Staff Retreat

Yeah, I know it’s been over a week since I’ve posted anything. Apologies once again. After the last post, we spent 3 days at work (two of which I was painting the building in the village) and then the volunteers all took of for a bit of rest. The rest was really nice seeing as we went to a small island near Bangkok. I think it was good timing for the rest, but it possibly came at a hectic time. It marks the halfway point in my stay here, and two of the volunteers are in their last days. Personally it was nice to be able to spend some time away from Bangkok reflecting on the previous couple months and preparing for the second half. It was also a nice getting to know the other volunteers away from work and a crowded house, and say goodbye to the others. The trip to the island was however jammed right between the retreat we took the kids on (previous post) and the staff retreat that we left for on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday we were up before 5 am for CCD’s annual staff retreat. It was a 12 hour bus ride up to the northern part of Thailand near the Myanmar border. The area around the border between Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand is known as the opium triangle. There are also several villages in the Thailand side composed of people from different ethnicities tucked away in the mountains. Wednesday we took a trip to the Myanmar border where the staff crossed over for shopping at the markets there. I only have a single entry visa so I stayed back with some other volunteers to see the sights on the Thai side. Thursday we took a three hour hike through the jungle and ended up at a small waterfall where we were able to swim if we wanted. I’ve been on a trip through the jungle up there before and didn’t like it because it was a rather touristy trip that left me feeling like I just experienced a commercialized part of the Thai jungle. This was nothing like that. We hiked for an hour and a half up the mountain/hill through the jungle till we arrived at a small waterfall that seemed hidden from everyone. After swimming for a bit we hiked our way back down. I did manage to step through the trunk of a dead tree, effectively placing my entire foot into a next of fire ants. All I can say about that is it hurt. I’m glad it was right next to the waterfall.
The evenings were filled with worship among the staff, preaching from some guy at the bible college we were staying at, staff games, and new staff initiation. As far as the initiation goes, I won’t show any pictures of what happened seeing as how the volunteers count as new staff too. I will say though that the eels I stepped on while I was blindfolded made a tasty dinner the following night. Friday we took the bus all the way back to Bangkok where we have a three day weekend (some kind of Buddhist holiday on Monday) which gives me some peace and quiet to catch up on my work here. It’s good to be home again. Don’t forget to check the pictures link on the side where I’ll be adding some new pics!