Beginning of our journey

Karis and Andrew arrived in Crete via spending a day in London the week before our trip. They had a lot of fun hiking, beaching, watching tennis, and eating lots of gyros :).   Johanna made it to Crete the day before the Andersons arrived, flying from Thessaloniki finishing up her six month internship with the anti trafficking organization-A21 campaign. Instead of spending time with everyone,  she spent the week home getting strep throat and the stomach flu. One day on the beach, we met a Burmese/Thai  guy who is stationed on the Navy base. Very excited to hear that we were travelling to Thailand to work with Burmese refugees, specifically the Karen people, he taught us Thai words and told us about his life. The crazy thing is that he is from St. Paul-what a small world!

On April 9th, we took the ferry from Crete to Athens in very stormy weather. We slept terrible between the intense rocking of the boat and the cabin roommate's snoring all night. The next day was spent in Athens and then we flew out in the evening, not before meeting up with our friends Cameron and Shelby Clark who live on Crete. On the plane from Athens to Cairo we sat next to an American woman who grew up in Saudi Arabia  and lived 30 years in San luis Obispo, California. We're making connections everywhere! She is currently a teacher in Saudi Arabia and told us all about what life is like there, and gave us her card if we were ever interested in Saudi Arabia. By the time we got to Cairo, Karis had gotten the stomach flu and spent the majority of the five hour layover in the bathroom. (Good thing Karis packed half her bag full of nuts in case we would be hungry on the flight. Now we have American nuts for everyone we see since the thought of them makes us sick). Luckily from Cairo to Bangkok she had an empty seat next to her and slept the whole time.

First impression of Thailand was from the airport where there  were specific toilet stalls for 'elders', monk waiting rooms, muslim prayer rooms, and not understanding anyone's heavily-accented English. Currently in Chiang Mai, we are staying with a missionary family (Karis' aunt Kaaren's dear friends), Bill and LeeAnne Hoppe. They run a counseling clinic for missionaries all over Asia. They also team up with an organization FreeBurmaRangers. Started by a retired military beret, he works with the Wa people group of Burma, equipping them to defend themselves against the ethnic cleansing militant government. A lot of action is happening in Chiang Mai with missions organizations, as it is a religiously free country  compared to surrounding Asian countries.

Today we awoke to sounds like a rainforest, with birds chirping and fresh papaya, mangoes and pineapple for breakfast. They have been so hospitable to us, letting us stay with them, showing us their ministry and giving us a tour of the city. There is also a missionary family visiting the Hoppes, the husband is Pakistani and the wife from Australia, with 2 adorable kids. Very fun getting to meet new people on this trip!

 

Fresh pineapple at the day market! Less than a dollar to chop up a pineapple and eat it right there!

The huge centipede found in the Hoppe's yard.

Alex boys and hiking in Crete.

We watched an assembly line of 'Grandmas' making the umbrella's starting with the mulberry tree. This is one of the stations to see the painted umbrellas.

Johanna, Bill and Stephen (Hoppe) inspecting the giant centipede.

We'll update more in a few days!