This morning, I woke up around the same time as my roommate, made myself some Costa Rican coffee, and got ready for work at the bookstore.
1 year earlier, I got on a plane to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I had just lost my passport in Shanghai, recovered it, and ran with my squad leader, Kat, to make our flight to Thailand. 15 hours of sleeping, playing airplane games, and eating funky airplane food and I landed with half my squad in the capitol. We had trouble with our bags getting checked, as they tried to scam us Americans, but luckily our logistics duo got it all squared away. The next big ordeal was figuring out the most efficient way to move 18 bags from international shipping to domestic. The problem: the Bangkok airport has many levels with flat escalators connecting them all. So we embarked on this bag adventure. We positioned at least 6 bags on a single bag carrier and rolled them onto the snaking escalators. Naturally, me and a couple other squadmates were sitting on the bags, so when we hit a slight bump on the escalator, we all went tumbling. Bags rolling down the slant, racers scrambling to grab them before the top, it was a mess. Somehow, though, we made it. We made it on the final flight. We made it to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We arrived late that night. Walking out of the airport, bright eyed and fresh hearts, we met the first handful of Long-term staff from Zion. We piled way too many bags on top of the Seongtews and filed in. I remember staring out the open windows just in awe at what would be my home for the next 2 months. Zibby was playing the song Wedgie for all to enjoy as the night lights reflected the wet pavement. It was about a 30 minute drive to the hostel. The other half of the squad that skipped the Bangkok flight and flew directly to Chiang Mai was waiting for us there. We disembarked the Seongtews and waited outside our new home as they collected passports and distributed keys. I was in room 6 with Ashlynn, Sam, Morgan, and Olivia. Little did I know how much I would love that room. Little did I know I would go room to room every single night to say goodnight to my new family. Little did I know I would wake up at the crack of dawn just to watch my Father’s sunrise over the city from the roof. Little did I know that Thailand wouldn’t just be home for 2 months, but that it would make a place in my heart that will never leave. I found my second home. And today, I’m sitting on my couch in my dorm pursuing the dream that I found 1 year ago today.
This week has had a lot of emotions that have come along with it. I miss my people. I miss my kids. I miss travelling to the places I grew to love. I would give anything to go back. But, this season has also been so sweet. I’ve met a lot of incredible people in the last few weeks. I’ve begun the process of obtaining my degree so that I can better serve the people I grew to love so so much. I’m learning my place as an American college student. It’s hard, but it’s growing and stretching and beautiful. And the biggest thing I’m learning in this season is that Jesus is present in every single moment, regardless of if I’m painting at an orphanage with my team, or if I’m studying the chemical properties of water. He is there.
In honor of it being the one year anniversary AND me getting my phone back from Columbia (long story message me for details) attached is the final video I had been working on before I lost my phone: Ecuador part 4.
Music: What a Beautiful Name sung at the last worship night of the race.
