Thirty hours, 27 love letters, two books, and ten doses of Dramamine later… I arrived in the sticky city of Bangkok. Dodi met me at the airport and excitedly carried my bags out as he shouted, “it’s cold tonight”. Um, actually it was 79 degrees and I had just left –6 Syracuse… wrong Dodi… not cold. He laughed as I sat myself in the driver’s seat and waited for him to get in. Oops. They drive on the left. In a daze, I rode 30 minutes with a gaping jaw through the city, and was eventually dropped off at a seemingly sketchy guesthouse that reminded me of the hostels I visited in Europe. Everything looks sketchy in the dark. It’s fine. Bangkok is truly international, with all sorts of foreigners buzzing through the streets. Massive malls fill the city center, and ornate temples line the river.

I’ve been left to myself for the past two days. In that time I’ve witnessed a mall shooting, stocked up on Kinder Buenos, stumbled over my Thai, and eaten everything in sight. Orientation is tomorrow. I move into my apartment Tues. and begin work on Wed. My director was present at church this morning, and after one smile and big hug, I knew I’d be worked to the bone. It’s in God’s hands, and my purpose here is to help in any and every way possible. So, BRING IT ON!

The adjustment is… an adjustment. Life will surely get challenging once I begin at Siam-Care. The need is tremendous in this country and I’m blessed to know God is working to touch the lives of those surrounding me.

Ok, ok. Here are the pretty pictures I promised. 

A woman sleeping in the Tokyo Airport.

Monks at the Buddhist Temple, Wat Pho.

Shoes burry the steps outside any temple. Buddhist practitioners are chanting on the right.

The MASSIVE reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.

Prayers in the temple. 

A lot of gold.

This was just a photo I took of Michael and Marcus as they were moving out my apartment.

I’ve got a lot to say about being a Christian in a predominantly Buddhist culture… Love you! Check back soon.

Tags: AIDS relief., Bangkok, Gina Meola Photography, Missionary, Missions, Thailand

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 4th, 2009 at 1:12 am and is filed under Thailand, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.