It’s been about two months since my last update and BOY HOWDY has a lot happened since then! If you took notice of my title, you’ve probably arrived at the conclusion that I’m now in Asia! Cambodia and Thailand are where I spent my last two months and where…*pause for effect*…MY PARENTS CAME TO SEE ME! We had a PVT (Parent Vision Trip) and my parents got the opportunity to visit me in Thailand and take a look into what my life has been like for the past nine months. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, what better way to share what these past two months have looked like than to overload this post with a ton of pictures, right?
The Thing About Cambodia
The thing about the food:
I ate a lot of good food! Lots of veggies with noodles and waaaaay too many fruit smoothies to count. I was a regular consumer of a noodle, egg, chicken dish sold by my favorite locals from their street cart up the road. And the best part – IT WAS ONLY $1.50 FOR THE WHOLE MEAL. I don’t know about you, but a big portion of what makes a meal great for me is the price. Again, I’m pretty sure I drank my weight in fruit smoothies, but only because everyone, their aunt, and their dog sold them on every street corner.
The thing about the markets:
Since Siem Reap’s tourist attraction is the massive temple, Angkor Wat, the markets were fairly large. They sold everything from clothes to jewelry to souvenirs to fresh meat and veggies all in the same space. Raw meat would be lying on the tables and people would be sitting in the middle of the produce they were selling. It was in places like this I realized how different this country was from home, and what another world it was.
The thing about the ministry:
We taught English twice a day; once in the afternoon at a village under a tent with a whiteboard, three tables, and some chairs and one more time in the evening at a school in a classroom. The village had more primary and elementary aged kids while the classroom settings at the school were filled with older middle school and high school students. We had multiple classrooms at the school that needed teachers, so we split our group. My friend, Matt, and I taught together and focused mostly on vocabulary and grammar. With the younger kids, our team often taught and did some games, songs, and a bible story. Near the end of our time with the older kids, we got the opportunity to show them the Jesus Film in their native language. It was rewarding to be involved in a ministry that practically supported the children’s future.
The thing about the people:
I loved all of my students so much. Trying to communicate to you the love I have for them would take another blog, a video update, and probably a novel. “Cha” is the common phrase used for us as teachers and it was a nickname I came to love. The students and the people there in general are shy. They would rather say nothing than make an attempt to speak English and fail; a “save face” culture. The major religion there is Buddhism with aspects of Hinduism mixed in, so the culture is very driven by shame and guilt. Their focus is doing good to gain good merit, and, therefore, having good karma.
The thing that was most foreign to me:
As this was my first visit to Asia, everything felt new and different. The constant movement, the chaotic traffic, the behavior of people, and the contrast between privilege and poverty. Oddly enough, the way of life and standard of living reminded me a lot of Central America.
The Thing About My Parents
I had all four parents visit me at the beginning of my time in Thailand and WOW. WHAT. A. TIME.
Our scheduled time was booked with cultural orientations, sessions, activities for both the racers and the parents and worship put on by our squad. We spent our time in Chiang Mai. The city was full of smog and the air was rather bad, so we were encouraged to wear mouth coverings when we were outside. Sounds of cars, motorcycles, honks, and people yelling into their cell phones surrounded us more often than not. While the area could be overstimulating at times, I was grateful that my parents were getting to experience the culture shock that I experience each month.
I loved having all of my parents with me. My mindset before they came was quickly moving towards “I can’t wait to be done. I can’t wait to be home.” But seeing them left me feeling full! They loved me so intentionally and poured into me every chance they got while they were over here. My mindset turned from “I have to“ to “I get to.” I now get two more months left to pour into others and I plan to finish my race with the same excitement and intentionality that I had when I first started.
The Thing About Thailand
The thing about the ministry:
Myself and a team of five other girls spent this last month on a fish farm! Daily tasks included walking around chest-deep in the ponds, setting up/tearing down nets, feeding the fish, retrieving eggs, and chopping down bamboo that would later be used as posts for the nets. We were able to bring in some extra manual labor for our hosts, so they could better prepare for their next season. I highly value transformation and seeing the end results of projects, so it was incredibly rewarding for me to see the tangible fruits of our labor.
The thing about our hosts:
We stayed with Peter and Ruthie Dutton and they treated us like their own children. We were spoiled with Ruthie’s homemade meals, their washer and dryer for our clothes, and some of the best hospitality and generosity I’ve experienced on the field. We were their focus and ministry while we stayed there. Hands down, they are some of the most selfless, Kingdom-minded people I’ve met. Not to mention they have a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor that made our stay all the better.
The thing about where we stayed:
We stayed on a 12 acre property in Roi Et, Thailand owned by an organization that’s partnered with Peter and Ruthie’s church. The property has multiple ponds, farm land for crops, storage buildings, housing for guests, a church, an office building, their home, and the homes of the farm workers. I bonded most with two workers, Bong, 39, and her daughter, Noey, 17. Spending all day with someone for two weeks straight bonds you. It was sad leaving, but getting to know them along with Peter and Ruthie made the hard goodbye worth it. We also had numberous interactions with random animals, including a snake, who you’ll see me “kissing” below. 🙂
The thing about the Thai new year:
We got to celebrate Songkron, a three day long celebration of the Thai new year. They celebrate with a country-wide water fight. We all piled into the back of a couple trucks with buckets of water and took for the streets. We made a day of it. We went to the beach, enjoyed the sun, embraced the culture, and blinded the locals with our white thighs. We left early in the morning and didn’t get back until dark. We returned drenched and exhausted, but it was easily one of the most fun, memorable days I’ll have from the Race.
To sum it up, Asia’s been good to me so far. I can’t wait to dive into these next two months and then after that I’ll finally make my way home. As always, I hope you enjoyed the read!
Thank you all for your constant support and your investment into my life.
You are greatly appreciated!
All my love,
Alyx
