Good morning, everyone, from Bangkok! First of all, I want to announce that I made it to Thailand in one piece, after 27 hours or so of traveling (19 of those were in the air). Thank you for any thoughts and prayers you might have sent my way.

I will have you all know that it wasn't the 12 hours from Chicago to Tokyo that reduced me to a blubbering mess-- it was getting to Tokyo and finding out that we still had six more hours on the plane until Bangkok! But on the bright side, I got to meet up with Ann while I was there and commiserate. She's at the computer next to me now, and Women's Advocacy Associate Molly Casteel is behind us. This means that we all managed to find our way to our hotels at midnight last night and likewise get here this morning. I had a rather uneventful cab ride, while Molly and Ann got to ride the water taxi down the river. I'm jealous.

I don't have anything to inspire you with yet, since the conference hasn't technically started. In fact, since I only arrived around midnight last night, I don't have much impression of anything except for United Airlines' junky airplane food. But hopefully tomorrow I'll have more to report. Bangkok is definitely an urban city, with run-down shops and skyscrapers crowding the streets. But then you'll see that sudden burst of color from a Buddhist temple, or a river winding its way through the teeming streets, and you'll know you've come halfway around the world.

Sorry, no verse today :(. Just think of John 3:16 or something.

Kelsey