Cristina in Thailand

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!