Golden Triangle Excursion: Part 3

Happy Monday, everyone! I have to say, I am a little sad to be going back to classes after such a fun trip, but there are only two weeks until fall break so that's going to keep me going! There's plenty of work to be done between now and then, so I'm sure the days are going to go by fast. Anyway, on the third day (Friday) of our trip we woke up bright and early in Baan See See to get breakfast. Everyone at my table got a piece of toast with an egg (scrambled or fried) - guess we all had been missing Western breakfast food more than a little! We also got the pleasure of dining with a huge spider (as big as the palm of my hand, including the legs) hanging out off the balcony roof, but it didn't budge from the middle of its web so we were pretty sure it was did. Still, big ol' bugs are not unusual in Thailand, making every day a bit of a wildlife adventure!

The morning brought us to the preserved camp of Khun Sa, notorious drug lord slash local hero. The local people were in charge of the upkeep of the museum rather than the national government. It was raining pretty hard, so we darted from building to building huddled under umbrellas. Khun Sa actually had several camps because he was periodically flushed out of them, before taking refuge in politically unstable Burma where is was eventually reported dead. Three large rooms were mostly dedicated to pictures of Khun Sa and the Shaun people that he helped, with some slightly unnerving photographs of him talking to child soldiers and workers in an opium poppy field. Some of him personal rooms had been kept more or less the same way since he left them, such as his bedroom, bathroom, and a conference room with a slightly-larger-than-life replica of Khun Sa. My personal favorite, though, was this homage to him and his pet horse that greets all visitors to the Khun Sa museum.

The skies cleared as we made our way to a tasty buffet lunch where we were still in Thailand but had a great view of both Burma and Laos. (Did I mention that in SE Asia the "s" in Laos is silent so its pronounced "Lao"? Well, now you can impress people with your global knowledge at parties!) I stuffed myself on fried wantons, udon noodles, sweet-and-sour fish, and these awesome little Thai pancakes that are a dessert item but are decorated with green onions, carrots, and corn. We then headed to the official Golden Triangle spot that overlooks the three-point intersection at the Mekong River. Made for some spectacular photos. I'm standing in Thailand, but off to the left is Burma and off to the right is Laos. Wild!

We then walked up to a very, very old temple (built in 1302 C.E.!). Lots of amazing ruins and a building housing Buddha images that were recessed into a little room where ladies unfortunately weren't allowed. However, ladies definitely were allowed to do a neat little ritual where numbered sticks are shaken in an open canister. You shake one out and read the number, which corresponds to a drawer off to the side. Each drawer had paper fortunes in it. This practice in not Buddhist at all, rather, it comes from China. As I mentioned before, many of these regional practices were integrated in Buddhism to smooth the conversion of the people and to maintain each unique cultural identity. My fortune told me, "You're like a person who got lost in the wood and have to pave your way through the thorns." My favorite part was, "If you think of having a spouse, it's fine to find one." Sound advice.

The next adventure of the day was a visit to the Hall of Opium museum, which was basically the polar opposite of the Khun Sa museum. It was paid for by the Chinese as well as heavily sponsored by the royal family, particularly the Princess Mother (the mother of the king), who took it upon herself to speak out for the eradication of opium and rehabilitation of addicts. It was huge and modern, but definitely had a political message behind it. The hall leading into the museum was bathed in weird blue light that gave it a subterranean atmosphere, complete with eerie sculptures emerging from the walls that depicted the tortured souls of opium addicts.

After a brief introductory video, we were left to tour the museum through a series of interactive exhibits that traced opium's beginnings in ancient Egypt and Greece to its prevalence in the Western world before it made it's way back East to the kingdom of Siam (modern-day Thailand). The tone of the exhibits then turned to the multifaceted impacts of drug addiction. The most memorable feature of this section were the replicas of cells built into the transparent floors where mannequins of opium addicts going through withdrawal called up prerecorded cries of anguish amid flashing red lights. I also took time to read a wall dedicated to celebrities who had suffered, and in some cases, died, from drug addictions, especially to opium-derived heroin. 

We then checked into our last hotel of the trip before the late afternoon activity of . . . taking a boat to an Laotian island! Whoa! Tune in next post for the final and most international installment of this series!

Golden Triangle Excursion: Part 2

On Friday morning we headed over to the KMT memorial museum to learn about how the Cold War had a unique impact on the region. Basically, when the Chinese nationalists were losing the civil war and the communists were taking over, some troops sought asylum in the northern Thai village of Mae Salong rather than surrender. They fought the communists in Thailand in exchange for Thai citizenship, and are closely related to the nationalists that fled to Taiwan. It was interesting to see the flag of Taiwan in many photographs, usually alongside the Thai flag and pictures of the Thai king and queen.

This main building held the memorial placards for all the soldiers, while two exhibits on either side detailed the Chinese troops' movement in Thailand and the social welfare projects than sprung up around the community after the Chinese were well established. Many of the signs were in Chinese and the local people also spoke the language, which isn't surprising because China isn't that far from Thailand. Although they do not share a border, a southern province of China lies just north of Burma and Laos and the Golden Triangle area. 

Next we visited the tomb of the Chinese general, General Duan, who was celebrated by the local people as a hero for their community. His tomb overlooks the village he helped establish, and is guarded by a descendant of a KMT soldier. We spent a lot of time at this tomb area because, true to the rainy season, it began to absolutely pour. Reminded me a lot of Washington so I didn't really mind!

Once the rain let up a bit, we headed off to the next activity, which I had been looking forward to for the whole trip. For those who know me, you know that I have somewhat of a fixation with tea and that I always keep water in the tea kettle and a box of teabags on hand. Well, when Thailand cracked down on the drug economy and stopped the people from growing opium poppies, they had to replace the cash crops with something to try and reestablish the livelihoods of so many villagers. Tea was the most prominent option, especially with the Chinese influence on the region, and so we got to visit a tea plantation and do some tasting. I order a lot of green tea in Thailand, and I guess they use some kind of matcha-type green tea powder because all the tea I have been served is a bright spring green! However, the green tea at the plantation was a more familiar shade of golden yellow and tasted wonderful. They served a lot of oolong, too, and a blend of tea that was also brewed with part of the rice plant.

We got to wander into the tea fields for a little while, where the grass was so damp that we abandoned our shoes after a little while and just walked around barefoot. The misty mountains overlooking the rolling hills of tea plants was such a beautiful memory. Pictures don't do it justice! There was a sign that made us chuckle that said, "Prohibit pluck the tops feel numb." At first, I thought that the tea plant would make your fingers tingle if you touched it, but actually the word for tea in Thai, "chaa," also means, "feels numb." It was a mis-translation, the sign was supposed to say something like, "Plucking the tops of the tea is prohibited." 

After the plantation, we checked into the guesthouse at the village of Baan See See (actually pronounced "baan sue sue" but it is a hard sound for English-speakers to make - try to say "sue sue" with a big toothy grin and you'll get it!). Two people to a room and two rooms to a little house-like building, several of which overlooked a main courtyard area. After dropping off our bags we all wandered onto our porches and had a laugh greeting each other from across the way!

The whole village was built right into the mountainside, so we hiked around town for a bit before finding a Chinese guesthouse/restaurant for dinner. We noticed that they served Western-style breakfast foods for crazy-reasonable prices (you can usually expect to pay three to four times as much for Western food than you do for Asian/local food) and so agreed to go back for breakfast in the morning. We also appreciated the steaming hot cups of Chinese tea that were served with the meals, especially with how misty and a little chilly the area was! Nice and refreshing from the heat of the city. We hung out for a while at the guesthouse bar, playing games and chatting, before turning in for the night. A fun discovery on the guesthouse T.V. was the movie channel, which played American movies dubbed into Chinese with Thai subtitles. We got a kick out of an action flick with Jake Gyllenhaal, whose dubbed voice was about three octaves lower than any other human voice I've ever heard.

Golden Triangle Excursion: Part 1

Hi everyone! I have been back in Chiang Mai for roughly four hours and after catching up on the T.V. shows I missed while up north (New Girl and America's Next Top Model - no shame) I thought, "What better way to spend my Saturday night than update my blog?" So here I am, for all of you, and also because I am so darn excited to share all my new stories.

We left Chiang Mai at the crack of 9:00 am on Wednesday to drive three hours up the windy, mountainous roads towards the northern city of Chiang Rai in the Chiang Rai province. Our first stop was at the incredible white temple of Wat Rong Khun, which is seriously unlike any other temple I have ever seen. It was commissioned by famous Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, and since it is still a work in progress the inner murals feature some more modern takes on the nature of good and evil, with pop culture depictions such as Superman, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Angry Birds. Unfortunately, pictures were only allowed on the exterior but it is still stunning, wouldn't you say?

This wasn't the only building on the premises, though. I took a bunch of pictures of a similarly styled although somewhat smaller gold building before realizing it was actually . . . a bathroom. Who says beauty can't also be functional? We threw baht coins into a fountain for good luck, then headed over to the museum with Chalermchai Kositpipat paintings and other artwork. His paintings are colorful and intricate, blending traditional Thai and Buddhist imagery with modern messages. Definitely worth looking up. 

Lunch was at a food court across the street, where I use my (extremely limited) Thai reading skills to see if the menu was a little more specific than just the English translation of "vegetarian food." Sure enough, the script read "aahan jay" which does mean "vegetarian food" so I bravely ordered, having no idea what to expect. Luckily, things turned out for the best as the aahan jay turned out to be rice (big surprise) with brightly colored stir-fried vegetables. 

The afternoon brought us to the Freedom Resource Center of the Sold Project, a fairly new NGO that is focused on providing scholarships to village children to prevent them from dropping out of school to go work in a big city as prostitutes. This is the harsh reality that Thailand is facing, as some of you may know, because of the economic stratification of the people. Thai children are raised to want to respect and support their parents and family, so once they are old enough they are looked upon as breadwinners . . . by whatever means necessary. The Sold Project works with the local village community to show the people that if the kids stay in school, they have a better chance of getting a (legal) better-paying job and being able to support the family that way. They make this financially feasible with the scholarship program and also provide the Freedom Resource Center as a place for the kids to come after school for extra lessons, activities, and even some trade skill training such as raising silk worms.

We then headed into Chiang Rai proper to visit the Hill Tribe Museum and hear a lecture and watch a documentary on Khun Sa, the regional drug lord of the late twentieth century. The Golden Triangle trading area is well known for its history of drug trafficking because the mountainous farming land was perfect for growing opium poppies. Before drug crops were eradicated from Thailand, at one point the region produced 80% of the heroin used in say, New York City. Khun Sa was both reviled and revered because of his immense influence on the region. Being from China and the ethnic Shaun State of Burma, the Shaun people saw Khun Sa as an advocate for their national interests as well as a provider of the economic opportunity in growing opium poppies. Obviously, much of the world saw him as a villain for perpetuating the global issue of drug addiction and for his "questionable" management methods, such as his own army, including child soldiers.

Of course, we also got to see the exhibits on local hill tribe groups such as the Shaun, Karen, and Akha people, plus take some pictures of the unique restaurant below the museum. It was called "Cabbages and Condoms," and the theme of the restaurant was a message about sexual health and safety and the prevention of spreading HIV/AIDS. It's an important issue for Thailand because families affected by HIV/AIDS are highly stigmatized in society.

No idea what the cabbages are all about though. That night we stayed at a hotel in Chiang Rai and ate at the night bazaar, which was smaller than those in Chiang Mai but still full of interesting merchandise. Walking back from the bazaar we got to pass by the unmistakable clock tower of Chiang Rai, which was recognizable as in the style of - you guessed it - Chalermchai Kositpipat. We turned in a little late after an evening of talking and laughing in the hotel rooms, but that was OK because we could sleep in a little before the next day's adventures.

Quick PSA

Hi everyone! Just a quick post to say there won't be another post . . . but only for a little while! I know some of you were panicking just then. No, seriously, I will be leaving tomorrow for an excursion to the Golden Triangle! If you need a brush up on your Southeast Asian geography, that's where Thailand meets Laos and Burma. In fact, I will be briefly crossing into Burma, mostly to be able to say, "Yeah, I've been to Burma." If you follow global news, you'll know that Burma has been fighting an ethnic civil war since 1949 and has been basically under military rule for just as long - right up until 2010, when they held their first real election (although the party that won is comprised of former military officials).

Things are still pretty rocky over there, but don't you worry, I am only going to a market for a couple hours and will be perfectly fine. Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both visited Burma, by the way. Fun fact. Also, you may have noticed that I keep calling it "Burma" instead of "Myanmar," as some of you may know it as. "Myanmar" is the name given to the country by the military-government which was not always recognized a legitimate, so calling it Burma shows a solidarity with the people who have suffered (and are still suffering) at the hands of this "government." All of my BEAM students are from Burma, if you recall.

Anyway. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell and pictures to share when I get back late Saturday afternoon! Thanks for reading and catch you all later.

Trixie and Tunnels

As many of you may know, I recently made a transportation investment for the rest of my time here in Thailand. I bought a second-hand single-speed cruiser bicycle which I dubbed "Trixie." I could have maybe opted for a fanicer bike, but the shop I bought it from is willing to buy it back at the end of the semester for 50% of the original cost. Since I'll have a quick turn-around from my last day of classes to the day I fly back, this seemed like a much easier option than finding an individual buyer. Also, it has a basket. I feel like Zooey Deschanel when I ride it.

We visited yet another temple with my Buddhism class. Before you roll your eyes like, "Please, Jess, no more temples," hear me out. Wat Umong is different because "umong" means "tunnel" and the temple itself is basically a small network of man-made tunnels that house really old Buddha images. It is so cool and way different than any other temple I've been to as of yet!

Like many others, Wat Umong has a chedi with a relic inside of it. The wat is located not far from where I live, but it is so surrounded by trees and spaces of land that it feels secluded even within the busy streets of Chiang Mai. My roommate bought a brochure that estimates Wat Umong's construction as early as 1450 A.D.! Things here in Thailand are just unfathomably older than a lot of things in the U.S. It really puts my view of the world into perspective. Thailand in general is just this fascinating combination of an ancient culture and a country moving and developing to fit it with the modern age.

Our main purpose of visiting Wat Umong was to visit the "spiritual theater." The idea of a spiritual theater was developed by monk and scholar Buddhadasa Bhikkhu. He contributed greatly to the development of Theravada Buddhism in Thailand by re-envisioning the teachings as accessible to everyone around the world, regardless of religious beliefs. As someone who holds Christian beliefs but is very open-minded about other religions, this really spoke to me and I was interested to see what the artwork of the spiritual theater would portray. Although I knew the subjects wouldn't be strictly from the Buddhist canon, I was still a little surprised to see images like Jesus Christ, woolly mammoths, and modern cars up alongside the monks and nature scenes.

I have to write a creative paper on one of the images with my own interpretation, so wish me luck! My classes are getting busier, I'm visiting new places and having new experiences, and really enjoying the rhythm of life here in Thailand. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and restful weekend!

Doi Suthep and Baan Chang

What an amazing weekend it's been! On Friday (also my first day at BEAM - but that's a whole 'nother post!) my Buddhism class made the 30 minute journey up the mountain to Wat Phra that Doi Suthep.  I may have mentioned earlier that if a wat has "phra that" (hard "t," not "th" as in "this") in the name it's relic is from the Buddha himself. Pretty cool. You can't actually see the relic because it is housed in the chedi (also called a stupa), which is the big pointy structure in the middle of the complex.

People circumambulate (a fancy word for walk around) the chedi three times as an act of meditation and a way to make merit with offerings of flowers, candles, and incense (remember my experience at Wat Rampoeng?). Our class was mostly interested in the mural paintings that surrounded the temple, depicting important scenes in the Buddha's life story.

In this painting, the Buddha is calling witness to the earth goddess to wring out her hair, which was soaked in the waters of his good merit from previous lifetimes. The subsequent flood is washing away the demons, especially Mara, the god of death and rebirth, who were trying to keep the Buddha from achieving enlightenment. There are many grand and ornate halls to house Buddha images around the complex, like this one.

The other amazing thing about Doi Suthep is the view of Chiang Mai you can see (even with some cloud cover) from a look out point. I have a two week break from classes in October and my plans include doing a meditation retreat for five days, most likely at Doi Suthep. Meditators get up early, and I am told the wat is empty of tourists late at night and in the early in the morning. Can you imagine seeing the sun rise from up here? Hopefully, come October, I won't have to imagine.

Then, on Saturday, eight of us got up bright and early to visit Baan Chang, which literally means elephant home. It is a park that is a sanctuary for rescued elephants from all over Thailand. Sadly, these majestic mammals are no longer found in the wild but are often used as work animals or for tourist gimmicks such as street begging and circus tricks. Baan Chang wants to rescue as many elephants as possible and give them a new, humane life about an hour outside of Chiang Mai. Each elephant gets their own mahout, which is a human trainer, caretaker, and companion, usually from a hill tribe such as the Karen.

Visitors are welcome to come and spend the day with the elephants, helping out with their daily routines and learning about our "big friends." Here I am feeding sugar cane and bananas to an elephant, which is like a special snack in between meals. Elephants spend only 4 hours sleeping and the other 20 hours eating every day! We wear the denim uniforms because they are OK to get dirty and help the sight-limited elephants recognize strangers as people who come to feed, bathe, and play with them.

The most exciting part of the elephant experience was learning to ride them! The best way to do it is on the elephant's muscular neck, as it is a comfortable place to sit and you can give verbal commands as well as nudge their ears to turn. Getting up on the elephant, even while it's laying down, requires a certain degree of athleticism because they are just so big! We all managed to get up on them and do a quick turn around the fenced area to get used to riding.

After lunch we paired up two to an elephant (one "driver" on the neck and one "passenger" on the shoulders with a rope to hold on to) for a longer ride. Elephants like to walk around and get some exercise just like anyone, but in the park must do so in a controlled way so they don't escape, pick fights with each other, or eat a plant that will make them sick. Our guide, Puza, was kind enough to walk alongside with the cameras and get some action shots.

Nicole's and my elephant was very gentle and cautious with the steep and muddy road . . . maybe because she was 10 months pregnant! We were still OK to ride her, because mama elephants can be expecting for 18 to 24 months. Our final job was to help with bath time, which took place in a pond area with buckets and scrub brushes. It's important to keep elephants clean because there are bacteria that gets on their skin and causes infection. Nothing like trying to keep your balance on a slippery, wet elephant back!

Baan Chang was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience unique to Thailand. I would encourage everyone to read up on the state of elephant welfare in the world and do what they can to raise awareness and put an end to the cruel treatments of some of our precious pachyderm friends.

Zoo Adventures

First of all, a huge THANK YOU to my readers for helping me reach over 1000 pageviews! Wowie wow wow! I never thought that so many people would be reading. A special thanks to Uncle C., too, for leaving my second-ever comment. Love you all.

Okay, so it has been a crazy busy week already and it's going to get even busier tomorrow and Saturday. On Tuesday my art class took a trip to Wat Phra Singh to look at the restoration work being done on the murals there. The Fine Arts Department in Thailand simply doesn't have the resources to lead any huge restoration projects, so they can only devote a few months to each project at a time. The mural painting techniques historically used at wats such as Phra Singh don't hold up well to the Thai heat and humidity, so efforts are mostly focused on salvaging what can be found and protecting it against further damage. They won't repaint anything unless they know for sure what was there in the first place.

This is definitely some of the better-preserved artwork from this wat. The mural work is spectacular in its detail and scope of story in and of itself, but what I though was also impressive was the gold-on-red work that decorated the temple as well. In order to create this intricate designs, black paint is stenciled onto the red and then gold leaf in meticulously applied over the paint to make the patterns. I can't even to begin to imagine how much work was put into this one beautiful temple, let alone the fact there are nearly countless temples spread out all over Thailand!

Two of my classmates (representing our class) and Ajan Chatcha are receiving a blessing for visiting and learning about the preservation efforts. Our next art assignment is to be inspired by an environment with people interacting - to observe, take pictures, and then make a piece of artwork about it. Should be fun!

Maybe one of the environments I could do art about is the Chiang Mai Zoo, which we visited on Wednesday! It's just a short song taew (red truck) ride from our apartments - right near the front gate of the university. It's only 100 baht to get in (a little more than $3.00) and so we headed over around noon and saw basically everything by 4:00 pm or so.

Although it is situated on hill so you get plenty of exercise, the zoo itself was pretty basic. A few of the exhibits were close because it is the rainy season and so there aren't as many tourists, and some of the attractions cost more once you were inside (like seeing the aquarium or going into a "Snow Dome"). We had a nice time checking out the big cats, lots of exotic deer, reptiles, and birds. My favorite part was a bird park you could walk into - everything was surrounded by fencing (even the ceiling) so the birds stayed in, but it was full of such thick tropical foliage and footpaths where you could see some pretty awesome birds.

My camera batteries were dying so I don't have many good photographs from the zoo, but tomorrow I am going to the elephant camp to play with and care for elephants up close so I will have plenty of awesome pictures from that (after changing the batteries, of course)!

Waffles and Wats

As you may have guessed, this post will also be primarily about visiting another Buddhist temple, this time, Wat Fai Hin, where our new monk friends from last Sunday reside. Thai culture is absolutely saturated in Buddhist history and practice, as I read recently that around 90% of Thais identify as Buddhist. My group is also working on our big "Temple Ethnography" assignment due before fall break, so that's why most of my activities are revolving around this.

But first, a brief synopsis of what I did yesterday. I was on my way back from a brunch food run to 7/11 (where else?) when I was stopped by three or four Thai students outside my building. "Are you in a hurry? Do you have time for an interview?" they asked. I answered "no" and "yes" respectively, so we headed inside to sit around a small table. There was one guy in the group who seemed to be the spokesperson most confident with the English language, so he acted as a sort of liaison between me and my actual interviewer, a shy and giggly girl.

This was for an English class, and the interview focused mainly on the differences in the educational system and student life between Thailand and the United States. I hoped I gave good answers and that she did well on the interview! Anyway, it was an interesting way to start my weekend. In the evening we headed to the Saturday market, stopping first at a Thai/American restaurant for dinner. We then wandered the street market, enjoying the atmosphere and checking people off our souvenir lists.

My favorite find, though, was the waffle stand. Happiness is a fresh banana waffle! It was raining a little bit on and off that night, certainly not the downpours that I've witnessed here, but just enough to keep us cool. I have been to each of the walking street markets more than once, so after this weekend I think I might take a break for a while and then go back later in the semester. My mantra seems to be, "I'm here for four months, I'm here for four months . . . "

So then this morning we got up bright and early to take red trucks to our respective temples and meet up with the monks for more talk and a tour of their facilities. There were four temple buildings on the site, we initially sat down in one larger, open-air temple before relocating to a more official, enclosed temple because there would be "an activity" happening there. It ended up being a lot of laypeople coming up to fix lunch for the monks. After talking for a while, we wandered the grounds and saw the ordination temple, as well as this one with the grand entrance.

It was still slippery from last night's rains, so I nearly ate it on the steps coming down! I had been distracted by a couple novices playing checkers at one of the many stone tables that are common to public places. Many of them are inlaid with tile checker boards, but we had never seen anyone playing chess or checkers on them until today! Most monks abstain from any kind of entertainment, but apparently the novices (some as young as seven years old) are allowed some leniency during their free time.

We visited the cemetery where the previous abbot was buried, then caught a glimpse of the tiny houses that the monks live in. We were told there were only about 20 monks at Wat Fai Hin, but around 150 novices! They have to live two or three to a room since there are so many of them. We then headed up the road a bit just for fun, and on the way out of the gates I saw two of this little structures that are all over Thailand. They looked religious, but did not contain images of Buddha.

I asked one of the monks about them, and finally got my answer. Before Buddhism came to this region, the hill tribes followed a religion called animism, which addresses the appeasing of spirits. These "spirit houses" are places to make offerings to the gods/spirits. The practice is blended with Theravada Buddhism, and so this world religion becomes personalized to the specific region and culture. Way cool.

We need to go back one more time to see a ritual of some kind, either on the Sabbath day based on an eight-day week, or just for an evening chanting. This afternoon I have my IPSL class and some Thai homework to do, so I'll sign off for now!

Field Trips!

Hey everyone! I hope this Thursday finds you well - or "Friday Eve" and I started calling it in high school! Because I'm in a Buddhism class, I've had the opportunity to go out into Chiang Mai and really experience how religion influences Thai society. On Sunday, our class split into four groups to interview monks from four different wats all studying for a Bachelor's in English at a Buddhist university. We met them at nine in the morning at Wat Suan Dok. My monk group was from Wat Fai Hin, and what surprised me at first was that none of them were actually from Thailand! Two of them were from Burma/Myanmar, and the other three were from Lao, Vietnam, and Cambodia respectively. They were college age or maybe a little older, as two were novices and three were full monks.

Oftentimes, families from small agricultural communities will send their sons to be monks and further their educations. A couple of the monks I talked to planned on moving on to a Master's degree, and a couple others were planning on disrobing and returning to life as laypeople (this was also new to me, as in the Catholic tradition ordination is for life!). We mostly about our similarities and differences in culture, and the monks' daily routine, favorite classes, and the rules they have to follow (ten for novices, but two hundred twenty-seven for monks!). Then we made a plan to visit Wat Fai Hin in one week's time. I can't wait to go, I love seeing how different each wat is from another.

Yesterday, my friends and I made a trip to a local mall called Central. It was a fun excursion because it was interesting to see how things are similar to the States and how they are different. For example, we made a beeline to the Aunty Anne's pretzel shop (right next to a Pizza Hut), but something tells me it might be hard to find a shredded chicken pretzel in the shape of a sun in the United States!

This picture is me with my new stone lion friend at the mall entrance. I was mainly excited to go because my roommate Nikki and I were meaning to try the inexpensive Thai massages we had heard so much about from our peers! We were instructed to head to the lowest floor of the mall, and after wandering for about ten minutes we came across the small massage booth. After ordering two one-hour Thai massages from the lady at the front desk, we were led by two other ladies in green polo shirts past a bunch of people in recliners to a raised area with four or five stations equipped with thin mattresses, pillows, and towels.

We removed our shoes, purses, and glasses and laid down on our backs. Someone had told me that traditional Thai massages include a lot of stretching, but other than that I really didn't know what to expect! My massage lady toweled off my feet and then got to work kneading and stretching each of my legs for a really long time. It did feel great and was kind of like having someone do yoga for me! Then she moved on to my arms for a while before having me roll over onto my stomach to do my shoulders and back. I also think she stood up on the backs of my thighs at some point. The massage ended with me sitting up for more shoulders and neck, plus some intense arm stretching. Overall, I would recommend a Thai massage for anyone feeling a little adventurous and in need of some stress relief! It was affordable enough that it it certainly not my last massage here.

We ate dinner at a food court near this beautiful mall courtyard, then hopped a red truck back to Uniloft (our university housing) for another Buddhism field trip, this time in the evening. It was to observe a Wan Phra ritual at Wat Rampoeng. Basically, we sat on mats in the wat and listened to the abbot as he spoke to other monks and laypeople in Thai, then turned to us and spoke to us in English. He was very quiet so I didn't catch much, but I think he said the pagoda outside the wat was six hundred years old and housed special relics. We each had a candle and three sticks of incense in a holder, plus a long stemmed rose bud as offerings. We lit the candles and incense outside and then proceeded to walk slowly around the pagoda three times in meditation. It was such a beautiful and special moment - I took a picture afterwards of the pagoda illuminated by the candles and strings of lights.

We returned to the wat for a long seated meditation before being dismissed by the abbot. I have enjoyed all the Buddhist rituals I have had the privilege to take part in so far in Thailand, and definitely look forward to more to come! Until next time, sawat dee ka and have a great end to your week.

The Taste of Home

Happy September! It officially feels like the end of summer (although I have been in class for a couple weeks) - everyone from the States have either started school already or are going to start really soon. Wish I could say that the weather changes here in the fall - it's still rainy season, then it will be the "cold" season. Although, as my friend put it, the relative coldness can be described as sometimes, on certain days in December, when you're out really late at night, you will sort of wish you had a jacket. So there you go.

My week was pretty typical except that instead of having Buddhism on Friday, I had my first IPSL class that focuses on integrating our service work with the political and social issues facing Thailand today. It looks to be mostly discussion-based, which will be awesome, and the venue my vary between the classroom, local coffee places, or even our instructor's house. Sounds like its going to be a great way to synthesize all the experiences I will be having over the next three and a half months. I took the time to draw out the calendars today and it really put my time here into perspective!

Part of the class is reading and reporting on a book of our choosing, and I picked The Great Elephant Escape, which is about the elephant's journey from being used for tourism and economic gain to finding refuge in a Thai elephant sanctuary. Elephants are culturally important in Thailand, but can become prey to the public's demand to interact with them in environments other than their natural habitats, for example, city streets. It will be a fascinating look at this aspect of the culture - I can't wait to share my findings with you. This will also be coupled with a visit to an elephant sanctuary on one of these weekends coming up here, so stay tuned!

I sometimes (read: often) get cravings for American food, as I have expressed in previous blogs. I just as often wonder if I truly miss certain foods or just how they are usually so accessible, or if I just happen upon conversations with others about our favorite Western foods! Regardless, this Saturday morning I had a hankering for cereal, so I headed down to the trusty 7/11 to see what I could find.

As you can see, I was successful in locating some chocolate-y cereal and a bottle of milk. Dairy products can be somewhat of a luxury in Thailand, and many local people are actually lactose intolerant (hence the lack of cheese). However, my dairy fixation is kept strong with yogurt, chocolate milk, milk tea, and coffee with milk, so don't you all worry about me losing my lactase enzymes! As you can see, I had to get a little creative with my (lack of) bowl situation. Yes, that is a rinsed-out yogurt cup and spoon. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Saturday night friends and I went in search of Mexican and got to walk along the old city moat for a little bit during early evening. It was really beautiful, what with the old wall and the flowers growing along the moat banks. I love how you can stumble upon something unfathomably old here in Thailand that we simply don't have back in the States. This is a building I noticed sandwiched between two regular, modern shops near the moat.

Pretty wild! There's just so much history here I can't possibly absorb it all in my time here. We have excursions to the Golden Triangle as well as Sukhothai and Bangkok planned throughout the fall, which I'm sure will be simply overwhelming history and culture-wise. My friends and I then stumbled upon a little cafe which caught my eye because it was flanked by two statues of cartoon-y bagels. BAGELS. I definitely got a bagel sandwich there and plan to go back and take advantage of the Western menu.

We then headed over to the Saturday walking market, which in a different location than the Sunday walking market, and has slightly different booths. More items from the hill tribes, I think, and it was a lot less crowded. Our goal for art class was to pick up an item that we had never seen before or didn't know what it was, and I found a little circlet of pom poms from one of the hill tribe booths. Pom poms are big in traditional clothing, and so I am guessing it is jewelry or somehow goes on an outfit in some way. It's very colorful and would make an awesome fashion accessory regardless!

Here's a photo I snapped of the walking market. It is always such a onslaught of senses, with the smells and tastes of the food carts, the bright colors of all the wares, and the heat from so many people and Thailand being hot in general. I love going to these markets and will find something new each time I go. Definitely recommended for anyone thinking of traveling to South East Asia!