HELP!! I’VE FALLEN THROUGH A BRIDGE!!!

After we got back from Yupaporn’s village, mine and Cherise’s days were dedicated to making picture frames. I know that sounds strange but my gift to the children when I leave here is a picture of me and them put in a frame. I was able to find frames for each of the kids and then I wanted them to be personalized so I bought super glue, sequens, markers, and stickers to decorate them. We started decorating them and writing on them and finished on the evening of the next day. All those hours later with super glue stuck to every part of our hands, we saw the finished products and it was all worth it! The kids are going to love them! We finished and had to start packing for our next journey to the last 3 Karen villages.
The first village we went to was Tupaw’s village. This was one of my favorite villages. We were able to drive all the way to the village and when we arrived at Tupaw’s house her grandpa (poo-poo in Karen) greeted us with a handshake and a big smile. He greeted my dad with a big bear hug. He was hilarious! Then Tupaw and a bunch of the other Agape kids who lived in the village gave us a tour of the village and their homes and we ended up at the river. Me and Cherise jumped in and took a little dip. It felt wonderful as the sun was so hot! We got right out because the kids were ready to head back to the village and we stopped at a home and had some shaved ice. It was the weirdest shaved ice I’ve ever eaten. It had cookies, strange jelly things, bread, and beans in the bottom of it, then the ice and then a weird flavor that tasted like tamarind poured all over it. It was actually pretty tasty. After we finished our shaved ice, we all went back to the river for a swim. As we walked we came to a bridge that went across the river. My dad and Cherise were a little ahead of me on the bridge and I was walking up behind, looking all around at the beauty that surrounded us. As I continued to look around, I was startled as my right foot fell straight through a hole in the bridge. I yelled to my dad and Cherise, and tried to get them to understand through my laughter that I fell through the bridge. It hurt a little (left a viscious bruise though), but I couldn’t stop laughing, because seriously who falls through a bridge. It reminded me of the scene from Shrek when Donkey falls through the bridge, and the bridge was pretty much the same as the one in the movie- wobbly, small, and obviously with holes in it. All the kids saw too and were laughing. I’m sure it looked funny from underneath the bridge where the kids were swimming because all they see is my one leg hanging through. Anyways, I got my leg out and walked back down to the water and jumped in. The current was strong, which only made it more fun to swim in. You pushed yourself through the current and then let yourself go and you were rushed down the river. We all had a blast and it was awesome time with the kids I love so much! Their laughs made my day!
We went back to Tupaw’s house to change our clothes and then we got ready to go to Tanoo’s (an Agape boy’s) farm. As I walked down the stairs from Tupaw’s house, all the kids were already down looking up at me, I missed one step and instead of walking down the stairs I, of course, slid all the way down the stairs. I had an orange in my hand and it got smashed and the juice squirted on me (but I never dropped it, so it was still delicious). I bruised my arm and the kids got another laugh from me. So not only was there a huge bruise on my leg, but now on my arm as well. I guess I just like to embarrass myself. We all walked to Tanoo’s banana farm and had a blast! My dad picked his very first banana straight from a tree. They weren’t ripe yet, but he didn’t care, he just wanted to pick one. Me and Cherise played with the little chick’s that would come straight up to us and sit in our hands. It was so cute!
The next day we got back into the truck and drove to Pahnee’s village. This time the truck could only drive so far and we had to walk about 4 km uphill (I’m thinking Karen people should build their villages in a place where you only have to walk straight to get there). A lot of my favorite kids lived in her village so I was so excited to go there and visit, plus none of the kids knew we were coming so I was excited to surprise them! We arrived and came to Veerayute’s house. This was the house we were going to be sleeping in. His parents as well as every one of the kids who were in there greeted us. They had a television (which always looks so funny to me in their bamboo/wood hut) and they were watching Rambo. Which was funny! We walked so far in the jungle and heat to a bamboo hut with a television showing Rambo. Funny!
We spent the day walking around and seeing the kids homes and the village. We watched the boys play a soccer game that evening and laughed as the pigs ran across the field and got in the way. That night we showered in a little stream with the girls. As we showered we heard trees crackling and falling in the not too far distance. The girls grabbed all of our stuff and moved it off the rock near the walk way and just in time too as a huge elephant walked through the jungle past us. It was a working elephant and it was towing large trees behind it. I have never been that close to an elephant before in it’s natural surroundings, and while I was taking a shower. It was really neat! After we finished our shower it was time to eat dinner. In the Karen villages everybody loves to feed you. So we have gained some weight I’m sure, as we’ve eaten 4 dinners, 3 lunches and 2 breakfasts in one day. It’s crazy! But you can’t say no, so somehow God makes our stomachs bigger. That night we had a wonderful dinner, then we layed a mat out and we all looked at the stars. There were so many because there weren’t any tall buildings or lights blocking our view. It was beautiful! We all sat around and ate peanuts that came from Songpon’s farm and we had the time of our lives. I slept with the girls that night in Pahnee’s house and it was a blast! While we layed there the girls asked me to tell them a story. They wanted to listen to me tell them a story and now their English is so good (the girls even translated for me when I gave the message in our worship service). So I told them the story of when I fell flat on my face at church camp, it got caught on the video camera, and how they showed it on the big screen at church. The girls loved it! I could hear though in their responses that I was talking them to sleep. Their responses were getting slower and slower.
The next day it was time to hike out of their village. All the kids walked out with us and we all stopped to play in this one beautiful waterfall. We all had a blast! We were posing on the rocks to take pictures, and me and Pahnee slipped on the rocks (of course) and slid straight into the pool of water. We all got one more good laugh. We hiked out and had worship at the top in a home then they served us a big lunch afterwards. It was absolutely wonderful! The Karen villages remain my favorite place to be!!