Some more on our amazing community welcome ceremony… this began with the ritual of each elder in our homestay community tying a blessing on our wrists, which were to be worn for three days. Following this event was the evening festivities which were a celebration of incredible magnitude above and beyond anything we Global Routes veteran leaders had seen before. Our group was ushered to our eating area by young Thai candle dancers accompanied by traditional music which set the stage for eating with our homestay community. Our group contributed to the evening by singing the local Chang (elephant) song accompanied by western style dancing!
Some of our students were outfitted in Thai formal dress by their host families who felt they needed the proper attire for the occasion.
Following this magnificent ceremony the groudbreaking began for our project by laying the foundation and digging massive holes for the septic system. This was a huge undertaking that the students took
great pride in once finished. The bricks soon followed and walls rose in a day. It’s amazing how much work we have accomplished in such a short amount of time.
Days to come: we are headed to a waterfall with the community tomorrow after we get some meditation lessions from a local Wat (temple). Then on Monday we set off early to go to the Dream Weaving for Peace Foundation, which is a local orphanage outside of Chang Mai.
We will stay the night there and then return on Tuesday for a 1/2 day of work.
