No, I didn’t go to jail.
We entered our final full week in Thailand working as English teachers at the police academy in Lampang. Josh, Kelsey, Jess, and Derek had gone the week before so they knew a lot for how to prepare for teaching the police academy students English. I was so excited to put my teaching skills to use again since that is what I did when I worked at Colorado State University.
Our van arrived at 9am to drive us the two hours to Lampang. Pi Jimmy loaded us all up into the Tourist Police Van and we drove to pick up Pi Oie. These two are most definitely some of my favorite people in the world and I’ve not even known them a week yet. Their kindness and hospitality is better than even people in the South! They are so witty and humorous too that they kept us laughing the whole ride.
We arrived in style to a warm welcome and a wonderful introduction to our first group of students. We then had a fabulous lunch and time talking with some of the administration. Teaching classes over the next two days was one of my favorite things I’ve done on the world race. Seeing the eagerness that the boys had to learn was refreshing and the hilarious reenactments of tourist scenarios made me laugh so much. (They are training to be tourist police in Chiang Mai).
During our free time at the academy, Pi Oie, Pi Jimmy, and Pi Lucky took us and Neil (a wonderful friend of Team DORA from Liverpool) to see a temple that was really five temples in one place and to the most amazing market I’ve yet been to in Asia. We had fried donuts and grilled catfish for breakfast. And it was delicious.
We wanted to bless these wonderful hosts for their kindness to us so we went out to dinner on Friday night with them. They are ridiculous and picked somewhere they got to eat for free because they are policemen. It is a highly respectable job here in Thailand. They are treated with the utmost respect. Dinner was so fun and we have had so many great conversations with them about Jesus and about Buddhism and why we are on the race. I am encouraged by the conversations we had. After dinner, which turned out to be dinner with a traditional Thai dance show, we all were going to see the shrine to the Holy Monk. Dani, Lydia and I rode in one of the actual tourist police cars with the siren and lights going. It might have been one of the coolest experiences of my life. People all moved out of the way and we made our way there in half the time it would have taken.
After visiting the shrine to the holy monk, we saw the station that they work in. It was so much fun. We thought the evening was over but not with Pi Oie at the helm. We went to a mall that had an America grocery store and I may have bought pop tarts, peanut butter, and frosted flakes. After everyone had shopped in the grocery, we went up to the roof, which was filled with bars and cafes crowded with young people. But we went around these to one of the most spectacular views in all of Chiang Mai. We could see all over the city and the view was breathtaking. Pi Lucky and I were talking and he threw his arm around my shoulder and said “You are like my daughter.” I was so touched. He is such an interesting man. I could write an entire blog on each of these three amazing men.
We then left the mall and went back to our hostel. As we all climbed out of the cars, the final goodbyes were said and tears definitely came. Pi Oie asked us to pray to our God, which was huge for us. Jess prayed over the group and I will never forget the feeling of Pi Oie and Pi Lucky squeezing the life out of my hand. I will carry them forever with me in my heart and prays.
As we prepare to leave for Cambodia on Tuesday, I am trying to reflect on all that God has done this month. I’ve released some things, begun to pull back more layers into the wounds that are not healed, the memories that still haunt me, and stepped into more confidence as I learn to depend on my team. I am excited for the promises next month holds. We will be at International Theological College and Seminary in Phnom Penh, Cambodia teaching in the seminary and college. This is going to be a great month for me to use some of the talents I developed in graduate school. Love you all!
