Culture: Elephants and Buddhism

Hi friends and family who are reading my blog! Hope you're all doing well.

It's been a long day here for me, and more is yet to come. I woke up (un-planned) around 4:30 am after a restless night and was unable to go back to sleep. So, here it is 5:40 my time and I'm drooping. Please pray the Lord would refresh and restore me, as I haven't been feeling 100% the last couple of days.

In non-health news, the trip is going well. It's been busy working and spending time with the team. I haven't really interacted much with the Thais, something I'll be trying to correct tomorrow. I want to soak up this culture while I'm here.

Speaking of culture, tonight is the cultural dinner and show here in Chiang Mai, complete with sitting on the floor to eat and cultural dancing. You know I love these kinds of things ;) Saturday is more culture, albeit a bit "touristy." We're heading out for the bamboo raft ride, elephant ride, watching elephants play soccer and paint, the botanical gardens and the jade factory. Should be a long day, but full of fun.

In non-cultural news, I met with several monks yesterday and was able to talk about Buddhism and Christianity and the differences, etc. I can't say I felt like much headway was made with any of the Buddhists - they were so blinded they didn't even see the irony in much of what they said, nor did they care. Pray for them, and also for Eddie, a California boy who is on a "spiritual journey" here in Thailand and was there are Monk Chat last night. He asked some good questions and we were able to have some really good conversations with him.

The interesting thing is that though most of the monks aren't Thai, they are all from traditional Buddhist cultures. Their Buddhism elicits very little passion, considering that they are giving their lives for it. Buddhism and elephants just seem to be another part of the culture, without much of a second thought.

Sorry this is short and choppy, but I'm burnt out and needing to get ready for dinner. To keep up with me more in-depth, check out Southeastern's blog that Courtney and I are in charge of, and my photos in my Facebook album. Love to all!