Lack of Shock

There are limited positions at the Home here.  Only so many bed, only so much food, only so little funding.  So we have somewhere in the area of 14 openings for new kids.

We have over 80 applicants (either a family member or elder in the village will apply for a child to come here).  Yesterday, I went with one of the house moms to a Lahu Village to witness an interview/hear the needs and weigh who comes and who stays.  She has the difficult task of determining who is the most "at-risk".

After winding up the mountains and back down the mountains for a couple hours, I stepped out of the van in the village.  The mountains were beautiful and the air was clean.  The houses were poor and made from wood and bamboo (many not fully enclosed) and a tin/aluminum roof.  Life is lived on the floor (sleeping and cooking/eating) and the toilet is a hole in the ground.

I heard plight after plight for the interviews, and saw poverty that most Americans can't dream of.  And I am utterly shocked at how it did not shock me.  I guess it's because I have been around the mission block a couple times.  I have seen so many who go without...and I am learning to go without a little bit myself....

....but even though I am getting used to the way the world works...I am not sure if I am ok with being ok with it.  Hopefully that made sense.

Thai Photos

From left to right: Ariel from the Washington Mission team.  Carrie the New Missionary. Victoria the Intern.  Me the Roaming do-gooder.  We are waiting for the Elephant show to start.

Just a peak at some of our girls.  The one on the left has stolen my heart.  She will randomly join me with crayons while I am writing in my prayer journal.  I have to most colorful journal now.

The night market.  This is definitively not Bangkok.  You can get a scarf for 80 Baht once you barter.  I am going to try for earrings tonight.  This is nice.  :-)

Saturday

So it is Saturday here and I want to update you on my time here so far.

1).  I helped cook dinner one night...and I am so stoked about having a new-found curry and coconut soup recipe!
2). I finally got the english teaching schedule down...as long as nothing comes up...but something always comes up...so really my teaching times are pretty random.  I have taught 5 people so far and have one lesson today (easy day is saturday).
3).  I went to the Elephant camp yesterday.  YEP!  I rode an elephant.  And I even got a big wet elephant trunk kiss.  BEST THING EVER!
4).  I got to play with the cutest kids ever!  And this morning, one just plopped herself on my lap before breakfast and started coloring.  I love it!


So...a little bit about the home I am at.  I will still keep the name anonymous.  There are 3 houses on this property.  The one I am staying at holds about 45 girls.  They range from 2 years until high school.  These girls were either taken from the sex slave trade or were brought here before they got into it.

One example.  A 18 month old girl who I dearly love was brought here about 4 months ago.  Here is what happened.  One of the house mom's was at the night market and she passes a woman who is literally trying to give her baby away.  Both Parents were HIV positive and knew they were dying.  They were trying to pass the baby off to anyone who would take her.  (Any pimp could have taken her but by the grace of God, our house mom got there first).  So she is safe.  But for an 18 month old she was a very angry girl.  She would bite and kick and scream.  But I see her now and with the love she has gotten over the past 4 months, she has changed so much.  It's beautiful.

There are so many more stories about the kids, and the testimonies of the house moms and just a lot of amazing things...but there is no time.  I am on a borrowed computer.  :-)  I have to go guys...

At the Home

Ok.  I am at the home in Chiang Mai.  This is northern Thailand so it is a little cooler than Bangkok...thankfully.

The train ride took over 15.5 hours so I am considering a direct bus back instead...we will see how things workout.  Everything is very chill here.

Basically I expected to be put to work right away...and I was still feeling super antsy after the fast-paced Bangkok.  But when I got here I was taken aback.  Things are so calm...and I really haven't done much except hug and play with kids and then eat really good home cooked food.

Tonight I will be more "pushy" and try to help cook dinner.  You have to be a little forceful to volunteer around here...otherwise they just like to have you relax and play with kids.  And tomorrow I will be teaching one of the house moms English for a few hours.  She has a workbook that she is going through.

I will try to get myself out to what they call "The New Land" where they are building a new girls home.  I want to help with construction but they wouldn't let me today.  They said it was hard work and too hot for me.  So...I will ask again Saturday.  As I said...you have to be a little forceful to volunteer.  (Totally different than what I expected but I figure that if God want's me to spend my volunteer time playing with Kids...then so be it.)

These kids are so full of love.  I wake up to thier laughter in the morning and enjoy every moment of seeing thier faces.  One little girl and I have inadvertently invented a counting game.  I usually win because she can't go over 40 in English.  But I hope to get her to 100 before I leave.  It all started with her saying "I love you" and I said "I love you too" and she said "I love you three" and you can imagine where we went from there.  :-)

So, despite the fact that it's back to the basics (bucket showers and outdoor kitchens) I feel incredibly at home.  I have made friends with the American Intern here and we "camped out" on the balcony last night.  We started by watching Korean Dramas on her computer then I fell asleep towards the end.  Next thing I know a mosquito net is thrown over me and I mumble a sleepy thank you and drift back off.  I hope we sleep up there again tonight.  The weather is perfect and the stars are so bright!

I love that Chiang Mai is the polar opposite of Bangkok.  It is restful...which is something I need. God is teaching me that rest can be just as important as doing.

Bangkok

I am so happy. 

Well, first of all I was kinda panicky because I got into the Train Station and went to buy my ticket for Chiang Mai for tomorrow.  BUT, the exchange booth didn't open until 9:00am to change money...and it is Sunday so all the banks are closed.  AND I was told there was only one bed left of the sleeper train to Chiang Mai.  (Otherwise I would sit on the train for 15hrs which would suck!)  Anyway....I was praying a lot and when the exchange booth opened up I got a decent rate on the Won to Baht.  I was happy.  So I ran over to the ticket counter and the one bed was still open...even 45mins later.  BLESSING!!!!!  THANK YOU GOD!

Anyway...then I was going to take a Cab to my hotel but they were all throwing out outlandish prices.  So I was being stubborn and decided to walk the 1hr 45mins.  In the end..the map I had was wrong and I stood in the street with little tear-lets in my eyes.  A girl about my age came up to me and offered to call the hotel on her cell phone.  They gave her the right directions and I got on the back of her motorbike...and we rode through the streets of Bangkok. (That will probably be my favorite memory).  As we rode she pointed out the preparations for Chinese New Year tomorrow.  There were people dressed as dragons dancing and fire crackers going off everywhere.

Anyway.  I am safely at my hotel now.  And I went straight to the travel agent who gave me good advice.  "Never let the cab driver tell you what to pay.  Always demand that he use the meter...then you can not get ripped off."  I may or may not walk to the train station tomorrow...we will see how I feel.

Lastly.  At the travel agent I arranged to be driven to the famous floating market.  They even will give me a 30min speedboat tour.  I am really happy.

God has been so good to me!

The Bridge

So...tomorrow I will head to the bus depot near the morning market.  I will catch a bus...#14 I think.  I will go to the Friendship bridge and be dropped off.  Then I will make my way to Thailand.  Once in Thailand...I will have to get to the train station (hopefully there is a tuk-tuk heading that way) and then I will be on the night train to Bangkok.

I am not sure how I feel about all this. I know that I am excited but also I am concerned.  I have never crossed a border by land before and I am not sure how hard it is.  I am going to convert the remaining Kip (except bus fare) into Thai Baht so that I can get to the station.  Then once in Bangkok I can get the rest of the Korean Won exchanged.

Much to think about.

OK!  So the Photos are in Honor of Alesha...who loves photos and who also keeps me in contact with Mom.  She is awesome!


These are some Monks I saw at the river as I was doing my quite time one morning.  Looks like they had the same idea.

Lao Cooking Class.   A full day of cooking and eating..yum!

The Waterfall.  We took a tuk-tuk to the falls and hiked around a bit.

There was also a cave that we could hike in.  Only fifteen mins to the far side of the cave...but there were Buddhas scattered throughout.

Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher

So, there is this young man, maybe my age.  He works at the Hotel that I am staying at in Luang Prabang.  He is very sweet...and especially sweet to me.  Why is he so sweet to me, you may ask?  Because he has been buttering me up for a few days until he could ask me to help him with his English.  Yesterday after breakfast we worked on Passive verses Active tenses, and today after I get back from the internet cafe, he wants me to help him with some difficult vocabulary that he found in a book he was reading.  So even though I am on holiday until my Volunteer teaching in Thailand, I am still teaching.  That's me!

So, I met some really nice people at the cooking class.  And we met that night to sit in a restaurant and chat.  Some ate, some drank.  I just sat there as full as I could be from the day's cooking lesson (eating lesson...haha). Anyway the next day, I met with an Austrian that I met in the cooking class.  We then found a small group to split a tuk-tuk with and headed to the waterfall about a half hour out of town.  It was absolutely beautiful!  And we found this cave that you could hike in...it was a little scary at first but once you got pretty far in and saw a bunch of little Buddhas...you realize that many tourists have been here before you.

That night I met back up with him (the Austrian) at a Restaurant called the Hive, and we saw a fashion show (free) of all the different traditional fashions from the hill tribes in the area.  I am afraid that I have taken a million photos and I apologize to everyone who by having the title of my friend is obligated to look through them all.  HAHAHAHA!  Love you guys!

Laos

OK!!!!
So...I have been an emotional roller coaster!  I have never had to plan like this before.  I have a lot of respect for the people that just go with the flow and travel around for months on end.  I am 2 days in and I am exausted.  When I landed in Laos, I had to pay for an entry visa.  $35.  Well, I said, I am a resident of Korea so all I have is Korean won.  "Oh!  We don't take that"  They took my passport and I couldn't get it back until I paid.  But I couldn't pay.  so I tried to pull from the limited cash in my american account...but, the atm wouldn't let me.  TEARS FLOWED!  Then, a random Korean man who happed to be there exchange some money with me.  And later once I was in the country...I was able to exchange more.  BUT I WAS JIPPED!  They exchanged it for half of the price.  But who am I to argue with them...they were the only ones exchanging money.  I still have Won that I didn't exchange hoping to get a better rate in Thailand when I return.  But we will see.  Just emailed the girls home to let them know what happened and to warn them that I may have to pay for my stay later. (Hopefully my Korean paycheck will go in on the 25th and I can use my card.)

Anyway...found myself worried and pouting half the night.  I am broke.  But then I just realized that everyone else here is too!  But we are all backpacking poor people looking for fun.  So this morning, I apologized to God.  I know that I should trust him more.  And I got off my self pity horse.  I walked around for a good 2 hours and saw the beauty of this place.  This village is between two rivers and it is amazing.  Neat how you enjoy yourself when the self pity goes away.

I want to go sometime to the night time market, and one sunrise to see the monk progression.  Both are free...which is another reason why I like this place.  We are all poor.  :-P

Tomorrow I have one thing that I paid for..a food market tour and a cooking class.  I so look forward to it.  I may end up paying for a bike rental one of these days too...just for the fun of it (it's really cheap)...but we will have to see what happens.  I am well though..so don't worry about me,  Just keep me in your prayers and I am sure I will stop being a worry wart eventually.  Love you guys!
~Caroline R.

Airport

Ok...my plane boards in about 30 mins.  I have a 5 hour layover in Beijing, then on to Bangkok.  Yes I am excited! I will try to keep up with you guys too!

Though there is still a lot to think about, I am praying, going with the flow, and trusting God to take care of me.  :-) I was skyping Dad this morning and told him that I messed up balancing my American check book, and after student loans, I didn't have the money I thought I had.  I was going to be pushing it financially this next month.  AND GUESS WHAT!!!!  Daddy gave me $50 in my bank account!  I am so happy!  That will pay for my train both ways to the girls home in Northern Thailand!....I have the best family ever!   It's not just the money, but it's this re-assurence that no matter how far away he is...he is always there for me.

Anyway...I guess I better go sit at my gate now.

My toe hurts a bit though...I broke it a couple days ago when I tumbled down my steps to get my ringing phone.  Lesson learned....never own stairs.  ;-P

Thai Bound

SO....I am flying to Bangkok on Monday.  Can I tell you how hard it is to plan for a trip to a foreign country, while in a foreign country?

1).  Time: There is not much of it to spend prepping. And more to-do lists than I know what to do with.
2). Money:  I am having to convert Korean Won to Thai Baht to Laotian Kip.  And somehow know what that is going to be in USD.  So...I am going to carry a handy homemade conversion chart with me.
3). Information:  All information for travel (itineraries, contact info, etc.) all has to be hand written from the emails because I have no printer.
4). Culture and Language: I am going to try to forget my Spanish temporarily, and block out the recently acquired Korean, and try to separate Thai and Laotian in my mind.  The dress code in Laos is very similar to that in India, no shoulder and no legs showing.  Thailand allows me to wear knee length shorts.  BUT, the culture in Thailand is very interesting when it comes to Monks, Heads, and Feet.  I could give you details...but I am not going to unless you ask...because it's a lot to type.  :-P
5). Prep: I have to get the apt. ready to be left alone for a month.  That means eating everything perishable...trying to communicate with someone in the postal service...cleaning one last time....and hoping that my guesstimates are correct in regards to the time the metro takes to get me to the airport and the amount of money I will need to bring.
6). Family:  One last Skype date with each member and the promise of attempted phone calls and internet during break.  Not sure how much access I will have...but hopefully some...because I need to stay in contact with the girls home in Northern Thailand so I can get picked up from the train station on the 24th when I get there.

AND....not to mention packing...which I am no where near ready to do.  But it shouldn't be so hard...just fitting what I can in my backpack...what doesn't fit doesn't come. OH KOREA!

Video of the Polar Bear Plunge

OK!  I am having troubles stealing the video of this event...so I am just going to send you to another blog that has the video.

http://somethingweakly.blogspot.com/2011/12/polar-bear-club.html

Yes...it was below freezing outside.  It was New Years.  I am crazy.  Love you guys!
~Caroline R.