Hey y’all! You will be hearing that phrase a lot in our blogs I’m sure- Topher says it basically every other word and it is beginning to rub off on the rest of us. Anyways, it is Yesi and Emma here, writing to you from a quaint internet cafe somewhere in the depths of the bustling city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. We have been walking around for about 2 and half hours on our scavenger hunt, and so far its been quite the day! It is probably abut 90 degrees outside, so we are drenched in sweat, but it is totally worth it. Because we are in Thailand, and there is no snow here. We started out our afternoon with a lovely Thai lunch at a small restaurant where we each enjoyed delicious Thai cuisine, while getting to each other better! Once we were fully satisfied, we set off to explore the city. We visited the beautiful temple of Wat Chedi Luang, bought some postcards and a much needed contact lens case, and attempted to speak English with a very nice hostel owner. Language barriers can be tough, but kind of entertaining as well. As we were walking around we were stopped by a very friendly Thai man who could tell we obviously did not know where we were going. We asked him in Thai if he spoke any English, to which he responded “Nit Noi” (a little bit), so we struck up a conversation. We learned how to say some new Thai phrases, as well as about the popular sports here, which are Thai Boxing and a volleyball/soccer type sport called Sapuk Ta Khow. It was a great interaction and we both felt very proud afterwards. Now we just have 5 more exciting tasks to complete before we meet the rest of our group for dinner downtown in a few hours.
As you can tell, its been an exciting day. And it is only day 2! It’s hard to believe. It has already been such a journey; between delayed flights, lost baggage, and overall adjusting to the change in scenery. But life is good! The 10 of us already feel like a family, teasing each other and learning new things about one another every day. Orientation has been filled with exploration of the city, filling our stomachs with delicious Thai food (one of our favorites being Sticky Rice with coconut milk and fresh mangoes.. mmm!!), many entertaining games in the park (much to the amusement of some locals), and extreme group bonding. We have an amazing group of people, and we are so excited to learn even more about one another as we explore beautiful Southeast Asia over the next 3 months.
That’s all for now,
Sawadeeka,
Emma and Yesi