I am not going to lie it was hard to say goodbye. I questioned the experience even. Boarding the plane I was sad and scared, and when I first got a glimpse of Thailand.... I cried. I didn't know what to expect and everything was so different. I am not really a religious person but I prayed. I prayed for good things to come, and I asked god for help to be strong. I needed a sign. I was feeling down in the dumps and I needed guidance. Around eight in the morning my host dad "papa" came into my room and gave me a Rotary Shirt and said that at nine we were going to the club. I took a shower got ready and put on this kelly green Rotary polo. When we got into the car he then again apologized that he couldn't speak English. I laughed and told him that's okay, I need to learn Thai.
He laughed at me, and I guess we both just thought it was funny. He ran into a couple of stores and picked up a banner, and some paper plates. I thought it was for his restaurant. We headed for the main road in chumphae. He pulled off on the side of this busy street and told me to follow him. We walked to city hall. In front of the hall there was a statue of the Buddhist llama. In front of the statue there was a table filled with flowers and incense. Next to the table, there were 6 Buddhist monks. Then a crowd of people were
watching. Papa and I walked to another tent and we hung up a sign. We then walked to the crowd of people. The monks began to chant, and we all held our hands in the "wai" position. Like in prayer. Men began pounding drums, and the monks were chanting. I was surrounded by fellow Thais and Rotarians. Then to my surprise Non, a Thai exchange student who went to Michigan, comes and sits next to me. He tells me that today we are celebrating the Buddhist king, the 5th llama. It was beautiful. It was like god was telling me everything is going to be alright. After an hour of chanting, and praying, I followed papa to the tent where we set up
the banner. He had cleared off a table and was cooking pans upon pans of pad Thai, apparently his is the best in town. Non, his parents, the president of our rotary club, and I began
serving the big crowd of people Pad Thai along with other Rotarians serving, coconut water,green curry, and pistachio ice cream.I had a blast and met really interesting people. This is why I came to Thailand, I got my sign.
