23 days already?!

On our way home tonight, we were with two of our friends from the church. As we were walking, the two boys began talking in Thai and laughing...As usual, I asked what they were talking about (I'm a curious person!). So they began to fill me in about this girl that we passed earlier. Apparently, one of the boys thought she was very cute and wanted to give her his number. Now this normally wouldn't be a big deal, but I'm pretty sure that I have the same conversation every single day with these guys...So i began laughing and said, "YOU LIKE TOO MANY GIRLS!!!!". The boy I was with quickly responded, "I like every girl........but I only love one girl." Well, that totally made me laugh!

The last few days have been really good. Yesterday was super fun--especially because we went to Karaoke! I have been wanting to go for quite a while now. Karaoke is a big thing in Thailand. It's so interesting, because the connotation of Karaoke in America usually has to do with a bar or a restaurant, but here, there are buildings that are only for Karaoke. I went with my students after class last night and there were four of us altogether. The thing you have to know about Thai people is that the majority of them are very shy and reserved. They don't really like to be noticed and will mostly stay in the background--so the idea of them singing karaoke was making me laugh before we even got there. When we got there, I was surprised to find that there are individual rooms to be used. So, the four of us were in our own little room where we could pick the songs we wanted. I chose the first song, because I assumed they would be too shy to start, but to my amazment, they completely transformed before my eyes. The shy, sweet, and reserved students I had come to know became crazy, hilarious, and obnoxious singers. It was fantastic! I will never ever forget that night...

I think that maybe a combination of singing last night, not getting enough sleep, and having the air contitioning on too high last night, made me a little sick today. I woke up with a  sore throat and I still don't feel the greatest. I think it was a little bit of a blessing though, because I ended up not having class since only one of my students could make it today. I definitely think it was a God thing, because I don't think I would have had the energy to teach for 2 hours today.

Tonight for dinner, I was really hungry--even though I wasn't feeling the greatest. So I told my friends that I wanted chicken and vegetables with rice. I was looking forward to it because I haven't really had a lot of vegetables since we got here...So, when my food finally came, I took a bite and immediately my mouth was burning! I looked at the person who ordered for me and said..."SPICY!". But they informed me that they ordered the food not spicy. Apparently, what is not spicy  to them is way too spicy for me. I ate a little bit, but I couldn't eat it all! Then to top it off, after I finished, one of the boys took a big bite of one of a red pepper. He told me that it was not spicy, just sour, and that I should try some. I'm not sure why I believed him...and I'm especially not sure why I didn't get the warning signs--the amount of water he was drinking, or the sweat pouring down his face--but I decided to taste it..WORST DECISION OF MY LIFE! My mouth  was burning for 30 minutes. Yeah, it was kind of dumb.

Well, we've been here for three weeks now. I'm loving it more everyday! Please, please, please keep us in prayer. We really appreciate you all.

-Bethany