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.