It
is Sunday afternoon, and Lizzy and I have been in Thailand for four
days now. And we love it! While we thought we would be living in the
city of Chaing Rai, we are actually staying about an hour outside the
city in a small village, in a house on a big river. The landscape is
absolutely gorgeous. Greener than I ever could have imagined, with
trees and rolling hills every where. The house may appear deceivingly
luxurious in the picture. We sleep on the floor, take showers with
facets hooked into the wall over the toilet, and have become
accustomed to eating and sleeping with bugs EVERYWHERE. That being
said, it is a really great experience to be able to live out here in
the village and get a sample of how these people live.
The
Thai people are incredible. I think here in the village, foreigners
are few and far between. So we stick out. They wave to us, smile, and
laugh at our few Thai phrases (we have only really learned hello and
thank you, but use them probably 200x a day. They all seem to be very
happy, even though they would be considered poor by our standards.
The
village in which we are staying has several Buddhist statues and
temples. While visiting the temple, we saw one monk shaving another
monk's head. While observing, the monk doing the shaving turned to me
and said “you want?” Despite a brief consideration of being able
to forever say that I was shaved by a Buddhist monk, I declined.
Our group in the back of a truck, coming home from the Buddhist temples. |
We
woke up early Saturday morning and walked to a local school where we
were able to spend the day moving furniture, painting a playground,
and repainting lines on the basketball and volleyball courts. While
this may seem like fairly easy work, it was made ridiculously
difficult by the heat and humidity. I knew it would be hot and humid
here, but was not expecting this. I literally sweat all day and
night. I walk down the street and my shirt is drenched. I don't think
my body was made for this climate. The school administrators were
very grateful for our work and fed us a traditional Thai lunch.
Lizzy and Taylor hard at work, moving at the school. |
Eating lunch at the school. |
The heat was so stifling that Lizzy had to hold am umbrella for me while I painted. |
Speaking
of food... the food hear is incredible. I haven't had anything I
don't like. From pad thai to all kinds of curry to the incredible
produce, it is all delicious. And cheap. Most meals don't cost more
than a dollar.
Being
an hour outside the city, we would normally take a van to church. But
this weekend, there is a festival going on, and, as a result, we
couldn't find a van to take us into the city. So instead, we
fulfilled one of Lizzy's lifelong dream—riding elephants! Small
boats took us down the river about two hours to the elephants. The
scenery was beautiful as we were winding between the hills and
mountains. We rode on the elephants throughout a small village and
even into the river. They are beautiful and majestic creatures. We
were also able to feed them bananas (which Lizzy decided to do with
her mouth instead of her hands). I think the whole experience was
everything she ever dreamed it would be.
Thanks
again for all of your support and for helping to get Lizzy and I
here. We have had a lot of fun so far, but have also been able to
help the amazing people of Thailand. We are going to be going in
pairs to local schools tomorrow to teach English. We are excited for
our first full week in Thailand and to be able to find opportunities
to serve these people!
So amazing! I'm jealous of all the great food you're eating, I love Thai food! Guys, my old roommate is there with you. Jamie! She is one of the most amazing people I know. You should be besties with her! :)
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ReplyDeleteGreat post! I LOVE the clever commentary and great photos. What an amazing part of the world! Love you!!
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