1) Our first weekend in Chiang Mai we were sent on an orientation scavenger hunt around the city to visit important landmarks and enjoy some cultural experiences. Not only did we survive the 3 hour trek in the hot hot heat, but team Jacob won!
2) Weekend one in Thailand, Team Jacob headed to the mountains outside of Chiang Mai for an Unsung Heroes trip. We stayed one night at a children’s home and another night deep in the mountains at a remote village. We spent time with the people there, toured their mountain side strawberry farms, ate on the floor family style, and slept on the same wooden floor we ate on. They sleep about 10 people to a house, have no plumbing or electricity, and are debatably the kindest most joyful people I’ve ever met in my entire life.
3) The Kroi Latrhong lantern festival happens twice a year in Thailand. We were lucky enough to get to experience one of those times! It was the most magical site I’ve ever seen and I had an incredible time lighting lanterns of hope up into the deep night sky with my favorite S Squad family.
4) Riding elephants and cuddling with tigers. Do I even need to say anything else?
5) The FOOD in Thailand is incredible. I learned to make my favorite, pumpkin curry, and will be making it a regular on my stove top when I get back to life in the states for anyone that wants to stop by to try some.
6) Thai pants. One size fits all, colorful, comfy, $3, pieces of heaven. Dress em up, dress em down. Doesn’t matter, just wear them!
7) Our last week in Thailand was spent busing 10 hours to Bangkok to live in a small slum community with a future Adventures In Missions ministry contact. We dove into life quickly, getting to meet the community, pray for the sick, and learn to cook and eat like real Thai people! It was my favorite 4 days of the month and was so much harder to leave than you’d think after just 4 days.
8) The Hunger Games: Catching Fire came out while we were in Thailand! We saw it in IMAX the night it came out for only $6 …and it was so good we saw it again the next week! The movie experience in Thailand far outweighs any movie experience I’ve had in America. Sorry folks.
9) Thailand has been a hot spot for racers to get new tattoos and piercings for years. We couldn’t leave the month without getting some of our own!
10) As the Unsung Heroes team, we often times had a fairly flexible schedule. This allowed us the time to, most every morning, get up and spend an hour together as a team in prayer and worship. It was without a doubt my favorite bonding memories from the month and I loved the unification it brought to us. We’d pray for our squad mates–both here on the field with us & back home in the states, for direction with Unsung Hero contacts & meetings, and for our friends & family members back home that we miss so dearly.
11) Slapsgiving! Back in Honduras (3 months ago) I spent 4 days doing construction at Heart of Christ ministry with the men, and Jillian, of Team Frureo. We dedicated an entire afternoon to making slap bets (refer to TV show, “How I Met Your Mother” if you’re unfamiliar). One of those slap bets was with Clay who bet he would not cut his hair for the entire 11 months of the race. Andrew, Zack and I all stepped up to shake on it–knowing there was no way he’d make it to the end without caving to the scissors. Sure enough month 5 got the best of Clayton, and as handsome as he looks with his great new do, the slap bet was lost by him. At our squad Thanksgiving our last night in Thailand we got up in front of everyone and took our turns at serving the sentence of losing the bet. I know this sounds violent and wrong and not something that should ever be on my favorites list, but I’m sorry I’m not sorry. That slap was one of the most exhilarating and hilarious moments of my race thus far. We love you Clay! The rest of us have our own slaps coming back to us soon enough.
