Lindsey Marie M: Retreat

outskirts of the protests

Tuesday I left my school around 8:30 and was taken to the van to head to Kanchanaburi and on to Bangkok where I was to spend the night at the directors house before heading to the retreat center on Wednesday. I was a little nervous as the elections are on Sunday and there have been protests in the city for almost 2 months. However, I was able to make it to Bangkok and the director’s house safely it just took several hours longer than it should have as the protest sites are blocking off many of the main roads and so the traffic was often at a standstill and we wouldn’t move for ten plus minutes at a time.

one of those oh Thailand moments, why would
you point an arrow directing traffic right at a tree?

Wednesday morning we were picked up at the directors house in a van and at one point drove through the outskirts of one of the protests so I snapped a few pics. The thing about protests here is that they are usually peaceful. They have been going on for months and I’ve heard that walking through the sites is almost like walking through a fair as there are stands selling things, food, clothes, souvenirs, etc… We made it to the office and waited for others to arrive, and then got back in the van and drove the two hours to the retreat center owned by Churches of Christ in Thailand. It is a nice hotel with a private beach and was wonderful. I can’t lie, I had prepared many things that I wanted to look for and buy, and things I wanted to do in the free time and evenings in the city, and I was a little disappointed to be far away from all of those things at first. However, as we started the retreat I realized being away and isolated was just what we/I needed. We had a lot of opportunities to talk to each other one on one and in groups and to vent and encourage each other. Having already been in Thailand for two years I was able to answer a lot of questions and support the others who are still trying to figure out this country. There were some that have been here for a year to a year and a half that I met for the first time and it was fun to get to know them and hear about how their experiences have been so far. We spent an afternoon at an old palace in nearby Petchaburi, and then had the rest of that afternoon to spend time on the beach. There are four girls from Nagaland India who had never spent time on the beach, so it was fun to spend time in the water with them and teach them to float. Then, a group of us got together and built a giant sandcastle

collecting shells

On the last morning I got up early and went out to read my bible and watch the sunrise. I ended up doing more taking pictures than bible reading, but it was just a different type of worship as I enjoyed the sunrise with a new friend. Yesterday we had to check out by noon, so they then took us to Hua Hin which is a famous vacation spot for foreigners. We were taken to two fancy hotels, the first one we ate lunch at and we were very underdressed and the guards were watching us the whole time. I was saddened to see that this is how many people spend their vacations in Thailand.

riding the trolley up to the palace

Using their wealth to stay at the beach at fancy hotels with Thais who speak English to wait on their every need. They have no idea what Thailand is really like if they just come and stay at these resorts. These are the type of foreigners that give the rest of us a bad name. The second hotel we went to was built on property that is being leased from the Churches of Christ in Thailand for 99 years. In the contract it said that they had to keep one of the original bungalows that missionaries used to go and stay at, and so the hotel had made one of them into a coffee shop, so we each had something before getting in the vans and heading back to Bangkok. Being the night before the election, we quickly ran into traffic jams where rice farmers had shut down the main road into Bangkok. We were eventually able to go way around and come in from another direction. Once we got to the CCT office building it is usually a four lane road. Three of the lanes were blocked by parked cars who had gone to the protests, and there was only one open lane. However, we made it there safely and had a good nights rest before cutting todays activities short and only having a worship service before heading in our separate directions to head to our schools.

these monkeys may look precious with their babies, but really
they are mean...

These last few days have been wonderful to be away, to spend time with other foreigners. To compare our lives and to share stories. However, I’m glad to be home. I missed my students and my community while I was gone. In the three months I’ve been here I’ve become attached and while I needed some time to be a foreigner and spend time with foreigners I’m also glad to be back home.

Enjoy the pics J