Quest, Ban Pong, Boba and a Crazy Busy Week

So, last Sunday we had a Quest event. This is an opportunity for the students at the English Center to connect with the teachers and Thai Christians as well as to have a lot of fun. We had a scavenger hunt around Chiang Mai, in which we had to get around the city and take pictures of ourselves doing certain things in different locations... Such as using out bodies to spell out the word “Thailand” in front of the U.S. Consulate and getting their teachers (aka, the farang (including me)) to eat squid and Thai ice cream sandwiches. Significance of a “Thai” ice cream sandwich, you ask? It's made with bread. And it's pretty much the most amazing ice cream-related thing I have ever had in my life. I have had one every time I have seen a vendor since (that would be twice, for those who are curious)

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Eating a Thai ice cream sandwich! Heaven sang.

Anyway, the day was amazingly fun, and we were all sweaty and tired after literally running around Chiang Mai for 2 hours. It was a beautiful day. Then, when we got back to the English Center we had a time of sharing, in which a Thai believer and I shared a little about what it means to us to belong to God. It was a great day. So much fun. And a beautiful opportunity. Please keep those students who have expressed an interest in learning more about Christianity in your prayers.

Look at the farang eating squid!

On Monday we had dinner at the missionary's house (amazing pizza!) and we got to go swimming and hang out a little. Then on Tuesday we began another teaching project. We are teaching in a neighboring area called Ban Pong, where we are working with younger students in the 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th grades at a school there. The 4 of us will teach one class of 9^th graders at 10:00 am and then split up to teach two classes, one of 7^th graders and one of 8^th graders, at 11:00 am. We will be going to that school every Tuesday, and guess what we finally found there! Boba! They have a chocolate milk with bubbles, a sweet milk with bubbles (it is milk mixed with a red syrup that tastes like bubble gum), and

an orange flavor that is perfection. Three of us on the team have been searching for Bubble Tea since we go here and we finally found it! And while teaching the junior highers did not exactly go as smoothly as any of us would have liked for our first day, the bubble tea's existence at the school made it so much better. We are all looking forward to boba after teaching every Tuesday now.

Laurin teaching at the second school in Ban Pong

Thursday we went back to Ban Pong to a different school (as we will the rest of the Thursdays that we are here). We were told we would be teaching 6^th graders at this school for 2 hours (from 10:00 am to noon) but it ended up being (I believe) 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders. We have been asked to teach 2 hours for them every Thursday and if we would be willing, also, to teach an hour to a class of 3^rd graders. So, we would be split up for an hour and together for an hour. This whole experience with teaching in Ban Pong has been stretching, to say the least. I have never liked the idea of teaching in front of a class room, as it somewhat terrifies me. The extreme discomfort and rockiness of our first Tuesday in Ban Pong was not very reassuring. Though Thursday went very, very well. So, please keep our efforts in

Ban Pong in your prayers, and, if you think about it, please pray that I will get over my anxiety about the whole thing. Thanks.

Boba in Ban Pong!! :D

Friday we had a Fiesta for our students at which we taught them the macarena, played limbo and managed to successfully make a pinata out of balloons. Epic win. Sadly, I was in the back quickly stuffing more balloons with candy so I didn't manage to get any pictures of the pinata, myself. But some of the others did.

And, after all of that I slept in until lunch time today (Saturday) and had a wonderful breakfast of poptarts I picked up and the grocery store yesterday morning while we were shopping for the Fiesta. We had plans to eat dinner at one of the church member's home this evening, and we had a beautiful opportunity to minister to her family and to pray with her parents who were unsaved. They both prayed to accept Christ tonight, so please, please, keep that whole family in your prayers.

So, that's the update. Starting teaching in Ban Pong took a lot more of my time than I thought it would this week and made it feel like this week was absolutely crazy, so... hopefully it will feel like things are calming down again soon, and I will be able to keep you updated more consistently, instead of a rushed end of the week sum up.

Be blessed,

-Kristen