Day 8 (Saturday 22 Feb 2014) by Shuen

At 4 AM, the chickens woke up...... and so did most of us. But no one actually got out of bed till about 7 am. It was already dark when we arrived the night before, so when I woke up, this is the beautiful picture I saw of Balloon's village! 

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A few of us walked down to the farm to pick fresh vegetables for breakfast. When we got back, the food was already beginning to smell great! We had rice porridge with pork, fried garlic, parsley and stir-fried vegetables. 

After our delicious meal, we went for a walk around the village and took in the view of the hills and plantations. We also saw many houses, a school and a church. It was pretty funny that Balloon was related to half of the village and seemed to know everyone we walked past. It was refreshing to see how they live such simple, yet contented lives. It reminded me that in every situation - past, present and future, I have so many reasons to be thankful and joyful for all that God has blessed me with. I am so glad we had the opportunity to take an overnight trip to visit Balloon's village. It was a wonderful experience spent with lovely people!
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When we got back from our walk, we said our goodbyes, packed our stuff and then headed back to Chiang Mai, stopping on the way for lunch.

Once we got back to the Zone, some people rested, while others hung out downstairs. That night, Ben, Wijit, Wi, Karen, Kara, Gillian and I went to a night market that was close to the Zone. On our walk home, we walked past a place that apparently does good Thai massages and so I made a mental note to make sure I go back sometime!