Nuk Suu

Being a DTS student you have to be invovlved with one of the minisitries with the different kids in the community. Youth Night is on Friday night where we come together and worship and then those 12 kids spend the night, and then those same kids and bunches more join the other half of the students for Nuk Suu, a day of rugby. Today was our first day of Nuk Suu. We woke up at 7 to be ready to go and load up the trucks at 7:30, finally we got on the road, riding in the bed of the trucks. Meyho and I then traveled to Madhathai, a slum that we go to every week, to go ask more kids to come, sadly we only found one boy, Mai, who wanted to come. AFter a full morning of rugby, English class, and a messge with a craft, we ate lunch with the kids then piled back into the truck and headed home. After all the girls had gotten showers and some snacks, Sopo came over and told us if we wanted to swim in his pool we were more than welcome. At first we didnt want to because we had all just showered, but this is a one time thing so we all ran next door and jumped into the pool and had an awesome time with each other and his two youngest kids. Today has been such an awesome day. Tonight we are going out to eat at Mega Bangna with some of the staff girls and then going to see Les Mis, so everyone is very excited about that. I am loving life in Thailand so much. I am beyond blessed to be here.

Glimpse of Heaven

At a YWAM Bangkok meeting, I truly experienced what I believe Heaven will be like. The entire group; people from different cities, nations, and continents were singing together "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Then again in unison we sang the same words but both English and Thai together. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced and absolutely something I will never forget. No matter our backgrounds, skin color, hardships, or even language, we can all still come together and worship a God who has never left our side through it all.

A Day in the Life

I am starting to get into the routine, but tomorrow that will all change. Tomorrow have to start waking up for 6:30 am workouts. Then continue on to morning chores, worship, school, lunch, break, work duties, dinner, study night/small group/one on ones, sleep. Its a crazy life here at CARM DTS. I am having a great time getting to know my team and connecting with them more and more each day in class or just hanging out and talking.

My team!

This week in class, we learned about the different characters of God, like holiness, justice, and faithfulness. Our speaker, Sam Sarvis, who is apart of the Bangkok Leadership Team of YWAM, shed some new light on all of those subjects especially when he talked about the sacrificed that Jesus made for us. He loved us so much that he didn't want us to suffer, it helped me think about it in a whole new way.

On Thursday night, we met our small group which we will meet together every Thursday night. My group is really great and even on the first night, we already started opening up to each other about our lives and our walks with the Lord. It was really cool to see God bond us through just a few hours together. I am really looking forward to see how that group bonds and becomes closer over the time we have together.

Riding on the back of Jerome's bike!

I also had to say goodbye to my mom a few days ago which was sad, but I am so blessed to have such an awesome mom, that she would fly to the other side of the world with me to make sure I was gonna be safe. We had such a great time exploring and seeing new things. I love you Mom!

Friday night was crazy. After dinner, everyone was playing volleyball and talking and music was playing. So Izeldi, Kayla and I went out there and of course they pulled me into the game, in which I was terrible. I even hit the ball over the 9 foot wall, so I just quit because I was hindering my team. After I quit, I decided the broken trampoline looked pretty fun, so I was jumping on it with Izeldi and doing some back handsprings and decided to do a front flip. Note: some of the springs on this trampoline were missing, so its wise to only stay on one side. So i did my flip and overturned and hit my face in two different places with the poles. One poles hit my chin and the other one hit my head. I was fine though, just a busted lip taught me to never go on that trampoline again.

Kayla (Arizona) Me, Izeldi (South Africa), Karleen (Canada)

On the weekends, we have free days to do whatever we want, they give us money back every week to use for our meals which is great. But yesterday instead of all going our separate ways, we went on a little field trip. We met outside the house at 8 and jump into the back of a truck and drove a little bit to a ferry, where we got on and crossed the river. When we got to the other side of the river, we got on the back of motor bikes with one other person from our team and they took us to the water market. It was huge. We got time to walk through and see everything, this one was more of a food market, so we got to try a few different fruits and we saw some turtles and eels that you could pick and they would cook them for you, so sad. But that was really fun and cool. Then we got back on the bikes, then the ferry, then our truck and drove around and saw the Grand Palace again and then went to a huge mall downtown called Siam Paragon. We all split up and the first thing Kayla and I did was find some American food because we have eaten too much rice. We found the Pizza Company and the pizza was so delicious. Then we walked around, went in H&M, Forever 21, Gucci, Chanel and a bunch of car stores. It was two buildings with 8 floors of craziness, and so many people. After that, we met up with our team to see a movie, Jack Retcher. We were hanging out in the lobby of the movie theater when we say some of the Despicable Me minions walking around, so we ran after them and got a picture with them, it was great. The movie was great, and I learned at thai movie theater popcorn isn't as good as American movie theater popcorn, but that was okay, popcorn is popcorn. On the way home we got on the sky train and took it to a bus stop where we caught a bus which took us back to our villa and we walked home. Yesterday was so fun, and now we are just hanging around the house, some people are at church, but I'm going to go a little bit later with Kayla.

The water market!

Minion

And so it begins...

On Monday night, we had a little "get to know you" night, and we played little games to get to know the people in the group. Then we got separated into teams and we had a scavenger hunt thing around our villa (aka neighborhood). I had Gabie (from Costa Rica), Paul (From Australia), Jerome (From New Zealand), and Yoyo (From Thailand). We all ran around and had a good time, and we came in second place so that was great.

Yesterday was the first day of class. We just went through some of the basics of school and the expectations they have for us. It was a lot more than I expected. We have journals that we have to follow a certain format and turn in each week, memory verses, and three book reports for the entire time. So it was a lot of information, but helpful. Then they put us back into our teams from the night before and gave us a map and instructions to go out in the community around our villa to have a scavenger hunt. We had a list of everything we had to take pictures of in four different locations. First we went to MegaBangna which is the big mall right by our villa, that also has Ikea, we had to take a few pictures there like one in Ikea, one on a playground, and one at a karoke store. Then we were to get on a a bus and head to Central Mall. This is where the trouble began.

Ready to start our adventure!

My team left first and we were only in Mega for 15 minutes, and we had two hours to complete the tasks. So we were outside Mega waiting for a bus when Yoyo asked another Thai where to go to catch a bus, and they told us to walk to the bus stop. So we walked, and walked, and walked. Mind you, we were walking on the side of a 4 lane highway. FINALLY we found the bus stop and got on a bus and went to central where we took some pictures of us with instruments, one with the roller coaster in the back and even saw some of the staff there spying on us. Next we were told to get off at Index Mall and find "Fah Burger" and we walked down the highway again for like 20 minutes and never found it, but it was after Index Mall it was behind it. It was getting closer to the time we needed to get back, but we wanted to make it to our last stop. It was the market at Ram 2, which I had been two times before. Our task was to take a picture with the moto taxi men, go to the YWAM Bangkok base and take a picture with a man named Paw Pan there and then go into the market find some fried bugs and take a video of two of our team mates eating them.

Music store picture!

Gabie and I decided to do it. I have eaten bugs before, but never in Thailand! I was actually excited. We picked out the silk worms, and they throw them in oil with curry and then give them to you nice and warm. So Gabie and I popped them in. I was expecting them to crunchy, but they were soft and and chewy, which was gross at first but I liked the flavor of them so I ate a few, but then I realized I was eating bugs so I stopped. We got back around 6:15 which was 45 minutes after the time we were supposed to get there, but it was okay. Then we all made slideshows of our videos and pictures, and my team tied for last place which was dumb, because ours was awesome. But its okay because the experience was awesome.

Today has been a hard day. I have really being missing home and just wanting to go back. We had class again and we had two people come from the Bangkok Leadership Team come share with us a little. One thing the lady told us, which really stuck with me was "Live here, be here.God has placed these people, this place in your life right now because He knows what is best for your current season of life." I don't need to worry about missing stuff back in Charlotte, because I know the plan that God has for me on this trip is amazing and it far exceeds anything that home has for my right now. That is a big encouragement that will lsat me for the rest of this trip, and the rest of my life.

Adventures

Today I woke up from the first night sleeping in my room and didn't feel so good. So I got my stuff and walked outside to my mom's little guest room that she stayed the night in. I took a shower in there, and was talking to my mom when I laid down and fell asleep for two hours. After my little nap, I was feeling a little bit better, so I went back in and sat in the kitchen with some people, talking about life and things like that. The first question that was asked was if any of us had a significant other, I laughed when they asked me. Then my mom got her stuff situated and decided she needed to go back to the hotel room. We found Honda, who is on staff and speaks Thai, and he called a cab and made sure they knew where to take my mom.

Kayla came downstairs and asked if anyone wanted to go to Ikea, which I was pumped about because I knew I needed to go and get some things to organize my stuff with. So five girls, Me, Karleen, Kayla, Gillian, and Izeldi started walking. We have to walk all the way out of our neighbor and to the main highway to get a taxi. And it is a really short drive to the Mega Bangna, which is the mall where Ikea is. We got there and went to Big C, which is like a Walmart to get fruit and some water, then we went into Ikea.It was a pretty successful trip, we found everything that we needed! It was after we left Ikea was when the real adventure started. Karleen realized she had left her purse in Ikea, so her and Gillian went back inside to find it and Izeldi, Kayla and I took the cab home, we had the address and everything and he said he knew exactly where to go, but clearly that was a lie. We got so lost, he started driving near downtown and we were all like "Umm this is not right at all". Every minute, we were hoping he was going to make a turn and we would be right where we needed to be. Finally he pulls over, I show him the address which also had Honda's number on it. The driver called Honda, who told him exactly where to go, thank God. Izeldi, Kayla and I couldn't help but laugh, of course this would happen to us and none of us had Thai cell phones so we couldn't call anyone. The driver started backing up and he said he needed to make a u-turn and cross four lanes of oncoming traffic all going well over 100 miles per hour. Kayla couldn't look out her window because she was too scared but Izeldi and I were looking and laughing so hard at our possible fate. But good news, we made it across to the other side safely, and got back to the house in just a few minutes. Kayla had to direct him through the neighborhood and she was pointing the way when we remember that to Thai people, pointing is rude, so we broke out in laughter again, trying to show him the way without pointing. Finally we got home and told everyone the story while still laughing. It was scary, but so funny.

Chaos

Yesterday was so insane. We woke up early  because we had to move out of our hotel room and move my mom into a bigger one because well long story. Turns out we didn't even half to get up early because we couldn't move until two. So we decided to get Thai massages, and it was so amazing. I've never had a normal massage, much more a Thai massage, but it was so great and relaxing. It all part of the have to experience of visit Thailand!


After a lot of confusion with the room and moving, and the ATM  we finally got a cab to take us to my house where i will be living for the next few months. My house is in a gated neighborhood, so the driver got kinda lost but finally we made it. It was so good to finally put faces with names of all the people on my team because I had only known them from facebook. I started unpacking, but i brought the most stuff out of anyone and in a small room with five other girls, it is hard to know where to put stuff. So I really only halfway unpacked and left it. Then we all decided to go to the night market, Mom was going to go home but it got too dark and late we didn't want her taking a taxi and them not knowing where to go, so she went with us too. It just so happened to be the same market that Mom and I went to on the first day, so it was familiar, which was kinda cool. As we walked around, some people were getting really grossed out by the raw meat and the gross smell of the place, but to others it wasn't a big deal at all. Finally we found a little place that had fruit and really delicious drinks and most of us got something from her. I got this hot pink lemon drink, I don't even know what it was because I just pointed to a picture and she made it. It was a slushie and it was so delicious, I'm going to have to go back there and get another one. Then we found another place that had pad thai and  few of us got that and scarfed it down, it was so delicious. Right now that is my favorite Thai meal. Also last night, I got my first Thai bus experience. Instead of paying when you get on, a lady walks around with a tube of money and you give her the coins or bills and she will give you change and then a little ticket. For normal buses it is 10 baht, but for air conditioned buses it is 12 baht, both buses we took last night were air conditioned. We ended up getting off the wrong stop last night for the bus and so we had to walk across the bridge that goes over the highway and then walked down the highway with the traffic, motorcyeles, trucks, and cars speeding past us. It was crazy, but we all thankfully got back safe and sound.

Last night was really fun getting to know everyone and just having a good time. Its cool to be surrounded by people who all come from different countries and have their own stories, and I can't wait to get to know them all better.

The Day of Elephants

Two days ago, Mom and I signed up for another tour that was to The Floating Market, The Elephant Village, Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo, and The Rose Garden. We weren't really sure what it all entailed but we decided to go along for the ride anyway. We had to get up at quarter to 6 to get dressed, eat breakfast, and be ready by the time our ride got to our hotel at 6:45.

First stop: The Floating Market. This was about an hour drive from our hotel in downtown Bangkok. When we got there, we got into a small canoe like boat and we were lead down the canals for about 10 minutes. It was so beautiful, we even saw people riding elephants! When we finally got to the market, they had a place where you could walk and shop, but also a place where you could buy a ticket for a boat and be lead through the actual Floating Market. Now it is a lot more touristy nowadays, but it was still a really cool experience. They were pull your boat off the canals with hooks they had, and show you different products and bargain with you. There were also little boats that sold things like food so you could eat on your way around. It was a really cool place to see even though it is more for tourist now, it was cool!

Second stop: The Elephant Village. This was just about a five minute drive from the Floating Market. When we pulled up, I saw a wooden tower with stairs where people were lied up to get on the back of the elephants to ride them. And I just about lost it with excitement because if you're in Thailand, you have to ride an elephant! So we got in line and waited just a few minutes when the lady pulled us out of the line to go! I climbed unto Patong (the elephant) and there was a little metal seat for my mom and I to sit in. Each elephant had a guide who sat right on his head and our guide just happened to be fantastic and so sweet. Half way through the trial, our guide let me crawl down and sit bare back on the neck of the elephant and ride the rest of the way. It was so amazing, I couldn't believe I was riding on an elephant in Thailand! Then we got to go through the water, and my shoes got so wet, but it was so cool. There were some kids on the ride dancing to Gangnam Style so that was really funny.

Next stop: Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo. Here we also had lunch, which was buffet style, not the best but what can you really expect from a Zoo. We got out tickets from our tour guide and walked inside, and the first thing we saw was a sign that read "Picture with Twin Tigers" and behind the sign lay two tigers fast asleep. I have always thought tigers were cool, but I was so fascinated with them and their color and their giant teeth. Next we walked to the elephant show, that told of the history of elephants while the elephant did all sorts of tricks like they played soccer, play harmonica, and danced. It was so cute. But I think my favorite thing about elephants is when they grab each other tails so they don't get separated, ahh its so precious. After the elephant show, we were supposed to go to the crocodile show, but on our way we saw more elephants in the walk way of the park inside wooden gates. We went over and we could play with them and even feed them. There was a baby that was in a gate with his mommy and he was two months old, probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. We bought some bananas to feed them and it was so cool having them grab the bananas with their trunks right out of your hand. Such a cool experience.

Last stop: The Rose Garden. We only stayed there for about an hour, but we got to go to this show that told more about the culture. It showed different types of music, dance, fighting, and it also showed what a tradition Thai wedding would be life, it was really interesting. After the show, I got to pet a snake that a man was holding, but Mom was too scared to touch it. Then we loaded back on our little bus and headed back to our hotels. It was a jammed packed day, but it was so cool to be able to see and experience those things!

The Grand Palace

This afternoon, Mom and I walked around the block just to see what we would find. I love being able to just roam freely in a foreign country, it makes me feel less of a tourist, yet obviously I am one. But we found this little street market with people selling all sorts of foods, jewelry, shoes, and clothes. We ended up buying a dress and an awesome pair of leggings, so that was very exciting.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to leave for the tour of the Grand Palace. In respect of the temples, we had to dress modestly: no sandals, covered knees and shoulders. But in case you forgot they had shawls and pants outside the walls that you could rent while you were inside, because the guards wouldn't let you in if your dress wasn't modest enough. Once we got inside, I was in complete awe of the buildings. The design on each one of the buildings was absolutely breath taking. On one wall, there was a hand painted depiction of the story of King Rama and the monkeys and the demons. Each building had mirrors, and jewels, and gold all the way up the walls, it was incredible.
While some people visited this site because of their religion, my mom and I visited mainly just to see it and to learn more about Thai culture. It was interesting to hear all about the royal family and the religion practices of Buddhism. In the main temple, which housed the Emerald Buddha, there were monks praying, and people kneeing, bringing flowers, candles, and incenses to him. Different religions interest me because I like to learn about the different things they believe and the different teachings they follow.
While I am not very good with my words on the subject of the beauty of the Palace, I think pictures will help you have a small glimpse of what I experienced today. To see the Grand Palace should be high on the bucket list for everyone, not because of religion but because of the sight and the culture.

 Buddha's temple

 Exterior of one of the buildings

 Mamma and I with one of the "demon guards"

 Part of the royal story painted on the wall

Finally I got internet long enough so I could post on here! Thailand is incredible. We got 3 days ago, and we are enjoying it so much. The first two nights we stayed in the hospitality house of YWAM, and we got to go to the market there and see a lot of authentic Thai. We saw a women cutting the nails off of chicken feet, meats, fruits, and a bunch of foods we did not recognize.
The next day we decided to move into a hotel and be closer to the more tourists parts of Bangkok. We got a taxi and drove about 30 minutes to the center of downtown Bangkok, where our hotel is. It feels like New York City, its amazing. We went to a cute little cafe to have our first official meal in Thailand, Mom had a Hawaiian crepe and I had some pasta, it was delicious. After we checked into our hotel, we walked around downtown, found the mall and went shopping for a few hours. We saw a few Starbucks  When we got back, we sat by the rooftop pool for a little while then snuggled up and watched some Bones (of course).
I am loving Bangkok, while it is hard to think about me not coming back to the states for five months, I am so excited to get my time in this beautiful country. A lot of my team is starting to fly in and arrive, I will meet up with them in the next few days and my school will start early next week.
I am so excited for the next few weeks and months that lie ahead of me! I cant wait to begin forming relationships with the people on my team, and the people of Thailand. I think I am most excited to see all the beautiful sights, I think Thailand has a kind of forgotten beauty, and I cannot wait to experience it.
A few things I definitely want to do:

1.  Go up north to Chiang Mai
2. Go down south to the beaches of Phuket
3. Ride an elephant 

Right now, Mamma and I are going on a tour of the Grand Palace, and I am so excited for this. I shall write another post when we get back later this evening. xoxo