| Sometimes one or the other of the sending groups will finish its meetings way ahead of the others, but this time all the groups had plenty to talk about and filled two full days with their discussions. And then the gathering started to disperse as the first Maryknollers left after supper this evening to catch early morning flights from Bangkok. |
The dining room is not usually crowded in the morning because there are a number of early risers who often go to the beach to watch the sun rise over the Gulf of Thailand, but there are others who sleep as late as they can and only wander into breakfast at 7:30 AM, a half hour before morning prayers.
One group partnering with Maryknoll in Thailand is the Quebec Foreign Mission Society. Their superior from Canada came to these meetings and also their regional leader, from Cambodia. They had two days of meetings together while the Maryknoll groups were meeting also.
This is a picture of all the Maryknoll Sisters who stayed to attend their meetings. These sisters are from six or seven Asian countries, and the president of the sisters came from the United States to meet with them.
One attraction of Hua Hin is the beautiful beach that is across the main street where the retreat center is located. We try to arrange the meeting schedules so that people can get down to the beach for at least an hour or an hour and a half after the meetings end each day at 4:00 PM or so. Here two Philippine Catholic Lay Mission members get ready to test the water.
There is a lot of conversation each night and also the chance to watch a movie video at the center or to walk into town to visit the night market or get an ice cream. Here Joe Thaler (left) from Nepal talks with John Barth from the Maryknoll priests and brothers' General Council in New York.
