massages. Mine was a much better experience than my first Thai massage, which I was extremely pleased about. After our massage, we caught a Tuk Tuk home. Back at the zone, some people had started painting the section of the zone that was being renovated. I helped out with that for a few hours, but my painting skills are not quite up to par-my bedroom gives proof of that. After my painting adventures, I came back and started getting ready for the devo. P'Wah was the main person who organized it, and everything turned out really well. We spent about two hours in popcorn-style prayer, singing, and scripture reading. After the devo, Melanie and I worked on our lesson for class on Sunday. We decided to talk about prayer and show a clip from Bruce Almighty. Since I had never seen it, we went to rent it and watch it for the rest of the night. It was actually better than I thought it would be. After the movie, I talked with some of the girls for a while before going to bed.

Only Ice Cream, Never Sundaes

I slept in today to the latest possible time before equipping. Jordan was leading it on the spiritual discipline of study. Being the only guy in our group, he definitely offers a refreshing and different point of view. After equipping time, we all loaded up in the Jao Ford to meet at Yam and Butter’s house for lunch. Their family had invited all the interns over for Jordan to fix us lunch. He made orange chicken with rice and had ice cream with praline sauce for dessert. It was so good! I really had fun with Butter and Yam, and their house was so beautiful! It looks like something out of a magazine. It was also really fun to talk to everyone. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the families here. It is really rare to come across an entirely Christian family-most of the time it is just a single person who has converted to Christianity in a family. After lunch, we all headed back to the zone. I had asked P’Pui to hang out, so that I could spend some time with her. She is pretty much the glue that holds everything together, and the longer I am here, the more I appreciate her and everything she does. We ended up going to Swenson’s and getting more ice cream. I guess we kind of lost track of time because we had to rush back to the zone for my English lesson with Pluem. We learned about games and played Uno to work on vocabulary. I think she enjoyed it quite a bit. After her lesson, we were all sitting around trying to decide what to do for dinner and the rest of the evening. Marvin came in and suggested going to see a movie at Robinson’s. Marvin’s truck couldn’t hold very many people inside, so most of us rode in his bed, which was quiet an adventure. I wasn’t very hungry for dinner, so I went and got coffee with P’O instead. He is really great! He is so good about asking how things are going with me and the internship here. He seems to genuinely care about me and the other interns. While we were drinking our coffee, he helped me out with some of my Thai, which was really great. At about 8:20, we left to go see the movie. We ended up seeing Wanted, which was good but intense. After the movie, we all came back here and hung out for a while before we went to bed.

Home Cookin'

This morning I felt pretty lackluster, but I decided to go for a quick jog before equipping. We were all going to eat breakfast at Bake ‘n Bite for our morning lesson. I don’t think the shop owners knew what to do with us when we all walked in. We all had a good time fellowshipping with one another. We ended up having to cut things short though because Casey’s car broke down, and Chris needed to go pick her up. We ended up finishing our equipping time at the zone-Emily gave the lesson on fasting. I hadn’t had much experience with it, so it was a pretty intriguing lesson. We all decided to do a 24-hour fast on Saturday for the application part to the lesson. After equipping, we all went out and had lunch on campus. I ate with some students I had met the week before, and it was really good to be around some familiar faces. After lunch, we all had a meeting with P’Pui concerning the English camp the following week. I volunteered to be in charge of planning it with P’Wah. After our meeting several of us went to Carrefour to buy groceries for dinner-it was the interns turn to cook for cell group. I was glad Jordan with all of his culinary skills was there to take charge of everything. It could have been a disaster had we been left up to our own devices. We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing our feast of barbequed chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, and watermelon. It looked so good, and I was really disappointed when I had to depart before dinner for my English lesson. My students ended up coming late and just eating with us which was a pleasant surprise. After dinner, I helped clean up, and then Bom led cell group. He did a really great job! I am so glad he stepped up and helped out! After cell group, I stayed downstairs to talk to Ball for a while. He told me some about his family, which ended up being kind of depressing. He seems to be struggling with a lot, and I really hope he will start recognizing how supportive the people at this church can be. Talking with him ended up being kind of draining, so when he left, I went upstairs to head for bed.

Say a Little Prayer for You

This morning I couldn’t go running because I had to prepare for my lesson. Since Robert left, we all decided to trade off leading equipping time, and I was the first person to go. My chapter was over prayer, which I really enjoyed. The discussion time went really well, and everyone seemed to be into it. For each discipline, we all try to have an application part to the lesson. For our application, we each signed up for a different thirty minute block of time to pray for the ministry at the zone and the Payap students. After equipping time, I went up to campus to eat lunch with the students, but I had forgotten that it was Wednesday, which is a day off for all of the university students. I grabbed a q2uick bite to eat, and then P’Wah and I went to get a drink from Wawee. P’Wah is the only Thai intern with the five of us, and I had asked to spend some one-on-one time with her so that I could get to know her a little bit better. She has had such an interesting life, and I really admire her self-confidence and independence. After coffee, I went back to the zone for my English lessons. I was supposed to have two today-one was with Ball and one was with Ohng. They were both at the zone, and they both decided to cancel on me. They wanted to go to the airport to see John and Julie off. Since they were both going, I decided to go too. At the airport, I saw a group of girls dressed in school uniforms, and I went up to talk to them because I thought they were Payap students. They were actually from Chiang Mai University, and when they realized my blunder, we all had a good laugh about it. It was kind of sad to see John and Julie go. I know a lot of people here will miss them. I just hope I can do as good a job as they have done. After we returned from the airport, Chris picked us all up to have dinner with their family. They are both so nice, and I am really glad I got a chance to talk to them. After dinner, we all were pretty worn out, so Chris took us home and we wound things down for the night.

Get(ting) Smart(er)

It was so hard for me to wake up this morning, but I managed to make it out of bed in time for our morning John lesson. This was Robert's last meeting with us before he left for the states for the rest of the summer. We were all really sad to see him go. During my quiet time, I decided to go on a run and listen to a sermon by Ray Vanderlaan. He talked about the influence of the Jewish faith on Jesus and his teachings. I thought it was really interesting how the most respected Rabbis did not study in a temple all day but spent their time living out the teachings. For equipping time, Lee talked on using your gifts to glorify God. He has had a really cool life, and I really enjoyed listening to his stories. After equipping time, we all changed and got ready to go on campus for lunch. I met two groups of girls who seemed really nice despite our awkward conversations. One group asked me, "Khun chop poochai Thai mai?", which translates to, "Do you like Thai boys?" We all laughed pretty hard about that, and that seemed to kind of ease the awkwardness. After lunch, I grabbed some coffee at the university coffee shop with Jordan and Emily. We met a guy there who is from South Africa. He quizzed us on US politics, which I did not feel too confident in my ability to discuss. When I got back, I had some down time before Pluem came for my first English lesson. It amazes me how much English the people here know. She did really great! After her English lesson, Melanie and I grabbed some dinner at the carts around the zone before we started preparations for movie night. Movie night ended being a complete disaster. Half the people left to go see Get Smart, and when we tried to watch our movie upstairs, the sound was all messed up so we couldn't hear it. We ended up cutting the movie short, and everyone went there separate ways. Hopefully we got all the kinks worked out though, so that next week will go a bit more smoothly.

CANNONBALL! ! !

Today was our first day off in two weeks, and we all really needed a break. I slept in some and woke up at about 8 o'clock to go running. It was pretty warm by then, but I am still glad I got to go. When I got back, I spent a good part of the morning catching up on my journal and emails. It is so easy to get behind with all of that and also so easy to feel overwhelmed by it all. At about 9:30, I decided to take a break and go grab some breakfast at the cafe next door. On my way out, I ran into Chris, Casey, Maggie, and Melanie. They are a young missionary couple with two kids who moved here about six months ago. They are the nicest people! It is crazy because they are less than two years older than me, but they seem to much more mature then I am. They are both so patient with their kids and the people around them. I admire them both a great deal. Their family was using the day off to go to the pool, which I am sure they all enjoyed. After they left, I ran and grabbed some fruit and tea. When I got back, it was about time for our first Thai lesson with Janhom. Everyone decided to attend the first one, which was kind of cool. I am really glad I get to learn more Thai, but it can be kind of overwhelming at times. Hopefully I can get it down though. I really feel like the more of an effort that I make to learn Thai, the easier it is for me to relate to the people here. After class, Robert picked us all up and we went out for Mexican food at Miguel's. It, again, was delicious! I got cheese enchiladas this time, you can never go wrong with those. After lunch, all the Aggies met us back at the zone to pick up their bags before heading to the train station. It was good to see them all one last time before they left for good. After their departure, P'O took Butter, Yam, Whitney, Melanie, and me to Grace International School to go swimming for the afternoon for our first "youth group" activity. All the kids showed up, which was a good sign, but they all kind of did their own thing. I had a jumping contest with Butter, Yam, and Melanie, and after that we kind of just hung out and talked. At about 7, P'O suggested we go grab some dinner at a nearby Italian food restaurant called Mr. Chan's. My expectations were low, but the food turned out to be pretty good. After dinner, P'O took us home, and I hung out downstairs with the people at the zone for a few hours before going to bed.

Just Short of a Full Deck

I woke up this morning and got ready for church. All the ACU interns met before church for a few minutes to go over John 1:1-18 because we were reading it in front of everyone today. Church was really good. Jordan preached, and he did a really nice job with the lesson. When it came time for all of us to go to the front and recite it, I was surprised at how smoothly it went. I was also really impressed with P'Wah. She said it all by herself with a really difficult Thai translation. That kind of seems to be how she does things though-she kind of marches to the beat of her own drum. After church, everyone was supposed to go downstairs for a meeting, but this was the first Sunday for me to teach the youth group kids, so I stayed upstairs with all of the kids for our class. Considering I have absolutely no youth group or teaching experience whatsoever, I think it went pretty well. After class, we all went out to lunch. We went to a noodles place not far from the zone. I had Lad Na, and it was great! After lunch, I hung out at the zone for a few hours and played cards with some of the people there. I still have yet to win a Nerts game. At about 2:30, Melanie and I went swimming with P'Wah, P'Pui, P'Gift, Jenny, and Ohng. It was so much fun, and the water felt wonderful! When it was time for dinner, P'Wah took us back to the zone to make a quick clothes change before we left for P'Robert's house for dinner. Jordan was fixing pasta, and I had been looking forward to it the whole day. He had gone to culinary school, so this Italian food was restaurant style caliber. It was really nice being able to spend some time with Robert's family for a while before they left on furlough. After dinner, we all went to Walking Street. I got some shoes for $3-what a bargain! My mom would be proud. After Walking Street, we all went back to the zone because it was getting late. I came in and went straight to bed at a fairly decent hour, which was nice for a change.

An Elephant Never Forgets

The roosters in this hill tribe village were not quite as vocal as my previous overnight village experience, and I was very thankful for that! We all had to get up pretty early though to make our raft's 7am departure. Breakfast was waiting for us when we boarded. Maybe raft food is like camping food-even though it may be simple, it always tastes so good. After breakfast, I journalled for a bit, and then I decided to take another dip in the Kok. It was so much fun! I think I spent half of our trip that morning in the water. The rest of it, I spent drying in the sun. I probably should have been a little smarter and worn sunscreen though because my legs were a little crisp by the end of the trip. We made it to our destination at about noon: the elephant sanctuary! I was so excited to see all the elephants playing in the river when we came around the bend! Once we docked, we took a quick look at the snake farm. The five of the ACU interns decided to take a picture with a giant boa constrictor. I got the head, which kind of freaked me out because he kept turning around and hissing in my face.

After the snake excitement subsided, we grabbed a quick lunch before boarding our elephants. I rode on one with Melanie, and I couldn't really understand our guide because either he was named Tye or the elephant was. I found out that whenever an elephant is born, they recruit teenage boys to train them so they kind of both grow up together. Our ride was quite an adventure! It was so much fun though! Our elephant was quite the trail blazer and passed the other elephants like they were standing still! We rode for a little over an hour and then hopped off to catch a taxi to the waterfall. This waterfall was amazing! It was such a cool place for all of us to hang out at. I tried swimming through the waterfall to chill out behind it but that task proved more difficult than I had anticipated. I sure was glad when Kelly grabbed me and pulled me out of the pounding water. It was fun to sit behind the waterfall for a while. Even though there were thirty other people swimming ten feet in front of me, I felt so secluded from the world. When I came out, I saw John jump off this rock about 20 feet up, so I thought I would give it a go as well. It definitely was higher than I had estimated, but I managed to survive. We had to leave pretty quick after that because the Aggies had to get to their next village. We were to go our separate ways here. Before we left though, we sang "The Lord Bless You and Keep You"-the typical ACU goodbye song. I was really sad to see them go, but we should see them again one last time before they head back to the states. After the Aggies left, the Payap crowd jumped on our own taxi and headed for the bus station. We bought our bus tickets back to Chiang Mai and then grabbed some dinner from the Pizza Company. The bus ride was so nice! It was great to have a chance to relax for a while. I felt like I had been going nonstop for the past week. When we got in, we said a quick hi to everyone at the zone and then went straight to bed.

The Royal Nonesuch

We had an early start this morning. I got up to pack a small day pack before we loaded up the bus for a 7:30am departure. We had a three hour bus ride to the Kok River. I have really loved bus rides this summer. It provides such a great opportunity for fellowshipping with one another. Kelly came back to sit with us for part of the ride and tell stories. He is one of the best storytellers I've met, and he has led a life that is sanuk mak (very fun) so he has a lot of stories! When we made it to the river, I was so excited to see our rafts waiting for us. There were six bamboo rafts waiting to take the 36 of us six hours down river to the Honey Tree hill tribe village. I rode in a raft with Terri and the "Four Big Pizzas" (Austin, Shawn, Michael, and Trent-the four biggest guys on the trip). Lunch was waiting for us when we boarded our raft, and it was quite a spread! We had spring rolls, chicken, bamboo soup, bananas, and oranges. My favorite was the cucumbers though. They were amazing in the sweet and sour sauce! After lunch, we all played a game of Uno. I laughed so hard the entire time! My raft may not have had the most stimulating conversation or been the most relaxing, but I can say without a doubt that it was the most fun and entertaining. After Uno, we all enjoyed a nice afternoon nap on the bamboo raft. I slept pretty hard too-I woke myself up snoring a few times. When I woke up for good, I decided to go swimming in the river alongside our raft with Shawn, Michael, and Austin. Changing in the "bathroom" on the boat was like being born again. It consisted of a small rectangular-prism sticking off the side of the boat with two bamboo planks for you to stand on. The woven walls were pretty sketch. I wouldn't doubt that I gave the other boats a show through the gaps in the weave. Going in was a pretty big risk too because if the other people on the raft decided to shift the weight towards the bathroom while you were in it, you could find yourself shin deep in the Kok River. I managed to make it out in one piece though, and I was in the water in no time! It was so much fun! Just looking around at everything made me so thankful to be where I was with the people I was with. When we finished swimming, we all hung out for the rest of our raft time. Upon arrival at the Honey Tree Village, we all unloaded and reported to our assigned houses. It amazes me how the people in these villages are so welcoming-opening their home to a bunch of strange Farongs. Even though they have so little, they freely give us so much. It kind of reminds me of how life in the early church might have been. We all met for dinner that the entire village had prepared for us. It was delicious-cashew chicken and Thai omelets. At dinner, I got to talk to Sarah (Kelly's wife) for a bit. I wish I could spend more time with her because she, like Kelly, seems like a wonderful Christian example. After dinner, we all circled up for a devo, and I guess we drew a crowd because a lot of the villagers came out to meet us. since this was a hill tribe village, none of them spoke Thai but instead spoke another dialect, so Kelly had to speak in Thai for us to a Thai translator who then spoke to the villagers-it was quite a communication ordeal. It is cool to see some things overcome and transcend barriers like that though. We asked if we could sing a few church songs for them, and then they reciprocated with some of their church songs. This is one of the few Christian villages in Thailand, and after they sang some traditional church songs, they sang some songs they had written. It is so cool to see people express their faith in their own, uniquely individual ways. They also performed some of their cultural dances, and I discovered that my lack of rhythm and dancing ability is also something that transcends cultural barriers. When all of the night's activities were over, we all sang "Amazing Grace" in our respective languages. It was a perfect way to end such a wonderful day!

Lucky 13

I woke up and went downstairs to meet the new AFC running crowd, but no one ended up coming down to meet me. I decided to take the morning off and get a cup of coffee at the Payap Coffee Shop. I made it back to the zone by 9, and we had a mini devo before our quiet time. Robert was talking about emotional dependency again, and we were supposed to read the packet about it during our quiet time. Since I had read it the week before, I decided to opt out of rereading it. I listened to a Rob Bell sermon podcast instead. During equipping time, Robert went over the packet and then explained the afternoon's activities on campus. When he finished we all broke into our teams and went to the campus to have lunch with the students. We were supposed to hand out cookies and filters to get the word out about the activities available at the zone. I had a great time talking, or at least attempting to talk to all the students there. I bought some lunch-mango and sticky rice-and mingled. I was really excited about this one student named Sing who was from China. I didn't realize how much the Thai students wanted to learn English. Offering English lessons is a really great way to encourage students to come to the zone. After lunch, we all headed back home. I ran into P'Wah on my way in, and she said she was going to the market to get food for cell group that night. I decided to go with her and help. The market was so cool! They had tons of fruit, vegetables, and meat laid out. While Jordan, Ohng, and P'Poi got the fruit and vegetables, P'Way and I got the meat and spices. The meat area was so cool! They had these huge baskets full of different kinds of live fish, and they even had one full bucket of live frogs. They definitely can guarantee freshness at this market. When we finished getting our supplies, we went back to the zone. I decided to go for an afternoon run. I discovered a loop about three miles long, which I was really excited about. After my run, I ran down the street to get a drink and hit up the ATM. When I got back, some students we had met at lunch were there. I got a chance to talk to them and sign them up for some English lessons. At about 6, it was time for cell group to start so I walked down to 7-11 to see if any other students we had met were there. I walked around with Melanie for about 15 minutes and then went back to the zone to eat. We had green curry chicken, and it was wonderful! P'Wah is a really great cook! When Robert had sent us out that day, he had said he would love it if we could have ten new people at cell group, and we actually had thirteen, which was awesome! After dinner we played games and had a devo. I was sitting by Casey though, and she had Melanie, her new baby, which was definitely a welcomed distraction. After cell group, I went to the soccer field for a quick game. We has a big crowd out tonight-at least thirteen people. It was a little too crowded for me on our little field. We all headed back at about 11 because the zone was closing. I stayed up for a little bit talking to some of the Aggies before going to bed.

Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck!

I woke up today to go running, and this morning there was a crowd waiting to go with me: Drew, Austin, Shawn, and Anna. It felt like a regular cross country practice. We all managed to survive though, and when we got back, I did a quick change of clothes so we could go out to breakfast with Robert to meet a guy from his supporting congregation. We went to a place called Bake and Bite, and it was so good. We got sent to the middle table because they already had a kids' table and an adult table. John and Julie had driven us there, so we all took this opportunity to pick their brain . . . again. I am sure between our questions and the AFCer's questions, they are about to go out of their mind. They seemed to handle it pretty well though. After breakfast, we went back to the zone for a morning devo. After the devo, we got released for an hour of quiet time before lunch. I wasn't very hungry, so I decided to chill out at the zone and catch up on journaling. I had fallen pretty behind since AFC was here. When everyone got back from lunch, we all let for our afternoon activity: the Umbrella Factory. I decided to go with the group to Kingdom Books first though, and I got a Thai-English Bible to be painted. After everyone had made their purchases, we went to the Umbrella Factory. It was so cool to see all the different artists painting bags, umbrellas, books, etc. You could tell we were a Christian group because we all had our Bibles with us to be painted. I got a landscape scene with Proverbs 3:5-6. I was pretty excited about it, but on the way home I accidentally left it on the dashboard of our taxi. Don't worry yet though, measures are being taken to attempt to retrieve it. The rest of the afternoon was spent practicing our Sing Song act for the talent show. With the choreography, it definitely was a showstopper. At about 6, we broke for dinner and showers, and then all met up again for the talent show at 7. Before the show started, we played telephone charades. When it was my turn to guess the movies, my team played a trick on me and changed the movie that was supposed to be acted out. However, their acting skills must be pretty bad because they acted out Superstar, but I guessed E.T., which by some Godly intercessions was the correct answer. The Aggies' acts were all really funny, and I enjoyed them all thoroughly. I think out act was received pretty well too. They all seemed to very much appreciate it when we broke into the Aggie War Hymn. After the talent show, they had movie night. They showed a Thai movie: The Protector. It was about a young man who goes on a killing rampage after some poachers kill his pet elephant-definitely a classic if I have ever seen one. After the movie, I attempted to catch up on some more journaling before retiring.

(Try this link to check out our sing song act: http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=54603197&share_id=17134133874&comments#s17134133874)

SKEDUSH !

I woke up today and went running with Austin around Payap. It had been a while since I had run with someone else, but we seemed to keep a pretty good pace. After our run, I showered and got ready for the day. We all went over to Sean Todd's house for breakfast and equipping time. He made his delicious french toast again, and it was just as good the second time as it was the first. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it too! They would stand by the kitchen and wait for new plates to come out. After breakfast, Sean talked about the different aspects of mission work. Robert and Kelly also added their input when needed. Kelly told the story of how his family moved to Thailand all because his momo made a cherry pie one Sunday morning. He encouraged us all to really listen to the spirit whenever we get these little nudges. Robert told us to consider others and how we can serve God before we think about ourselves. It was so inspiring, it gave me goosebumps! Melanie and I decided to cut our quiet time short so that we could talk to Robert about a few things. We were both interested in spending a longer amount of time here with their mission work, and we wanted to get his thoughts and advice on it. He seemed pretty positive about everything which was quite an encouragement. After our talk, we all went to lunch at Kao Soi. I got Kao Pad Gai, which is always a classic. After lunch, we piled in the trucks and drove half an hour into the mountains to go to Doi Suthep. I rode in the back of Robert's truck with P'O and mastered the menacing "Na Chen Jai" song. I was pretty pleased with myself at our arrival and sang it to anyone who stood still long enough to listen to me. I didn't really consider the level of possible inappropriateness of singing a goofy Christian song in a Buddhist temple. However, no one seemed to be too put off by me. You had to climb pretty high to reach the actual temple-306 steps (I counted). Walking around was pretty cool at the top. The view was great! When it was time to go back, I rode in the back of the truck again with P'O. THis time he taught me this famous song on a Thai commercial: Do do do do ter tum . . . tum mai tung tum gap chun dai. I feel pretty cool now being able to sing it. We drove back to Chundoi, which is another one of the churches Robert's mission ream started. We were supposed to help out with English class there, but they only needed about four people to help, so they sent the rest of us to go get ice cream. I got Nutella ice cream. The rest of the afternoon Melanie and I started making our act for the talent show the next night. All the ACU girls decided to showcase ACU's talent: Sing Song. Melanie and I volunteered to write the lyrics. They turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. At about six o'clock, I group of us walked to the mall for some dinner. I ate at Pizza Hut with a few other girls. A little before seven o'clock walked back to Chundoi for cell group. They sang "Na Chen Jai", and I got to put my newly memorized song lyrics to the test. P'O Gave the lesson on Phillipians, and he did a great job! He is really funny because he tells all his stories with such emotion. The other two interns gave the mutual edification and vision thoughts for the night. Then at about nine o'clock, we all drove to the mall to see Kung Fu Panda. I was completely exhuasted though and ended up falling asleep during the movie. This should not discourage you from seeing it though because it is really quite entertaining-at least the part I saw was. This was my first Thai movie, which means it was the first time for me to get to stand and hear the King Song before it started. I really enjoyed it. After the movie, we all went home to go to bed.

Another Kind of Naaman

I was so exhausted this morning. I decided to sleep to the very latest possible time. We all met up at about 9am and headed for McKean. McKean is a leprosy village on an island in a river in Chiang Mai. Legend has it that the crowned prince had a white elephant who went crazy, so they exiled him to that island where he roamed around killing anyone that ventured to it. All that remains now are the spirits of the elephant's victims. When McKean asked if he could have the land for his leprosy colony, they practically paid him to take it. When we got there, it seemed pretty safe to me. We got a brief history of the village there, and then the Aggies put on their singing routine. Afterwards, we all sung some more worship songs in Thai. I have now pretty much mastered the singing in Thai phonetically, now I just need to figure out how to read the real stuff. We got thirty minutes of free fellowship time with the Thai leprosy residents. I hung out with a man named John. In my limited Thai vocabulary, I found out he was an 80-year-old man that liked to play longball. I also learned "ati-taan", which is Thai for "pray", so we also got to exchange prayers for one another. Even though I couldn't understand him, it was a really cool experience. After our fellowshipping, we visited the store where they all sold handicrafts. We were all encouraged to buy stuff here to support their village. I definitley was okay with that though. I never want to miss out on some good souvenir shopping. After that, we had lunch at Khao Soi. We tried some kind of crunchy curry noodles with pork, and they were delicious! After lunch, we were supposed to hang out with our game day groups from Saturday and do an afternoon activity, but we all kind of scattered in all directions. I went back to the zone to rest, relax, and run. When everyone got back from their afternoon activies, we all drove to MooGaTa for dinner, which was kind of a cook-it-yourself meat buffet. I was a pretty good MooGaTa cook if I do say so myself. After dinner, we went back to the zone for a devo. John spoke about his Chiang Mai internship. It seems like he has gotten so much out of his time here, which makes me really excited! He is so eloquent and mature in his words. I am so amazed how he has allowed God to work and transform his spirit. It is cool how you can not only help the people here, but that they are also so instrumental in transforming your life as well. After the devo, I played soccer with some of the guys at the zone for a while. My team won . . . again, but we also had an extra person . . . again. When I made it back to the zone, I locked up, but on my way to bed I ran into John. I got a chance to talk to him for a while about his internship experiences. I really like hearing all of his stories from the past six months. After that, I went to bed pretty quick-ready for another day of fun with AFCO!

3-2-1-BUNGEE!

I was supposed to meet some AFCers this morning for a run, but they all must have been kind of tired from the day before because no one ended up coming down. I decided to go out by myself instead-always a good way to start off the week. When I got back, I went though the normal Sunday routine of getting ready for church. We all loaded up in the taxies and trucks at about 9am to get to Sansai for a five church fellowship service. Since the Aggies are here, we definitely draw some attention with our four trucks filled with Farongs (a.k.a. white people). Going to Sansai was really cool because we all got to witness church unity and fellowship in action. It is really cool how involved and close knit the churches are here. They make Sundays a day full of fellowshipping with each other instead of logging in their two hours and then retiring for a nap or football game like we do in the U.S. Kelly preached in Thai, and he did a wonderful job! I was sitting by a teenage girl named Butter from Payap, and she translated the sermon for me. He talked about Peter and John comparing themselves to each other and being distracted from the bigger picture. After church, the Aggies performed their song routine. One of the songs they sing is the King Song . . . Chaio! We ate lunch at the church, and I got a chance to meet some of the members from the other churches. One of the people I met was Janholm-a lady who teaches Thai to a lot of the interns here. I got her phone number, and hopefully I can take some lessons from her this summer. After lunch, we all headed back to the zone. I love car rides here because you get to play games and sing songs and just have lots of fun getting to know each other better. At the zone, we split up into two groups: the bungee jumping group and the non-bungee jumping group. I was in the bungee jumping group! YAY! As we drove closer to the site, I got more and more nervous. Once we got there, we all filled out the necessary paperwork to jump. When they asked for volunteers to go first, I was the first one to raise my hand, and they sent me over to get all strapped up. There were actually surprisingly few straps required for jumping off of a 150 foot platform. They seemed to have it all under control though-granted I could not understand a word they were saying the entire time I was getting hooked up. When I was ready, I hopped on the elevator cart, and they took me up. I couldn’t really understand they guy telling me what to do, which didn’t really help my nerves at all. We were at the top in no time, and I stepped up to the edge. I definitely should not have looked down. However, when he said 3-2-1-bungee!, I took a lead of faith and jumped off. That was definitely one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had! The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the remainder of our group take their turn at bungee jumping. One of the AFC Bangkok girls wanted to go at the end, but she was kind of scared, so I volunteered to go with her again. The second time was definitely a lot easier. Once everyone had gone, we all loaded up and drove to Walking Street, which is kind of like the Night Bazaar on steroids. It has what seems like miles of stalls with all kinds of food and souvenirs. Before we started our shopping extravaganza, we refueled at Mike’s-a hamburger restaurant. That was one of the best burgers I have had in a while. After scouring the shops, we all met up at Starbucks to show off our loot before heading back to the zone. Melanie, Katie, and I all decided to watch a movie that we had bought at Walking Street the night before. It was kind of nice to chill out for a while with them; the Aggies run a pretty tight schedule. I eventually made it to bed-much later than I thought, resulting in another night of too little sleep.

Let the Games Begin!

Today we had game day at the waterfall. We left at about 9am to drive over there. Once we got there, John and Julie assigned everyone into six teams. I was on Team 2. We were supposed to come up with a team name, and ours was super creative-it was ‘Team 2’ in Thai (gloom song). Our first event was water balloon volleyball. We started our game day with an impressive 7 to 3 loss. We managed to improve for our next event though-Ultimate Frisbee. Our short game was near untouchable. However, for kickball, we lost, yet again, with a 9 to 1 run score. The second round we made a much better showing, winning kickball (with the help of my grand slam) and water balloon volleyball, and only losing in overtime for ultimate Frisbee. After the games had concluded, we all grabbed some lunch real quick and headed down to the waterfall. It was so beautiful! We spent the next three hours or so climbing and playing on it. At about three o’clock, we all met up again for a quick devo before heading back to the zone. At the zone, we had a few hours to relax and change before dinner. I was exhausted and definitely ready to eat by the time we left. For dinner, we all met at Walking Street so we could have some free time afterwards to shop. I ate at Subway again with some of the Aggies, and then I walked around some with Melanie. We got tired pretty quick though and decided to get some coffee and hang out at Starbucks until it was time to go. Once everyone met back up, we headed home. I was pretty tired, but I decided to join a late night soccer game with some of the guys. I felt a little out of my league with them, but they were all really nice and let me play. Afterwards, I was kind of wired, so I stayed up and talked with Melanie for a while. I am really glad I’ve gotten a chance to know all the girls here! They are all so wonderful!

It's Greek To Me

Today I woke up and decided to go running again off campus. I didn't run by anything too exciting except for a rotee stand. However, they were closed, so I guess it wasn't all that exciting after all. When I got back, I got ready for our equipping time. Today was mystery equipping, which is where Robert picks us up and takes us to a surprise location. He took us to a rock climbing area in the mountains. We didn't have any ropes, so we weren't able to do any climbs. The scenery was beautiful though! We had our quiet time when we got there, and I climbed up in a mini cave called "The Furnace". During part of our quiet time, we read a handout on emotional dependency, which we discussed during our equipping time. I feel like that was something really good for all of us to hear. After equipping time, Robert took us into all these cool caves. It was really neat because in every cave, we sang a different song. Hearing all the different acoustics was an awesome experience! In the last cave we went to, we all spread out around the perimeter of it and did a chain prayer. When we were done praying, Chris asked if we could all sing "I Want to See You." After the song, there was this silence that just emanated throughout the cave. All nine of us all stood there and absorbed the moment. It was so cool, especially because the day before we had talked about meditation and quieting ourselves. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience. After our spiritual silence subsided, we all went back to Chiang Mai to grab some lunch. The agreed upon restaurant was Subway, which I was ecstatic about. My turkey on wheat was delectable! Back at the zone, none of us had any classes scheduled, so we all cleaned up and got ready for our F4 party at Robert's house. All the churches the missionary team here has started get together once a month to eat and hang out. We went over early to help P'Jan out with the cooking, but she seemed to have it pretty under control. After everyone had arrived, we all had dinner and then had a short devo. We also played a game where you had to guess the word that was written on your back. Mine was "Alien from Abilene". The person acting it out for me told me that the town on my back was in West Texas, which completely threw me off. Having family in the real west Texas, I took the liberty of informing him of his slight geographical error. I also got a chance to hang out with some of the teens from the different churches. Robert had asked me to be a sort of youth group leader for them during the summer, and I am so excited about it! I also got to talk to Sandy Trotter-a visiting member from the Todds' supporting congregation. Talking to her was such an encouragement. I am really glad I got a chance to do so. We left pretty quick after that to get back to the zone because the Aggies had arrived! YAY! It was so good to see all of them! We got to catch up some before they went to bed, which was wonderful! I stayed up a bit to help Mace fill up water balloons for the next day's activities. It was so good to talk to him! He has this peaceful and soothing demeanor that just puts you at ease. We finished pretty late, so after that I went straight to bed.

A Little Off the Top

Today I woke up and decided to go running around the far campus of Payap, which mainly consisted of the Law School buildings. When I got back, I grabbed some quick breakfast and then went to our morning devo. Today we talked about John 3. It always amazes me how much we can pull out of just one chapter. It is really cool to hear everyone's different interpretation of it. During my quiet time, I went over the spiritual discipline of meditation. It has always been hard for me to quiet my mind and just be, but as Robert was talking about it during our equipping time, it seemed like something I would like to try to do more of. After equipping time, Katie and I dropped off our laundry at a lady down the street to be cleaned. Then we grabbed some quick lunch and recruited P'Pui to take us to the computer store. I am so thankful P'Pui is here. I don't know what I would do without her. At the computer store, I finally found a new charger! YAY! Now my computer can be in working order again! On the way back, we stopped by Carrefour, and I grabbed some supplies from the American food section to make salsa and guacamole because the avocados that we had gotten from the village school were ripe and ready to go. The produce and other groceries in Thailand definitely have their differences from back at home, so the final product of my Mexican food appetizers was not quite up to par, but they seemed to suffice for Robert and the rest of the interns. After I finished my cooking experiments, I decided to join Melanie and get my hair cut. This hair-cutting experience was definitely an interesting one. We were told to go to a nearby gas station because that was best place to go within walking distance. The "lady" who was assigned to me actually turned out to be a transvestite who know very little English. She took off a little more than I expected, but considering the language barriers, I think it turned out pretty well. After that, we went straight to cell group for dunner and a devo. I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone there. After dinner, I joined one of the guys for a short soccer game with some of his friends, and my team won! YAY! When I got back to the zone, I went straight to bed-exhausted from a fun and exciting day!

How Bazaar . . .

Today I woke up at the Reagan's house and decided to explore their neighborhood on a morning run. It was a little later that I usually run, so it was pretty hot when I went out. Running around their neighborhood was kind of surreal to me because it was so Americanized. After making it safely back to their house, we all decided to start making breakfast. We made pancakes! YAY! They were so delicious too! After breakfast, we had our morning discussion of John chapter two, followed by our quiet time and equipping time with Robert. This was the first time Robert was here to lead all of it, and I thought it went really well. I really enjoyed being able to just sit and discuss spiritual things like that without having a whole lot of restrictions on it. After equipping time, we all loaded up in the truck to head back to the zone. On our way out though, we passed by this American restaurant called Sojo's, and Robert decided to make an impromptu stop for lunch. I got a ham sandwich, and it was wonderful! When we finally made it back to the zone, it was almost time to start our first English one-on-one classes. No one had signed up to have me as a teacher yet, so I decided to take this opportunity and drive to CMComputer with Robert. On our way out though, he got an important call, and we had to turn around and come back. The rest of the afternoon I spent hanging out with some of the people in the zone who were waiting for their English lessons to start. Bon and Ohng were also there, and I got a chance to talk to them some too. They are both non-Christians that have been coming to the zone to hang-out for about a year or so now. I really hope we all can encourage them in their faith while we are here this summer. At about seven o'clock, we went up and had a small worship service with P'Gift and P'Bay. It was kind of nontraditional-very mellow and intimate, but I liked it alot. After our worship time, P'Pui, P'O, and P'Pun took us to the Night Bazaar to look around. It was really cool to see all the different stalls all packed together-it was a little overwhelming though. When we got back, I bid everyone adieu and went to bed.

Good Morning Baltimore!

Today was our first real day off, and it was much needed. I still woke up early though, so I went out for my morning run. This time I went off campus a bit, but I didn't encounter anything too interesting. When I got back, I caught up on some emailing on Melanie's computer since mine was still out of service. When everyone else started to get up and moving, Melanie, Whitney, and I decided to walk to Carrefour to see about getting my computer charger fixed. We stopped for coffee on the way at Wawee to wake up a bit. At Carrefour, they told me that they didn't sell any computer chargers and sent me to a kind of sketchy electronics store in the parking garage that might be able to repair it. When I found the store, I made an attempt to talk to the staff there, but I found out that they spoke even less English than the people at Carrefour did. I proceeded to attempt some kind of communication by acting out the events that led to my damaged computer charger with the aid of my personal sound effects and props. I know they thought I was out of my mind, but eventually, I think we made it to the same page or at least the same book. They told me to come back at ye-sib-saam. I am so glad I paid attention during the equipping time where we learned our numbers. After that, I found Melanie and Whitney wandering around Carrefour, and we walked back to the zone. At about 11:45, Robert came to pick us all up for lunch. He had invited us to join him and his kids at a local Mexican food restaurant called Miguel's. I was kind of skeptical because my Cambodian Mexican food experience was definitely not something I wanted to repeat. However, when the English-speaking staff greeted us as we entered, I knew that was a good sign. I ordered a burrito, and it met my acceptable rating for Thailand Mexican food. It may also be that my standards have dropped in the three weeks that I have been gone. At lunch, we all started talking about our love of High School Musical with Erica, so Robert invited all five of us to have a sleep-over with her that night to watch it. We excitedly accepted. After lunch, they dropped us back off at the zone again to chill out for the rest of the afternoon. I got a ride to Carrefour with Ohng and Bon (my first motorcycle ride!) to pick up my computer charger. It turned out that they couldn't fix it, and they didn't carry a replacement in their store. They told me I had to buy a new one at a store called CMComputer, which was across town. I was a little perturbed by this news since I had no way of getting there. When I got back to the zone, I decided to try and forget my computer woes in an afternoon nap, and it definitely did the trick. When I woke up, I quickly packed and waited with the other girls for Robert, Erica, and Branson to pick us up. When they got there, we all hopped in the back of the truck and headed to Carrefour to rent the movies and grab some quick dinner. We all ate at McDonalds and then got Dairy Queen Blizzards for dessert. The Thai-take on American fast-food isn't completely accurate to the tastes in the states, but it will definitely suffice for me. At the Reagan's house, we got all of our beds set up and then hunkered down to watch Hairspray and High School Musical. It was so nice to laugh and be goofy for a while. I truly had an all-American day, and it was fantastic!

Bananas of the World Unite!

I woke up at about 5am this morning to the sound of roosters crowing. Movies are quite deceiving in regards to the fact that a rooster will only crow a few times and then stop. Well, let me be the first to reveal this falsity. They definitely have some crowing endurance. I laid on the ground for a good two hours trying to be asleep before I finally gave into the crowing. I decided I could go for breakfast anyway. We had Chinese donuts and some kind of rice soup, which may have been good at another time of day, but it didn't quite strike my fancy for breakfast. After breakfast, we all packed up and headed to the school to start our English day camp. We spent the first hour singing songs. I got to help with the "Form Banana" Song, which is by far my favorite one to do-especially when we get to the "rock the mullet" verse. After the songs, we all got assigned to a different grade. P'Gahn and I had the tenth grade class. I definitely have a new-found respect for my teachers because it was so hard to get some of them motivated to learn and participate. P'Gahn said that by high school a lot of the students had lost interest in learning English because they didn't see the point in it. I wasn't quite prepared for them knowing so little English either, but we did what we could. By the end of the morning session, we had found a game where I describe words and they have to pick up the correct card for the one I am describing. After the morning lesson, we broke for lunch. I definitely needed a break by then. For our afternoon session, P'Gahn and I decided to go outside. We played some games incorporating vocabulary words for animals, colors and body parts. I think the best game was where they had to touch one of their body parts to a different one on their partner's (i.e., elbow to nose). It was funny to see their reactions to all of the random body part combinations. When we ran out of game ideas, we divvied up the Oreos, and they were definitely a big hit. After the afternoon session, we all met in the cafeteria again for a last round of songs. It is really fun acting all crazy and goofy with the kids. I am sure they think I am completely out of my mind. Being around all of those people that don't really speak English can bring out some strange reactions from your brain. I have been getting this urge to start speaking in German when my small Thai vocabulary has been used up. I don't' think German would be any easier though. After we said our goodbyes, we headed back to Chiang Mai. I decided to sacrifice looking at the scenery for some Dramamine, and I slept most of the ride back. When we got back to the zone, we discovered that our floor had flooded. The water ended up frying my computer charger, so hopefully I will be able to purchase a new one soon. I got unpacked and showered pretty quickly, and then I enjoyed a rice-free American dinner of a sandwich and chips. It was wonderful! The rest of the evening was pretty quiet. Tomorrow is our day off, and I am definitely looking forward to it!

The Long and Winding Road

Today I woke up, and my cold had gotten worse. I decided to opt out of running and sleep a little more. I took some kind of Thai cold medicine, not realizing it was not a daytime medicine, and I spent the rest of the day in a medicine-head fog. I got ready for church and went upstairs for service. We ran into Robert on the way up, and he said church was run on "Thai time", which meant 9:00 service was just an approximation. Everyone eventually made it though. All of the songs were in Thai, but they also had the Thai words spelled out phonetically for all the English speakers in the room. There were two girls visiting from the states who had been interns previously with this program, so Robert decided to do the sermon in English too, which was a pleasant surprise. It was funny though because periodically he would forget and start preaching in Thai. I can't even imagine what it would be like to know two languages that well. After church, all the girls met in the zone living room for Bible class. P'A spoke on her missionary work in Laos. It is so crazy how strict things are there. The missionaries in Laos all seem so amazing to me with their bravery and perseverance. P'A spoke in Thai, and Darby, one of the two girls who had been previous interns, translated for her. I was so amazed at how much Thai she had learned and remembered. After church, I ate lunch in my room because I knew that would be one of my last chances to chill out by myself for a while. After lunch, we all gathered upstairs for a baptism. Even in a different language, that is still a really cool thing to witness. After that, we all loaded in the trucks to make the trek through the mountains to the villiage where we would hold our English Camp. Melanie and I rode with P'Gahn and P'O in their car. I was definitely not prepared for the ride up there. It was almost three hours of winding rodes. I think my stomach was doing flip flops well into the evening. We made it to the house we were staying at by about five o'clock, and we all unloaded and explored the grounds. We found a Jack Fruit tree, and managed to get one down. The family helped us cut it up and serve it. I got to try some, and it was a pretty decent experience. It kind of reminded me of eating bubble gum. When it was time for dinner, I volunteered to help cook. I got to make my first Thai omlette, which came out splendidly. When we were finished eating, we drove over to a neighbor's house and had a small Sunday night worship. It is kind of cool to be part of small gatherings like that. It's really encouraging to know that pretty much anywhere you go you can find other Christians to be with. After our devotional, we headed back to our house. I was so tired, I didn't even notice how hard the floor was that we had to sleep on.

Milk's Favorite Cookie

I woke up this morning and went running around Payap. The university doesn't seem all that big, but it is so pretty! When I got back from my run, I got to talk to my mom, Alex, and Ashlea on skype which definitely made my day. After that, I wasn't too sure what the plan was because this day was only labelled "Friends Day" on the calendar. I haven't really made a ton of new Thai friends yet, so I felt kind of up a creek. I did go downstairs to see what was happening in the zone. There were a few people down there, so I decided to hang out with them for a while. Pretty soon all the other interns came in and started working on lesson plans for the English Camp. My Thai partner was out of town most of the day, so I did as much as I could on my own. Half-way through, we all went to Carrefour to pick up snacks and other supplies for our English Camp. I decided to get Oreos for my snack because they seemed pretty safe. I mean, who doesn't like an Oreo? After Carrefour, we worked some mroe on lesson plans. I was on my own again, but a Vietnamese student named Tony wandered in, so I entertained him for a bit with Melanie. He didn't speak much English, but sometimes conversations can be more fun that way. Finally, P'Gahn showed up! YAY! We could begin serious work on our English Camp lesson plans, but by the time he arrived, I already had about three games prepared, and he had ideas for about two more that didn't really need any supplies, so we were pretty much set after about five minutes of discussion. That was kind of a relief. After that, we all played a few rounds of cards, and then the zone seemed to clear out pretty fast. The only Thai left was P'O, an intern from the other church. He is really funny! He told us that he was named O and his brother was named K because after his brother was born his mom said, "OK, that is enough kids!" He took the liberty of entertaining us, which was wonderful. We decided to go out to eat at MK along with Chris, a new missonary to Thailand. This was one of those cook at the table restaurants, and I felt kind of bad for P'O because we all kept bombarding him with questions. We all managed to survive through dinner though. Afterwards, some of the girls got dessert. Terri tried Roti, which is this fried dough dessert with condensed milk and chocolate. I had a bite, and it was so good! We went back to the zone after our dessert explorations were over and hung out for a while downstairs. P'Woot was there, so Melanie and I went over to talk to him. We ended up grabbing some songbooks and spending te rest of the nigh trying to learn some church songs in Thai. I had a lot of fun, but my cold medicine started kicking in pretty quick and I was forced to retire early.

Fortune Favors the Brave

There wasn't a huge demanding schedule today like the past few days have been. I slept in some today because I was still not feeling all that great. I did make it up in time to get dressed for our first intern morning devo. Since Robert was in a meeting, P'Pui led it. We went over the first chapter of John. After that we all split up for about an hour of quiet time. I am so glad Robert worked that in our day. Today in my devotional book, I read about coming into God's presence during your worship. It is amazing to me how some seemingly simple ideas can prove to be so impossible for me to do. After quiet time, P'Wah and P'Pui gave us a Thai lesson. I have been so excited about learning Thai! It is definitely harder than I thought it would be. I'm coming along slowly though. After that, P'Pui drove us to Carrefour for lunch and shopping. I bought what I thought was a "Learn to talk Thai" book, but it turned out to be a "Learn to talk English" book for Thais. I was pretty disappointed about that when I got home. Oh well, I guess I can use it for our English camp this weekend. Back at the zone, I really wanted to take a nap, but I thought it would be a good idea to hang otu downstairs with everyone. I am really glad I did too! Every little bit of exposure to the Thais helps me feel more a part of their environment. We ended up playing Nerts, and after several rounds of that, I went upstairs to shower and change because we were going to a funeral for one of the church members-she was actually the first convert for the Thailand mission team here. The funeral was definitely a cultural experience, and I am gald I got the opportunity to witness it. It was very simple, but I coudl tell teh family put a lot of effort into making it special. I know Molly meant a lot to many people there. It was neat listening to everything and attempting to recognize words in my pint size Thai vocabulary. After the funeral, we headed home. On the way back, we stopped for dinner. We had pork and sticky rice, and for dessert I tried this cool dessert that was a mix between a s'more and a fortune cookie. It was delicious! When we finally made it back to the zone, I was exhausted, but we decided to meet for our nightly prayer time. It is a really cool way to hang out with just us and refocus at the end of every day.

sawatdee ka

These past two days kind of ran together for me. It all was kind of lumped into this one big introduction for the new interns. I woke up early and went running. It is pretty quiet here, which is a nice change from Bangkok. I will be happy when I find some cool running paths around here though. It always takes a little while for me to get my bearings. After my run I came back and took a shower-a for real shower! It had heat and everything! After my shower I got dressed and packed for the next few days. Robert picked us up about 8, and we drove over to Sean Todd’s house-another missionary on Robert’s team. I rode in the back of the truck with a missionary couple who was here visiting from Cambodia. They live in Phnom Penh and go to church with the Dolans. It has been really crazy these past few weeks realizing just how small and interconnected this world is. At Sean Todd’s house, we had the most amazing French toast that I have ever had. I don’t just throw that compliment out all the time either. It was delicious! After breakfast, we had a short meeting with Sean where he clarified what their mission in Thailand was about. He spoke about the Great Commission. After Sean spoke, David came and spoke to us about the importance of quiet time and journaling. He seemed really passionate about it, and his message was just really great! After that, we all loaded up in the truck again and went to have lunch at a local Thai restaurant. I am so glad that people here have been ordering for us because I would have no idea what would be good to try. Everything we ate was so good though. It was kind of spicy, but I have decided that growing up with my mom and dad’s salsa has adequately prepared me for it. After lunch we grabbed a cup of coffee at a Wawee Coffee House and had a quick question and answer time with all of the missionaries. They all seem so passionate about their mission here, and it is amazing to me how well they have adapted to life in Thailand. After the coffee shop, the five of us girls, Ohg, Poi, P’Wah, P’Pui, and Robert all drove out of Chiang Mai for about an hour for our Houseboat trip. When we got out of the van I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. We hopped on a boat to take us to where we were staying, and it seemed like the further and further we got, the more secluded and stunning the scenery grew. We finally made it to our floating guest house, and all of the Thais had to room with one of the Americans. I got to room with P’Pui, which I was really excited about. John and Julie told me that she would really be a great friend to have while I was in Chiang Mai. We all quickly changed into our swim suits and jumped in the lake. It was kind of nice to let loose and have fun for a while because it seemed like we had been in this hardcore absorption mode for so long. After it started getting dark, we all changed and met for dinner. I got to sit by Robert, and we tried to make up logic puzzles, which turned out to be harder than it looked. After dinner it was still pretty early, but the newly arrived interns were still suffering some from their jet lag, so they all went to bed pretty quick. I stayed up and talked to P’Pui some, which was really cool. She has led a really cool life so far, and it seems like she will be a really great Christian role model for me to learn from this summer. The next morning, we all woke up pretty early and got some breakfast. I got some banana pancakes, and with the scenery around me, I felt like I was living a Jack Johnson song. After breakfast, Robert let us have some quiet time. He said that we are going to have an hour every day completely devoted to spending time with God, and I am really excited about that. Sometimes it can be hard to set aside times for that, and I think that is going to be a really great gift here. After our quiet time, we had a few hours of Equipping Time, which is just kind of like a discussion/devotional type meeting with everyone. I think once we all get to know each other more, that time will be a really great opportunity to grow and share with each other. After that, we all packed up and headed back to Chiang Mai. I was really glad to get back and have a few hours in the afternoon to ourselves because I was pretty exhausted. I got to take a short nap, but I woke up to the construction going on outside my window. I decided to run to 7-11 to pick up some medicine because I was feeling a little under the weather. When I got back, it was time for us to go to Robert’s house for Cell Group. I got to meet some other members of the churches here and the rest of Robert’s family. The atmosphere was so nice and relaxed; it definitely put me at ease. We all ate dinner together, and then circled up for a short devotional, during which we were prayed over by the entire group. It is so cool to hear all of the different accents and languages coming together for this one unified purpose. It illustrates so beautifully how we can all be unified through Christ. After the devo was over, we all came back to the church. The five of us retired back to our section, and we had a short time of sharing about our experiences so far. It made me really excited to be here with everyone. I think that spending the summer with these girls is really going to be a neat opportunity!

The Adventure Begins

Larry said he was going to let us sleep in some so that the girls could recover from their travelling adventures. I decided to sleep in too, but I still woke up early on my own. I hate it when that happens! I read for a while in a book I just started: The Irresistible Revolution. It definitely challenges you and how you think about your faith. At about nine, we all got up and dressed, and then packed up our things. We have quite a load between the five of us. Larry wasn't quite ready to leave for the airport, so we all went out to grab some breakfast. I got some pineapple, which was, again, excellent! I also tried a new fruit called Sala. They were surprisingly good, and I was pretty pleased with myself on my fruit discovery. We also all got to have the first time experience of coffe and tea in a bag-another good discovery. After our culinary adventures, it was time to leave for the airport, so we all loaded up the van and hit the road. We checked in and made it through security without much difficulty. At our gate, we all got some lunch at Burger King and hung otu for a while until it was time to board. Larry met us there after checking in himself, and he was all excited about running into an old friend who is currently a missionary in Laos. He told us how dangerous it is for Christians in Laos right now, and how a few years ago almost the entire congregation was arrested. They let the children and elderly go fairly quickely, but they held 13 members in prison for over a year. Now that they have finally been released, they have to be even more careful of how they worship and even keep in contact with other people. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live in conditions like that. My life seems like a walk in the park compared to that. It is definitely humbling to hear a story like that, and it makes me wonder if my faith is strong enough to withstand something like that. They will definitely be in my prayers.

The plane ride to Chiang Mai was surprisingly comfortable. Our seats were so big! When we were descending into Chiang Mai, the view outside the window was awesome! It was so pretty and green. I definitely think I will enjoy life here better than Bangkok. After we got our luggage, we met Robert Reagan, our overseeing missionary, and a few other people from the Christian Zone. WHen they saw all the bags we had, they asked us if we were staying two months or two years. I think it defintiely looked like we were moving in with all of the suitcases we had. At the Christian Zone, we were given the official tour, and then we got about an hour to get unpacked. It felt so nice to feel some sense of permanance for a change. I feel like I have been in transit for the past three weeks. After we got unpacked, Robert took all of us to Carrefour-another Walmart equivalent. He let us get some food and other things we might need for the summer. I tried a few new things, but I also made sure to get some dietary staples, like cereal and peanut butter! YAY! We went straight to dinner after that at a restaurant just be the dorms we are staying in. Robert helped us out by ordering several basic dishes for us to try. They all were delicious! After dinner we met some of the people here. They all seem really cool. I am kind of nervous about the summer though. I really hope I let myself open up and get to know all of these wonderful people!

"The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is teh one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread." -Isaiah 8:13

ee i ee i oh!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." -Psalms 51:10

I was determinted to have a better day today. I woke up around seven and decided to go for a run. I have recently gotten a few new CDs (State Radio; The Beautiful Girls), and I was excited about going running so I could listen to them. I remembered the way to the park, so I decided to walk there. It was a little farther than I had remembered, but it was nice to kind of relax for a while. I made it to the park entrance and decided to start my run. The park wasn't nearly as crowded as it was on Saturday, but I did run into a monitor lizard. It came straight up out of the pond and walked right in front of me! CRAZY! After two laps, I walked back to the church building. I woke Terri up when I came in, so she decided to get up. While she was taking a shower, I updated my pictures on facebook. When she was out, we decided to hit the town and enjoy our last day in Bangkok. Breakfast was first on our agenda. We both got cereal and a grilled ham and cheese sandwhich from 7-11-both were excellent choices. It is kind of strange; I have been on this weird chocolate milk kick here. I don't really like chocolate milk all that much, but it tastes really good here. After breakfast, we ran into Larry, and he invited us to the Snake Farm with him and Neil-one of the missionaries at the church there. We took a cab over and explored all the snake exhibits. We also got to see them extract venom from a cobra. I now feel fully prepared to tackle the snake population here. When we came back to the church, Terri and I grabbed some lunch. I got some pineapple and a green mango. The pineapple was delicious, and the green mango was pretty good, however, I probably won't be a frequent purchaser of it. It started raining during lunch, so Terri and I decided to run down the street and get a Thai massage. That definitely was an experience. It was more painful and relaxing, but at least it was authentic. Hopefully she got some of the kinks worked out of my back from sleeping on the floor for the past week. After our massage, we hung out in our room for a while and got everything ready for when the rest of the ACU girls arrived. We set up their beds and laig out the sarongs we got for them. When the rain stopped, we walked to the park to have some prayer time for our internship. I have been kind of nervous about it, but it is so cool how some prayer time can really set you at ease. On the way back, we stopped at teh Big C for some dinner. Their food court was extremely confusing and didn't have the best food, so Terri and I grabbed a waffle dog on our way out. Once we were back at the church, I took a much-needed shower and then hung out in our room until it was time to leave for the airport. At the airport, we were so excited to see the ACU girls. They were so tired from their crazy day of travelling, but Terri and my screaming definitely gave them and everyone around us a jolt. Having them get here really makes the summer seem like it is starting instead of being in this transition time. When we made it back to the church, we bought our plane tickets for Chiang Mai and then made a quick 7-11 run to show the new girls the ropes. After that, we all went to sleep so that we would be ready to take on our first day in Chiang Mai!