My Mae Chaem Experience!

I've just gotten back from a week's solstice in the mountains of Northern Thailand, where we stayed in a village called Mae Chaem.  At first we didn't know what to expect, but if you read, you'll come to see how I fell in love with rural Thailand.

Monday, 8/23/10
    An early morning (up at 7, left at 8:30) kicked off our day. Although I napped through most of the twisted trails of the mountains, I wasn't obtuse enough to not notice the general splendor-so much green!  Tall trees characterized the slopes as we drove among the peaks, one of which is the tallest in Thailand, Doi Inthanon.  The driver was going at quasi-suicidal speeds, so before our expected 3 hours there we were- Mae Chaem (maah jem).  After unloading the vans, we hit the bathrooms, where I had my first Mae-Chaem-meets-Anna-K-Limbrick moment. Priceless. I handled the squatters with grace (thank you Egypt! At least here there are significantly fewer flies…), however when I went to look around, I stepped on a rock that was much slipperier than it looked…Needless to say one sore butt, scraped palms/elbows, and a change of pants later, I re-joined the group just in time to be assigned my host mom (mae is the word for mother) and the other girls I would be staying with, Skylar and Burgundy.
    Our house, as well as two others which are in the family, are behind the Wat (temple), further away from all of the other houses in the village.  I'm not quite sure why…Anyways.  The house we stayed in was beautiful! Our room was in the upstairs/loft, which is accessible by an outside staircase.  A corner of the loft was surrounded by a mosquito net tent, and contained 2 large pallets, 3 comforters, 3 pillows, and a fan. After putting our stuff down, we went downstairs for water, and to give our hostess gifts (A tin of chocolate chip cookies), and then in limited Thai and no English, with many hand gestures, she showed us her daughters, who we gathered had graduated from university-a big deal in the rural villages.  After a little pow-wow we went to have lunch at the temple, our new meeting center, and then had Thai language class for a few hours.  After class we had a break before dinner, so a few of us took a walk out through the paddy fields - they were beautiful!  You could see the mountains all around an dolts of trees.  It was breathtaking.  It hit me…I'm standing in a rice paddy. in the mountains. in Thailand. It was a phenomenal moment, to say the least.  After our walk we met some younger family members while dinner was being prepared. At least one of the girls was family, but I'm still not sure about the rest. There were 4 students, ages 16-18, and between our limited knowledge of each others' languages we asked the basic questions, and then when it hit a lull, they ran upstairs and got notebooks, a dictionary, and class books so that we could translate questions and comments and talk more.  It was an experience, and definitely fun!  Our dinner was delicious, chicken [probably one I had tripped over earlier], rice, and an egg-and-green-pepper scramble.  After dinner we headed to the local massage/sauna place.  You haven't had a Thai massage until a little old lady is finding every ache and sore spot you've ever had and POUNCING on it like a rabid jungle cat.  Whew! I held off on the sauna for now, but I'll be back! Some rice whiskey/moonshine later, we found ourselves in a roadside pavilion overlooking the rice paddies and mountains, with the moon up, illuminating the clouds and heat lightning added the perfect final touch to a beautiful night.
Tuesday, 8/24/10
     Our culture class began today, in addition to our language class, and our Ajan for that class is Ajan Napisa [who went to NIU!]. She made class super fun, so time flew, and before long it was a nap break before we headed into another part of the village to learn how to cook Thai food.  We made 2 desserts, a soup, and stewed veggies.  We were already full from lunch, but by the 3rd station we were about to bust! We spent an hour at each station, cooking and eating the dish, then moved on.  I had my hand in every dish, although my favorite was the first one. It was a palm sugar dessert called _______, or "push-pull" because of necessary actions.  The second station was the stewed veggies, easy enough to comprehend, and the woman was kind enough to have sticky corn, pumpkin, lingonberries, and yummy juice for us while we waited for the dish to cook.  Our next station involved a lot of prep work, Rob chopped the chicken while I used a pestle and mortar [yes! i've always wanted to!] to make a chili paste, and then mix it with soy beans to put in the stew, which I put in with veggies and the chicken.  We let it stew and had a different kind of juice while we waited, but when it was done I only had enough room in my tummy for a few pinches of sticky rice [you eat sticky rice with your fingers] before I called it quits.  Our final station was another dessert, which I wasn't such a big fan of.  It has an interesting history, though.  Women would make it for their men going off to battle, but in order to avoid finding a place for them to pack the snack, it would be molded to fit inside their helmets so that they could just wear it out with them.  Ajan Napisa and I sang songs while we all took turns with the super size mortar and pestle to keep the beat up.  Finally, it was time to go.  I took some of the ____ and an organically grown cucumber back to my host mom, which I think she really enjoyed! 
     After dinner, I waited at the temple for some friends to go to the sauna with, when the abbot, or head monk, strolled by.  He stopped for a while, and we had a great conversation!  I was so nervous to be in his presence, but he was really a great man.  I found out later that he sat with Burgundy and Skylar for over an hour working on their Thai with them!
     One steamy sauna session later, our grope took a leisurely stroll back.  Tim's host dad produced yet another bottle of rice whiskey to pass around. That, with the ever-present cloud fiesta and mountains gave us a sense of the subtle beauty of village life, unknown to much of the world.  With the added bonus of a full moon and the promise of a storm to come, it was truly awe inspiring.  When we got back we met up with more people at Tim's host family's house, and we hung out there, they even gave us more whiskey and made us some food!  They were so accommodating!
    The party continued until about 9, when half the group left to go to bed.  The other half of us went out to the rice paddies to hang out in the moonlight.  Yet another amazing night in Thailand!
Wednesday, 8/25/10
     Up at 6am [ugh!] for the offering to the monks, we were excited but crazy tired! Our family didn't come, so we didn't know what was happening or what we were supposed to do.  It was cool to watch, although because our family didn't come so we had no food to offer. FROWN! We went back and showered before breakfast [gai yang/grilled chx] and class.  Again I was super tired in culture class, and luckily our Thai language teachers let us out early so I had a great nap in the temple before lunch of fried chicken, rice, veggies, sweet peas, bananas in their natural size-small, sticky corn, and packets of sweet rice given to us by the monks [badass! They can't keep food for very long so after this morning's crazy amounts of food, they were okay to share!].  Then we were off to another village to see the sights.  First was a brass hairpin maker.  He and his daughter are the last 2 metal workers in the area, and he has been honored many times, even by the king! His wife weaves bags, and I got a cute gold and burgundy one.  We saw a few more shops, and then went on to see Wat Buddha-En.  The story is that the Buddha went there and was thirsty, and from where they gave him water there has since been a continuous stream of water, which scientists have repeatedly tested and have found pure enough to drink - which we did! You're supposed to make a wish first, but I wasn't aware so I guess my real wish was "please let me not get sick from this!".  It was pretty delicious, I must say. Very watery! The temple was really cool, it contained 10 scenes depicting the Buddha's previous ten lives.  After this we moved on to Wat Gong Gaan.  This Wat was about 700 years old, and was so cool! I had the chance to meditate before we went on an adventure! As Cornelio says in this Antonio Banderas voice, "adventure is my passion!".  We went through a corn field, crossed a rickety bridge that could only hold ten people at a time, up a muddy slope, then took stairs further up to the top of the mountain.  Whew! We were all sweaty, but none more so than Cornelio and Matt, who decided it would be "fun" to RUN up all those steps! The sights were breathtaking [there has been a lot of taking-of-breath on this trip]!! You could see the whole village, the river, the mountains, the fields, the Wats, everything!  Definitely worth the exercise! It was a lot easier going down [although I thought I was going to fall down the muddy part], and then after we rounded everyone up we went Mae Chaem Market.  It was cool; Baeng bought me this crepe-esque-waffle-thing with banana creme, raisins, and chocolate - yum! We came back to the village, and I had a great shower ['ab naam' in Thai, in the village my ab naam took the form of a bucket of water and a dish used to pour the water…not as bad as it sounds, although I never felt truly clean..probably because I didn't have a washcloth or loofah to scrub with], then laid down in my bath cloth [a piece of fabric sewed into a circle, which you wrap around you and tuck in like a towel] when all of a sudden our grandma busts in [followed by grandpa] to bring us belts to go with our traditional skirts.  Apparently it was time to get dressed! Mae Pah and Granny helped us get our skirts right, and then we were off to the temple to kick off the paa baa.  At the temple we met up with the grope and took some pictures. It was cool to see everyone in traditional garb! Tim's outfit was unfortunately thick AND had shoulder pads :(.  Some of us put flowers in our hair, as the Thais do, and then we danced and played instruments down to the concrete bridge and then back again to the temple. I held the hand of little Fohd, the cute little boy who was somehow related to us, either son of my Mae or grandson…or nephew. Not quite sure.  He's super shy so this was the first time I got to really be near him without him hiding behind Mae's skirts. We danced around the temple three times [3 is the magic number in Buddhism, representing the Buddha, the Dharma his teachings, and his followers, the monks] with the money tree [students and villagers donated money and robes to the monks.  The money we raised would be used for a toilet for the monks, as well as improving the public restrooms in the village.  Because the money can't actually be held by the monks, a committee oversees everything.  After our third round we danced into the temple where we then knelt for the ceremony.  Pete represented the group for the process, lucky him! Girls aren't allowed to touch the monks, nor can we directly hand anything to a monk, it must go through a male intermediary.  It went well, there was a bit of changing, then we poured water while all holding the elbows of those in front of us, making a chain throughout the temple so we were all linked in a single blessing.  This symbolized the sharing of the boon [we got a merit for the donations, which could then be shared with one's ancestors in the pouring water ceremony] and really showed the sense of unity present.  After the ceremony was done, I took a picture with a family who wanted a picture with me, and we all hung out until it was announced that although he couldn't give us souvenirs [because he couldn't own anything and had no money to spend], the village abbot hand hand made us bracelets.  He and some elders put them on us [one white, one pink] and blessed us. Awesome! That wrapped up the ceremony, and it was back home for some yummy dinner [pad thai!] followed by a dessert of guava and bananas. Yum! Then while we were journaling/reading, our host sister brought Fohd up and I got to hold him! He was the cutest thing, resting his head on my shoulder and holding my hand. Aww!
     After a bit, we went and got Champ, Tyler, and Tim [as well as a mat, whiskey, and a giant candle], then headed to Kathryn's to hang out for a while with the group before we went back out to the paddy fields with a few more people.  It was MUCH better with a mat, and we lit the candle, setting the mood to beautiful, but eerie, under the full moon.  Ghost stories were called for, and Tyler succeeded in scaring the pants off myself and Jenny, as well as creeping out the rest of the group [for your sake, dear reader, I won't repeat the tale here!].  We talked about other paranormal encounters and other topics, but no one could top Tyler, and soon half of us decided it was time for bed. I swore up and down that I would have to cry myself to sleep curled up in my blankie, but as it turns out no tears were necessary - I was out the moment my head hit the pillow!
Thursday, 8/26/10
     Today was KILLER to get up! Breakfast was on amazing porridge-y dish of rice with garlic and bits of meat [probably chicken]. With it was another fried whitefish-yum! Then we had both of our classes, then lunch of rice, pad thai, and another unidentifiable dish of yum as well as plenty of fruit, which we learned the names of in class…SO delicious! Mangoes, rambutans, oranges, pineapple, bananas, and more! Following lunch we had a break, then observed cotton weaving [amazing-I even saw a lady hand-weaving the intricate design for the bottom of a custom-ordered sarong, with real silver string woven into the design!], coconut leaf weaving [I braided myself a headband], and fresh crab paste making around the village.  The crab paste was made at my house, and we even got to go into the rice paddies to catch the crabs ourselves! I didn't want to catch any, but I did splash in the mud!  Then I made my Mae proud by grinding up the live crabs [although every once in a while some mush would squirt outlaw!], which were mixed with leaves for flavoring, and then stored overnight.  The next morning the concoction would be boiled into a black sticky mess that was crab paste! After everyone left, I ab-naamed and had a nap before dinner and quality time with the family.  We played "set" [a card game], then played with Fohd for a while before going out for the evening.  He is honestly the cutest thing alive! I WANT HIM!
      The party was at Kathryn's again, so we all hung out there for a long time and, as Cornelio said, 'painted the town red!'. After a while, the parents were ready for bed, so we moved to Maggie's for a few minutes before we wen tout to the paddy again- this time with the WHOLE group! It was insane and out of control, so as soon as I found other people ready to go back, I headed home.
Friday, 8/27/10
     Another 8am morning followed by our 2 classes, although culture class was shaken up by us going to the daycare to hang out.  The kids were so cute! A bunch of them pulled Nathan down and enjoyed going crazy with him, and were so riled up that they tried to pull down Matt's shorets when he got there.  A lot of the kids were really shy, but they danced for us, and we sang the ABCs with them.  Because it was a Friday, they were all wearing little matching traditional clothes - adorable!  Even though he had just declared children to be "tiny demons waiting to be realeased", Tim quickly found a little cutie who he held the ENTIRE time! When we left, the kid just sat where we had put him and stared. So cute!
    After class, of course, was lunch, and then all the Thai Buddies except Champ wen tback to Payap-sad!  Then we went to the Raks Thai (love Thai) foundation to learn about their foundation, which had been taking us around to all of our activities.  The RTF has helped many of the ethnic groups in the mountains to earn a living and learn to subsist on their own agriculture.  I was so tired that I dozed off during the presentation (oops!), but soon we were up with the Karen (kah-ren, not my mother...) peoples, the largest minority that inhabits the mountains of the North.  They took us around and showed us their trees (they're important, mostly because the roots help prevent erosion), we forded the river (really shallow, not too tough at all, but quite fun!).  The Karen have a mixed belief system of Animism and Buddhism, later melded with Christianity thanks to the missionaries.  Two of their more interesting rituals involve trees. The first is that trees can be ordained as monks (Buddhist, obviously), and because they are monks they cannot be hurt! These trees have orange fabric tied around them like a belt to show their importance.  The other tradition is Animist; when a baby is born, it's umbilical cord is tied around a tree, and from that day on there is a bond between the spirit of the tree and the person.  The person cares for the tree and protects it, and in return the spirit of the tree, like the dryads of the West, commonly female, will protect the person.  Really cool!  After that they showed us their cash crop fields (not as entertaining when you live in a cornfield, but beautiful because they were on the slopes of the mountains), then to 7-11, where Champ and I got matching banana creme, raisin, and condensed milk "crepes" (they're really quite good!) before we went back to the village.  After a shower and a quick rest, our Mae got us dressed for the going away party.  We went, and after playing with Fohd for a bit, we sat in a circle, and the village elder blessed us with a song that calls 32 Kwan (good spirits) to us to protect us and give us happiness.  After, our Maes tied parts of the string used in our blessing circle around our wrists so we could carry the blessing with us (the bracelets are wracking up!).  Then came a yummy dinner, followed by a cultural talent exchange.  The village kids danced traditional dances for us.  They were so cute, all dressed up in traditional garb, with their hair and make-up done! Our host sister was the youngest and at the very front, we were so proud! Next came Gina, hula-hooping to one of Cornelio's Bolivian songs - that girl has so much talent! She can do the craziest things! We had a series of following talents, Bupe & I taught the Macarena (we pulled up kids from the village and students, and even our Mae came up!), Tim sang, 2 kids did fake Thai boxing, we did the Hokey Pokey, Cornelio did a traditional Bolivian rain dance (which Tyler, Matt, and Rob attempted to mimic...to our great amusement!), the kids sang a traditional song about Mae Chaem, and we finished it off by attempting to sing a Thai children's song.  Luckily they chimed in so it wasn't too awful! :) The adults started leaving then, so we played a game with the children, but I was pretty wiped so I headed home after not too long to pack and go to bed. 
Saturday, 8/28
     We rose, showered, ate, and then met at the temple at 9:45.  There we took pictures with our Maes, and it was very sad.  Our Mae gave Skylar, Burgundy, and I cute scarves! Many of the other students got gifts as well, some scarves, some traditional shirts, etc.  We were sad to go, but before long we were on our way home.  Luckily there were only a few people in my van, so I got to stretch out and sleep!  We stopped twice, once in the pouring rain at a covered Hmong market (potty break!), and another time at a gas station.  I mostly just slept! After getting back and showering, we headed to Carrefour to pick up some things, before dinner and going out to celebrate our return to Chiang Mai! I had an amazing time in Mae Chaem, and wouldn't have missed this opportunity for the world! I am glad to be back at Payap, but Mae Chaem was beyond words!  Rob is planning on going back for fall break, but I have the islands in mind...we'll see if next semester brings me back to bucket ab naams and rice whiskey!

Res Life

Our beds

Desks & Balcony

Let's talk about the living situation here.  In Thailand, most universities don't have on-campus living like they do in America.  Most students live either at home or in little apartments near campus.  Traditionally, these were the living quarters for the students of the Thai Studies Program that I'm doing.  Recently, however, Payap has begun the transformation to the American model of housing-they started by building Paradornparp International House, PIH, for the foreign students' use.  This is also where the nearest cafeteria is.  In June, Payap unveiled their extremely-modern-by-Thai-standards Alpha and Omega freshman dorms.  Spoiled Americans may not be fond of the outdoor concept, no air, and cold showers, but if you open your mind and accept that this is what you have, it's not so bad!  Each building is huge- one for boys only (Omega) and one for girls only (Alpha).  Within the buildings, I'm not sure how many rooms there are, but each room can fit up to 4 people. There are 4 beds, 4 small desks, and 4 wardrobes.  Now when I say "fits 4 people" I don't mean it looks like a quad at Drake.  Rather, the room is narrower than my freshman double, and probably just about the same length, including our balcony (we have a balcony!) Surprisingly, all of my clothes and gear fits in my wardrobe. Shocker, but I actually did this thing called "underpacking" this round…hmm. Back to the dorms, each floor has 4 sections, A, B, C, and D, and has 4 floors.  Each floor has numerous bathrooms, and like at Drake, everyones' schedules are so different I don't think there's ever been more than 3 people in the bathroom with me - showers and toilets included. The bathrooms are really set up well. There's the necessities, toilets, sinks, and showers, and then extra.  There are two deep sinks that can be used to wash dishes (or clothes), and then 3 spigots and an area where one can wash off their legs/feet if they don't want to go whole hog and get in the shower.  There's also another built-in-tub-like-thing with 4 spigots that can be used to either wash just your hair, or again, your clothes.  Very handy! In addition to rooms, each building has a computer lab (if there are 5+ people in there they turn on the AC!), a reading room, a lounge, and an assembly room. There are also numerous areas with a few chairs and a TV.  It's a completely open dorm, all the rooms always have their glass doors open, so just the screen door is closed, and the hallways are open-air, so you can always see what's going on. The view from my balcony is of a lovely pond, and PIH.  Although it was hot at first, my great roommate found me a fan to put by my head so now I sleep nice and tight!

Wardrobes and door

My view! PIH and pond

I know I've been bad about updating from the past week, and I'll be spending the next week in the mountain village of Mae Chem, so I won't have internet.  I will be keeping my journal though, and will post both weeks upon my return! Happy Traveling!

The mountains in the distance!

My first Chiang Mai weekend!

    Friday we arrived in Chiang Mai right after lunch.  Thanks to go-go-go mindset, we hadn't showered or really rested (other than the sleep on the train, which wasn't too bad!), so we went to Payap to shower/change before we went shopping for what we needed. 
    Of course, after I unlocked my backpack I dropped my keys in my purse and couldn't find them again.  As such, after a fruitless search, I was forced to go to Carrefour in the same clothes I had been wearing for about 2 days, after sweating more than a rice paddy farmer!  As was my luck, we met a group of fellow American's studying here while we were at Carrefour, a group from St. Lawrence College in New York.  After running around Carrefour (the non-Western version of Walmart), Tim and I got everything we had put on our list, and came back to Payap.  I had found my keys on the way to Carrefour, of course, so when I came back I jumped in the shower only after pulling out CLEAN clothes! When I got out I unpacked, and my second roommate, Noona, came  back.  I had met Mem earlier that day when I stopped in.  She doesn't speak much English, so she doesn't really ever talk to me.  Noona is an English major, and is very sweet! She always smiles and makes sure I have everything or know when things happen. 
    I wasn't too hungry for dinner, and had gotten fruit at Carrefour, so I just ate that.  I spent the rest of the evening reading in my room and relaxing.
    (8/14/10) Saturday more people arrived! I helped them get their bags up to their rooms (the elevator is out of order) before going down to the computer lab.  My computer doesn't really pick up internet in my room, and the computer lab is air conditioned..win-win!).  Some of the other girls were in there, so I got to talk to them a little more.  Later in the afternoon we went to Carrefour to get anything we had forgotten, and about 10 of us got Thai phones.  It was a madhouse, but sooo much easier! It's only about 3 baht per minute to call the United States…which is about 10 cents. It also makes it easier for us to communicate for meals, outings, questions, etc. After we had dinner at the International Dorm (PIH), which cost about 30 baht ($1 per meal), then planned to go out for the evening.
    We went to a bar that the others had discovered the night before, called the Rooftop Bar.  It was a really chill bar that you could sit on the bamboo-woven floors at little tables and look out over the city.  It was a nice change from Pegs-always sweaty, loud, and crazy.  Here we were introduced to a new concept-bowls. Let me re-phrase that; bowls of booze. You could get your drinks in bowls, usually sharing with others. It was pretty cool! KK and I split a Mai Tai bowl, and then we shared another with Nate and Gina.  All in all a great night getting to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere. 
    (8/15/10).  Sunday brought a lovely morning of sleeping in! We had nothing scheduled until 2pm, when we had a dorm orientation and then a tour of Chiang Mai.  Our tour included visiting the water market (super cool!) and the Sunday Walking Street-a huge Sunday night market that had more cool things than I can explain! We had dinner in a nifty little area, which is actually a Wat (temple).  Every Sunday night they open it up so that all the food vendors can come in, and the courtyard turns into a feasting frenzy. Myself, I had a chicken kebab…yummers! For dessert a cup of watermelon-delish! And then we headed back to the school.  Its a bit of a bummer that girls can't go in the guys' dorms and vice versa, it really eliminates group hang-outs anywhere except outside. Which involves mosquitos! :(
    (8/16/10) First day of orientation! We were all required to be in the President's Office in full uniform at 9:30am sharp!  After an introduction to the school, we met our Ajans, or professors, and they each gave us an introduction to themselves and their courses.  My ajan for our Thai gender & sexuality class is actually a well-known author, Stephen Whitehead. So cool, nothing like learning from the best!! We saw the dances we will be learning in our Thai dance class, and basically got really pumped! There were games with the Thai students, tours, we had our pictures taken for IDs, and then there was a buffet welcome lunch before our first ever Thai class.  Ajan Ray, my linguistics prof, is a really sweet and funny lady, who actually wrote our book!  I have a feeling she's going to really help us out!  The rest of our day was spent with orientation activities and such.  The highlight of the day was a full day without getting food all over my uniform! For those who know me, that's a BIG deal!

Cultural Note

The following come from observations or what I've been told by Thai people.  First, Thais love to smile and laugh. For instance, when in a taxi, if you kill a fly out of the blue, the taxi driver may shout "that was my pet!" in Thai, which will alarm the party, and then make everyone laugh so hard they cry.  When you speak Thai to them with an English accent, they will also smile (more of a yay! than a making-fun-of-the-dumb-american smile). if you don't speak Thai, but they know you can, they will ask that you say something in Thai.  It was described to my partner-in-crime Timmy and I that Thai people love 3 things - shopping, chatting, and shitting.  I can understand the first two at least, but I'm pretty sure the 3rd should be 'eating'-there's food everywhere and Kai/Nui were always offering to feed us!  The Thais are also a very respectful people.  If they are unsure, they will ask your age so as to ascertain which title of respect to give you.  If people are about the same age, they will usually just use their first name or nickname.  That's another thing I've noticed, almost everyone has a nickname.  Probably because they have really long names…for instance, my RA goes by Bamboo. (that one's easy to remember!!! My roommates, Nuna and Mem, don't go by their real names either, or even shortened down from what I can tell. Nuna's name is Wanlipa, for instance. Nuna means 'rat' in Thai, and its true she does slightly resemble a rat (not in an ugly way!).  Another interesting tidbit about Thai culture is that before purchasing a car, Thais visit a monk, and the monk determines which color car they should get (based on their birth year), and when they should buy it.  Then, after purchase, the monk will bless the car so as to appease the spirit within.  If the buyer doesn't consult a monk, it is believed that the spirit will be uncontrollable and probably will get in an accident.  Since most taxis are hot pink, the monk tells the driver which color should be put down on the title, so that the spirit can still be appeased. 

Bangkok Orientation

Here follows the account of my first few days in Thailand...

Dear Diary,
   
    (8/10/10) After waiting a while at the airport doing sudoku and looking like a freak just standing there, Timmy arrived and we were driven to the hotel.  It was raining lightly (duh), and the mosquitos were crazy, but no biggie, we weren't outside long.  Our room wasn't what he had expected, but isn't that what traveling is all about? New things? Unfortunately it was also more humid than we had expected, so i took a quick rinse-off shower before falling into bed, while Timmy went to look for a 7/11.  Apparently at some point the air conditioner was switched off, because we almost died of heat.  My hair was still damp 9 hours after having showered, thanks to the humidity. I was up early, but made myself go back to sleep. Adjusting to the time difference (12 hours) was now or never..i went with now! Around 9, we showered and got breakfast (ham/cheese sandwich, tea, and Tang!), and then walked around a bit.  There was a river right by the hotel so I bought a bag of bread crusts ( proceeds went to charity!) and we watched the fish duke it out…they're huge! Nui tried to get me to feed them by hand…but i chickened out last minute and just tossed it in his mouth. they were freaky. Just saying.  On our walk we noticed that there were tons of stray dogs…even after Egypt, it was still hard to get used to. 
    Kai and Nui took us to our new hotel, the Ambassador, which is completely amazing! We each have our own rooms, with a double bed, couch, an amazing view of bangkok, and a really nice bathroom (with toilet paper! After Egypt and what I've read of rural Thailand, that's a big deal!).  After freshening up, we took the sky train downtown to do some shopping and get lunch.  We got converters for our electronics, as well as some other things.  For lunch, I had steamed duck on a bed of rice - SO GOOD! The fruit everywhere looks so good, I might get some watermelon later tonight.  When we were all done, we took a TukTuk (usually seats 2-3, not 4) back.  After Cairo driving, I'm a little jaded, but that would scare the average American!  Since we had a break, Timmy and I found the pool, then went to visit the bird sanctuary. (Yeah, they have a bird sanctuary!) Now we're getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow is a tour of the river, and Thursday is the Grand Palace, and an overnight train to Chiang Mai!
    For dinner, Nui took us to the Bangkok Night Bazaar - so cool! I'm a huge fan of bazaars in general, so it was really great to see a night bazaar! We had dinner outside while there was a live concert (we rocked out to versions of Lady Gaga, Coldplay, and many more, as well as Thai pop), then Timmy and I wandered the bazaar looking and shopping.  We saw several of those foot baths with fish in them (the fish eat the dead skin off your feet…ew!), but I decided to pass…I did, however, get several scented soaps (love!). Then we headed back to the hotel for SLEEP!
    (8/11/10) Today started with breakfast- yum! After, we were off to take a boat tour down the Chao Pra Ya River, visiting the Mohn people and their famous pottery on the island of Koh Kred.  Tim and I both got a little frowny man pottery cup with iced tea in it-less than a dollar! I love the exchange rate! After this nifty boat tour, we walked around the city, looking at the shops and all the city life.  For lunch we had a pork and noodle soup-thing. It was DELICIOUS! The noodles are rice noodles, a technique the Thai people learned from the Chinese.  I also learned that the name of the dish, when mispronounced, means something very naughty that should not be discussed in public! oh dear, this will be interesting to order in the future!
    After a bit more wandering, we took a taxi to see the Phra Buddha Maha Suwanna Patimakorn, or Golden Buddha.  Comprised of 18k gold for its head, and 6k gold for the rest of the body, the Golden Buddha weighs a whopping 5.5 tons and is beautiful! Nui explained that when you pray to Buddha, people cup their hands in a lotus-esque manner, because they believe the lotus represents the Buddhist way of thinking.  Although the lotus plant is dirty and muddy, it grows above the water into a flower, an object of beauty.  Similarly, through good karma, souls can go from the very bottom rungs of life through incarnations to reach nirvana, the full bloom - very inspiring!
    Next was off to Chinatown!  Bangkok has a huge China town, bustling with vendors and consumers!  We saw frogs bagged to be sold (still alive, the way fair fish are at home), fried fish stomachs (for soup…pass!), and plenty of fruit! They had more gorgeous hand-made items, of course, especially beautiful tea sets.  I wanted to get one, but I have 9 months of moving around…no way it would survive! Hopefully when I'm on my way out! Dinner was in Chinatown, although very different from the China Place back in Des Moines! We had several dishes to share, and boy was I full!
    We had quite a ride back to the hotel, and after we were free to do as we would.  I was ready to pass out then (about 7 o'clock), but Timmy and I went down to the internet café to update our loved ones…and facebook!  Then it was back to the room to practice my dance for the talent show and then BED!
    Well…Because I'm myself something was prone to go wrong before long.  I attempted to charge my computer right before bed, but unfortunately my converter was not up to it…and it fried. Not only did the converter fry, but it took the power to my room with it! Luckily my computer was okay, however I passed the night and the next morning in darkness, sans AC. Again luckily, my room was already cooled down, so I didn't need the AC to survive!

Sweating isn't an activity here, its a way of life.

    (8/12/10) Today we woke up early to see the famous floating market! Unfortunately what we didn't know was that it only floated on the weekends…bummer! But it was still a great experience! We saw all sorts of things while we were there, duck beak (for eating), handmade crafts, so many different kinds of food, and of course, people watching! It was so hot, and still only the morning! After the market, we continued on our tour.  The day's schedule held the Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, and the Reclining Buddha.  The Grand Palace was gorgeous! There was so much gold, or at least gold paint, and painted mosaic tiles that reflected the sun and made it hard to see at times.  It was for this reason that we were forced to wear pants and nicer shirts, so sweat was abundant!!  The Palace was worth the sweat though, very beautiful!

    The Emerald Buddha was smaller than expected, but very beautiful! And the temple the cased it was so beautiful as well! Quite awe-inspiring! There are three outfits for the Emerald Buddha, one for each season, and it is changed not by the monks, but by the King, or in this case the Crown Prince.  We are currently in the rainy season, but there's also one for the cold season (pah, cold as in a slight chill compared to the usual temperatures!) and for the hot season.

    After walking through a continuous sidewalk market, we saw the third largest Reclining Buddha statue.  Although he is 3rd in size, he is considered the 1st in beauty because of the mother or pearl inlay on the bottom of the feet.  There is also a tradition when visiting this temple, one buys a bowl of coins (the money is donated), and then walks along a series of bowls, distributing the coins at will.  There is no rhyme or reason to the distribution, only what one desires.  You are supposed to tell your own fortune as you do this, and hopefully it will come true! I'd tell you what I foretold, but then it would be less likely to come true, like wishes on shooting stars or birthday wishes. 
    We still had plenty of time before the train, so we sat in a department store coffee shop for a while cooling down, and then went down _______ Road.  This is similar to Cornmarket in Oxford, or any other market street.  There are vendors and peddlers selling everything and anything you want- there are fried bugs, tattoos, massages, shirts, DVD's (including toy story 3, salt, and others still in theaters!), and books! I was able to buy a cheap and well-worn copy of Pride and Prejudice to keep me occupied.  It began to rain, so we Tuk-Tuk-ed to the train station to wait out the rest of our time. 
    At the train station I had a sandwich, showered, and read to pass the time. There was a cyber café, so I could check my e-mail and such as well.  Eventually, the train came and we were off! Needless to say, as soon as they put my bed together I was behind my curtains snoozing away! 
    (8/13/10) I woke several times in the night, but I think less often than some.  The guy across the hall snored, and I heard some nocturnal noises from the girl below him as well. Hopefully I didn't contribute to the melody! About 9am breakfast was served. I thought we HAD to get out of bed…boy was I mistaken! Unfortunately I didn't realize this until after they had already put my bed away!  Timmy and I passed the time staring out the window and reading/listening to ipods.  Finally, after 15 hours, we rolled into Chiang Mai! We were finally here!
    We went to the school, and I got to my room. Only one of my roommates was there, Mem.  I meant to shower and change, but I lost the keys to my luggage locks, and had to go in the same clothes I'd been wearing since yesterday morning! We went to get our uniforms (I'm a 3XL in Thailand, ouch), and then to the mall for a snack and some shopping. We got some things for the dorm (laundry and shower stuff and a new converter among other things), and then headed back.  I wasn't very hungry, so I stuck to fruit for a later snack.  After a shower (I found my keys right after we left), I changed into my pajamas and spent the rest of the evening unpacking, getting to know Mem and Nona, my other roommate, and catching up on my e-mails and facebook.  Now I am all set up, and am preparing for bed!  My roommates and I have made an agreement to teach each other languages - they'll teach me Thai and I'll teach them English. I also made them promise to not laugh at my Thai! I'm not sure if they'll be my roommates all year or not, but we're off to a good start!

                           Love always,


                                      Anna!