I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

hey kids.

today was a great day. I don't feel like saying any objective "my time is going to be X here" statements because the DTS doesn't start until tomorrow, but today made me HAPPY.  It started off by taking my first shower since I left (forgot to pack a towel, picked one up at market. showers are a lovely thing.) I then went with Caleb and my new friends Josua from Germany and Taylor from Minnesota and we went to get breakfast. Rice! My favorite! 

Each meal so far has run about 30 baht (about a dollar). 

We got back, and as soon as we got back we met my new friends Stephanie and Brittany, both from california, and who although they never knew each other before, describe themselves as "the same person". they invited us to church, and so about 7 of us crowded into two taxis and adventured our way across town to [I have no idea where]. And oh, it was a trip, complete with Taylor's water bottle pouring out into his pocket and soaking his pants for the rest of the afternoon, and entering the highway via going  up the off-ramp and pulling a U-turn up onto the highway. The lines and arrows on the roads are just suggestions, you guys. I think americans are hampered by all our traffic laws. So much art and finesse is required in order to drive recklessly whilst not dying, and we really deny ourselves the experience.

We got to church about an hour early and so we went into the market for a while. Living in community is SO GREAT, KIDS. everyone is showing so much patience and earnestness in getting to know each other. we're developing our default facial expressions for when cameras get shoved in our face. Summer, if you're reading this, I'm borrowing heavily from when you pucker your lips. I hope you accept my plagiarism. 

It's so great to be getting to know new people who all have this great sunny attitude, wanting to be friends. new friends, if you're reading this from facebook-stalking me, Hi! now get off of the stupid internet and come play with me.

the hotel where we had church

We went to church. service started at two and lasted for about an hour. I don't know where I'll be regularly attending yet, the DTS leaders encourage us to get plugged in with a local church, but this one was pretty cool! the pastor and his wife are from Sweden. today they told us the story of when they were on a YWAM DTS (Like us!) in the Caucasus region of eurasia and were kidnapped and spent 6 months in a Chechnyan dungeon. COMFORTING. but the testimony they had of trusting god and having him deliver and learning to forgive their captors was truly beautiful. and the praise songs were great too, we sang each refrain twice, once in english and once in thai. The thai language is growing on me, even though I don't really know it. It's hard having to be humble and accepting that I will need to work really hard in order to speak even remotely as well as I speak english. I love having a mastery of the english language, being able to use big fancy words like "methodology" and "neopostmodern" and "pedantic". to only be able to speak as well as a three year old is humbling and frustrating. it doesn't matter what you know if you can't communicate it.

On the way back to Ram II (our home bus-stop), we took a bus. busses were also an adventure. it reminded me of good times in Cape Town, weaving in and out of lanes with traffic protocol being an afterthought, trusting the driver completely to deliver us without killing us. I love these kids I'm with, everyone has been great and friendly and open and my Thai classmates have helped us a lot in navigating and helping us order off menus. when we got back to ram II we went to the market to get dinner. Rice! My favorite! I need to start taking pictures of meals.

we got back, played some music on the roof, played some spoons. today was a beautiful starting point to our big adventure together, and I'm excited for tomorrow. Bright and early, 7 o'clock, the fun begins.

Friends, if you're reading this, facebook me. I want to make a skype-schedule, where at least once a week I talk to someone new. starting to miss all of you folks, especially those of you who got a summer's head start.

I'm working on my blog writing style. it's a work in progress; the last time I blogged regularly I was 15 and used the internet to whine about my feelings. So be patient with me.