Sunday, March 18

Sunday, March 18th - Happy Birthday, JJ!!!

We woke up this morning in beautiful Bangkok after a much needed night of rest! Breakfast was our first taste of Thai cuisine and we explored all of the offerings from miso soup to fried rice, and balanced it out with some traditional American fare. We then met the Thai teenagers that will be our co-counselors at camp this week and loaded up into five vans as we headed out of the city and to Khon Kaen. It is a six hour drive to Khon Kaen (where camp will be held), which gave us time to catch a glimpse of the city and countryside, learn more about Thai culture and language from our new Thai friends, and nap as we still manage the jet lag. Lunch was alongside a picturesque lake and we indulged family style in pad thai, basil fried pork, vegetables and fish.

Na'am, Breck's long-standing Thai Ambassador, was kind enough to let us stop at her house as we entered the city to see where she and her family live. Na'am's kids will join us this week as both campers and counselors and it was so fun for them to reunite with familiar Breck faces from previous trips. She explained to us her inspiring back story of how she came to run a non-profit and be an art therapy teacher, as well as why she decided to move her family to Khon Kaen. We then walked to the local Waldorf school where four of her children go, and got the chance to speak with one of the teachers and learn about their pedagogy. There were many questions as we learned that part of their curriculum includes options such as welding, planting crops, taking care of the animals on their school farm. Thai students are on their summer vacation right now, but we still had the chance to walk around and visit classrooms as we try to get glimpse of their daily life.

After jumping back into the vans, it was time to eat, so we headed to the Ton Tann Night Market. The market had everything from clothes and trinkets, to local food, and we spent over an hour walking around and exploring all there was to see. On one side was a large open eating area where they were showing soccer games on huge screens while families ate their dinner, and then across the way were tight aisles of vendors selling various merchandise. We realized how lucky we were to have the help of our Thai friends as ordering food from the tents was our first real language barrier we have faced! Our group tried egg pancakes, pad thai, egg rolls, mango smoothies and shaved ice. Two of our Thai counselors then surprised JJ with a slice of birthday cake as we sang to her in the square! Thoroughly exhausted, we loaded back into the vans one last time and arrived at Wishing Tree Resort. We will be here through Saturday, and are excited to explore and prep for camp as the first day is Tuesday.

Stay tuned for more updates!