I spent last week with Team Poaday (pronounced “poh-uh-day,” not “poh-dee”) outside of Sisophoan at a small village church. In the mornings we would do house visits, and in the afternoon we would teach English to the kids. We were at least a 30-minute tuk tuk ride from any form of air conditioning or internet. We had squatty potties and (cold) bucket showers – for those of us who elected to shower. There were more bugs than I care to recount. Including dive-bombing ants. And it was one of my favorite weeks of the Race thus far.
Why? A few reasons.
First, this setup was the most “World Race-y” that I’ve experienced so far. Being outside of the city, in the boonies was really nice. I could run again! The people that we were serving lived in conditions that 6 months ago I would have found unacceptable, but now I am honored to be invited in to the one-room shack. And, these folks are so content with the little that they have, it makes me so grateful and aware of all that I do have.
Second, the concerns of internet and email were distant thoughts – literally. For a few days, I didn’t have to worry about all of the emails that I wasn’t seeing because there was nothing I could do about them. And it was glorious.
And last, but perhaps most importantly: Ma. Ma is the wife of the pastor that we were working alongside. Pastor speaks no English, so Ma is our translator (she speaks very broken English). Also, Ma and Pastor are caring for a handful of their grandkids because the parents are in Thailand for work (and several other village children constantly are present). Ma is the sweetest little grandmother. The team warned Logan and me when we arrived that Ma loves to feed the team. She watches them eat so that she can refill their plates as well as figure out what they like. So imagine her delight at feeding two men. She was so happy to refill our plates a second and third time. It was the cutest thing. There was one day when it was threatening to rain at dinner time (the table was outside), so she stood there praying for the rain to hold off while we ate. Yeah, she’s that awesome.
So thanks to the bugs, the team, and Ma for an incredible week; one I’ll not soon forget.
