Thailand!

Yesterday was our first full day in Thailand. It's a gorgeous place and I like Bangkok. Parts of it actually remind me of Peru. The smell of diesel, lots of cars and people, cars honking (though not as much as Lima), smells of "delicious" food (quotes because I wouldn't like it but most people would) coming from street vendors, and stray dogs on the streets. I need to be careful as I walk on the sidewalks because the bricks are sometimes cracked or raised up and there are large power line poles right smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk. Plus all the people weaving left then right. I haven't figured out yet which side you're supposed to walk on. The cars drive on the left side of the street but most people just walk wherever on the sidewalks. Motorcycles and even a small truck or two will often also drive on the very narrow sidewalks. Quite interesting and a tad scary. One of these days I'll either get hit by a motorcycle or fall on my face due to a crack or raised brick on the sidewalk. (Maybe not, but I can just imagine)

Santisuk English School (SES) is about a ten minute walk from JJ and Jew Mission House, our "apartment" building. The inside of our new home reminds me of a tropical home in Latin America. Bright colored walls and hard floors with the heat and humidity carrying in from the entryway. To be honest, I kind of like the heat and humidity because it does feel so tropical. Yet after taking a cold shower, I start to sweat again while still in the bathroom changing. It's fantastic (some sarcasm there). But the heat makes it very possible to quickly become dehydrated. We've also noticed it caused us to lose our appetites as well. 

Last night after the Thai church service, four of us went to The Mall (that's what the mall is named) to get some DQ. We got medium blizzards (equivalent to a small in the states) for 34 baht ($1.00 = 30 baht). That's one great thing about Thailand. Everything is super cheap here. Great for buying groceries :) Next to the mall is a huge market. We learned that at night, that is one major place to hang out for night life. Drinking, smoking, gambling, karaoke, shopping, and eating happen in very close quarters at that market place. And we had to walk through to get to the mall. Overwhelming almost, yet a good taste of what Thai night life is like. Also, as we were walking back to our "home" from the mall, we could hear the electricity surging through the 30 some cables jumbled together on the power lines. We had to watch where we stepped because of small cockroaches. There were a few times us three girls had to intentionally not make eye contact with men trying to get our attention. I felt safer knowing John was with us. 

It's weird to think Bangkok will be our new home for a whole month. We unpacked our suitcases and put our clothes into our own personal armoires and we each have our own actual bed (a frame, mattress, and full sized pillow compared to sleeping on mats on the floor with mini pillows in Japan). SES wants us, once classes start, to spend as little time with others from our team and spend as much time as possible with our Thai students in our English classes. Though exciting, it's a big scary in that I would essentially be "alone" in Bangkok. And "alone" as in not with other Americans who are as clueless as I am. Yet I see this month as a test for me. Will I be able to live in a large city on my own one day? Can I use public transportation? Can I work the streets? Can I find food to eat? Bangkok will, in some ways, prepare me for Lima :)

Please pray for:

~ Jenna - she has a bladder infection and is now on antibiotics but still feels lousy

~ our overall health when dealing with food, heat, and dehydration

~ our openness to the language and culture

~ training and orientation the next few days in preparation for classes to start. 

~ confidence and preparation to teach our classes over the next month

~ overall spiritual, physical, and emotional strength

As always, please don't hesitate to email me with updates in your life and/or prayer requests you may have.