A new home

I arrived safely at my final destination inThailand, also where I will be settling for a while.  My new program is working for the Mirror foundation, located in norther Thailand. 

Very different than I expected and also quite different from my last experience. I quickly reminded myself that having no expectations is the best frame of mind to have when going into something completely new. We have our own little village at the Mirror Foundation, about 20 minutes away from the town of Chiang Rai. Many of the local hill tribe members also live here at Mirror with us. We have the opportunity to work side by side with them and get to know them and their families. 

Who your with truly does have the ability to make it or break your experience. They are the people you will be working with living with and hanging out with most of the time, so you always have to hope for the best. So far it seems like a great group of people.

After traveling for 2 weeks, I have not seen a single American, today half of our new group is American. Not only are 8 of our volunteers from the U.S but they are all from Colorado or California, (I play both sides depending on what fits best. ;)) It really is such a small world we live in. We have a group of 20 all together, the other are a mix of Canadian, Australian and British. Fifty/ Fifty boys to girls this time as well, which is not very common. Sixteen members came in today so I was not alone in getting my bearings. 

The 4 that were already here welcomed us with open arms. They planned a bon-fire and party, bringing all sorts of treats from town; such as fruit, candy and popcorn; which is not easy to get. They quickly put our “rice for every meal menu” at ease, knowing we could find other options once we made it to town. 

The joking and chattering started immediately, nationalities bantering back and forth, exchanging past travels and projects, and getting to know each others history and personal gossip. Once again so many different people all coming together with open minds for the same purpose, reminded me why I love these projects so much and quickly made me feel like I am right were I am supposed to be.