I've been asked multiple times since I've been home, "How was Thailand?" The words that follow are always, "It was amazing". This primarily because I do not know the words to quite describe how truly incredible this journey was for me. I just took a look back at my pre-Thailand blog and I was worried about flying and the food. Well, although I didn't love the flying, I did it and I would do it again in a heartbeat to be back in Thailand. The food was so incredible and I miss it already. It's interesting because the American food I've been eating has been making me feel sick because my body got so used to the fresh ingredients that are used in Thai dishes. My pre-Thailand blog was pretty surface level but I mentioned something about this being the longest I traveled without my parents and wanting to learn skills on how to travel independently. Boy did I learn that and so much more?
I have to share about my love of working with the children. As a future educator, this is the thing that I was most excited for before the trip. I knew that even if the rest of the trip was horrible (which it absolutely was not) that I was going to at least enjoy working with the Starfish children. I felt so much love and compassion from the children and I really did not want to leave. I think about them everyday and I cry a lot. I cry because I miss them but I also cry because I was so touched by their inspiring stories. I feel tremendously grateful that I was able to cross paths with them, even if it was just for a few weeks. The words that I'm typing can't capture the amount of love and compassion that the children showed us. I have worked with many different groups of kids in America (and I have loved it, don't get me wrong) but I have never felt the love the same way that I have felt from the kids at Starfish. From the first time they saw us, they grabbed our hands and even if they didn't speak very good English; this was their way of saying, "Follow me, I'll show you Thailand". I shared a lot with one girl that was in 6th grade at Starfish and she spoke very good English. She was able to tell me a lot of things about Thailand and about their culture. One of the most special moments we shared was walking through a traditional Thai weekly market. Not a single one of the vendors spoke English, I put all my trust into her and she guided me through the market. I think that was a truly incredible experience for both her and I. We both learned and gained knowledge from this experience. I receive messages from her almost everyday with pictures of her smiling face and many messages speaking the words "I love you Morgan" or "I miss you". It is hard because sometimes I don't think I have the right words but each conversation we have always ends up in us both being happy.
Thanks to all my wonderful experiences at Starfish, I find myself with a new mindset about life and my future career. These kids have come from some really tough backgrounds but they choose to be happy. Reminding me that, even when life gives you a bad hand, it's okay to give life some love back. Why make the worst of everything when you can embrace the good in life? I also feel extremely motivated to finish my degree in Education and travel the world. I can picture myself teaching in other countries and if I was ever given the opportunity to teach in Thailand, I would take the position without question.
I want to finish this post with my favorite quote since returning home.
"I will never be completely at home again. My heart will always be elsewhere, but that's the price you pay for loving and knowing people in more than one place"
How lucky am I to know and love people halfway around the world?
