Changes, changes, changes!

So, let's see... Saturday was an awesome day! Climbing Doi Suthep Mountain produced sore legs, tired bodies, breathtaking views, and overwhelming peace. The first half was super easy and the second half was super challenging! At the half way point there's a small temple and a neat waterfall area. At the top, there were a lot of little vendors and a huge temple with a ginormous Jedi (symbol of Buddhism). After the drive back down and lunch back on campus we had a short break and then a 2 hour Thai massage! These 2 events of the day are definitely still fighting for my favorite. The massage was super relaxing.... and my legs appreciated it after the climb! Saturday night we celebrated the January birthdays in our group at Ajaan Mike's.... There was a lot of good food, great conversation, and yummy cake!

Did I mention breathtaking views?

And overwhelming peace?

And exhaustion? ;)

"Today is better than two tomorrows," so live in the moment, seize the day!!



Sunshine and a part of a temple, what more could ya want from a cool photo taken at the top of a mountain?



Chiang Mai from the top of Doi Suthep! I'm somewhere down there right now ;)

How on earth could I resist!?

Do you see that face? I know, I was supposed to be taking pictures of the temple and jedi, but you know me!

People write their wishes/prayers/dreams etc on these little gold leaves and hang them all around the temple and such.

Sunday was the day I have been SO nervous for... I met my host family! They were about an hour late to pick me up because, as I found out later, they didn't think I was coming until the 26th.... oops! Surprise, a Ruth! So, we left the school where everyone met their families, drove to their little place near campus and they showed me pictures of the previous students they've hosted. Then they said something about a new house they are building and that sometimes we would stay there instead of the current house. Then, we drove to their new, in process house. We sat and sort of talked (they don't know much English and I know WAY less thai) and then we had lunch. Then I ended up just kinda sitting in a room for about 3 or so hours (I'm not really sure what everyone else was doing!). Then we went back to their other house, then out to dinner, then did a little shopping, and came back. By that time it was 8, I was exhausted, frustrated, and completely NOT excited about the whole homestay concept. I shared my frustrations on Monday morning, and my Monday evening with the family went a little better, I kinda forced myself to spend more time with them and I continued to smile a lot =) Tuesday night was a little rough again, I'm still not always sure what to do with myself! Tonight, however, it was a lot quieter around the house so I forced myself out of my hiding place and my Thai mother was very happy to help me with my Thai lessons, and I showed her some pics of my family-- she seemed pretty pleased =)

Monday we also began our Thai culture class... The class includes a few lectures a week, two exams, and two papers, one of which is an ethnography on our host family, o, and the week-long field trip we will take will allow us to see a lot of the sights we are learning about (that happens about the middle of March).

Monday was just a jam-packed day because we also started our internships! We had one more place to scout out on Monday, Grandma's Place. It's a really cool organization that works with kids, empowers grandmothers, and is really holistic, but not really the right place for us since we will only be available a few hours a day. I would love to work for that type of organization at some point in my life though!

SO, I have chosen Wat Suan Dok, the Buddhist University to do my internship. That actually started for me on Tuesday. We will sit in a class in either English or Sociology each day from 1-3 and then we will be available for "Farang (foreigner) Chat" from 3-5. I really enjoyed it on Tuesday, the monks seem really open to us sharing our ideas with them in their classes and we had about 5 or so stop by to chat with us afterward. Overall, I'm sure I will learn a lot about culture, religion, and myself from interacting with them. I can't wait to go back tomorrow! We usually go Monday through Thursday, but I didn't go Monday and today was a Buddhist Holiday so they didn't hold an classes. We shall see how tomorrow goes!

Things are looking up and I will be sure to share more about my family and my internship soon. Thanks for continuing to read my musings.... I miss you all and pray you have a blessed week!!