My First Day in Thailand

Nothing like starting your morning by having Japan Airlines wake you up at 4:00AM to serve you seaweed for breakfast. Yummy. Before I knew it I was struggling through the Bangkok airport, through customs, and off to meet Carol and the rest of the Santisuk Center crew. Except… Carol forgot when my flight got in. So here’s me: brain dead after 30 hours of travel, looking for a person who’s not there. Thankfully some Thai woman let me borrow her cellphone. God bless her.

Well, an exciting start to my day doesn’t even compare to how much I’ve experienced just on my first day here in Thailand. I made it in time to shower and head to church. The service was incredible. It was a modest group of young adults in the front room of the Santisuk center, but watching youth and adults from all over the country (and world) being able to worship together was an incredibly moving experience. Also, through that service I gained a piece of mind that comforted me about the rest of my stay. (Up until that point I had been in a bit of shock over the culture difference.)

And let me just say, I embraced the culture wholeheartedly from that point. All the church members went to lunch together for fellowship and I got to speak to some locals of all ages. They helped me perfect my few phrases of Thai and more importantly, ordered for me since I had no clue how to approach and ask for food. I ordered a cantaloupe smoothie and some chicken and rice. I had no clue what else was on my plate until Carol sat down next to me with a grin.

“You know that’s blood right?” she gestured to what had looked like a crossover between Jell-O and mousse but more porous-y. “Nope!” I responded before digging right in. And yes, it had that iron-metallic flavor. No, I didn’t finish it. I do plan on getting it again though so I can send you a picture. But, what I do have, is a picture of myself with some of the other missionaries – and we all accidently color coordinated for the service!

Us missionaries from all over the country working for Santisuk. :)

Oh, and here are some more photos of where I’m staying/working:

                

 The front door to the Santisuk English Center (and where I'm living three floors above).

A view of the street standing just a few feet from the door in the previous photo.

                But my day didn’t end there. Carol took Kate (She’s the one on the farthest left. She’s staying at the Lat Krabang branch with me.) and I to a huge market. Cue photo of Kate and I drinking out of a coconut there:

                And if that wasn’t enough we got to traverse more throughout downtown Bangkok to see the main school and eventually to eat dinner. Less exciting this time. McDonalds (picked by Kate and Carol, at this point I was almost mentally comatose from the lack of rest). But that’s okay. Because I got a chance to get refreshed. Afterword (as if we hadn’t already done more than is usually fit into a week!) we went to a spa and got Thai massages. Trust me, you’ve never had a real massage until you’ve had one in Thailand. It’s not the same. My body is in a state of nirvana. But before capitalizing on such a state and going to bed, I decided to update my Blog for you all. You’re welcome.

                

We were getting our feet washed before we were allowed to partake in the spa.

(Thai's consider feet to be a "dirty" part of the body. It's super cultural.)

                     Oh, and a shout-out to Emily who found a Wikipedia article about the struggle I went through in my previous photo. You can click here to view it. But that's it everyone, and it's quite enough for one day! I'm finally off to bed. It's been three calander days since I've had a real night's sleep. I can't wait!