One thing you HAVE to do if you ever go to Thailand

Yesterday, I finally got to do one thing that apparently you HAVE to do if you go to Thailand- ride an elephant. It was CRAZY. They strap these bench things onto the backs of the elephants, you climb on, and then someone who works with the elephants gets on in front of you to direct the elephant. It was so much fun. I can't even describe it! And we got super lucky. I guess normally, they have someone who works there follow you with a camera and then try to sell you pictures at the end for 100 baht (just over 3 dollars). Also sometimes they have stands along the way that sell you sugarcane to feed the elephants. You don't technically HAVE to, but Cory said that he once rode an elephant that would suck up some mud and blow it on you with its trunk if you didn't buy it sugarcane. Someone, like I said, we got lucky. At first, the guy directing our elephant just got down and took some pictures on my camera, which was pretty sweet. Also, there were no stands selling sugarcane.

But then we got REALLY lucky. A few minutes later, the guy asked if we wanted to ride on the elephant's neck. I was SUPER pumped. Cory went first, and then after he got back on the bench, I rode the elephant's neck the rest of the way back. Oh. My. Goodness. It was really fun. The guy directing our elephant must secretly want to be a photographer, because he took nearly 100 photos, which is a little ridiculous, but since he was busy taking pictures of us, I got to ride on the actual elephant instead of riding on a bench on the elephant. I almost fell off once when I was waving. I think I was pretending I was royalty or something, riding an elephant. Thankfully, I kept my balance, even though it was a little hard, because as Cory said, "the seat kept moving."

We also did get to feed the elephants afterward (for 30 baht, but they wouldn't have spat mud at us if we hadn't). One of the elephants would shake its head if you asked it in Thai if it was hungry. It was an awesome experience.

After that, we also went to Palio, a touristy Italian city-like place. Who knew that there was a taste of Italy in Thailand? It was pretty cool. It wasn't the same as actually being in Italy, and I don't think anybody there spoke Italian, but it was still cool to visit. We then went to Chok Chai Farms after that. We didn't really get to do much there because after we got in the car to leave Palio, a torrential downpour started. After all, it is the beginning of the rainy season. I did end up having possibly the least Thai food I've eaten since I've been here- a hamburger. Although the cows are raised and slaughtered right there at the farm, and it was arguably THE BEST hamburger I've had in my life. As per tradition, I took a picture of it. If you ever find your self in Korat and are craving a burger, it's definitely worth the hour or so drive.

On Friday, I had the chance to go back to the slum. Oh man. I was again REALLY shocked by just how close the slum is to the rest of the city. I was a little bit lost in my thoughts, and I was surprised when all of a sudden we were crossing the train tracks and again, in the slum. It's a little bit unsettling to be driving through the slum just a few seconds after driving down a street that has temples, businesses, schools, and homes. I was overwhelmed all over again by waves of wanting to scream "THIS ISN'T FAIR!" I seriously wanted to adopt each of these kids. I think it's easy to make assumptions about people who are living in poverty, that they deserve it, or that it's their fault that they're there. But looking at these kids, I became convinced all over again that it's not their fault, and it's not fair that they're growing up in this kind of environment. It's like I recently read in The Irresistible Revolution, "I'm convinced that God did not mess up and make too many people and not enough stuff. Poverty was created not by God but by you and me, because we have not learned to love our neighbors as ourselves." I hope and pray that they will not become products of their environment. They need help to get out of this. But there is almost nobody to help them. It breaks my heart.

Before I came on this trip, I asked God to challenge me. Like he so often does, he answered my prayer, and again, like he so often does, he did not answer it in the way I expected or thought I wanted. I think I expected God to put me in uncomfortable situations while I was here and ask me to do things that were hard. In some ways, he did, but it wasn't all that difficult to study Thai, or to speak English with Not and Jaew, to play with and tickle kids at the slum, to go into the bars in Pattaya and talk to women, or to sit and make picture frames or jewelry with women at the women's shelter.

It was through all of those situations though that God began to challenge me, it just took me awhile to see it, and I'm definitely still processing. After going to the slum, I find myself again asking, how can I be part of the solution instead of part of the problem? Even though I may not be dedicating my life to helping people in the slum in Thailand, what cause can I devote my life to? What does it mean to not only believe in Jesus, but to follow Jesus? I feel like at this point, I have more questions than answers. I think I'll have to write a whole blog post devoted to just these questions and what I've been thinking about it.


It's my last night here, so I have a few final prayer requests-

1. Pray for safe travel to Bangkok and safety while we're there- Kim and I are leaving tomorrow and spending Monday night and all day Tuesday there until my plane leaves on Tuesday night.

2. Pray for safe and smooth travel back home on Tuesday/Wednesday- especially since I only have an hour and a half in D.C. to get through customs and back through security to get on my last plane!

3. Pray that God would continue to work in my heart and challenge me to not just believe in what the Bible says, but actually DO it.

Thanks for keeping updated on my trip! I'm planning on continuing to update this throughout the summer to talk about my internship with LT, so keep reading! Lots of love to you all!