Sunday Jan. 14

---

January 14

Today we went to an elephant camp. I have mixed emotions about it. Elephants are one of the most amazing creatures ever and God had a sense of humor when He made them. They have rubber skin and huge trunks that they use to put food in their mouths. They also just have tons of skin just hanging out underneath their belly, which is kind of funny. Their personalities are my favorite. They think they're small when in reality they are these massive creatures that can crush you in a second. Seeing the elephants in the camp was also extremely sad. Like I said before, I've never been to the zoo and there's a reason for that. I don't like seeing animals in cages. These elephants weren't in cages but they were being ridden (I rode one) and prodded with metal to do tricks, which broke my heart. I am still wrestling with the experience as a whole. We also went rafting down the river on a boat made of bamboo and this was my favorite part of the day. It was super relaxing. I got to see a lot of houses along the way, which was hard. A lot of them are on stilts and covered with tarps to keep dry. They are very small, but super creative and innovative in the the ways of using different resources and tools. After the camp, we came back to the college to chill out for the rest of the night. I played volleyball with some students from BCNC and they were pretty good. I was definitely the loudest one on the court (to be expected), but the Thai were so quiet! At one point, we split up into Americans vs Thai and their side was silent and our side was bumpin'. But we lost. AND we had a collegiate volleyball player on our team (thanks for letting us down Em). Overall, it was a super fun night and I look forward to playing again!

---