January 20th - Day 15 in Thailand

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This morning I did not want to get out of my bed. I was drenched in sweat but only because it was the first fluffy bed I’ve slept in for awhile. I had the piles bunched up all around me with the fluffy, thick comforter tucked into the pillow, a little cocoon. I sleepily walked my way over to breakfast and was very grateful that I had done so since it was an “endless breakfast.” We could anything from the menu as many times as we wanted. Of course I didn't want to get sick on the boat, so I had to pull out my self-discipline after my first round of breakfast croissants with coconut yogurt and fruit. I topped it off with fresh mixed fruit juice and the fanciest cup of cappuccino.



Soon after, we loaded a boat to go out further into the clear, aqua water. We went snorkeling, swimming, and to an island to collect shells and relax. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It felt so good to exercise with the help of the salty, buoyant water. I got to touch a sea slug and see many colorful fish, another reminder of how creative God is. On the island we collected corral for another craft project. The corral was hanging from string in the tress on the island so that when the wind blew, it make a clanging sound. It was absolutely perfect. It made me want to live on a warm, breezy island for the rest of my life. Hawaii?! haha. Yes. Give me a treehouse in a mango tree next to clear water and a nice shell wind chime. I could be satisfied!!



We got back to shore around 1300 and jumped in the pool to wash off. We headed to a restaurant for food and a coffee shop for gelato. We weren’t exactly feeling spicy food when we were so toasty warm from the sun so the gelato was a little bit of delay gratification for being respectful and eating everything up at lunch. To be honest, the part that sticks out to me the most is the accident we saw out the window at the coffee shop. If I were a news broadcaster I’d document it as “ Asian tourist rides motorcycle into parked mini bus.” I was a very confusing situation. It took a good second to comprehend what had just happened because the man literally cam from no one where and just hit out parked van. How does that happen!?!? Anyways, Greg, some of the Thai professors, and on of the coffee shop employees helped him out. I guess it’s the best to run into a car when there are a lot of nurses around.



We returned to the beach as soon as we could because we wanted to make most of the time we had since we would be leaving again in the morning. I went back to the beach to read, sleep, and swim in the ocean — not too eventful but extremely relaxing. Even though we didn’t want to leave the beach, we went back for showers because we were to be at a buffet dinner and fire show around 1900. It was on the beach, so we were excited. My sick stomach from eating too much fish and dessert was made up for by the fire show. It was way better than the fire show we saw at the zoo as the men did acrobatics while swinging the balls of fire. It was very impressive, though slightly nerve-racking since I had spent some time in the burn unit back at the hospital the first week. My night was topped off by a walk on the beach during which I got to see the other results with their beautiful lights and tapestries. I could stay here forever. I was happy to spend some time talking to Tanner before bed since we had fantastic wifi. I relaxed on the porch bed again in my robe, trying to take in every moment. I am so grateful for all the wonders God had blessed me with. He really nows how to make the heart happy!

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