there are 3 types of people

SAWASDEE KAH! We are here livin’ it up in Thailand. It is day one and it’s been a spectacular day. We got up this morning and went for coffee at 9:30 at the YWAM (youth with a mission) café. We all got either hot or cold coffee drinks with a toast sandwich with jam or peanut butter and bananas. It was SO good! After that, we had an orientation time at the YWAM center. Then we ate lunch at the Turtle Café. When we got there, our plates were set with rice piled up in the shape of a turtle. We had about 3 different types of chicken, a stir-fry, and an egg omelet to try with our rice. The crowd favorite was the cashew chicken but Sam and I favored the omelet. Then we were set off in groups of 4 to go on a scavenger hunt. In my group was Nikki, Ben, and Karin. We started off going back to the Turtle Café and buying the cheapest desert and sharing it. For 15 baht we got a dessert the size of maybe a half dollar to share. It was rather funny sharing it with four people. The dessert was good. It tasted like a lemon frosting thingy. And then we moved on to find another coffee shop, which we didn’t find for a long time. On the way though we were walking and a dog jumped out right in front of Karin which scared me quite a bit and then 3 other dogs came out from under the truck we were walking past. It is crazy how many stray dogs are just running around here. But we kept moving on and we found this grocery store and went into it to find the names of some whitening cream. It is ridiculous how many skin whitening products there are here. The girls here desire to have white skin which is kinda ironic considering I go outside to tan and these girls walk around with umbrellas so they don’t tan. Kyla and I were talking later about how weird it is to have all these skin whitening stuff, but then realized how we have the same except to be tan. Funny stuff. Back to the scavenger hunt, we found the skin stuff and next we had to find the market. So, we decided to ask a Thai person where it was. I tried to ask where it was in Thai and got no response. The woman just walked away. We were a bit confused, then realized she was looking for a person who could speak English. Then we got directions and went on our way. The market was interesting. There was a lot of fruit and then in the second market, there were lots of fish and meat. The odor there was almost intolerable. After buying some dried mango strips and 4 dragon fruit, we left the market area and came back to YWAM. We had a little bit of down time then until we went to eat with at this little YWAM building. It was a building but where we were at was a room with no walls, open to the outside. Kyla, Anita, Nikki, and I played a game with the people who were all about high school to college age. We aren’t quite for sure what we were playing or how to play, but all we knew was we had to throw these 2 lb. iron balls in this dirt pit and try to hit the green target. It was fun. Anita, Nikki, and I were on a team with a girl named A and we hadn’t been doing to well so we had a huddle, she talked a bit to us, and then had us put our hands together and say “SU” which means victory. I think we won the next round, but overall we lost. We ate, the same meal as earlier, but it was still good. Following that, we had a time of worship. It was fun. Some songs were in Thai and some in English so it was interesting but still fun to watch the Thai people worship. We sang a few that made me think of good old SC and WMW so it was a treat to my soul. And now we’re all getting ready for bed. Thanks for all your prayers. Tomorrow will be a treat. We are touring 2 temples and then fly out for Phuket where the real fun begins.

If you’re still reading, this probably means you are a person I love and miss.
Love you family, WMW pals, SISTER, sisters, brother and anyone else reading.

Leah