SPORTS DAY

SPORTS DAY “Imagine if a stupid team like yellow won” –Misty (the night before the big day)

The days leading up to sports day were full of big talk and competitive spirit. Jodie was assigned to the blue team and Si Jie and I were assigned to the red team. Jodie and I feared that this sports day might be some intense that it might tear our friendship apart. We knew no one on the yellow team and the night before sports day, I uttered the words “imagine if a stupid team like yellow won.” This fear turned into a premonition when yellow won the next day.

Today was the long awaited sports day. It was a fantastic day and my body and muscles have been worked to the bone. Days like today make me so happy that I’m here. It was a day when I felt a member of a big family and I felt like I could yell and dance my heart out.

The day started at 7:30. We arrived at Mercy and headed to our respective team headquarters. I headed to the Red headquarters which was in the Graphic Art Room. When I arrived I found dozens of people dressed head to toe in red, most of which I didn’t know. A few of the ladies were dressed in traditional Thai attire. I would like you for a moment to imagine me in my red outfit. I was wearing a red shirt and because I don’t own red pants, I had to improvise and wear red PJ pants. I also had my face painted red. This is not an outfit you would ever see me wearing in Canada, but all the fashion rules are thrown out for Sports Day and while I’m here in Thailand for that matter.

Sports day kicked off with a Parade through Klong Toei. Parading 300 + people through the streets of Klong Toei is not an easy task. We literally stopped traffic a few times on our way to the park. At the front of the procession was a Thai percussion band dressed in matching purple silk clothes. The music was very lively, upbeat and so a few of the staff headed to front and danced down the street ahead of the band. Jodie, Si Jie and I joined them sporadically. At the point I was already sweating and it was only 8:00 in the morning. The colorful 350 + procession marched and danced down the street and eventually made it to the park. Once we arrived Father Joe did an opening speech and then the games begun. The games included a tug of war, a cucumber race, a superman relay race, musical chairs, an eating contest, balloon relay race, a potato sack race and a tire rolling relay. I participated in the balloon relay race and the tire rolling relay along with the tug of war. Jodie participated in the superman relay race, the eating contest and the tug of war. After each activity there would be a medal ceremony, the medals in this case were bows on a string. After all the activities were finished, each team was given 5 minutes to dance, which of course was a highlight for me. My two favorite red team mates were Grandpa and Cowboy. The definitely had the most energy and they were always dancing. If you know me, you know that I love any older man who loves to break it down. These men definitely were breaking it down and they made me laugh on numerous occasions during the day. Gramdpa is one of the security guards and Cowboy is the nickname given to Ning’s dad because he was dressed as a cowboy and I don’t know his name.

There were so many funny moments that made up the day and I know that they were entertaining in the moment but not worthy of writing in a post. I laughed a lot and danced a lot and I think the pictures will speak for the craziness and chaos of the day.

At around lunch time the activities ended and we were all given a free lunch. We headed home to rest and get showered up for the rest of the days activities. In the afternoon Jodie, Si Jie and Moe gave a presentation on Autism. Jodie prepared the information and Si Jie and Moe translated. In attendance were the house parents from soi 40 and some Mercy Kindergarten teachers. After the presentation we headed home and took a long await rest.

In the evening there was a supper for all of the Mercy Staff. I would describe the meal as the supper that never ended. There were over 10 different plates of food served throughout the night. The dishes include fish, noodles, rice, stirfry, salad, dessert and others that I don’t know how to describe. The highlight of the evening was watching Mercy Staff and Mercy Staff’s children singing and dancing to Thai Karaoke. When the children performed, members of audience would give them money during the performance. Its like the children were at the Buskers but yet the people didn’t wait to the end of the performance to pay. They did it during the performance. It was strange and distracting and I’m not sure the point of it but I’m hoping the money they received will go into their college education fund. The night was the equivalent to a staff Christmas Party. There were draws for free goodies along with people dancing and making a fool of themselves for the enjoyment of others. Overall, an enjoyable evening and a great conclusion to the day.

On Sunday Jodie and went for our first visa run. We had contacted an agency that was recommended by Emma, a fellow volunteer at Mercy. There was a mix up in the meeting place and as a result we started the day running an hour or so behind schedule. The other passengers included a older Australian man who we will refer to as a Pattaya man who talked and talked about nothing. He annoyed me all the way to the border and I forced Jodie to switch places with me on the way home and he annoyed her all the way back too. Not only did he talk his face off about pointless uninteresting things, but his body managed to spill over onto my seat making me feel squished and annoyed for 5 hrs straight. The back of the bus was filled a group of 5 Philippians

Once we arrived at the Border, the rest of the proceedings went smoothly. It was a little nerve racking and I felt like we were being starred at a lot more than normal. There was quite a bit of activity going on, there were a lot of pheasants walking through the border gate pulling supplies across the border. As we began to cross the border, young children run over to us saying “hey madam” and then gesturing for money. I was drawn to these children and so even though I know that they would continue to follow me, I tried to communicate with them. I couldn’t help but picture one of boys here in the orphanage doing the same thing. My heart wanted to give them money, but my head was filled with all the negative thoughts about where the money would go. There was one little boy that followed us right up to our van. He continued to stand with his hand stretched out for the next 15 minutes or so. There was something about the desperation in his eyes that haunted me and still does. My head in all its judging and negative thoughts won and I didn’t give him money. I regret my decision now and thing to myself. That kid was just trying to survive. He will never have what I have and so what if he took the money back to his parents. I would hope that it would go to something useful like food.

So often we let ourselves make up excuses and reasons for why we shouldn’t give our time and money. We often judge homeless people and those asking for money. I realized yesterday that I’m tired of those excuses. Yes, you never now where the money goes but it’s the attitude of giving that really make a difference. Our hardened judging hearts so often get in the way of these sad and despairing situations in which we could help. Anyways, I regret not giving money to that little boy and hopefully next time, I will let my heart do more of the decision making.

Anyways, that’s all for now.

Sending love from Thailand,

Misty