Friday I needed a day to myself, so I went back to Bangkok’s Art and Cultural Center and this time I got pictures. It was just as amazing as I remembered it. My favorite corner of the exhibit, where people can write, draw, express themselves and plaster their thoughts to the wall, had grown immensely. I found the notes I had written last week in new homes. I spent over an hour reading the walls and even wrote my own secret. Now it’s buried amongst drawings of cartoons and Thai poems. There is something so liberating about writing something so personal and sharing it with the world, albeit anonymously. I found myself even covering the paper as I wrote; knowing perfectly well that the table of 8 year olds I was sharing the space with couldn’t read the English words. ((Pictures to come soon, I took 188 with my phone!))
Last night I popped over to Mercy 2 for a candlelight ceremony with the boys. Note: Giving a bunch of young, wild boys fire is not safe. We stood on the covered roof singing songs for Mother’s Day and the boys enjoyed covering each other in scalding wax. Fireworks blossomed and imploded in the night sky above us as the boys chanted, “One more time!” Their laughter bellowed into the damp night air.
Today Ben and I are crossing off two more bucket list line items- we’re going to Pattaya for the night! We will be hitting up Sands Bar this evening and tomorrow heading to Father Ray’s Foundation for a celebration of Father Rays life. (Apparently he passed away over 10 years ago.) Time to see what Pattaya is all about!
Side note: Last weekend, while walking through Benjasiri Park with some of the Mercy kids, a guy yelled to me, "HEADER?? Like Marblehead?" My head turned so quickly I looked like I was the little girl in The Exorcist. What do you know, a '98 MHS graduate just hanging out in Benjasiri. Leave it to me, I didn't even catch his name. He asked what I was doing here and phrased it, "Work or play?" I didn't ask him what he was doing here, as I didn't want to interrupt his day at the park with his Thai lady friend. Crazy, right?
Also, so much love to my mom, who sent a quick email this morning. It read:
So good to hear the news about Ryan.
While I was in Rome and Orvieto I went into several churches and lit candles only for Ryan. One church you could leave a note with a statue of The Virgin Mary. I wrote Ryan's name on it.
How lucky I am to have such genuine, good people in my life.
PeaceLovePattaya ;)
ABA
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