Chicken Soup for the Sole?

This past weekend I went to a meditation retreat at a monastery in Kanchanaburi with three other teachers from Patarayan (the school where I teach). On the way there, we stopped at a restaurant and at chicken feet soup... I tried it and liked the flavor, but I don't think I'll eat it again... a bit too bony and, well, it was chicken feet! When we arrived at the temple compound in the misty mountains, it was after 10pm, but the night was still young. We stayed up until after 3am listening to anecdotes from monks, meditating, chanting, and chatting around the vat of coffee.

In the morning, we woke up at 6:30am and ate. Dozens of booths were set up in a buffet-like row with dozens of delicious dishes like kao lam (sticky rice and honey in bamboo), fried rice/noodles, tasty teas, rice pudding, ice cream, meat on a stick, fish balls/pork balls soup, pastries, and so much more. Needless to say, I feel fatter than ever! :) At 11am the monks lined up with silver bowls to receive food offerings from the community.

On the way home on Saturday afternoon, we stopped in Ratchaburi at the bridge over the River Kwai. I was walking around on the bridge enjoying the views when a train started coming down the tracks! The bridge was such a tourist attraction; I figured that the tracks were no longer in use. Thankfully, the bridge had several platforms for trapped tourists (like myself) to scurry to the side and avoid being hit by an oncoming train. For dinner we had lots of food (again) including frog- the whole thing, just fried or baked or something with its warty, froggy skin bubbling up on the plate. I tried some of the back, eating around what looked like the spine and being reminded of dissecting frogs in high school biology.

A New Home

I have arrived in Nakhon Chaisi (Chai-see), which will be my new home for the next five months. It's a much smaller town than I thought it would be. Nakhon Pathom (a bigger town) is about 12 km away. I have my own apartment. Though I don't have a cooking area, I have a bedroom and bathroom to myself. I explored all day yesterday and had a few interesting adventures. In a store near my apartment, ladies were handing out samples at the entrance. I tried the top ramen and waited to try the milk. The woman was like, "You want to try? Are you sure?" I said yes, not thinking anything of it. Later on, I realized from the packaging that the milk was in fact some sort of children's formula or pedialyte. Great, just great.

Also,I am not very good at picking up subtle Thai hints. For example, my host teacher Nattamon (P'Natt) said she would be busy Tuesday morning. I said, "Ok, I'll see you on Wednesday." She was disappointed because she thought maybe we could get together Tuesday afternoon and I rejected her. I totally missed the hint that busy "in the morning" does not mean busy all day. But anyway, everything is going well otherwise. I even made a new friend! (see the photo above)

My New Title: Snake Charmer

On Tuesday afternoon I went to the world's second oldest snake farm. Check out my new skill: snake wrangling.

Tasty treats & rainy river rides

After teaching on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the weekend began with a trip to a dinner theater on Silom Road. We ate scrumptious Thai food like cashew chicken, honey-glazed duck, crab meat sausage dipped in plum sauce, and veggies. I had a coconut frosty in a hollowed-out coconut and taro in coconut milk for dessert. Needless to say, I'm eating well. Also, six vignettes of traditional Thai dance and martial arts were performed right in front of our table (it pays to have reservations). The picture below gives you a sample.

On Sunday, I took a guided boat trip up the Chao Phraya River to Kho Kret- Bangkok's largest, car-free island. Along the way, the boat stopped at a monastery with a couple neat wats and a huge, gorgeous garden that provided a nice escape from the city streets of Bangkok. We also stopped at a dessert-making village along the water for lunch (my heaven!). On the island of Kho Kret, I enjoyed looking at the handcrafted items for sale, especially the beautiful and ridiculously inexpensive pottery. On the way back to the pier I treated myself to the tasty treat pictured above: rich and creamy coconut ice cream drizzled with coconut milk over a bed of sticky rice in a banana leaf bowl accented with a vibrant purple orchid. Quite a nice adventure, even when it started pouring on the boat ride back. Naturally, I was sitting on the edge in prime territory to be drenched by the monsoon outside the boat. Thankfully, the boat had large plastic covers for the windows, which provided sufficient protection from the elements once they were secured.

Now, I'm in the last week of orientation. I'll go to my province on October 22nd, which is where I'll be teaching for the semester and living for the next five months.

Football and Flowers

On Monday night I went to a soccer match in the National Stadium, which is located at the end of my street (literally, a 30-second walk). The Thailand National Football team handily defeated Macau 6-1 in a very exciting but not-so-suspenseful game. Every time Thailand scored, a huge Thai flag was passed up an entire section of the crowd and occasionally fireworks exploded overhead. Thankfully, I happened to be wearing yellow (the team's color) because it was a Monday (when everyone wears yellow to show their love for the King). Unfortunately, one of our crew was caught in green (Macau's color), and she suffered more stares (near glares) than the usual you're-out-of-place looks.

After the game, a few of us went to a 24-hour flower market in Chinatown. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! Naturally, my camera ran out of batteries shortly after our arrival, so you will just have to trust me that the colorful display was breathtaking. I don't know where all of those flowers could possibly come from, nor where all of the people were to buy the hundreds of thousands of roses, orchids, etc.

A large vegetarian festival is currently underway in the streets of Chinatown and random neighborhoods. I've enjoyed some very delicious dishes featuring faux duck, tofu, mushrooms, Chinese vegetables, and more! I'm a particularly big fan of fried taro pancakes, coconut milk concoctions, and anything with ripe mangoes.

As for the business side of things- we are three days into our five-day teaching stint at a Bangkok middle school. The two-hour lessons give us a great chance to prepare for what is to come when the semester officially starts in a couple weeks. I'm convinced that I will come out of the bathroom with my skirt tucked into my underwear or something like that, but thankfully, my only experience with "losing face" involved smearing blue whiteboard marker across my face. I only wonder how long it was there before I figured it out...

Good times, good times

After a week of Thai language instruction and lesson planning, a group of us unwound by going to the movie theater. Unfortunately, everyone wanted to see the one movie I saw before I left: Stardust. I saw it again because I really wanted to see the King's anthem at the beginning. Sure enough, we stood to show our respect for the King before the movie started and saw many images of the King in action.

On Saturday, I did some solo exploring. I started off hoping to see the Royal Barges Museum. The taxi driver dropped me off and I had to walk my way through a narrow maze of rather depressed looking homes. Just when I was convinced I was going the wrong way, I found the 'museum,' which was really just a warehouse of empty docks. Apparently, the museum is closed September 1- November 18. You'd think someone would say something! I also saw my first auto-pedestrian accident. Technically, it was a motorcycle-feline encounter, but it was quite traumatic. After being flattened by the bike, the cat let out a blood-curdling REEAARRR and shot away (undoubtedly injured). Yikes!

Then I went to the museum at Siriraj Hospital, which was amazingly fascinating. Highlights included:

- four mummified bodies (including Si Quey, a serial killer who ate his victims)

- dozens and dozens of abnormal fetuses preserved in formaldehyde (including conjoined twins and conditions I had learned about in my short time in med school!)

- the autopsy tools used after the 'assassination' of King Rama VIII

- an exhibit on the aftermath of the tsunami

- an iron lung and other neat medical instruments

- a skeleton of someone who was over 7 feet tall

In the evening, I went with a group to Khao San Road, the very happening backpacker part of town that boasted too many farangs (foreigners) for my taste. When we grabbed dinner at a hole-in-the-wall roti place, we saw some sort of a motorcycle promo/expo. A stage was set up in the center and two Thai pop singers (Golf & Mike) performed before a crowd of screaming girls. Very entertaining.

Today, five of us ate lunch on Sukhumwit Road at a place called Crepes, & Co. Very pricey by Bangkok standards, but also very delicious. This week, we will pair up and teach a class for five days (Wed.-Tues.). I'm excited to get the practice in before heading to the school where I'll be teaching for the semester!

COOL FACT: In Thailand, cadavers are called 'ajahn yai,' which is Thai for 'principal' or 'great teacher.'

Homestay Heaven

This past weekend I enjoyed a two-night homestay with a kind and generous Thai family (pictured above with Berta). The father cooked a delicious spicy seafood meal for the first night, which I enjoyed with the mother (a Thai teacher), the daughter (who had great English, phew!), and the grandmother. The next morning, we (sans grandma) loaded into a van with a few other teachers, a 16-year old son, and a German exchange student, Berta.

The weekend of traveling began! We went to many wats (Buddhist temples), several markets (a couple were floating- see below), a garden, a museum, and a bed and breakfast. When we arrived at the bed and breakfast, two beautiful rainbows (ruung) stretched over the canal. We then crowded into a long boat and took a tour of the canal. Once night fell, the fireflies and the stars came out, and it was so breathtaking and magical! Yet, when I tried to pronounce firefly (hing hoi), I used the wrong tone and wound up saying something a bit dirty. Apparently, hoi can also mean shell, which is slang for... maybe somethings are best left unsaid.

We also ate. And ate. And ate. I tried seaworms (which really just looked like worms), duck with liver, fish with the head still attached, and lots more! I've tried about three times as many different kinds of fruits as I've had in my entire life. We also stopped at the birthplace of the original Siamese twins. I never made the connection Siamese=Siam=Thailand. At one wat, monk tied a sacred bracelet around my wrist and handed me a coin made out of sacred wood. I presented him with an orange robe that was blessed with chanting before the altar. I enjoyed being able to experience Buddhist customs like placing incense before a shrine, affixing bits of gold leaf to statues, and lifting a heavy metal elephant with my right ring finger for good luck and a fulfilled wish. All in all, it was an awesome weekend!