Day 10: Orphans and Parachutes

Best day of the trip.

Visited an orphanage in Chiangmai. We had purchased several gifts for the children both before our trip and here in Thailand -- vinyl sports bags, candy, gum, writing pads, pencils and pens, sticks, balls. We also had some gifts for all the children to share like soccer balls and volleyballs.

Leslie and Alexa brought some brilliant gifts from South Carolina, including jump ropes and a huge parachute to bounce balls off of and hide underneath. (BIG hit!)

The kids (16 boys and 13 girls?) were expecting us and were dressed in their Thai finest. We started with a tour of the orphanage building. All the boys sleep in one room, with the girls in another. They sleep on mats on the floor and each has a plastic hamper with their clothes inside. (The girls all have teddy bears.)

We gathered in the large common area (for eating and homework) for introductions -- everyone told us their names and how old they were (ranging from 5 to 16). Then, the smaller kids put on a show for us -- crazy cute with lots of wiggling booties and jumping around.

Present time was exciting, but more fun was the running around after -- kicking balls, jumping rope, and just general roughhousing. Jake asked the older kids about school and two of them broke out a cello and violin for an impromptu classical concert. (Quite nicely done.)

The kids were so open with us, holding our hands and hugging us and laughing and asking us to stay and play some more.

Ben made a little friend who hung onto him as we left, asking him not to go.

As you can imagine, it was very difficult to leave.