The Holidays

So these holidays have been very different from any other holiday I've experienced but it's been really good. Some highlights of my trip to Indonesia are going to a safari, going to a studio to play drums (I miss the drums!), going to a friend's wedding, meeting so many amazing people, and much more. Brian and I got to speak to students at UNAI, the Adventist University in Indonesia, about being a missionary. I've done a lot in Indonesia and in a few days I go back to Thailand to meet up with the rest of our group. It's kinda sad to leave Indo because there is so much to do here but it's time to get back to work. It's hard to post pictures here because of the internet situation but I posted 3 so far and I'm working on some more. I miss everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

Bandung, Indonesia

Indonesia

Hey everybody!!! I think I've found a new favorite country.  I love Indonesia, it's awesome in every way.  The food, the people, the scenery; it just keeps getting better and better.  Brian and I flew in last friday and we've been here for about a week so far.  We have been staying at people's houses the whole time.  Right now we're at a University in Bandung and we talked to a few groups of students about being a missionary.  It's hot in the city but now we're in the mountains so the weather is more tolerable.  The rest of our group went to Cambodia today so we'll meet up with them in about a month or so.  I will post pictures as soon as I get them off my camera.  I will update soon!

Back to Civilization

Hey everyone! I'm back in Chiang Mai now and the past month has been really awesome.  We lived in a little Karen village and I definitely saw a lot there. I got to do some cool stuff while we were there. We harvested rice and peanuts, went on an elephant trek, constantly ate with our hands (Karen custom), and met a lot of people.  Even though I can't speak to most of the people I meet, after spending a month with them it feels like I know them.  So me and Brian got back last night.  We've been editing nonstop the past few weeks.  I've finished 2 episodes of the TV show and a promotional video.  I'll try to post some of it but I'm not sure if it'll work.  So my visa expires on Saturday so I have to be out of the country by then. Brian and I have a flight booked to Indonesia but I don't know if that'll work out.  The airport in Bangkok is shut down and they don't know when it will open back up.  If it doesn't open then we'll have to go to Cambodia.  So pray that I can go to Indonesia!!! I miss everyone at home, especially with the holiday season now. Christmas definitely won't be the same. No snow this year!!!!!! Ok I'm gonna try to post some pictures and write some more sometime soon! Thanks for reading friends!

The Village

OK so I got to come back to the city because Brian and I have to get our visas extended for 30 more days. We went to the immigrations office today and they gave us all the paperwork. Tomorrow we'll turn it in and hopefully be allowed to stay til December (then Indonesia!). But the past week in the village has been really awesome. We are in a Karen village (one of the hill tribes in Thailand), so a lot of the villagers don't even speak Thai! Communication can get frustrating but we have a great translator who speaks Karen. Some villagers came by and sold us some of clothing and things that they made by hand. So we got some really nice stuff. We have a house in the village for ourselves and the church is nearby. It's on the side of a mountain so they can't even drive cars down there or else they would get stuck. Yesterday Brian and I actually had to go help push someone who tried to drive down and got their truck stuck in the mud. I've been getting a lot of video done lately, which is realllllly good because I've felt behind up until this point. Now that I'm getting caught up I feel less stressed and I'm enjoying myself more. OH YEAH...yesterday we got to harvest rice! We went to the rice fields with some villagers and helped them harvest. It was really cool. I didn't stay the whole time because I went back to edit videos but it was fun for the time that I stayed. I'll be sure to post pictures when I can. I'm in a little internet cafe right now so I'm not using my computer to post pics. I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to post is but so far so good in this village! Miss you all, thanks for your feedback!

On the road

We've had a lot of time in different villages. I've seen so much over the last 2 weeks. My first week was in a village called Panakok. It was a really cool village and everyone there was so friendly. We did medical training and made some house visits. One thing we need to teach the people in the village is how to clean and be sanitary! I have hand sanitizer everywhere I go. My second week my group was supposed to go out to a remote village but plans changed last second and we ended up meeting up with the other group in their village.  So the past week has been awesome. Now I have soooo much video to look through, but I'll have lots and lots of time. Within the next few days I'm going to be going to a very remote village with 3 other people. It's kinda bad because I won't even have electricity or internet for the first week.  Then the next month I will have electricity, but no phone or internet.  So wish me luck.  This will be the biggest test of my patience and hopefully I will be able to keep my sanity. I will probably be reading a lot, and learn to like it. The plan as of right now is that I am returning to civilization around December 6 or so. But until then just pray for me. I think about you guys at home all the time and thanks for checking up on me!!! It really means a lot to me. Miss you!!!!!

ok wow, the past week was pretty awesome! I got a lot of good footage and had a video camera all the time. sorry i don't have much time to write but i will update everyone as soon as i can. i'll try to post some pics for now....

Gone for a bit

Hey everyone, I’m getting ready to go out to the village for a month.  That could mean all kinds of things for me.  I may or may not have internet access out there so if I don’t post for a little while that’s the reason! We’ve been working on some last minute stuff here to prepare to leave. Other than that it’s been lots of fun. We went to the Chiang Mai night market for the first time the other night. It was awesome! You bargain with the sellers, it’s so much fun. I love the price of food here. I can get a full meal that fills me up with a drink for like a dollar! Love it! I’m excited for the next few weeks. Hopefully we get some good footage to use for the videos. Oh yeah thank you for all of your comments!!! I love hearing back from you and knowing that you’re reading this so keep commenting even if you already have…and even if I don’t know you and you’re reading this you can comment too haha. If anyone wants to send me real mail, letters or anything, I think I have an address you can send to. It takes a few weeks to get here if you use regular mail. But please send something, it’s nice to get real mail…

64 moo 12 Tamboon Sobpherng

Amphur Maetang Chiang Mai

50330 Thailand

Going out

This is my last weekend at the training center, then we're off in groups to the villages for a month or two. I'm not sure exactly what to expect. All that I know is not to expect luxury. I was put in charge of producing a few episodes for a show we're working on, the official name is still being worked on. We'll be shooting for that over the next month or two. Should be lots of fun. I might be repeating myself a lot because not much has gone on this week. Oh except Brian, Rob, and I got to go do an interview at some guys house and stay overnight. He's 98 years old with a 23? year old wife. He's in great shape, full of life, and speaks really good english. I just realized I don't really have any pictures with me in them so I'll work on that and post one for proof that I'm actually here haha. alright I'm out but I'll write some more once we get going with the mission.

Everyone is finally here!  We have a great group of people here in Thailand. We've just finished our fast! It only ended up being a 3 day fast but it was sooooo hard. Today we were allowed to eat fruit and it tasted so good. I definitely appreciate food more now. For some reason throughout the fast I was craving a cheesy bean and rice burrito grilled from taco bell. yeah i had a lot of time to think about food. It was torture walking through the store's food aisles. haha but now I can eat again. The fasting was one part of our detox/cleansing. We also had to do a saltwater cleansing. That was really hard and made me feel sick that day. We had to drink a liter of warm salt water in 20 min. I did it and my stomach didn't agree with it. But I definitely got a lot out that way lol. Tonight we went to a funeral for a 12 year old boy. It was in Thai but funerals are never fun. The boy was struck by lightning last night and killed. Another boy his age is in the hospital with a 50/50 chance of waking up again. These kind of things really bring you down to earth and make you appreciate your life. I've had a lot of those experiences this past year so I've thought about it a lot. But anyway on Tuesday Me, Brian, and Rob are heading somewhere to get some footage for a new documentary project. I'm really excited for this one. Hopefully we eventually get enough footage to make a Karen tribe documentary. It will be a lot of fun to work on. Oh yeah we were just driving here to get internet and we got to see something really cool. It's dark out and we saw something in the road and we got closer and realized it was a big python! It was about 10 feet long and we immediately jumped out of the truck with the video camera. We got a few moments of the snake on tape and I got to touch it twice before it slithered back into the jungle! I love this place, it's awesome!

Lampang

So it was my first weekend in Thailand.  Melissa (our supervisor) sent some of us to Lampang.  It’s a few hours from Chiang Mai so we were driven to the bus station and we took the bus.  My assignment is to document what’s being done in Lampang.  Phoebe has spent some time there already and has been working at a radio station. 

 

We kept busy throughout the weekend by going to church, visiting people’s homes, going to a Buddhist school, baking Thai bread and cookies, and other things.  Oh yeah I got an hour long full body massage for only $3!!! I have gotten to film a lot and hopefully by next week we will have better equipment.  We have one more day here then we go back to Chiang Mai for health training.  There’s so much to be done and more to come!!!  I’m still missing everyone so it would be great to hear from you!

Lampang

first impressions

I miss you everyone! I’ve been in Thailand for less than a week. It’s a lot different than I expected it to be. It’s cool but we haven’t done anything yet. I can’t wait for Brian to get here! Life is not as I thought it would be.  We are kinda out in a jungle village.  There are tons of papaya and banana trees, passion fruits, and lots of other fruits growing everywhere.  Our property is surrounded by rice fields and farms.  There are cows and dogs roaming around and great views of the surrounding mountains.  The toilets are Asian style, you have to squat down, no sitting, and then pour water down to flush.  The showers are a big bucket of water that you pour over yourself.

 

We do have a lot here though.  There is clean running water, electricity, a kitchen, and a really awesome washing machine.  I have to walk or ride about a mile to the Pastor’s house for wireless internet. 

 

Next week we are doing health training and guess what they are going to make us do….…7 day fasting/detox/cleansing.  It doesn’t sound like fun at all but it’s supposed to be good for us and make us feel better when we’re done.  Pray for me!  I have to give up the food for a week (I love the food here!!!!).  This won’t be easy.  I’ve met a lot of cool people.  The Thai people are so friendly.  There’s so much to tell but writing a lot would be boring for you so I will leave it at that for now.  Miss you!  Don’t be afraid to email contact me.

Thailand: first impressions

I'm here!

Ok so I finally made it to Thailand! Me and Kelly spent about 20 hours on a plane (flying time), not including layovers. We went from Rochester, NY to Chicago to Tokyo to Bankok. Last night me and Kelly stayed in Bankok, and today we flew into Chiang Mai. It's so beautiful where I'm staying so hopefully I'll put up some pictures for you. I'm totally exhausted right now. 11 hour time difference will take some time to adjust to. There's a lot to see here so I will definitely be posting when I can to let you know what it's like. I miss you all!!! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers please, and write to me!

Almost there

So...It's my last weekend at home and I'm almost done packing. It's a weird feeling to be leaving home but exciting at the same time. I'll be in Tennessee for a week then off to Thailand!!!!!

Testing Testing

Here I am testing this blog so while I'm in Thailand everyone at home can stay updated! Does it work???