Sari Bari has been closed since Oct 1...for "Durga Puja" and other holidays that fall in there. we always close SB for a week chunk each year to allow women to go home if they want (to visit extended family outside the city w/o missing work).
All the other american WMF staff were headed out of town, on fantastic vacations. I wanted to take the servant team to visit the WMF Thailand field, and with SB closed for 10 days, and the prospect of being in the flat alone for 10 days w/ lots of loud music outside, i decided it was a great time to go.
i have so many thoughts whirling around in my head...crazy to compress the past week into a "snipet" for you.
Travel to Thailand was horrible. our flights were delayed, we ended up in Dhaka, Bangladesh for 8 hrs, they got us all transit visas and put us up in a hotel, we were sick while traveling, we arrived in Bangkok at 3am instead of 7pm...a significantly worse time to roll into town. we lost luggage...had to go shopping for some clothes to wear while we sorted it out (only 1 bag was lost). i got us all on a bus going the wrong direction (right bus, just the wrong direction...cause i'm a genius...apparently unaware that buses go in 2 directions...and unable to speak any Thai). we eventually get to our mini-bus to take us to the beach where we're staying for the first part of our trip as a retreat time...the bus trip is pretty smooth, but the bus does break down on our way (we waited about 15 minutes and then another bus got us). when we arrived at the retreat center there had been some miscommunication and they had us booked for 2 nights instead of the 3 i thought...so i had to sort out lodging for our last night.
not an awesome way to start a week of travel. travel with people you don't know well isn't easy. being "in charge" of travel with people you don't know well, in a country where you don't speak the language = not awesome. stressful...more on that later...i will say, on a postitive note - that there is something very unifiying about shared frustrating experiences. It reminded of the youth group trips we used to take...and how at the end of a trip the students would often say that their favorite part was the 30hr bus ride, or "disasters" we met along the way...so do i want to repeat the travel experience...no thanks...but i do see the goodness/value in it.
our time at the retreat center was really beautiful. in the morning we each took time alone with the Lord...time for Him to meet us where we needed to be met...and it's beautiful how the Holy Spirit can meet us each where we are - in ways i couldn't have planned. Time to rest, and breathe a bit deeper, to sit with the Lord. to share what He was doing in us. to laugh and play games, and float in the waves, to play Frisbee, and eat ice cream - it was really good time.
Then we got to hang out with Tim and Amy Hupe, and their daughters Ella and Arielle in BKK. Man, i love those folks. it was so good to spend time with them, to see BKK through their eyes, to see their flat...to meet some of their friends...to have meaningful conversations...to laugh together...to talk with folks who "get" life in Asia...and share values with me...i value their voices, and their perspective...i was so thankful that the Servant Team got to experience another WMF field too.
we had some fun in BKK too...some shopping and sight-seeing...i drank starbucks coffee, and had a burger at Burger King...and Thai street food is so good...fresh pineapple, grilled meat on a stick...the coffee they make with sweetened condensed milk...
Travel back to K-town was less than awesome...well, it was pretty smooth, except the girls checked bags on the way home, and they didn't show up...so we had to go back to the airport yesterday to pick them up...but then the girls hung out at the flat yesterday afternoon (none of my roomies are home) - and i made spaghetti sauce for us...and it was good to relax together. a better re-entry to the city than lost bags and my snappy-ness since i was so emotionally tired from the week of problem-solving in a city, and a language i don't know. i was thankful for the time with them.
so one of the not awesome parts of our time in BKK involved another travel "disaster" - and me losing my temper with a taxi driver. it wasn't nice...and i was so embarassed. Erin and Taylor were very gracious with me...and now there's enough space that it's a little bit funny, although, while we can laugh about it (and will probably continue to laugh about it) - its still a hard moment for me. Being at the "end" of myself...behaving in a way that isn't grace-filled, or in control...i certainly wasn't a great role-model in that moment...and yet even here i see grace and beauty. How often i like to be in control...to have it together...to have the answers...to lead well...to be who i think i'm "supposed" to be - and i think at the end of the day it was probably really good for the girls to see a bit of the junk in my heart...to see that i obviously do not have living overseas figured out...that this is hard for me too...to see clearly that i don't always act with grace, that i don't always have an answer. it was humbling. so humbling...and also beautiful.
All the other american WMF staff were headed out of town, on fantastic vacations. I wanted to take the servant team to visit the WMF Thailand field, and with SB closed for 10 days, and the prospect of being in the flat alone for 10 days w/ lots of loud music outside, i decided it was a great time to go.
i have so many thoughts whirling around in my head...crazy to compress the past week into a "snipet" for you.
Travel to Thailand was horrible. our flights were delayed, we ended up in Dhaka, Bangladesh for 8 hrs, they got us all transit visas and put us up in a hotel, we were sick while traveling, we arrived in Bangkok at 3am instead of 7pm...a significantly worse time to roll into town. we lost luggage...had to go shopping for some clothes to wear while we sorted it out (only 1 bag was lost). i got us all on a bus going the wrong direction (right bus, just the wrong direction...cause i'm a genius...apparently unaware that buses go in 2 directions...and unable to speak any Thai). we eventually get to our mini-bus to take us to the beach where we're staying for the first part of our trip as a retreat time...the bus trip is pretty smooth, but the bus does break down on our way (we waited about 15 minutes and then another bus got us). when we arrived at the retreat center there had been some miscommunication and they had us booked for 2 nights instead of the 3 i thought...so i had to sort out lodging for our last night.
not an awesome way to start a week of travel. travel with people you don't know well isn't easy. being "in charge" of travel with people you don't know well, in a country where you don't speak the language = not awesome. stressful...more on that later...i will say, on a postitive note - that there is something very unifiying about shared frustrating experiences. It reminded of the youth group trips we used to take...and how at the end of a trip the students would often say that their favorite part was the 30hr bus ride, or "disasters" we met along the way...so do i want to repeat the travel experience...no thanks...but i do see the goodness/value in it.
our time at the retreat center was really beautiful. in the morning we each took time alone with the Lord...time for Him to meet us where we needed to be met...and it's beautiful how the Holy Spirit can meet us each where we are - in ways i couldn't have planned. Time to rest, and breathe a bit deeper, to sit with the Lord. to share what He was doing in us. to laugh and play games, and float in the waves, to play Frisbee, and eat ice cream - it was really good time.
Then we got to hang out with Tim and Amy Hupe, and their daughters Ella and Arielle in BKK. Man, i love those folks. it was so good to spend time with them, to see BKK through their eyes, to see their flat...to meet some of their friends...to have meaningful conversations...to laugh together...to talk with folks who "get" life in Asia...and share values with me...i value their voices, and their perspective...i was so thankful that the Servant Team got to experience another WMF field too.
we had some fun in BKK too...some shopping and sight-seeing...i drank starbucks coffee, and had a burger at Burger King...and Thai street food is so good...fresh pineapple, grilled meat on a stick...the coffee they make with sweetened condensed milk...
Travel back to K-town was less than awesome...well, it was pretty smooth, except the girls checked bags on the way home, and they didn't show up...so we had to go back to the airport yesterday to pick them up...but then the girls hung out at the flat yesterday afternoon (none of my roomies are home) - and i made spaghetti sauce for us...and it was good to relax together. a better re-entry to the city than lost bags and my snappy-ness since i was so emotionally tired from the week of problem-solving in a city, and a language i don't know. i was thankful for the time with them.
so one of the not awesome parts of our time in BKK involved another travel "disaster" - and me losing my temper with a taxi driver. it wasn't nice...and i was so embarassed. Erin and Taylor were very gracious with me...and now there's enough space that it's a little bit funny, although, while we can laugh about it (and will probably continue to laugh about it) - its still a hard moment for me. Being at the "end" of myself...behaving in a way that isn't grace-filled, or in control...i certainly wasn't a great role-model in that moment...and yet even here i see grace and beauty. How often i like to be in control...to have it together...to have the answers...to lead well...to be who i think i'm "supposed" to be - and i think at the end of the day it was probably really good for the girls to see a bit of the junk in my heart...to see that i obviously do not have living overseas figured out...that this is hard for me too...to see clearly that i don't always act with grace, that i don't always have an answer. it was humbling. so humbling...and also beautiful.
1 comment:
I'm sorry for the travel frustrations. I am glad there was redeemable time and hopefully some good stories down the road. We are working on our Thailand travel plans right now. . .
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