One of the happiest things in life
is sitting at coffee shops and catching up on life. Currently, I am an ocean away, which makes
this a bit challenging. So, imagine if
you will having the following conversation at a lovely little coffee shop. My venti white mocha is steaming before me
and I have just expressed my foolishness for spending $5 on a cup of
coffee. But this statement is quickly
followed by a semi-adequate rationalization of why this was an appropriate use
of funds. I probably already lingered
near the cream and sugar even though I didn’t need either, just so that I could
scope out if anyone was getting up from the couches. Oh look, someone is getting up. Let me quickly, but calmly make my way over
to the brown pleather couch, exchange pleasantries with the departing
individual, and then occupy the freshly vacated couch. So, here I sit comfortably curled up on the
couch ready to have an engaging conversation.
And really by comfortably curled up, I mean somewhat awkwardly
contorted. So here we are, the scene is
set and the conversation can now commence.
So, I
was in Thailand last month and it was pretty cool. I liked it.
We were in Phuket, which is in southern Thailand. We worked with a ministry that helps people
get out of human trafficking. We
completed a wide variety of tasks during our time there. We worked out on a piece of land that they
had obtained for building a larger ministry site, that will be complete with
housing, a recreational area, and ample office and teaching space. We did a lot of painting, weed whacking, and
sawing of bamboo. It was also really
cool to see the renderings of what the site would look like upon completion, so
that we could know what we were working towards. (Look Kyle, I just used renderings in a
sentence. I feel so proud). At night we went out to the bars and met a
ton of people who worked there. We
played a lot of connect 4 and ultimate jenga as we chugged our sprite and red
bulls. While I proved over and over that
I am significantly more skilled at word games than I am at strategy games, I
talked to people about working in the bars and whether they liked it or not. Some said they did and many others said that
they hated it, but didn’t have any other options. We were then able to connect them with the
ministry, so that they could take English classes, jewelry making classes,
and/or hotel training. It is amazing to
me that just learning English can keep someone from needing to be a prostitute
to make a living. Going to the bars was
actually more fun than I thought it would be.
I expected a lot of awkwardness, but it really wasn’t. And even though I shamed myself repeatedly by
playing connect 4, it was still rather enjoyable being regulars at the bar and
getting my beverage of choice without asking for it and more
importantly-getting free food. So all in
all, bar ministry-success. We also had
some pretty awesome weekends. There was
a mall close by, where you could get subs and smoothies and Starbucks. This was a welcome change from curry and
ginger everything. But admittedly more
exciting than the mall, were the beaches we went to. They were amazing! We went on a speedboat tour of the Phi Phi
Islands, and oh sweet gracious I have never seen such clear blue water in my
life. It was beautiful! We swam and snorkeled and just lay on the
beach. It was so great. So, I feel like those are the highlights of
Thailand. And now enjoy that which is
worth significantly more than the word count that has just been scrawled.
This is the land post weed whacking.
Elizabeth and I painting.
Bekah and I with 2 girls who worked at the bars.
From our tour of the Phi Phi Islands.
Swimming pool or ocean water?
Thailand is beautiful!
