Weekend Away

As soon as Hope and I finished our university classes, Rusty took us up north for the weekend. We had planned to go away during our October break, but we never had the time. So he decided we would go as soon as school was out before our time was eaten up. We went a few hours north of the city and stayed at our favorite hotel up there.
The first night we went to the night bazaar. We enjoyed a meal at the food court. We found a lot more things good to eat than the time we took Bryan and Dion. We were also interviewed a couple of times by some English students who were there on a field trip. That's not something that happens to us all of the time. The kids were really cute and did a good job!
On Saturday we took a trip up to the border to do some shopping. We found some good deals that day. Hope even found a bathing suit for just a few dollars. That was nice since she had forgotten hers. We also found our favorite fresh lemonade seller. He wasn't set up the last time we went to the border. We made it back to the hotel in time for a quick swim before leaving out again that evening. Boy, was the water cold!
We went to visit a church in the area that was having a special Christmas service. They had many groups who did specials, and then they had this testimony time. After everyone was dismissed, we all went outside for food and games. We grabbed some coconut ice cream and then headed to eat some hamburgers at our little spot at the old airport.
On Sunday we visited the same church again and met some more people who are teaching English and also people who have a children's home. Then we left there and ate at an Italian restaurant that Rusty had spotted earlier. The waiter just fell in love with us. He was so excited we could speak Thai and felt comfortable with us right from the very beginning. Before we knew it he had a map out, and Rusty was giving him an English lesson on how to give directions. He's always having to give foreigners directions, and he wasn't sure about a couple of phrases.
On the way back home, we stopped in a village where Rusty had taught English last month. The kids had invited him to come to celebrate Christmas with them so we made a special plan to be there. Our neighbor was putting on the Christmas outreach for them, and we went to give them some books about Christmas and help in any way that was needed. Our neighbor asks CEF to go to her village twice a year to help her with programs such as this Christmas one.A lot of the kids followed Rusty to our truck to get the books. Not all of the students took one, but it wasn't because of what the book said...they just don't like to read! Pray that the door will continue to be open if it's God's will for us to go back. The schools in this area have enjoyed us going to teach, but the doors have not be really opened for any kind of long-term outreach yet.
The students organized themselves into quite an efficient line. They loved being around Rusty, and he had quite a few little girls following him even while the games were going on! I think he was sore the next day from being a jungle gym.