I'm here!!! (Bangkok, that is)

We arrived around 11:30 local time last night after a long day of flying. The first flight took us from LAX to Tokyo, and lasted 11 hours, during which I watched a plethora of movies. Definitely a preferable way to spend an 11 hour flight :) Our second flight was about half as long, and amazingly I slept a few hours after slowly drifting to sleep while watching Drive, which is sort of a miracle for me since I rarely sleep on planes. We were taken to our hotel immediately where we all settled in for the night and tried to get as much sleep as possible.

It's crazy that I am here, finally seeing the city I've thought about often in the last couple of months. In a lot of ways Bangkok reminds me of LA; constant activity, people everywhere, and similar stereotypes. But it definitely has its own vibe. There are shrines to gods/spirits on every street. The buildings are practically built on top of each other. The drivers are crazy, like LA, but even more so. And there are Westerners everywhere, mostly men. Oh, and it is VERY humid (that seems to be a trend for missions trips that I've been on)

Today was sort of a chill day, which was nice so we could get adjusted to the city. We ate breakfast at our hotel and went to a cafe near by to do some team bonding I guess you could say. I had my first Thai tea in Thailand, it was delicious. After, we had our first Thai meal, and then walked to Night Light to see their building and to meet the leaders/founders, Jeff and Annie. We also took our first prayer walk through the red light district, each of us focusing on a different part of the Lord's prayer. Mine was Our Father who art in Heaven. As I was praying I just felt the reminder that God is our Father, for ALL of us, whether we believe in him or not. I think it's good to remember when in a different culture from our own because then it is easier to focus on what makes us similar instead of different.

Initially I was kind of overwhelmed by everything taking place in the city. There is so much going on, cars driving by, vendors all along the streets, people walking, others begging for money, and bars lining the street, and this is all during the day mind you. Later we went to Night Light's other building that is located right in the middle of the red light district, for a time of prayer and worship. It was awesome to see the presence of God drawing people to the building. The front is completely glass, so passersby can see right into the room and see what we are doing. A lot of people stopped by, trying to figure out what we were doing. One man stopped and stayed nearly 15 minutes probably. Turns out he was a cab driver and he was waiting for two American men to I guess buy their Thai girl for the night. He kept looking in and smiling, and everytime he looked at me I just got filled with joy. There was just something about him, that I could tell he was seeking something deeper. I don't know, it was just really neat.

For dinner we ate at Cabbages and Condoms, a Thai restaurant created by the government and a non-profit to inform people about safe sex. Decorations in the restaurant are all made out of condoms, they even have a condom Santa! Definitely an interesting take on sex education, ha.

Even though our day was pretty chill, I am exhausted. I could write more, but I need sleep and time to process. More to come soon!