Went through customs, no problem. They didn’t even ask about all my heroin. =) Rounded the corner, and whose face was smiling and waving and towering above all the Thais? Her face wasn’t technically waving, let’s be clear. Face = smiling, hand = waving. But yeah, Krystle was there! Awesome! The van to their retreat would leave at 9:30 instead…and I don’t know what sort of trouble they were in for making it that way. We had a good, if quick reunion and I delivered the non-pink laptop to an anxious P’Yu. Any tiredness I’d had was gone, and the three of us got to visit for a little while until no kidding, they had to hop into a taxi and get to their retreat. Krystle brought me a chai tea she’s found addicting, but it was slightly completely frozen and served as more of a joke than a beverage for the moment, taking the form of chai chunks in a bag. P’Yu brought me a small band of great smelling flowers as a laptop thank you and Krystle assured me this was an honorable thing, and not the ones the monks have. Probably a good thing, as I would not want to be mistaken for a dishonorable monk! =) We didn’t have much time to plot and scheme for my visit to Bangkok in October, but we’ve got the basics down and it’ll be sweet! After a year of frustrating failed Skype video calls, to see her and hear her laugh in person was awesome...she introduced me to ministry opportunities in Thailand and I’m extremely thankful for that!
I sipped on my thawing chai out of the bag (which was delicious, and I would learn later that Thais all drink out of plastic bags so no worries there) and had a great lunch and visit with Ake at the airport (which was also delicious – sushi!) before she saw me to security for my next flight. And that was Bangkok. My flight to Chiang Mai was smooth and uneventful, the Song Tau (truck with benches in the back, one of the many types of taxi you can take in Thailand) trip a little more roundabout. I recognized landmarks from my map a bunch of times, but had no way to tell my driver to stop, give up, and let me out so I could hoof it the rest of the way – he insisted on getting me to the door of the Compasio office in Chiang Mai.
I spent one night in Chiang Mai, and met the Browns who founded Compasio – Allan, Joane, and their seven awesome kids, plus Katie a long term Compasio staffer and two of her friends in for a long-weekend kind of visit. These were really great, really welcoming and fun people…I could tell already I’d made a good choice coming here! We had fun getting acquainted, playing games, sorting through new schoolbooks, and shoplifting. Seriously. The next morning I took a bus with Katie and her friend Amanda to Mae Sot, where Ashlee and Stephanie (more Compasio people) picked us up in the Land Rover of Abundant Character…more on that beast later!
That wraps up my travel days, so if you hung in there for the whole story you probably need to go take a break. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and supported me – this really was a very smooth trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment