Thailand Journal 1 – Aug. 23, 2019

As many of you know, this is our seventeenth mission and cultural trip to Thailand in as many years. There are eleven of us, including Alicia Haunschild; Deanna Ludwig-Bos (a nursing professor) and her son, Noah; Hannah Wood; Jasmine Cruz; Krizelle Baraero; Mackenzie Wahl; Olivia Seely; Salina Terry; and Sarai Rojas. Seven of the eleven are nurses. It’s a good and fun team. Yesterday was long; but we had to stop at 7-11 and shop at 1:30am and visit the bathrooms. Remember it is also a “cultural’ trip! This morning Hannah joined me in running into town to get the telephones set up, and to visit with some of the business folk with whom we have established good relationships and

friendships. We also popped in to see Nuny at the Elementary school, and Jenny and Rose at the massage parlor. After the formal orientation we were on our way to Tesco Lotus! We, of course, had to stop at the fruit stand and introduce the team to some exotic

tropical fruits. At the Mall we followed tradition and ate at The Pizza Co., and topped it off with ice-cream at Swensen’s. The day ended at Vespers. A packed house of students, faculty and staff. By now most of us are struggling to stay awake…. Remember that I’m 14 hours from Walla Walla’s time-zone. My Thailand cell # is 66-98-857-3871.

I’ll be posting photos daily on my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143715478@N06/albums/72157710509200516