Hanna & Thailand!: Pictures at last!

I have come up with a brilliant idea!

Instead of rushing my blog posts every time I go to the Internet café, I am going to write out my posts ahead of time on word! I can’t believe it took me this long to figure this out, but now it allows me to write longer and more thought out posts.

Now for the updates. Life on our little base is going good. Today we started our first day of lecture, which means a more regular daily schedule. Last week we had a lot more free time because we were going through orientation, but now we have an hour-by-hour schedule. Breakfast is at 6:30, followed by quiet time, which is from 7:30-8:15. 8:15-9:15 is either worship or intercession. Then 9:30-12:30 is lecture. Lunch is at 12:30, followed by community responsibility (chores) from 1:30-3:30. 3:30-5 is free time, and 5-6 is sports time. Dinner is at 6, and then finally from 7-9 is lecture or small groups. We are definitely kept busy here, but they make sure we have plenty or time to spend with Jesus and friends.

Thankfully, they give us the entire weekend off. On Saturday, Sarah, Lauren, Stephanie (all westerners), Gam (our Thai friend who thinks she’s a westerner (: ), and I all ventured into Chiang Mai for a day of shopping and exploring the city. A majority of our day was spent in search of American restaurants and walking around lost, but we ended the day by going to Chiang Mai’s famous “Walking Street” night market. We then caught a song thaew (truck with seats and a cover in the bed) back to Mae Taeng. Our driver was not very nice and talked in a northern dialect that Gam had a hard time understanding. Long story short, we ended up in the back of a song thaew for almost 2 hours (the ride usually only takes 45 minutes) with 15 other people. Eventually we arrived in Mae Taeng and were able to hitch hike back to our base. It was definitely a day full of adventures, inside jokes, and bonding. God has truly blessed me with a wonderful family here at the base and I am so incredibly thankful.

On Sunday I was able to go to the Internet café and skype for three hours with family and friends in Bellingham (and Bethie in Amsterdam!). I felt so encouraged and had a great time sharing with them all of my adventures. I miss everyone so much, but I am feeling confident in my purpose here in Thailand. I know this is where I need to be right now and God has already stretched and grown me. I am hungry for more!

I do have some prayer requests for this week. I have breakfast duty, which means I have to get up at 5 am and make the whole base breakfast, so please be praying for good rest. Also, I just found out today that I have to get a $200 visa for our two week China outreach in November (a ridiculous amount of money for such a short time). I was not prepared for this visa therefore I didn’t budget for it. So I am going to try to do a bit of internet fundraising in the next couple weeks. If you feel led to give, please email me at hmbish@gmail.com and I will let you know how you can donate. If not, then please pray! Prayer is more important then finances.

Anyways, I pray that all of you are doing well, and I hope you enjoy the pictures I have posted.

Blessings!

Hanna