I wish I could think of a less cheesy way to put this but....Wow! June sure has gone by fast! Here's an overview of what has been going on!
- Our team went to India!! The first part of our trip was in Kolkata. We were there for four days visiting ministries and touring the city. One stop included a museum dedicated to Mother Teresa, a truly amazing woman! Traffic there was CRAZY, but the food was GOOD!!
- The second part of our India adventure was in Goa! It was incredibly quiet (especially when compared to Kolkata) and beautiful! I think I went to the beach at least three times each day. One of those times I sat in a stand for about an hour trying to meditate, but ended up being more focused on looking for a shark or dolphin.
*Being in such a relaxing place was nice, and I really wasn't looking forward to coming back to life in a big city. But it gave me great joy that when I got out of the taxi back in Bangkok...the city smelt soooo good to me! It smelt like Thai Tea and rice...it smelt like home!
- The Saturday after we returned to Bangkok, my Thai teacher took me to another province with her and her family. I was under the impression that I was going along to help paint a home that will soon open as a place for children to study English. And I helped....for about fifteen minutes!! Our day together was spent as follows: eating breakfast in the car, stopping for coffee at McDonald's, stopping for lunch, swimming in a beautiful natural spring, picking up more snacks, painting a little, resting/scheduling an appointment for a massage, eating whatever you call the meal between lunch and supper, visiting friends at a church, eating supper, shopping, showering (of course! because you have to in Thailand!), and then sleeping. Typical!
- The week after that, all of the interns had two projects due. One was an assessment of spiritual gifts, and the other was a research assignment. Staying up late and working on stuff last minute made me think of my college days!
- And finally this past week, called "Debrief Week", has been all about group reflection of the past nine months. Language lessons were cancelled, and we have gotten to spend a lot of time together as interns. We've gone all over the city for meetings; it's been really fun to experience so many unique places in Bangkok! Now that we have had time to reflect, we will soon have one on one meetings with our supervisors to discuss/discern what the next year will look like. That should be interesting!
Coming up:
1) YLD (Youth Leadership Development) is starting up again this Sunday. I will be teaching a Health class every Saturday. Feel free to check out the website below to learn more about the foundation that puts on the YLD program- this is Thai foundation I work for a Servant Partners intern.http://thaipeacefoundation.org/en/
2) I will continue to help teach English at Krung Thai- the church I've been attending. However, I will only help one Saturday a month now because the church has found two Thai people to do it regularly! It was exciting two people stepped up!
3) Kristen and I will start opening the library in our community again. If you recall, we opened the space five days a week during May. We took June off, and will now resume opening it, but only two days every week. We are hoping that it will continue to be a safe place for the children in our community to spend their time.
4) I'm moving at the end of July! Since my supervisor will be returning to America for her sabbatical, I am moving into her home that is just down the street from where I live currently. A month after I move in, I will also loose my roommate, as she is also returning to America. I am not really looking forward to living alone, but am incredibly thankful for the home I will get to live in for the next year.
As you ponder or pray, please keep these things in mind:
A new house church has opened very close to my community. I am very interested in possibly getting involved there!
Language is still a challenge- will be particularly hard to teach a health class in Thai!
Thanks for reading! Best to you!
Love,
Carrie