We had countless moments of intense laughter over the course of our trip. Some of the situations were just plain funny, while others had lessons to be learned hidden within. We're so thankful to have been with a group of people who weren't afraid to laugh… at themselves, at us, and at the inevitably funny things that happen on overseas trips:
- In the chaos of getting multiple people and multiple bags on a plane, amidst a sea of military personnel traveling somewhere en masse, our bag didn't make it to the counter. That's right - as leaders of a team, our suitcase, full of clothes and toiletries and chargers and shoes, did not travel to Thailand. Instead, it sat in the middle of the airport until some gracious friends of ours drove back to retrieve it. We realized it as soon as we got to Los Angeles. Fortunately, we'd packed some underwear in our carry-ons and had just enough time to make a mad dash to a nearby LA Target to grab some shirts and pants/skirts/shorts that we hoped would fit. Lesson learned: we didn't need as much stuff on this trip as we thought we did! It would have been nice to have had our contacts with us, and not appear in the same shirts in about every photo, but it was actually pretty liberating to travel so simply.
- Another team member forgot a suitcase, as well, but realized it in time for it to arrive prior to take-off. Wow, these early morning flights have a way of wreaking havoc!
- One team member, seated in the Buddhist temple we visited, was having meaningful time with the Lord, praying and worshiping… when the man in front of her broke wind right in her face!
- Two team members fell into rivers (one was bucked off of an elephant)!
- One team member initially thought that a man in the Red Light area was coming to our table to solicit her services, misheard his innocent question about her t-shirt, and emphatically began saying, "NO, NO, NO" to him!
- One team member, after riding for several hours on curvy mountain roads, informed the driver that we needed to pull over. I got the cue and jumped out of her way instantly (I also had the benefit of sitting right next to the door) - the other team members didn't move so quickly and thus were the recipients of her… shall we say… gift of lunch. While certainly not initially pleasant, the group of us, standing on the side of a mountain highway, cleaning off/throwing away clothes, recovering from the shock of the situation, was pretty laughable. And laugh we did!
- One team leader (hint: not me!), when introducing our team to a crowd of about 100 people, went down the line, introducing our team, until he arrived at one team member and proceeded to blank on her name. Ha!
I'm thankful for these moments - I dare say they'll stay captured in our memories just as long as the more poignant stories will.
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