On Friday morning my dad spoke to the high school for chapel. We spent the rest of the day preparing for this week and revamping the lectures. It was really good for me to see and get a feel for the school and students before this week of speaking started. On Friday night we went with a group of students to Agape House, a home for HIV positive children. Each student from Grace International School who went had "adopted" a child at Agape House. When we pulled in, the kids at Agape ran up to their "adopted big brother or sister" and pulled them right to the play ground or somewhere they wanted to play. I had a little girl named Bow approach me and immediately go for my video camera.
She looked somewhat responsible, so I showed her how to work it and she videoed the rest of the time we were there. She loved it! I don't know how much English she spoke or understood, but that piece of technology brought us pretty close and it was so neat.
Saturday was our "tourist" day since the rest of the week is pretty well filled with working and ministry. It's kind of weird to me, because I don't normally do "tourist" day with my parents when we are on a trip. That is something we take our teams to experience. But, the people here were adamant that we were to experience the Thai culture. So, we went to an elephant camp. I didn't really know what to expect. It was absolutely amazing! First we went to ride the elephants. My elephant was 32 years old. It was quite bumpy, but not uncomfortable.
I videoed the whole ride, but it sure doesn't give the full feel for the experience. After the 30 min. ride, we walked to the baby elephant nursery. They were so cute! One of the care takers brought out an over sized soccer ball and I was able to kick it back and forth with the baby elephant. We walked over to the restaurant and had a bite to eat. (on a side note, I really have enjoyed the food here) I had chicken and pineapple fried rice. Tasty:) After lunch we attended the elephant show. I was absolutely amazed at the variety of things that elephants can do. They actually had them painting pretty flower pictures with their trunks. Crazy, I know! I bought one that looks like a flag. I'm planning on using it for the Urban Arts ministry this summer and the up coming years. I think when I show the kids the video of an elephant painting a picture and then show them the actual picture, they will get a kick out of it. I also enjoyed a coconut and it's water during the show.
It was pretty rich and the meat of the coconut was different than what I have had in the states. It was very flabby. But it still tasted like traditional coconut. We ended the day at a family's home for dinner. It was nice spending time with a few missionary families, finding out what they do here and how God is using them.Sunday we attended Chaing Mai Christian Fellowship. My dad preached and we had a great time of worship. In the afternoon the Bolands, our hosts, took us to get a traditional Thai massage. It was absolutely amazing! The crazy part is that it was 150 Baht for 1 hour. That is about a $5.00 massage! I was in shock! Sunday evening one of the teachers my age called and asked if I wanted to go to the night market. I guess it is only on Sunday nights and is open until midnight. It was one of the most crowded places I have every been.
The shopping is so unbelievably inexpensive. They barter, but I felt bad even bartering because it would be pennies that I would end up paying for an item. I found my one item I look for in every country, a traditional musical instrument. I purchased a teak wood, Thai mandolin. The man was so cute who sold it to me. He wanted to play every song he knew to show me that it had a good quality sound. 
I just wanted to purchase the thing, but he was set on playing every song he knew. I think the neatest thing was being able to climb the old Chaing Mai fortress wall and taking pictures of the evening.
By the time I got home, it was late and I hit the hay for our early morning.
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