it started at sunrise

the fan: friend to all

[and aesthetically: my new favorite thing]

well i've officially been here for a week. but it really does feel like it's been longer than that.

but now i've worked two days at the orphanage and well...

the moment i met a few of the kids i'll be working with, i couldn't believe how beautiful they all were.

i think anna might be right, thai babies are the cutest.

i also couldn't believe how instantly accepting they were of me, running up and grabbing hold of my legs and looking up at me with

the biggest smiles. now that doesn't mean they really remembered me the next day, but i'm sure that will change with time.

i work split shifts everyday starting nice and early at 5 in the morning. but i get to watch the sunrise everyday on my bike ride to agape so i'm not complaining. i get off at 9am then i don't start again till 3:30pm then i get off around 7ish.

seeing as i'm not quite fluent in thai yet, i was worried it would be hard to work with the kids. but as cliche as it may seem, the language of making my checks puff out and then squishing them to evoke laughter is universal. glad i came fully prepared with an immaculate ability to look ridiculous, it comes in pretty handy. i work with the 17 kids in the 2 to 5 year old group where nothing they say really makes sense no matter what language they speak so that's also a plus.

so far the greatest challenge is learning their names, which stresses me out at times because i worried i've mispronounced it and instead said something insulting. but on the flip side, patricia is proving to be a near impossible name to say for thais'. so in a stubborn effort to refrain from any labeling as patty or, god forbid, pat [shutter], my name has kind of become 'tish'. which ironically, my dannish roommates inform me that tish is the word for pee in well, dannish. awesome.

my midday break is prime time for lounging around the house watching pirated episodes of 'friends' with my roommates or biking to wawee coffee to check email. on monday, my roommates Maiken and Camilla and i biked to the really nice pool in the moo ban next to ours and relaxed in the cool water for a couple of hours, so good.

spending time with my roommates has been so great, i've really enjoy getting to know them a little bit better everyday. it's weird to think of making friends at agape when people come and go so much, like all three of my dannish roommates will be gone by january. yet at the same time, new volunteers will be coming. i think this will be a true test on how i build relationships with people. i think i'm going to learn a lot more about what it will mean to be intentional with people.

[my first injury, i got off

the wrong side of a motorbike

and burned my leg]

at the same time, i'm going to be hanging out with amy and sarah this weekend and it's good to know i have people close by who know me so well already. after seeing them earlier this week, it was a good to know that when things get hard, i won't have to say anything if i come over and lay my head on their shoulders.

i love what i'm doing. i am so blessed.

oh and for those who like the post office...

here is my mailing address if you ever feel the calling to send me a little note or two...

c/o Agape Home

P.O. Box 95

Chiang Mai 50000

Thailand

short and simple.

i'll write you back, and maybe even send you a little thai treat.

i just saw a big bug fly into a fan and get shot across the room. awesome.

as it begins

hello lovlies...

it is an overcast yet beautiful and hot day in chiang mai.

i got a chance to really sleep today which was wonderful and since i don't start working at the orphanage till

monday, i've had this weekend to settle in and get some rest.

yesterday was my start

of thai experiences. i bought a fruit called pomela for my frist breakfast, which is kind of like grapefruit but in my opinion, better. the morning was kind of lazy, just

stuck

photos on the wall in my room and watched "friends" with my

housemates.

[from r to l: my housemates hanna, camilla, mincahn, and sarah]

for lunch my housemates and i took a song-tow [basically a taxi] to their friend jasmine's house where she made us amazing thai food! it was absolutely delicious, and as i watched her cook i couldn't believe how easy it was to make. we had this soup that had a complicated name i don't remember and a stir fry lettuce called pah bong. jasmine was so welcoming and hospitable, she even carried an umbrella over my head as she walked us back out to the main road. granted, it was not from rain but to keep us from getting sunburned.

on every friday, my housemates go to dinner at the house of one of the women who works at the orphanage named jane. we rolled out mats and all sat on the floor as jane brought us about ten different little dishes of food that she bought at the market. i tried a little of everything and EVERYTHING was so good. it was a wonderful evening as we sat around talking about the difference in our cultures, like the many ways we all celebrate christmas and other things.

i've already started to learn a lot about thai culture from what my roommates tell me and it's really interesting to hear about their own cultures as well. it's weird talking to people who's first language is not english and having them ask me what certain words are. i never thought i'd be in that position but it gives me hope that as i start to learn thai, that even if i don't say things quite right, people will probably still understand me.

i can't wait to start work at the orphanage and meet the children. monday will be an exciting day.

who da thunk

so i made it. chiang mai is a real city, i would know, i'm in it.

and wow, i don't even know what to think.

the trip over was not to horrible, though i slept over night in the taipei airport. i felt like a stowaway hiding out from authorities because there was absolutely no one around the whole night and i kind of made my bed in a hidden little corner. and other than not really sleeping at all for the past two days, the journey was good and i am glad to have made it all in one piece. my friends sarah and amy [two of my roommates from spokane who are also living in chiang mai] met me at the airport, it was so good to see their lovely faces.

i'm at a coffee shop called wawee coffee, which i guess is the starbucks of thailand. i'm sipping on a lovely lemon tea and watching the geckos scurry along the ceiling. i moved into my house right away and met my housemates. I'll be living with 4 others girls, three of them are from denmark. my roommate sarah is from texas and i can't even count how many times she said y'all to me today, it was awesome.

i don't start my orientation at the orphanage till monday so i have the next couple of days to settle in and start getting lost in translation.

i'm going off to the market in a bit to buy a little food and a sim card for my phone.

hopefully i will have pictures to post soon!

not quite yet

so i'm not in thailand yet...

but it's five days in counting and my heart is starting to swell. after much frustration with visa stuff and shots and all the preliminary upsets,

i'm ready to be done with this waiting period and GO.

i've been thinking a lot lately about how this next year is going to change me forever. which, when i say it like that seems ridiculous because i have no idea what's in store for me...i can't help but wonder. especially because everyone i've been talking to lately seems to bring that up within 3 minutes once the topic of my thailand excursion comes up in a conversation.

I DON'T KNOW WHO I'LL BE IN A YEARS TIME.

but i think i'll be different, even if it's just the edges of me.

i'm excited, i'm scared, and i think most of all i'm clueless.

but i'm going...