Reflections on an Internship in Thailand

One of our first Internship in Thailand participants, Sara Hernandez, returned from Thailand a few days before Christmas but not without taking a moment to reflect on her three-weeks in the Land of Smiles. 

“In Thailand I slept on a tiny bed that was as hard as a rock, I contracted a parasite, I was devoured by mosquitoes, I’m fighting the urge to scratch poison ivy clean off of my skin, and despite all that, I still cried like a baby when it was time for me to leave.

I fell in love with the place watching the sunrise on the first morning we spent in Hua Hin. I was determined to make you all fall in love with it too by documenting my day-to-day, but after looking back on the footage I realized that looking at it through a lens just didn’t compare with what I was seeing with my naked eyes.

Though the scenery and the temples were enough for me to wish to stay in Thailand forever, it was the Thais that really made it hard to leave. There was the shop owner who left her business to tend to me after a Tuk Tuk driver clipped my songthaew. My BFF at the HIMID who refused to let me carry anything and was kind enough to offer me a free night after my flight was cancelled unexpectedly. My girls over at Mooz who spent their free time trying to teach me Thai, and of course my Thai mom who never forgot to tell me how beautiful I looked, and would stop what she was doing to come over and hug me if she felt I was getting homesick. I have never felt so safe and well looked after in the presence of strangers. It was a level of kindness I had never experienced before, and will never forget.

I’m happy that I’ve gotten to experience all that I have in Thailand, but am bummed I didn’t get to stay long enough to really immerse myself in Thai life. Hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to do that someday soon. Good luck to all of you that are still soaking up the Land of Smiles!”