This morning started off to slow start, just in terms of everyone enjoying the opportunity to sleep in a bit! A few people from our team decided to attend a Christian church service this morning and thought it was a great experience. Although we're uncertain as to the denomination, the service was led by a woman pastor who did quite a bit of English translating once she saw that "Americans" in the pews. Another very special part of the service was when they sang Amazing Grace, but in Thai. Hearing a familiar hymn, regardless of language, was a moving experience.
Around noon we all left left our hotel for lunch at a beachside restaurant. This area was one affected by the tsumani from 2004 - it was overwhelming to see the ladders now attached to the trees with "tsunami climb up" signs posted near them. The pictures in the restaurant of the before and after images were hard to see. Even as we were sitting and eating we were discussing how we were there, at this moment, enjoying the views just as innocently as those on 12/24/04 who had no clue of what was to happen. It was a scary thought.
Following lunch we piled back in our taxis for a trip to a local Buddhist temple. In the normal Buddhist tradition, photos of the interior of temples or of monks is not allowed, but our Habitat representative was able to get us permission from the monk so we are sharing a couple with you here. After we spent some time looking around inside adn taking photos, one of the monks came and spoke to us and did a Thai blessing chant and blessed us with holy water. He also gave each of us a bracelet for protection - the men he put on their wrists directly, but for the women he dropped it in each of our hands, as he cannot have contact with women.
Our last stop of the day was to the local tsunami memorial and toured the area bit. There were many photos and a memorial wall constructed by the German government memorializing the German's lost in the disaster. Afterward, we did a little local shopping at the local merchant stands before heading back to our hotel.
This evening is spent as a free night and we can wander town, rest, and eat as we wish before resting up for our final week of building!
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