I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears
Psalm 34:4
I see the Golden Gate Bridge fade into the background and it hits me once again that it is the last time I will see America for 10 months. What did I just get myself into and are there any parachutes available on this plane? I have barely been able to hold back the tears since I said goodbye to my parents this morning and as I settle in the 13 hour flight to Wuhan, China, put in my headphones and stare out the window, I finally get up the courage to read the notes that my family wrote to me in my journal. While this obviously doesn’t help the crying problem I’ve been having, it reminds me that this is right and that this journey will be one of the best yet.
Midday on Saturday January 3rd, we stumble out of our bus and into our hostel somewhere in Chiang Mai. I’ve been asleep on and off for our 10-hour ride from Bangkok. My body has no idea what day or time it is, as it’s now been about 40 hours since I arrived at SFO with my parents on January 1st. The exhaustion is very real. We spend the day learning about Thai culture and getting a little bit acclimated. We are all fighting the urge to fall asleep. We are finally free for the night around 7 and although I should stay awake longer, I find a spot on the floor of the meeting room for my sleeping pad and have no trouble falling asleep. (There are about 20 girls on our squad and we are all staying in one large room.) After sleeping for what feels like the entire night, I wake up and check my watch to see it is 11:23pm. I have slept for 4 hours and know it will be a long night.
After a night of on and off sleep I get up early on Sunday and then basically spend the whole day crying. I cry when I read my Bible and when I get a text from my dad. I cry when the kitchen doesn’t make enough of plates of food and I think I won’t get to eat breakfast. I would think this is strange except at least half of the strangers I am with who are quickly becoming my friends are also experiencing the same thing. Thankfully, Sunday isn’t all tears. We take a scavenger hunt around the city. Also, my name is randomly drawn out of a hat so I get to sleep in a bed, which is a huge blessing since I started feeling sick on the scavenger hunt. God is taking care of me.
Monday is a new day. I am feeling much better. We do training in the morning and then have some free time in the afternoon and evening. A group of us head out to explore and find something fun to do. We end up at a fish spa. We have little fishies munch on our toes for about 15 minutes. Supposedly it is good for your skin, but mostly it just tickles. After this I head back to the hostel and meet up with some friends who are in Chiang Mai on vacation. We have dinner together at the café in our hostel. It is such a blessing to see them and just what I need after a very overwhelming first few days. At our evening meeting we are told to be packed and ready to go by 7am on Tuesday morning because we will be heading out to camp for the rest of the week. I am excited to use my tent for the first time, but hoping it doesn’t rain.
Sending my love,
Cal
