Chiang Rai

I successfully flew by myself and managed to avoid a repeat of my flight this past summer ; ) Now I'm safe and sound in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Chiang Rai is absolutely beautiful and feels like Kauai. It's refreshing to see mountains again and land that is just thriving. Everything is bright green and tropical--got to appreciate all this rain for something! The Chiang Rai Home is the largest of all the properties and I believe houses the most kids. There are kids of all ages, ranging from 5-19 years old. Of course, I instantly fell in love with the five-year-old, Gracie. She has the sweetest personality and just can't stop smiling. I've come to realize I have the biggest heart for the little ones. I light up around these little people and they just make my day every time. I've also made a few friends with the older girls. It's a tad more difficult to connect with these girls because they're embarrassed to speak English. Once you crack 'em though, there's no going back and they're just excited to have an American friend.

Another day spent in Chiang Rai brought about the excursion of a lifetime. I got to ride an elephant!! A few of us traveled to the Elephant Farm and got to ride elephants around Thailand. A little scary at first; up top you're moving side to side with the elephant's stride and it feels like you're going to slide right off with every new stride. It was unreal to watch our tour guide make himself comfortable on top of the elephant's head....no big deal! 

so fun!

On our way home the group stopped to find the "big snake." Turns out the "big snake" had been stolen so we had to make do with the smaller snake. Yep, believe it or not, this is the smaller snake!

I did not want to be apart of this picture, but somehow I got sucked into helping them all hold that thing up. That thing was HEAVY! Don't let my smile deceive you. I am glad that they made me do it. Once again, this was a chance of a lifetime here in the Land of Smiles.

My last weekend in Chiang Rai was quite eventful. We held an all day event for the teenagers. Teens came from Chiang Saen and Thoeng homes to join up with the Chiang Rai kids. There was a bible study in the morning and we got to answer a lot of hearty questions about temptation. It was great to see the kid's questions and how they were trying to work through them. After lunch, we paused for a comical break to play all sorts of "Minute To Win It" games. I had never heard of this show before, but know that if I was home right now I'd be watching it all the time! It was awesome to be apart of this event and get a feel for how MMF loves on these kids in order to teach them life's lessons.

Shortly, I will be headed to the northern area of Thailand: Thoeng. The Thoeng home is said to be very rural (couldn't find it on Google Weather) and struggling with some nutrition problems. The new plan is for me to compile a nutrition evaluation and stay there for the next two weeks. I'm excited for this new adventure and to see more of Thailand. This will be a first for actually using what I've learned and putting it into practice. I'm so thankful for this opportunity and hope that I can be effective in my observations and input!