First Sunday

I was "welcomed home" today at church. I love it when everyone says that. It's nice that they recognize this place as home for me as well. (There are so many homes for me!) Here's a few superlatives:

Best hug: would be from Nong. She just hugged me and started crying. Since I left, she has become a Christian. She said she couldn't believe I was coming back. When I left last year, she's the one that said, "Hurry back soon!"

Best first words: Rhianna, one of my teammates, saw me on the back of a motorcycle on the way to Mahathai kids' bible club. She put down the van window and screamed out at me. :) She said everyone was looking and she made a spectacle of herself. I didn't mind. I was just happy to see her.

Best view: That would have to be a tie. When I stand facing out from the Mahathai community center, I can see the palm trees waving under the blue sky. Then as I rode the bus out to our "Wal-Mart" called Tesco Lotus, I enjoyed the swampy grasslands blowing in the wind.

Most shockingly different: The roads. As I said, the gov't is having to put new pipes in for drainage since that huge flood last October caused horrible pot holes. Add that to the normal dodging of water during rainy season, and I have to think a lot about how to get around. I had to take a bus down a short road last night, since I couldn't wade through the water.

Challenging: Most people say my language is great. Thanks to my friends at the restaurant, I remember a lot. But it's hard to have big gaps in my vocabulary. I feel so silly trying to explain things. Today, at Lotus, I tried to explain my need for a power plug adaptor. It took 5 minutes and I left without one. :)