One time for the boys.

Aside from the obvious (a group of boys playing with fire), what do you notice when you look at this picture? 

I see hope. I see family. I see a second chance. I see a place of belonging. I see Jesus. 

Yet my heart breaks because we live in a world where children are born slaves, where children are cast aside, where children lose their innocence, where children are born hopeless.

No child should ever feel or go through any of those things, ever.

Because most of the the focus is on women and girls being sold into sex trafficking and slavery, boys can be easily forgotten. What do little boys do when they don't have a mother to care and love them? What are little boys supposed to do when they don't have a father to teach them how to become a good man? What happens to them? 

I know that my posts bounce from humorous shopping experiences to mental breakdowns, but this picture had me thinking about things outside of myself, about children who don't always get a great first chance or even a second chance. 

The boys at RNhu are so lucky (all the children are)! When you walk into the home, you see children playing and enjoying each other's company. They are taken care of. They are well fed. They have a roof over their heads and clothes on their bodies. They are loved.

And I look at the picture and think to myself, what would become of these boys if they didn't get this second chance? What would happen to all of the children in our homes, if they didn't get this second chance?

These children will never know what it feels like to be sold. These children will never know what it feels like to be used or mistreated. These children will never be used as objects for the perverted. These children will never be trafficked. These children will never be slaves. 

I look into these faces and I see future soccer players, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and so much more. Sometimes there's frustration, but I always see hope in each and every face and that kind of hope is contagious.

The "Moment"

This weekend marks the end of week three here in Thailand. I won't lie, I had a moment the other day where I was just fed up. Although the weather here is fairly similar to Florida, (hot, humid, and sometimes unbearable) I just couldn't handle what was on my plate at that given moment.

It was Wednesday afternoon and I hadn't slept well the night before because we lost power two nights in a row. The first night was Monday, around 11 P.M, which was a bummer because I couldn't finish the ending to Hook (even though I've seen it a thousand times). Of course the power came back on moments before I drifted off to sleep and woke up to the A/C, lights, and TV kicking back on all at the same time. The next night (Tuesday) the power went out again, this time at 8 P.M. Now I'm annoyed because 1) I haven't showered 2) I was in the middle of lesson planning for the following morning and couldn't prepare anything (I didn't plan to procrastinate! We ended up going to the market and that was an all day event) 3) We set up camp in the living room because it was way to hot to sleep up stairs in our rooms and 4) I thought I turned off all the lights in the house so that when the power did come on it wouldn't jolt us awake (I actually did the opposite. I turned on every light, so when power came back on every thing in the house woke us up). 

We didn't get power back until about 11:30 P.M (almost 4 hrs later) and at that point I am exhausted, un-showered, and irritated that I'm going to have to wake up even earlier to make the materials for my lesson. 

**We lose power because of rain storms and strong winds, it has something to do with the wires not being stable or done correctly, I don't know. All I know is wind=bad. **

Of course, as I'm drifting off to sleep, the power wakes me up and now I'm laying restlessly in bed until 12:30, with a 5:30 A.M wake up call. Most of my teacher friends can probably relate to the anxiety caused by unfinished lesson plans the day of a lesson. Needless to say, I was not on my A game Wednesday. The lack of sleep and showering had me all messed up. I forgot I was teaching certain students 2 hours instead of 1, I didn't have all my materials together, the house I was teaching at had no power (which means no fans for hot Thailand), and coffee was not keeping me awake. 

*Remember the second sentence in this post, where I mention my moment? Here it is*

While using this 6x6 room that's considered a bathroom, with a sink that wasn't working, I was tired. Tired of not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet. Tired because driving in the States is so natural to me but fills me with anxiety here. Tired of the anxiety of hitting a mo-ped driver. Tired of not having hot water in the kitchen. Tired of not being able to read all the labels in the market. Tired of not having my American products readily available, like Ajax/Comet, a 3 hole puncher, and Yogi tea. Tired of selling my soul for cheese. Tired that my knee isn't healing quickly. Tired that the power goes out so easily and takes forever to come back on. And tired that I'm not "home". 

And I think these "tired" moments came quicker than I expected because I jumped right into working my second week in a new country. It wasn't a bad thing, it's actually been keeping me busy and helping me feel like I have a purpose, but the feeling of being a tourist ended quickly.

Then when I was done mentally complaining to myself, I opened my eyes to this:

Bo and Kua

It may not seem like anything special, but the gentleman on the left said he would never learn English, that we would have to learn Thai if we wanted to communicate with him. And yet here he was, working hard on the assignment I had given him. The assignment I woke up at 5:30 to create. 

I stopped mentally complaining. I felt embarrassed because in the grand scheme of things, I am blessed to be able to give my time, knowledge, and resources to help someone else better themselves. I looked at that picture and everything I was annoyed at became unimportant. I knew that moving to the other side of the world wouldn't be easy, but when I think about all these things that frustrate me, these are things that will become a normal way of living once I've becomed accustomed. Yes, I may have given up many luxuries of America, like central a/c, automatic cars, and Belgian waffles (few posts back), but I've gained new things, like views like these--that remind me how big God is:

and I've gained a new family, that welcomed me immediately into their homes and hearts:

RNhu house parents & house workers, RNhu Thailand Team,
All the Thai's in this picture are learning English with me.

There's something magical about how green Thailand is, how the mountains can be viewed from almost every angle, and how you can get a great lunch for less than two bucks! 

Soon enough I will be in the full swing of things, swerving in and out of traffic on my moto, driving like a pro in the truck, understanding what Thai's are saying, being able to read the labels, not caring that I can't flush toilet paper down the toilet, and in still and complete awe that I am on the other side of the world. Soon.

There aren't many things in this life that I'm sure of. In fact, many of the decisions I've made I never really felt 100% sure about. But I can honestly say the decision I made to join Remember Nhu was backed by absolute resolution. There was not a single doubt in my mind that made me second guess flying to the other side of the world. I knew in my heart that this is exactly where I am meant to be. And it feels, amazing.

This past week was my first week teaching English to the house parents and house helpers, all 22 of them 3 days a week. My schedule runs Wednesday-Friday 8 A.M to 4 P.M and starting early November I will be teaching in the actual school Monday and Tuesday. It was amazing to see how excited each adult was during their English time block, coming in with a notebook and pen in their hand ready to take notes. One adult, Bee*, kept asking me every hour, "Is it my time yet?!" It put a huge smile on my face. The Thai people are so relaxed and laughed at themselves constantly at their inability to pronounce the letters R, L, CH, and TH. When I would show them a picture of a word to pronounce, I'd ask them what the word was in Thai. They would laugh at me when I couldn't pronounce certain sounds. I think it helped them understand and made them feel more comfortable that learning a new language will take some time. I know I can't wait till I can speak Thai relatively well.
I can't describe the feeling it gives me knowing I have a skill I can use to help these people become better English speakers and it puts no financial burden on them! Thank you, to all of my supporters and my amazing church family (Atlantic Coast Church), for the financial, emotional, and spiritual support that allows me to do what I do. Without all of you, I literally could not be doing what I am doing.

Today we had Thai church. I call it Thai church because it's all in Thai.

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Before service starts, the girls love to braid each other's hair.

My favorite spot on the new property, where a bunch of girls gathered after service.

Just a small section of the trees on the new property. There are like 800+ fruit trees!

This is Pa*, a mischievous, absolutely adorable 5 year girl who giggles at everything. She saw me enter my password, but only caught the first 2 digits and tried hacking into my phone. She knows how to work the iPhone better than I do. 

Pa* doing Gee's* hair

Gee*, Dee*, and I.

The boy's playing soccer before dinner Thursday night.

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the children and house parents/workers.

Laura and I decided to grab a bite to eat the other day, then go grocery shopping at the mall (yes, they have a grocery store in the mall and yes it is awesome). We realized we hadn't had red meat in over 2 weeks, so we went to a really delicious restaurant that serves burgers and steaks. My meal was pretty tasty.

and naturally there were foreigners with Thai women. We discussed the differences between two people who are in a relationship vs. two people who look like it's a transaction. With my super spy skills I snapped pictures of people who weren't in "love".

Even though we're not in the red light district, it's still everywhere you go. You can't escape it, you can only prevent it or help those trapped in it. Maybe one day, if enough people become involved, we can stop it.

On another note, I busted my butt (technically, my knee) on a moto four days ago, and it is taking forever to heal -______-.

What makes it hilarious is that I fell trying to mount the bike, which I guess is a blessing in disguise because had I fallen while riding, it probably would have been worse. Speaking of moto's, I was able to buy this brand new baby for the same price it would've costed me for a used one!!!

I shall call him, Mo-Mo the moto.

Some friends won it in a raffle and they sold it to me. It's easier to ride and I haven't fallen off it...yet.

Hopefully it will be registered by next week so I don't have to ride the demon of a moto behind Mo-Mo, the one I fell off of. I call that one Iron Man, since it's red and gold. 

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Till next time! 

First week down, a bajillion more to go.

Ok, maybe not a bajillion, but a bunch more.

Things I've learned so far:

• The ceilings are way higher than I anticipated, therefore painting my bedroom walls took a lot longer than expected and I'm short. See the problem?
• This is the land of "almost". Meaning, if you expect something to be just like back home in the states, it will **almost** be perfect. For example, I made waffles because I had a hankering for them and they didn't have a Belgian waffle maker but they had a regular one, and this is how they came out...
  
                                                                                            
  Almost. 
• Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora do not work outside of the U.S *sob*.
• If I want a hot shower, I have to take it at night.
• Driving in Thailand is very scary and it takes all my mental strength to consciously drive on the left side of the road instead of the right.
• It is extremely cheap to eat meals out. 

Feelings I've experienced so far:

• Awe at how the children in the homes worship the Lord. 
• Anxiety as Thai's on moto's swerve in and out of traffic.
• Thankfulness that I am on the other side of the world able to do what I am doing with a roommate who is able to show me around and help me become more self sufficient. 

I start teaching English on Wednesday. I'll be teaching the house parents and house workers during the day and helping the children with their homework when they come home from school at night.

This is the girls home on the new property.

This is the construction site of the boys home on the new property.

The backyard view of the girls home. Probably one of my favorite pictures taken so far.

The pineapple section of the garden area on the new property. My dad would be so jealous!

Today I went touring! We went to the Bosang Umbrella making Center, where I saw how umbrella's were made. 

This is supposed to be me in a cardboard cut out of an asian woman holding an umbrella, but I just look like I'm Muslim.

Afterwards we ate at a food vendor cart and went shopping in the market (similar to a flea market). All in all, it was a relaxing day today. 

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Thanks for reading! Will post more soon. 

Day two.

Not much has happened the past two days I've been here. I've been trying to unpack and find places for my belongings, most of my clothes are hung up in the closet, and I need a few more things to help finish off my room. Unfortunately, upon leaving the states, my allergies decided they wanted to come with me as well, so I haven't been able to get things done quick enough. Hopefully it clears up soon and doesn't become a notorious sinus infection, because that would just suck. It probably didn't help that I ate like crap and didn't drink much water the full day it took to travel here. Now that I'm here, I can settle into my normal routine of fruits, veggies, and lots of water. 

We went grocery shopping and I was surprised at how expensive cheese is! $6.00 for 10 slices of Sargento's Pepper Jack cheese!! That's highway robbery! Looks like I wont be eating cheese often. Peanut butter wasn't too bad. They have Peter Pan, the brand I like, for like $5 a jar, only about $1.50 more than I would pay back home. You'd think rice or soy milk would be cheap too, you know since I'm in Asia, right? Wrong. There was only one brand of unsweetened vanilla soy milk, and that too cost an arm and a leg (I can see my mother rolling her eyes right now and saying, "You're not there for the soy milk"). I'm sure I'll figure my way around the grocery store soon enough. I'm actually excited to try non-American brands, considering I have to take out a small loan for a box of Oreo's. I was able to get my favorite Thai brand of coconut yogurt though!... But I can't eat them yet because of my sore throat *sigh*. Apples are about the same price here as they are in the states, I bought an "American Granny Smith Apple" yesterday for a dollar, it was half the size of the apples back home. And speaking of sizes, everything is so much smaller here! From apples to feminine products, it's so weird. I guess it's my American mentality of "more bang for your buck". Walking up and down the aisles, it was funny seeing the signs that said what products where made in American and then sobbing because I could get it for a quarter of the price back home.
Expect me to contact you for a care package soon.

It still feels unreal that I am here. That I'm living here. I told my roommate Laura (her blog) that it will probably hit me when I do something "normal", like going to the store to buy milk because we're out. 

We went to two of the children's homes last night for dinner. As I was sitting at the dinner table in the boys home, it clicked. This is where I belong. Seeing the boys all washed up and in their pj's, getting second and third helpings of dinner, I felt at home. Going to the girls home just confirmed the warm feeling I had inside my heart. Seeing the adorable girls in their bob hair cuts, smiling their toothy grins, and saying in their broken English, "Hello, P Cristina" made me forget how much my allergies are making me miserable. Man, and how those kids can eat! I think the girls showed the boys up with who can eat more! Three girls under the age of 8 showed me up with how much spice they can handle! I thought I could handle spicy, they used crushed chili paste the way I would use milk for my cereal. I was put to shame. 

Today at noon is my first team meeting. I get to meet all the people who work so hard to make Remember Nhu so effective here in Thailand. I am excited and honored to be a part of such an amazing organization and can't wait to see what the next 10 months hold for me.