Well, we have left our village.
And now we are in Siem Reap, a pretty big city here.
And culture shock is real. The city is more overwhelming than what we are used to. Going from a small village to the second-biggest city in Cambodia is a jump. But we saw two other teams, and catching up with them was super good.
It’s different, though; it is like Thanksgiving. When you see the cousins, you don’t know, but you know you are all related. It has that awkward tension between us and the other teams. We have been in a very different environment than everyone else, and we have gotten pretty close. And this kind of makes me sad because we were all super close at the end of training camp. I am sure this is just awkward teenagers still not grasping social situations, but it makes it difficult to interact.
In a week, we are leaving all 50 something of us are driving to Thailand. My team and one girl’s team will live with each other and do kids ministry again. We will be outside of Chaing Mai, which is in north Thailand. We don’t have much information, but to my knowledge, it will focus more on evangelism than teaching English. So that will be good. I am very excited. It also won’t be so freaking hot, so that is a huge blessing.
It feels like we got put on hold because we left, and now we have a week here to chill, which is good and bad. It is nice to have a break, but we are restless.
This one was pretty short, but again, thanks for everything.
-Drew McKinney
❤️
Drewber-Take lots of notes for me of what Chaing Mai is like. We have friends in ministry who it is a big possibility that they may move there from where they are now. It would be interesting to me, to have your take on what it’s like.
Great analogy to ‘cousins you don’t know, but you know you’re related to them’. Interesting.
Great read. I’m praying for you, Drewber.
Aunt Baba
Enjoy this down time, and soak it all in. We had dear friends who lived and ministered in Chiang Mai for over a decade. They have recently retired to S. CA, but they loved living there. Averill and Kathy Allen…ask about them if you get a chance. I would think the missionary community there would know them. The pictures they sent from Chiang Mai were gorgeous!
I didn’t realize Averill and Kathy went to Thailand. Small world!!
Love your blogs! Enjoy this week! Sounds like you’re going to see some fantastic things! You were missed by all of us this past week!
Love you, Nana
Praying that the ice breaks between you and all the other teams and that the closeness you experienced in Georgia will return. Maybe you’ll have a time to debrief with everyone and talk through your different experiences. I love you and am praying continually for you.
I hope you enjoy all the downtime and are able to go back to being close with the other teams. I bet it will get better as you guys get used to the culture and the different things yall are doing! I love you drew!
I love that so much drew ❤️❤️ hope you enjoy the cooler weather in Thailand I hope you get used to the culture really quick!!!