The beautiful day! 4 of 4

Here are a few pics of what we did on the second day! So much fun! The picture of me with the crab...that was my dinner! It was alive a bit before I ate it! Crazy! It was good! I got to hit it with bamboo to break the shell and then I had to dig the meat out. It was hard at first but then I got the hang of it! :) I hope you are all proud of me for being open to such strange food to me! :) Then I got to feed an elephant! It was eating cucumbers and I got to feed him! So cute! I can't wait to ride one soon!

Sunrise 3 of 4

I was WAY too tired to get out of bed at 5 a.m. but two of my friends wanted to. They took my camera and took the pictures of the sunset! Oh man is it beautiful! The Lord is so creative and knows what true beauty looks like! There is a picture of our room from the outside! It was nice! Lunch came from these men who walk around the island carrying food in these baskets. I was not hungry because breakfast was big but some of our group ate from these men!

The first night 2 of 4

Seafood is all they had on the island and so...I ate it and it was good! I had crab, shell fish, prawn, shrimp, and fish. After dinner we walked on the beach and relaxed! Where we were staying they had a swing out front so we sat on the swing and sang American music! The people here sing all the songs but they do not understand the meanings so it is so funny to listen to them! :) Then a funny thing happened with the rooms so the four of us girls shared one bed! We all slept in the same bed! It was so much and not too bad! It is a gift that I do not move much when I sleep! :)

My first vacation!! 1 of 4

Vacation here means one day off in a week. CRAZY but it is ok! :) A group of my friends and I went to an island about 2 hours away from Bangkok! It was Beautiful! We had a fantastic time! I will post 4 blogs about my trip highlighting different parts! It was so great! In a very small car, 6 of us fit. It was crazy! 4 girls in the back and 2 guys in the front! I have posted the picture of the 4 girls! Once we got to the shore we took a taxi to the port. The taxi's here are totally not to US code! :) But they are fun! The pics are of us on the way to Samet Island!

First day teaching!

Well, here they are, me in action! It is fun to be back in the classroom! I totally forgot how fun it is to teach! I LOVE watching others learn! They are shy on the first day but by the end, they were talking and working together! I will meet with these students every Tuesday and Friday for the next 3 weeks! They are so great! I wish you could all be here watching me teach English...man is it funny! I can barely spell and I don't really get the tenses but I am doing a great job speaking! :) You all know how much I like to talk! I hope you can get a taste of what it is like here!

Doulos Boat

On Monday a group of us went to a boat on the river. This boat is run my OM missions. It is a book boat. All English book and it travels all over the world. The crew changes every year and they serve by bringing supplies, such as teaching English tools, Bibles, commentaries, fictional books, children's books, and many more things! It was a fun day! You will see a picture of me with Ann Bowman. She is from VCC, my church, and she is here to hang out with me and see that everything is going well! It is fun to have her here! She leaves tomorrow to go back to CA!

Baptism

Last week we baptized 7 people. Two people at the morning service and 5 in the afternoon! The Lord is doing amazing things here! All to His Glory! :) Here are a few pictures from the baptism. Fon, the girl in the photo with me, she is very special to me. She is one of the first people here to apply to the English program. She had accepted the Lord a few years ago but had never come to church because she was afraid people would not talk with her. But because of the English program she came to apply and then told us she was a Christian. It is so great to see the Lord changing her life as she is now a member of our church! She has brought two of her best friends to church and both have accepted the Lord! What a beautiful thing a testimony is! WOW!!! Please continue to pray for her and her friends as they are discipled here at Tai Church!

Cambodia

Yesterday I had to head to Cambodia to extend my passport. It was a crazy experience since I was alone once I crossed into Cambodia. I made it back with a one month extension and all my body parts! So many people were following me, trying to sell me things. It sort of felt like TJ Mexico and all the little kids with the gum. I rushed over the boarder and back as fast as I could. I will be traveling to Cambodia in February for a week so I will see it then! :) Here are a few photos of the trip! The girls in the picture with me were the waitresses at the restaurant for lunch. They served us and then sat at a table across from us and stared at my for a very long time. Then they asked if I could take a picture with them and send it to them. They were sweet but did not speak any English. People stare wherever I go...it is a strange feeling.

Starbucks!!

So, I have been here a month and not seen a Starbucks on the street. So sad for me right...well, on the way home from the staff retreat we stopped for lunch and 4 shops down the street was STARBUCKS!!! I had an iced coffee latte! Oh man was it good! Inside, as you can see from the photo, looks just like America. A little taste of home! :) It is an expensive treat but every once in awhile I will treat myself, if I find one near my home! Until then, I found a cute coffee shop named "Peaches" and they are very sweet to me! They know my name and what I want to drink! I am building friendships around town so it is nice!

At the Zoo

Our Staff went on a retreat at a zoo in the province ChonBuri. It was beautiful!
There was a funny thing at the zoo...HORSES!! And those of you from Los Al will appreciate this...they had hippos! I got to see hippos! :) So fun and it made me think of you guys! :) At the zoo they had an animal show with birds. The kids loved this!! Afterwards we got to take a picture with the bird! It was fun! The kids loved the zoo! They are so cute!!

Water Taxi in beautiful Thailand!!

This is beautiful Thailand! The picture is an island near Bangkok that I got to visit with my friend Ning and Golf! We had a great time! Isn't it beautiful!!




This is a water taxi that we took to get to a restaurant for lunch the day we went to visit the island! Super fun to take water taxi's although we get a little wet sometimes! :)

Friends

I have so many precious friends! This is one of them, her name is Boom! She is so super sweet and gives me a hug every time I see her! She does not speak much English but she smiles and we try to communicate!

The smile you see on her face is the same smile on all the faces of the people that I get to work with! I love their smiles, their hearts, and their hugs! I feel really blessed to be with the Thai friends that I have!! Thank you, Lord for this blessing! All your prayers are making a difference here! :)

This weekend our church had a retreat and I was able to teach the kids! They do not speak English and the girl I had helping me did not either! It was a day of sign language and shirades (however you spell it!) I taught them in English about creation! We had lots of fun saying the names of the animals in English and then they made me say them in Thai! Oh so cute! I love hugging all of them! :)

Delivery Truck

This is a picture of a delivery truck bringing my fridge to my room. This vehicle is street safe for Thailand! Half the cars on the street would be illegal in the US! :) It makes it fun! No seat belts are required and there are not really any rules you have to follow as you drive! Great for 16 year old boys!! :)