Trip from the Airport

So we had to fit 11 people and their bags in the back of that truck and to top it off it was an hour drive back to where we were(are) staying!


Did you know that these Buddhist Monks are not allowed to be touched by women or else they will have to start over again. They also go into the city and eat only by being offered food and if they have not eaten by noon they cannot eat until the next day!

Catching Up

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while :( I've (we've been) pretty busy here. For the first two weeks we have been doing Medical Mission Training, which has consisted of 1 week of health training and 1 week of Bible training. This is what our schedule looked like for the first week- wake up at 4:30am for kitchen duty (if you were on it), 5:30am personal devotions, 6:30am Worship, 7am breakfast, 8-9:30am Work Projects, 10am-2pm Bible study, Medical Evangelism, and Hydrotherapy, 2pm Lupper, (oh and for the first THREE DAYS we fasted on water and coconut juice), 3-4 pm work projects, 4-6pm free time, 6pm Worship and then lights out was at 9:30pm. So that first week our days were pretty full and the next week was even more intense! Even though at times I was frustrated with the lack of time for things I needed to do and for an actual break, I look back and appreciate all the training we received. The following blogs will be pictures of certain events throughout these past two weeks. I do want to add that there was some time for fun and the pictures will show that :) Oh yeah I also want to add that if you guys have any questions or have any thing that you want me to take a picture of please don't hesitate to ask. If I can I will and if I can't then I can't but I'll have at least tried :-)

Siberia

Here's what Siberia looks like now, I was kinda disappointed to see a lack of snow LOL!

Flight to Thailand

My flight was so long and adventurous! Let me start from the beginning. I started off at the Rochester Airport in NY but as the plane was beginning to take off down the runway a flock of gulls decided to get a closer look at the pilots! LOL They smacked right into the windshield! They pilots being cautious decided to go back to the terminal and have the engine checked out. If the mechanic found a dead bird then we would have been delayed a long time but thankfully, for us and the birds, no dead birdies were found :) This small delay however did cause me to arrive late to my flight in Dulles, Washington DC and I just barely made it on the plane. They actually had to reopen the door for me :) I'm so special, at least thats what my mom says LOL! So the bad part was that because I was late my luggage didn't make it on the plane with me :( It was ok though, I didn't need that stuff yet anyway. The next leg of my trip was the longest- from Wash. DC to Tokyo, Japan took around 13 hours! And the whole time it was sunny out so it felt like one extremely long day! I did sleep a little, read a little, and watched some movies several times over LOL! When I got to Japan I met up with Emily Yoder and Alison, other Student Missionaries, and we traveled the rest of the way together. From Japan we flew to Bangkok, Thailand where we spent the night at a really nice hotel (don't worry I stayed in a separate room than the girls). The only drawback was that I didn't know they had AC so that night I got accustomed to the weather change. In Bangkok and most of Thailand, if not all, dogs rule the streets! There are so many dogs that I thought we would for sure run a couple over! I guess they maneuver well around cars LOL! The next morning we ate a pretty simple American continental breakfast and then headed back to the airport. This was the last leg of our trip- from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is so different from Bangkok. Its more jungle and Mountainous than big city. Well I'm here now safe and sound and am staying at the Adventist Mission Training center about an hour away from the city of Chiang Mai. Thank you all for your prayers and support! I love you all and will post again as soon as I can. God Bless

Getting ready to disembark

Hello all! I just want to thank all those who made it possible for me to go and serve and for all your prayers and support. I know that God will bless :)
Love you All,
Brian Castellanos