During the month of February I found myself living in a small fishing village in Thailand. Not at all where I expected to be however, by this stage of the game I have learned not to white knuckle any expectations or have my heart set on anything until I am living it. Last month I got exactly what I needed! A lot of things were starting to catch up to me; this tends to happen more when I’m in the middle of nowhere. I started feeling home sick and just tired. To be frank I was tired of everything which frustrated me even more and l found myself overwhelmed and disengaged. It did help that my team had amazing mission hosts who went above and beyond taking us to breathtaking places we would not have been able to see on our own. They even made us breakfast on occasion. My team ended up having a week without our contacts because of a prior engagement they had before they knew we were coming. Dana and Cindy gave us full range of their house while they were gone. I lounged on a couch for the first time in months and watched T.V, the small things we forget we miss until we have them back. Just being alone for a week did more for me then I realized at the time.
My Teammate Keryn’s mom wanted to treat us and planned a phenomenal day for us at Phi Phi Island. We were able to relax while snorkeling, kayaking and spending time on monkey beach. It was more than any of us could have imagined and exactly what our team needed. Thank you so much Mom Senn!!!!
I spent the majority of my time going to school with Cindy as her helper teaching English at two schools. I fell in love with all of the kids right away. I learned that language is not important at all when giving love. I speak minimal Thai and cannot carry a conversation very far; however, I made sure that every student got a high five and hug from me. My heart melted when I would walk in to a room and multiple students with thick Thai accents were yelling my name. I loved every second of my time at the schools, from grading work books to playing clapping games with the little girls. I truly learned the power of a smile this month and how much it can mean to a child. I don’t know any of their stories but know that many of them the smile and hug they receive in the class room could very well be the only one they get.
