Well, I officially made it through my first week of Muay Thai training! It wasn’t technically a full week, because there was no training on Thursday. On Thursday, the whole country of Thailand was practically shutdown due to a special ceremony for the cremation of the former King of Thailand. He died at some point last year and this day had been picked as the official ceremony day. 7/11 wasn’t even open. Some people have asked me if this meant that there would be political unrest and a struggle for power. Don’t worry, the son of the former King has been peacefully ruling since. So nothing to worry about there!
I am starting to get more accustomed to the weather here, but thank goodness for the winter months. I’ve seen the 70s for the first time since arriving in Asia and I only saw 78°! The rain has been interesting, however. It mostly rains at night which is good, but one morning I woke up to the street flooded in the picture above. I completely soaked my socks and shoes. There really wasn’t another option! I’ve also witnessed 45 minutes rain showers while it is fun sunlight. Interesting stuff!
I look forward to Sundays with a lot of enthusiasm not only because it’s the one rest day from training, but because I get to get out of my apartment and go to church! This Sunday didn’t disappoint! We had a quick service at the church in town and then the whole congregation caravaned an hour north of the city to have a special service for a member who just had a new house built. The couple takes in orphan children and does a lot of other really great outreach. This second house next to their first will bless a lot of lives I’m sure! They have a fair amount of property and banana trees and a lot of other fruits growing in the yard.
The food at the get together was amazing! I haven’t had a feast like this my entire time in Asia! The portion sizes in these countries have been so small, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to eat as much I want. It’s also an amazing blessing to enjoy the Christian fellowship!
After another quick service we hit the road home. I was super blessed to be given a bicycle by the family there, so threw that in the back of the truck. I had been looking for a bike, so this was a great find. Having a bicycle should really increase my ability to explore! I have a whole list of local spots in Chiang Mai I want to explore.
Next blog post will likely be about my side hustles to make some side cash while settled here. Thanks for reading!