January 17th - Day Twelve in Thailand

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I’m going to be honest. I’m not in a great mood today, and I’m not really sure why. Even though it’s only 20:30, I may need to just go to bed and try again tomorrow ha! I just feel like I am having a lot more internal monologue going on today, telling myself that I’m not annoyed with everyone. I think that I’m probably just hitting my introvert wall. It’s been over two weeks now since I’ve really had any time to just myself, and I have not been able to have too many in-depth conversations while here in Thailand. A lot of my conversations have been about Thailand with another person and offering perspective into why this culture might do the things they do. I spend so much time trying to offer people the big picture but not a whole lot of time in a back-and-forth discussion about what’s going on in both our minds/heads. I hope that I am able to do a better job at asking other girls on this trip questions and being intentional about getting to know them better. I want this to be a positive experience, and I’m determined to not let today get to me. So here it goes. Goodbye to my negativity and goodbye to my woe-is-me attitude of today. Goodbye to feeling tired and cranky and hello to little miss hopeful.



As far as what we did today, we went to a nursing home in the morning and then for thai massages in the afternoon. We were not very busy today, so I spent majority of the afternoon working on our project for the student presentations next week (perhaps another reason why i was feeling cranky today). The thai massages were definitely a unique experience as they massaged our whole bodies and used their whole bodies to do the massaging. They even used their knees and feet to dig deep into out muscles. There were a few times I wanted to cry “Jip, jip,” but I figured this was a positive pain and would be grateful for it in the future. The natural oils and scents filling the air were probably my favorite part.





My experiences at the nursing home was mostly positive as well. The older men and women were absolutely adorable, and I giggled over the funny stories because they were so familiar to experiences we have in America. Despite culture, confused patients still do silly things like pee in the bed frame because it is shaped like a hole. I enjoyed seeing all they had to offer the residents form karaoke and music to bamboo-made exercise equipment. It was extremely nice for being a government-provided facility for the elderly. I am excited to head to the elderly center tomorrow to meet some more residents and community members to exercise, smile, and share giggles. It is definitely time for me to get my face in Bible tonight and meditate on His goodness! Yes!

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