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