When I started my first blog about Thailand last week, I couldn't believe I had already been in Thailand for four days. Now that I have been here for a week and a half I can't believe it's only been 11 days! I have just done so very much that it is hard for me to believe more time hasn't passed! But at the same time, time goes so fast that I can't believe it's been almost a week since my last post! So let me jump back to Saturday...
Saturday I had a lazy morning. I woke up early, ate breakfast, and relaxed while reading. That afternoon I headed downstairs to meet Tai and Ae, some college students, to hang out. We grabbed some rice and chicken and a taxi out to a park. We had a picnic and just hung out and talked for a while. Before leaving we took an ice cream and air conditioned break! Yum! We caught a tuk tuk from there to the chatuchak weekend market, the largest market in Thailand. It was definitely huge! Unfortunately, it was a very, VERY hot day so we barely even scratched the surface of exploring it. We ended up heading home from there after about an hour in the sweltering heat. I immediately crashed as soon as I laid down in my bed to rest, completely being drained of all energy from the heat. This was also the 4th of July. When I woke up an hour later, I decided to walk to the nearby 7 Eleven for some grub. I bought a coke and banana cupcake from there and walked out to a street cart and bought 2 meat on sticks. This was my American 4th of July BBQ stand in meal! It was a yummy one! Not quite American, but worked well for me.
Sunday was church day! I headed down on my own hoping to run in to people who wouldn't mind talking to me in English. I have to admit, I felt a little awkward. Thankfully, I didn't have a chance to feel too awkward because someone immediately approached me, chatted with me in English, and invited me in to find a seat. After sitting down I was joined by the Attaways, fellow Americans and a couple I was to meet and spend time with later. They were super sweet to me and just amazing people! The service was mostly in Thai but I enjoyed listening to them worship together. I also loved that I got to take communion with them! Even though I couldn't understand the service, partaking in communion with them brought on a spirit of unity. I didn't have to understand to participate in that! In communion we were all the same. After the service the church serves lunch to everyone. I enjoyed talking more with the Attaways and some other Thai people over lunch. After changing and relaxing for a bit, Todd and I went to get a foot massage! That was pretty amazing! One whole hour to feet, legs, head, neck, and shoulders. Amazing! And all for about $6! The fog part was so good I even dozed off a few times! I spent the remainder of the day hanging out with Todd and Pam. They had great advice for me in preparing to fundraise and we just had some meaningful, real conversation! They took me to buy my bus ticket to Roi Et for the next day and we ate dinner at McDonald's along with blizzards from Dairy Queen. Came home late from that to get packed up for leaving the next morning.
Monday I was downstairs with all of my stuff ready to head to the bus stop at 8:40am. The Attaways came by to pick me up and drive me to the bus station. Since they walked me through the process the night before I had no problem making my way to bus 47. I handed them my ticket, they took my suitcase, and I boarded the bus. Very easy. I was on the upper level in the front window seat. The seats were nice sized, nicely spaced apart, and since I was up front I had tons of leg room! It was well air conditioned, too! Probably the nicest bus trip I have ever been on! Being up front I got a wide open few of all of my surroundings. Passing through the mountain region was beautiful! It was about a 6 hour bus trip, but didn't seem near that long to me. They gave us a bottle of water, a snack, a hot lunch, and we made one halfway point stop. Pretty awesome experience all around. Chris was waiting at the bus stop to pick me up and we headed to his house. It was a nice afternoon there. We talked, planned for classes the next day, and went out for dinner.
Tuesday-Sunday coming soon, probably on Sunday so stay tuned! About to head out for breakfast and a few days at the English Center. I will most likely not have Wifi at this location. But I will be back to check in on Sunday before heading to the airport to fly to Bangkok for the night and then on to Ranong Monday morning. Blessings on you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment