Back in Chiang Mai

It is great to be back at Payap in Chiang Mai and getting more settled into my new lifestyle here. The weather has been wonderful so far: reaching the 80s and sunny during the day and cool enough to use a light blanket at night. This weekend we got the chance to do some exploring in and around the city. On Saturday night we got to check out the local nightlife and even found Thailand's own version of Java. (For those who don't know, Java is the St. Lawrence University on-campus concert venue that features bands from the region ranging from funk to reggae...with LOTS of great dancing and friends.) Thailand's equivalent is called Roots, Rock & Reggae and is filled with both locals and foreigners who are looking for a mellow bar scene filled with great music and plenty of dancing room. After a semi-late night of dancing we woke up early Sunday to do some exploring.

First we visited Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, which is said to be one of the holiest Buddhist temples in northern Thailand. The temple is located on top of Doi Suthep mountain, which is protected by the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, and the very fast and twisty drive up was quite stomach wrenching. After visiting the temple we made our way to a local quarry that some Thai students showed us. There we jumped off three different cliffs: 2 about 40 feet high, and one around 25 feet. It was so great to be swimming and basking in the sun (especially thinking about how cold it is back home) with some great friends.

Doi Suthep temple

Dad-check out all these orchids! 

holding up a VERY large gong

the quarry

Andrew doing a flip

(both guys on top are over 6 feet tall for size reference)

Mae Chaem Day 3

Today we spent most of the day learning to cook with Thai women in the village. We helped to make a variety of dishes by shredding coconuts, assembling a complicated dessert and grinding spices with a mortar pestle. We used the coconut for two different desserts, one that was sweetened coconut wrapped in a dough which was then folded in a banana leaf before being steamed. The other was an odd mixture of coconut, lots of sugar and nuts which made this weird consistency to eat but was delicious. There was lots of laughter as we attempted new cooking techniques. After feasting on our large lunch a few of us went to the temple to do some community service by sweeping some buildings at the temple.

After regrouping the girls put on traditional Thai skirts to participate in a processional down to the temple to present our group's donation. Alongside community members we hit drums and danced down the main street all the way to the temple where a monk led a ceremony where they wished us good health and luck in the future. We had dinner at the temple with dishes made by several woman in the village before returning to our host homes. I stayed up to do some journaling and watched Thai soap operas with my host grandmother. Although I couldn't understand anything I had fun laughing at the events and bonding with her. Our time in the village was a great experience to see how Thai people live and learn more about their culture. The village had everything they needed and nothing more. Nothing went to waste and everyone seemed to have a role in the community. Their openness was addicting and I found myself greeting everyone I passed. The next day we woke early to say thank you and goodbye to our host families.

cooking with local women

temple

making dessert

final product (with lots of Thai helpers)

Tommy sweeping at the temple

making dessert

thought you'd like this mom! 

Tommy and I at the temple

our offering to the temple

Dao and me in tratditional skirts

host family

Mae Chaem Day 2

This morning I woke up in my host home to the not so lovely sound of roosters crowing from about 5-7am. I noticed that the roosters here seem to be calling each other from hundreds of yards away, and instead of the normal "cock-a-doodle-doo!" these ones just "cock-a-doodle." We met up with the rest of our group at the temple and headed out for some light trekking though the farmland surrounding the village. The village is in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains. We weaved through the crops, standing on a raised path of soil to not harm the plants on either side. Soon we approached a wooden bridge, about 100 feet across, with a new bridge under construction right next to it. When walking over the rickety bridge I had no worries about the bridge breaking. A few group members seemed nervous but I was fully confident that the bridge would hold our weight. I was very wrong. Our group of about 20 made it all the way over the bridge, but when we turned to make our way back to the side we came from the bridge decided to break. One side of the bridge lost tension and luckily everyone on the bridge was able to grab hold of the railing and carefully make their way off the bridge. I didn't want to risk attempting to make it back over the bridge like some others did so I walked about 1/4 of a mile to a calmer spot on the river to cross through the water. The whole bridge experience was pretty crazy. We all felt terrible for breaking the bridge that is heavily used by the locals, but it seemed like a lot of progress was made both repairing and building the new bridge in our short time in the village.

Upon returning to the temple we learned how to make some small crafts out of coconut plant reeds. The elderly Thai man who taught us was very talented and even made a huge crocodile out of the reed, but I just made a small fish. Later Jack and I went exploring on our own and walked through the farmlands to make our way towards a nearby monastery. The ordination building at this monastery was amazing and was surrounded by a small moat. We also stumbled upon an elderly woman spinning cotton who explained to us (in Thai) the process of making the cotton plant into yarn and somehow we were able to understand the different steps she described to us. All the farmers we passed kept asking us the same question in Thai that we couldn't understand but later found that they were asking us where we had been. We would just smile and say hello but it was amazing to see how friendly the people were and how they cared about where we were coming from and where we were going.

After dinner with our host families we went to a more urban part of Mae Chaem where we caught the tail end of a night market alongside a river. We didn't buy anything but ended up sitting with some elderly Thai locals, brother and sister, and chatted with them while sitting around a fire and enjoying the  fresh bananas they gave us. Tommy acted as our translator as we told them about our time in Thailand. The old man was so sweet and kept wishing us good luck with our travels in Thailand and good luck in our future.

before...

during

after

after

after

crossing the river

we made it across!

demonstrating cosonut-leaf art

chatting with new Thai friends around a fire

Mae Chaem Day 1

After a few short days in Chiang Mai our group was shipped out of the city for our rural homestay in a nearby village from January 16-19. We drove three hours from the city and over one of the biggest mountains in Thailand to get to our village in the Mae Chaem district of Thailand. On the way we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and enjoyed the cool mist for a few moments. We arrived at the Buddhist temple in the village which served as our meeting point for our time there. Our first night in the village we were all invited to go to a housewarming party at one of the newly constructed homes in the village. We were very well fed there with many different appetizers, one consisting of raw water buffalo. It seemed like the whole village was there to celebrate the opening of the home with lots of music and drinking going on. To get home after, we hopped in the bed of a small truck, cramming 15 people in the truck bed and 4 people in the front seat. I had my arms around an elderly Thai woman on either side of me and I felt like I was protecting them the whole drive as we drove through the dark and over lots of bumps and curves. We then settled into our homestay with our host family who fed us delicious meals throughout our time there. Three of us were accompanied by a Thai Payap student who helped us translate with our host family.

SLU!

Buddhist temple

backyard of our host home

host siblings

farmland

our room (4 of us sharing that bed)

housewarming celebration