Thais can dance!

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Today I got up extra early to talk to my best friend, Karalyn on the phone. It was really nice to spend some time catching up with her since she’s gone through a few life transitions since I left for Thailand. I haven’t been able to support her as much as i would have been able to in the States, which has been rough for both of us. At the beginning of the trip I was feeling guilty because I knew she needed me and I wasn’t able to physically be there or pick up my phone and call her at the drop of a hat like normal. Although it’s still tough, I know that God has her so I don’t need to worry or feel guilty. Needless to say I’m really exited to see her and give her a big hug when i get home. The funny thing about our call was, I could tell when people were starting to wake up and go on wifi because my phone started dropping our call. I think my phone dropped our call at least 4 times! After my conversation with Karalyn I ate some breakfast and headed to an elderly club meeting at Sanmeung temple. It was fun watching all of the older individuals conversing with one another. A few of the girls from our group helped with taking blood pressures and weights. Melissa and I spent that time preparing for our elderly exercise class. We had originally planned on playing a few different songs during our activity, but there was no wifi at the temple, so we improvised and used songs off of Emily Ransil’s phone. The first thing everyone as a group did was they all stood in lines, said the national anthem and then prayed. After their prayers they walked around the temple grounds once to loosen up their bodies. We joined them on this walk/march and Melissa started singing “Father Abraham had many sons”. It was kind of ironic since we were walking around a temple, but thats okay. Then the elderly recited a bunch of other prayers and honored a teacher who was leaving. They all tied white string around her wrists, which is a symbol of good luck and prosperity. They also gave her a bunch of money to help her in her travels. Lots of tears were shed, to say the least. I was slightly worried the elderly wouldn’t be in the mood to exercise after all of that, but they pulled themselves together and where ready to go. The first thing Melissa and I did was introduce ourselves and give everyone a run down of our plan. We lead the group in a dance warmup to the instrumental version of the song “Better when i’m dancing” by Meghan Trainer. They were all so cute, waiving their hands in the air and marching in place. Next we lead them in some chair exercises to a Piano Guys song. I didn’t know if we were going to have chairs or not, so Melissa and I took some pictures of different chair exercises and just went off of them. Finally we led them in a cool down routine. This was to another Piano Guys song. They all seemed to really enjoy the exercises. This afternoon we participated in sports day at BCNC. We did a variety of activities, including lots of relay races. I participated in a sack race, underwear race, and blind folded challenge. For one game people had to tie a large fruit around their waist and let it dangle between their knees. Then they had to hit a lime on the ground with the long cucumber shaped fruit, past the finish line. This looked quite interesting, but it was really funny to watch. I didn’t want to volunteer to participate in that game! During sports day one of the Thai nursing students told me I had a baby face and looked young. They were shocked when I said I was older than them (they were 19). Why is it that even in Thailand people younger than me ask me my age? Anyways, the highlight of sports day, in my opinion, was the dancing! Everyone participated in cheers and dancing throughout the whole time, which was exhausting. I love to dance, so it was right up my alley. I joined right in and actually memorized some of the dances/chants by the end of the day. The dances were scandalous at times, which i wasn’t expecting! I tried to ask my buddies to translate the chants for me, but they kept saying “i don’t know” and laughing at each other. I know that one chant was about wanting a boyfriend and flirting with boys. I laughed so hard while dancing, i think my abs should have turned into a 6 pack! The only downfall to sports day was that it was sooooo hot outside, and we had to wear pants! I was sweating a lot. Tonight we had pizza for dinner, and then all boarded a red Tuk Tuk and headed to a night bazar thing. We fit 16 people in a Tuk Tuk, which means it was jammed pack. It was fun to get off campus and do something. I think we were all getting a little antsy. We only have so much time left in Thailand, so we wanted to fit as much in as we could. Emmie happened to show up while we were trying to get our transportation situation figured out, and helped us out. She called the driving company and set up a pick up and drop off time. I’m really thankful that she helped us because it put a lot less stress on us. Tonight I bought another pair of elephant pants, but this time it was for my pregnant sister-in-law. I sure they’ll be great maternity pants! I also shared a nutella and banana crepe with Brielle. It was delicious! Okay i’m going to stop writing now so i can try to go to sleep. Gotta get up at 5am tomorrow….

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