"I CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH ANYMORE." -Jacob Porter

We're having fun adjusting to life in Bangkok! 

In a nutshell, the weather is hot, people are gracious, and we are really bad at speaking Thai. 

Ronald McDonald teaches us how to wai, the Thai gesture when saying hello, goodbye, and thank you. 

By the way, this McDonalds is 5 minutes walking from where we stay. CLUTCH. One night, we just HAD to have a cheeseburger and fries, even though American food is more expensive here. McDonalds has never tasted so good. And McDonalds has dipped ice cream cones for less than 50 cents. Yes please!

Words from group English class. Thai people have trouble distinguishing between "ch" and "sh" noises. And they have trouble forming the "l" sound, so everything sounds like an "r." Rachel, the English teacher, had them sing Row Row Row Your Boat. It was so funny!

One night our friend P'Yut took us across town to a DEEElicious feast, including two whole dead fish.  

You take a bite of fish meat and wrap it in lettuce with noodles and sauce. It reminded me of P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps. 

FEAST! Best meal we've had so far and maybe the best meal we will have!

Group meeting. Probably to figure out the budget. 

Some of our friends waiting downstairs before we left Saturday for the Grand Palace. 

Entrance to the Grand Palace! 

We were waiting for the boys to change. Because the Palace is a Buddhist temple of worship, they have strict rules about what clothing you are allowed to wear. Non-Thai girls must wear skirts or loose pants that cover their knees. Thai girls must cover their whole legs. Thai and non-Thai men must wear long pants. Our boys didn't know that, so they had to rent pants to wear for the tour. 

People were laughing and taking pictures of us when we were taking this picture. Crazy Americans. 

We laugh at the way some signs are translated. 

"Beware of your valuable possessions" sounds like our cameras and jewelry are going to come to life and turn against us haha. There's a sign in the mall that is supposed to mean "Watch your head" because it's low clearance, but instead it says "Please Mind Your Head."

LST promotion picture quality.

The Royal Buddha's temple. We were not allowed to take pictures inside. 

Alyssa and Cole taking off their shoes before entering the temple. 

These are like the guards in England. People take pictures with them and try to make them laugh, but they don't move. 

The famous Reclining Buddha. It is HUGEEE. 

Being Cole.

Making offerings to Buddha. 

This is another temple that we decided not to go to, but we could have taken a boat across the river! Apparently this is the spot where four rivers in Thailand merge together into one. 

P'Megk loves to take pictures! We're just waiting for them to appear on Facebook!

Some of our group! By this point in the day, we were scorched.

Street vendors are everywhere!

Sorry my thoughts are really random and disorganized so far. Our brains are all somewhat fried from trying to explain what words like "holy" mean or who Jesus is or the difference in Catholic and Protestant all in simple English. 

Jesus never said His work would be easy. He even knew that not everyone would hear and believe. But He said that the harvest is plentiful, that people are searching (Luke 10:2). And that when His Word is read, it will not return empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). That's awesome.