Day 12

Another typical day of classes (surprisingly, Mondays aren't as hateful in Thailand) and then my roommate took me to the night market for dinner. We had some spicy food and wandered around for a while. As we were on our way to meet some friends for "dessert", we came across what I'm calling a Thai marching band promoting an internet service provider (I think). It was crazy! I love marching bands at home, and this was even cooler because none of them had actual drums. They were great! I have a really long video that I will try to add to this post sometime, possibly when I have real internet that works for more than 5 minutes at a time. Oh, and I took a picture of my typical breakfast here.

Breakfast!

At the night market

The "marching band"! 

Day 11 part 1

...has disappeared! I can't find my pictures anywhere! Hold on, but in the mean time, check out day 11 part 2 and day 12.

Day 11 part 2

I took so many pictures on day 11 that I thought it would be a good idea to split the day into part 1 and 2. Anyways. After getting back to Uniloft from Lookpla's house, a group of us went to the tiger kingdom! I was understandably a little nervous about this venture, since tigers are...you know, tigers. They eat meat. I, unfortunately, am made of just that. But I swallowed my nerves and hung out with some tigers. TIGERS!!! They were classified into 4 different groups depending on age/size - extra small, small, medium, and big. I chose small because it seemed like they would be the most likely to interact and not eat me. It worked out! It was a really cool experience...petting, hugging, and of course, talking to them. They were sortof soft in a sweaty way. They didn't smell super good, but it was still an indescribable experience. As a lover of all animals, I was totally happy to just be near them, but petting them and interacting with them was really ... I don't know what the word is. Fantastic?

Oh hey, "small" tiger. That stick is way more tasty than me, promise.

Never again. Feet in a tank full of baby piranas or something - they "eat" the bad things on and in your skin. It took me 45 minutes of kicking and screaming (obviously not SUPER loudly) to get used to the feeling. And even then, it was so far from relaxing that I couldn't enjoy it. Oh well, I tried. 

Tigers like swimming! These guys kept fighting over who got which side of the pool or something...

"Extra-small tigers". Still roughly the size of a medium dog. These were the REALLY fun ones to watch...less scary, more playful.

"pleeeeease can I have a treat? I've been such a good tiger!!" Melts my heart a little :)

Then I made friends with some macaws by feeding them sunflower seeds. If there hadn't been a big fence, I'm pretty sure they would've followed me home.

That's just me. Petting a tiger. Normal day at the ranch.

The weirdest looking tiger I've ever seen.

This picture. Haha. L-R Lauren, me, Jillian, freaking out Rachel. Ms. Tiger liked her belly rubbed so much that she rolled around while we did it. I think that scared Rachel or something...

I likes tigers.

"Hold still while I chew on your face? No? Sigh."

Favorite flower, pink and yellow edition. This is plumeria. Love.

Another macaw friend.

This little guy <3 I almost forgot tigers are giant cats, but then I saw this guy and he did EXACTLY what my kitties at home did - watched alertly, then FLEW into action. Got that other little tiger REAL good.

I think these were classified as "medium" tigers - they were pretty big.

"Hey tiger! Want to come home with me?" I bonded with this one...

Day 10

Day 10 was really exciting!! I was invited to go to Lookpla's house (with Ann), and of course I accepted! It was SO fun - I was really excited to see what life was like a little outside the actual city, where I spend the majority of my time. So, Lookpla's dad picked us up in the afternoon. We stopped at a place called Home Pro, which is basically a giant department store with EVERYTHING, including hardware stuff, etc. We wandered around there for a while, then drove the rest of the way to Lookpla's house (by the way, her name means "baby fish" - if you type it into google translator, it comes up with "fry", which we found enormously funny). Her parents don't speak English, so Ann and Lookpla acted as interpreters - great fun :). We picked up Lookpla's mother and went to a market. The only markets I'd really been to before this were not food markets, so I was really REALLY excited for this - in America, grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do, and I love the markets here, so I knew I would love it. I wasn't disappointed! After the market, we went back to their home (which is GORGEOUS...pics to follow in my day 11 post. I think.) and I got to help cook dinner! I didn't realize how much I miss cooking till I got in the kitchen, and it hit me, so I was definitely happy to get a little cooking fix that night. We had a delicious "typical" Thai dinner - 2 different soups, a fish (by fish, I mean the entire. whole. thing. eyeballs and all.), rice, thai omelette, stir fried morning glory (one of my new favorite vegetables...its nothing like what you'd picture as American morning glory, rather a vegetable that is similar to spinach in flavor and texture. A loy mak maa :) (VERY delicious)), some delicious sauces, and something else that I forgot. Oops. For dessert, we had watermelon and jackfruit (not my favorite) and some shaved ice thing. After, we cleaned up, hung out, showered, and went to bed. I guess now might be a good time to mention a little cultural lesson I learned - they shower twice a day here! It's really hot and people sweat a lot, but seriously, I don't think I've met a single Thai that smells bad. They are fastidious about hygiene, which I really appreciate :)

Corn on the cob! tastes more like indian corn...very starchy, not very sweet.

Favorite fruit...Mangosteen. sweet, tart, juicy, and DELICIOUS. plus it's really good for you. mm.

The market we went to had EVERYTHING - even toilet paper and laundry detergent. All outside.

Their pineapples (sab pa rot) are the best ever.

Lookpla and I (photo cred: Ann)

They also sold fish at the market - these ones weren't for eating. I don't think...

Rice - 1 kilo for the prices you see (baht). 1 US dollar = roughly 30 baht. SO CHEAP!!!

Garlic and what I suspect were shallots. :)

Garlic, onions, chili, shallots (?)

Those are green beans! They are called something that roughly translates to yard-long beans, and they really are that long!

The vegetarian in me was quivering with delight at all the vegetables :)

Fish! there were a couple kinds that were still alive and flopping around but I didn't take a picture of them in their bins. Ick.

Perfume

I think these are lynchee. SO MUCH BETTER fresh than anything you can get in America. I will sorely miss the fruit here when I get back to the states. sigh.

I really like garlic.

And vegetables.

Earlier in the day, I went and hung out beside our salt water infinity pool at our dorm. It's a rough life, but I'm adjusting...

Fish.

Mangoes (ma muang) and limes (ma naow)

I eat a lot of rice and rice products here. More rice

Jackfruit on the left, and I think they said the right was something to do with a palm? you eat it, anyhow.

Flowers! Jasmine, marigolds, roses. These are usually given to monks or offered at temples. Jasmine is my second favorite flower for its smell. 

A ridiculous amount of chilis. These babies are HOT. And they are in EVERYTHING.

Day 9

Day 9, my Thai Culture class went on a field trip to a well-known temple in Chiang Mai. I believe the name of this temple is Wat Doi Saquet (and I probably spelled that wrong but that's what it sounds like) and it was beautiful! It was super hot that day, so less fun, but still a gorgeous place. Buddhism is very interesting - I grew up in one religion, and haven't had much exposure to other religions, so while I am very settled in my beliefs, I have enjoyed learning about Buddhism and its history. Again, apologies for the out of order pictures. I'm working on it, and if you have any tips, let me know! All the pictures are uploaded from my phone, if that makes any difference. Seriously, I should probably learn how to use the internet at some point...

In this picture, it's hard to get a good idea of the actual size of this Buddha image, but I'd estimate about 40 feet tall? I could be really wrong though, my estimating skills are NOT something I'm known for... Anyways, it was really big. And gold.

Scenery from the temple

I had dinner (a weird noodle/pork/sweet/syrupy combination - not my favorite) with Lookpla and Ann! They're great :)

The Chedi - where the Buddha relic is housed at this temple. Actually, every temple with a relic has a chedi, this one is just the one at this particular wat (temple)

On the way back from the temple, the sky was ridiculous and the view pretty incredible. Note the motorbike - I think there's literally a million of them in Chiang Mai.

A Buddha image

I can't figure out what this plant is, but it was at the temple.

This picture is for my Other Mother - gorgeous gorgeous orchids.

Inside the main temple. Those monks are wax, which I didn't find out till after, so it weirded me out a little that they were sitting so eerily still...

I think this is one of the places where the ashes of an important monk are kept? Maybe like a crypt? I was too busy taking pictures to listen to the explanation...

I loved this fountain.

A Bodhi tree - significant in Buddhism because it's the kind of tree that the Buddha was sitting under when he achieved his enlightenment. The colorful scarves and whatnot on the tree are from a celebration that recently took place.

The Buddha image from the first picture...maybe a better idea of the size? Also my classmates.

Same, minus classmates.

The Bodhi tree and courtyard.

I just really love this picture...I think it's the tree and the sky and all the shapes.

In the song tao (red truck) on the way back to the dorm.

Inside one of the smaller "side" places

More Bodhi trees...the leaves are pretty big, and they are kindof majestic in their way.

Chedi, with Ajan Brooke (our teacher - Ajan is used when addressing teachers) and Keilee

Another for my Other Mother

I think this is a rose.

I love the colors - the being there is an important character in the Bhuddist story - I'm pretty sure he was a bad guy, but I don't 100% remember this explanation either. It's in my notes... :)

This was a Chinese 'shrine' at the temple

More orchids. Suaey mak maa :) (very beautiful)

A view of the mountains on the way back - the city is basically surrounded with mountains. 

The same Chinese temple from before, different angle.

More mountain views on the way back

This is the beginning of the entire temple complex - Giant Buddha image is up the stairs on the left.

Ajan Brooke and Jackie. Oh, and the chedi...

The view from the Chedi - That's Chiang Mai!

Classmates! L-R Malaiya, Jackie, Mustafa, Keilee, Molly

I am adept at looking in the wrong direction for pictures, as proved here. The flower in my hair is plumeria, my new FAVORITE. It smells so so beautiful.