Slowly but smiling

For the past 2 weeks I have had the pleasure and privilege of having my dear friend, Em, here with me in Thailand. I eagerly anticipated her arrival, the first friend from home that I'd seen in 4 months! In typical Frank girl tradition, I made her a colorful sign to welcome her at the airport and we've pretty much been going nonstop ever since. Em joined me on shift at Agape several times, and in our off time we embraced our role as tourists. We climbed a limestone waterfall, spent a day in town, shopped at the Sunday night market, ate a lot, went on a 2 day, 1 night trekking adventure that included elephant riding, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, and spending the night in a hilltribe village, we took a Thai cooking class, and helped host an American Thanksgiving dessert gathering. 

Being able to share this experience with a good friend was so affirming - it's one thing for all of you to read about my time at Agape, but until you meet the kids you can't fully understand how quickly they capture your heart. Until you experience a "wink" which includes squinting both eyes shut and flashing an adorable little fake smile, you can't fully appreciate how charming Pon Pon is. And until you hold the hands of a little baby learning to walk, you can't completely understand how it feels to be that baby's lifeline - you are helping to provide the love they are lacking from biological parents and helping them develop and grow. It is such a joy and a tremendous privilege to be with these children. I've had a lot of nicknames, but Mae Jessica will always be my favorite. 

The trekking trip that Em and I took was definitely a highlight of our time - we got to meet lots of people because we were with 3 different groups. Don't ask. Our tour guides, Jimmy and Monkey Boy, kept us entertained with corny jokes. As some stray dogs followed us up the mountain, Jimmy commented "sometimes dogs follow us up to village because tourists give them food. Other times they are the food for tourists - breakfast tomorrow - hot dogs!" The best part was that these Thai guys would always laugh at their own jokes: "OMB. Oh. My. Buddha." They thought they were hilarious, as Jimmy waved banana leaves on the travelers up the mountain: "air conditioning!" As we encountered steeper terrain, I loved the saying that our guides used to encourage us: "slowly but smiling!" What a good approach. Since slow is practically my middle name, I appreciated this advice.

This picture on top of our elephant pretty much explains our friendship - Em is carefree and embraces life, while I'm a little more cautious. Ok, a lot more cautious. But we balance each other out. =)

Lahu tribal village

Our guide put on Bob Marley and suddenly these tribal children appeared out of nowhere.

Morning glory/devotions.

Just noticed the scantily clad European in the corner of this picture...oh well.

This was the first time in 22 years that I have not been with my family for Thanksgiving - and I didn't even realize it until just now, but I had McDonald's for dinner that day. That's embarrassing. We got together for dessert to celebrate Thanksgiving, and although it was different, it was really nice. Thankfully mine and Em's pie didn't burn, and everyone loved the pumpkin bread. I am thankful for so many things this year - for this experience, for the blessing of loving these children, for having the company of a good friend for a couple weeks, and for all that is to come in the next month. I am richly blessed.

Making the napkin fans is a lot harder with rinky-dink little Thai napkins but the effect was still achieved.