It's raining really hard right now, keeping us in our room. There are moments like this that I almost wish I could be home just for the evening with my family having a really nice meal. A meal where I know everything on my plate and everyone around the table. I sometime miss my bed too, not that this bed isn't great because it is pretty good. Sometimes I miss air-conditioning and never having to feel damp. Sometimes I miss people that can speak my language, people that I don't have to guess to know what they are saying. But definitely what I miss most is my family. Last night I was skyping with my parents and it was so nice. I was crying at some parts because I was laughing so hard.
But I am grateful to be here in Thailand. Not only because I am having these once-in-a-lifetime experiences but also because I am reminded just how great a life I have back home. It is eye opening honestly. This weekend has been a bit hard for me just because I have run into a few problems. I was mopping the tile in the big hut on Thursday and slipped and split my chin open a little bit. It wasn't that bad but my jaw is really sore now. And then on Saturday I had an allergic reaction to something that I ate. So things haven't really been the best. And there were totally moments when I wanted to go home and lay in my bed. Watch some TV, eat REAL food, american food, the good stuff. But I am so not ready to go home yet. There are these two English girls at the orphanage volunteering and they are only here for a week. I feel bad because they will never get to know these kids like I have or have these amazing experiences that I am having.
Friday there was a camp that came to the Shelter. All these kids from an international school in Bangkok were spending a few days at the farm. It was fun because there were actually things that we had to do. But the best was when all 50 of us sat in a circle and introduced ourselves. We had been practicing with the kids all week, helping them to know how to introduce themselves in a proper way. I was so proud of them when it came time. They all did a fantastic job! I felt like I was their mom because I was just so proud of them. I can see the potential in all of them, it is amazing. Saturday our BYU group was privileged to be able to talk to a Monk for an hour. And during that hour we got to see pictures of some villages in Burma. They were so run down the people were living in these tiny huts made out of banana leaves and tall grass. The kids wore dirty, torn clothes if they wore any at all. It hurt me to see this because Burma is where most of the kids from the Shelter are from. One of the teachers at the farm was telling me about when the kids first get here. They don't even know how to take a shower or even a bath really. They don't know how to brush their teeth or clean their clothes. It is crazy. But that's how they are when they show up. It is so sad. Many of the kids when introducing themselves said that they were grateful for the Shelter because it gave them a future. I am grateful for the Shelter too.
No comments:
Post a Comment