the work day....

This is Dan. I don't really want to do this, but Aaron's forcing me..... Contrary to popular belief, he really isn't a very nice man. Just because someone is a pastor doesn't mean that they're a good person. Yesterday, I dripped paint on the floor and he beat me with a bamboo rod....
Ok, none of that was true and I apologize. I hope you smiled or laughed at least a little bit. Well, actually, one thing was true - this really is Dan. I'm here to tell you about our day on Saturday.
Just like every other day, we were up pretty early, had a breakfast consisting of toast, cereal, and fruit. I don't know if anyone else mentioned this in any of their blogs because I didn't read them, but they have some whacked out fruit here. It started when they gave me an orange. It was green, like a lime. Naturally, I gave it back because eating a paradox can't be good for you. They have these crazy little things that look like strawberry sea urchins. I don't know what they're called. I call them Ramadans, like the Jewish holiday, cuz it sounds similar to that. Also, there are mangosteins. Inside the hard shell is a supple, fleshy, and delicious center - my favorite. The bananas are pretty weird too. They're all like, half-sized and sort of creepy.
So yeah, after breakfast, we did our normal devotion thing and set out for the office. At the office, we were going to help out with Joy Kids, a children's ministry that meets every Saturday from 10:00-12:00. I didn't get to experience too much of Joy Kids, cuz the men were called upon to perform manly acts of brute force and extraordinary strength. I know that Joy Kids is much like our Wednesday night children's ministry. It consists of singing, a bible lesson, a craft and some recreation time which always exceeds the control of the adults.
As I said, about 15 minutes after Joy Kids began, the men went to do fun things like pouring concrete and painting a building. So we left the office, jumped in the back of the nearest pickup truck (which happened to belong to a missionary) and journeyed to the slum known as Mahatthai 3. Upon arrival, we discovered that the indigenous folk had already begun to mix the concrete. Excited for the opportunity to do some real work, Reid, Paul and I eagerly ran to the concreting area and got all sweaty. Aaron went to clean. We nearly finished the concrete in a very short period of time, so we decided to let the Thais finish the last little bit of sidewalk and we went inside to help Aaron. By the time we got there, the building was pretty clean, considering the fact that it is a sort of lean-to with no doors or anything. When we saw the shimmering cleanliness that Aaron had achieved in this building, we set out to ruin it with a light blue colored paint. We painted the walls, the ceiling, each other, and unfortunately, the floor. We had a good time and aside from the blistering heat and suffocating humidity, conditions were pretty decent. By 5:00 we had done about half of the building and most of the floor (which was not supposed to be painted). We didn't go at it alone though. We had help from 3 Thai kids and I'm probably going to butcher the spelling of their names even though they're short. The kids who helped us were Fert, Ferne, and Tong. The floor looked as if it had been splatter-painted. When we painted the ceiling, the paint would drip down everywhere. Our fearless leader, Dave, said that there was no need to put down tarps because paint would come right off the rubber floor. He was not right. Meanwhile.....
The women were back at the office doing Joy Kids and making flowers and other things of that sort. I didn't experience much of that firsthand, but they tell me that it was awesome to see the Thai kids singing praise songs and worshipping God in the same way that our children do back home. It really is amazing to come here and interact with people that live half way around the world and to see that the one thing we have in common is the love of God and the desire to praise Him. That common ground has already given way to the forming of many relationships. Anyways, back to the women and their flowery things. Now, I've seen these flowers they made and they're actually pretty sweet. I have no idea how they do it, but they take this material and just fool around with it until it looks amazing. I actually asked Rachel to, if she has the extra time, to make some for my girlfriend. I'd do it myself, but I have no artistic ability and the men would never let me hear the end of it. I'd be shunned. Make sure you ask the girls to show you their flowers when they get home. They're really cool.
After these afternoon activities, the guys went back to shower and then picked up the girls and headed out to the park. The plan was to hang out in the park, meet people, and then have some dinner. When we got to the park we split up. A lot of the longterm missionary moms went to get dinner ready and everyone else made their way to the soccer court. Most of our team had no intentions of playing due to extreme exhaustion, but that didn't really last long. Reid, Aaron and I all played in the very first game as well as a few after that. Paul was the only one who stood strong and fought the urge to further abuse his body. Three soccer games and one huge blister later, we made our way over to the little picnic area that had been prepared. We sat and ate and just enjoyed each other's company. There was a wicked cool sunset that I'll include a picture of at the end.
The busiest day on our schedule drew to a close as we made our way back to the Henry's house, had prayer time and then crashed.
Have a good day!

In Christ,
Dan

The sunset picture - as promised.

Soccer at the park.

Pouring concrete in Mahatthai 3.

Joy Kids in action, singing praise songs.

This sums up how all the guys felt after working in the heat all day.