Southeast Asia Program: Sawadee and welcome to Intensity!

I now proclaim the initiation of the Fall 2008 Pacific Discovery Blog! Whew, where to begin?

To be frank, immediately after stepping off the plane, we've all been propelled into an intensity of experiences. And it is only until now that I have had a moment to reflect on the past week. And what a week it was.

Most of us arrived on Saturday where we had our first team meeting and orientation at the guesthouse. Slowly we got to know each other through awkward introductions, anticipating future friendships that would inevitably come. Only, we didn't expect them to come so fast. But alas, thus is the nature of intense experiences.

On Sunday we took the train up to Sukkhothai and cycled around the beautiful and enchanting ruins. With the beating hot sun, we all enjoyed the cool breeze felt from the carefree ride. And from there, the intensity began. In the following days we traveled to Mae Sot, spoke with former Burmese prisoners, crossed over to Burma for a most unique breakfast experience, trekked through goopy mud in the rainforest, visited a Karen village hill tribe where we enjoyed a delicious dinner by candlelight, and rode elephants through the jungle. And we're only on day seven! I think my previous "whew" was an understatement! WHEW!

And now, with the time to reflect, I must say - what an amazingly unique and beautiful world we live in. With only experiencing a small piece of this corner in Asia, I am mesmerized by the beautiful smiles, the savory food and street cart delicacies, and the absolutely pituresque scenery. And on a whole other level, I am also amazed at the friendships that have already developed only one week into our south east Asia adventures. Camping with bare necessities and experiencing such raw cultural situations, it becomes nearly inevitable to get to know one another and to develop a deep commradery and support for one another.

I can't believe this much can be said for one week. But this doesn't even do justice for what we are all feeling in our hearts and minds. I can't wait to see what the next weeks hold for us. Stay tuned for future intensity in the posts to come!

- Emily