Rice ^^

Here is rice in many, many colors. An example of rice being the staple food here. I have never seen so many colors--although Joy did ask me if I have eaten 'black', although what appears to be purple, rice and I realized I had several times at a Korean restaurant back home. Although it was really neat to see an example laid out in front me of something singularly significant to Thai culture but less so to American.

Swensens!!!! ^^

Swensens ice cream!! So yummy, it's suppose to be an American ice cream shop but I have never heard of it. I went with Joy Kim who is korean and super friendly. The ice cream is good and we had a nice conversation about cultural differences and the reluctance most non native English speakers have in speaking English to native speakers (due to insecurity in their English capabilities). It cleared up some confusion about some Thais being reserved!

Fasting to Swimming pools and Head Colds!!

So Thursday night while waiting anxiously for 25 minutes until darkness at 6:25pm in order to eat with Tuti--I realized that those 25 minutes were a pathetic amount in comparison to an month's worth of fasting. After this I resolved to testing out the feeling myself. I later told Tuti at dinner that I was going to try fasting, she told me it was hard and that it would be especially hard for me since it would be my first time and that was that.

So Friday morning I wake up and I am still recovering from a sore throat, I lay in bed and feeling hunger pains decide to stay there. Finding my own distractions until 11:30, I am feeling fine but tired. Finally, after missing the shuttle, I walk in the heat to Thai class and arrive feeling incredibly tired and sleepy. Once in class I rest some more waiting for the Ajan, and slowly students file in asking me how my fasting is going, I tell them that I am fine but tired. Then when Tuti comes in and realizes that I have been fasting, she immediately urges me to eat something when I refuse politely she exclaims, "Are you trying to kill yourself?". Amused I tell her I will be fine, unconvinced Tuti looks at me worried. After class I join some classmates getting their hair cut and find that by the time I get back to PIH it is nearly time for night time (6:24pm) I lay on my bed and nap until the approaching time, as the time ticks nearer to my goal, the more faint and dizzy I begin to feel, in reaction to no water, Katie calls me and asks me about eating out so I go to ask Tuti about it and then I run into Katie as well finally we decide on eating downstairs and we all go downstairs to eat.

After the whole ordeal I've decided that fasting was indeed a different way to experience things but I didn't feel any more spiritual or humbled, just tired and in the end a little obsessed with any food which I constantly saw and knew could not be mine. Tuti also told me that Ramadan was to remind us of the many people who are starving, but I am not sure that it was effective. Then again maybe one day is not enough to experience the real sentiment behind Ramadan.

Apart from my first time fasting, today was my first time going to a swimming pool in Thailand. In comparison to fasting it sounds less of an worthwhile experience but I found it surprisingly meditative. First of all the pool was empty of other company and the instant my body was emerged in the water--I felt nostalgic. I never realized how much I had missed it. It reminded me of summers back home, and of family and friends I spent the summer with. It was also so relaxing and peaceful to just lie in the water looking up to the sky and realizing that it was the same sky I had seen in the United States and just looking up and lying there I felt like I was back home. It was only when I stood up to see myself in a pool in Thailand that I missed being at home. I am staring to miss my home, but I won't let that weigh down my experience here.

And while at the pool I got one of the most recognizable feelings ever--the light headiness and water eyes of a head cold. And here I still sit with the sniffles and a red nose :(

Traveling abroad to find someone else

In class Monday we talked about the idea of traveling abroad to 'find yourself', what we decided that meant was that when we go abroad and encounter cultures even slightly different from our own we make realizations about who we are, what we value and what norms we considered universal to be cultural. It is these eye opening revelations that help us, while traveling, to discover ourselves. I have noticed this happening with myself. It is really thrilling to realize things about yourself that you never knew.

Other than discover myself, I find myself making stronger bonds with the people surrounding me, sadly I still lack that sort of meaningful relationship with any Thais but I still have hopes for the future. One person that I would like to single out as a particularly good friend is Tuti. I have no intention in embarrassing her but she has been such a wonderful friend to me, she listens to me in times of need, has been there to make me laugh at myself in times of frustration and has given me one of the most unique and meaningful perspectives on life. No doubt due to her religious and cultural background, Tuti has enlightened me with her thoughts on 'the world' and life and I have been happy to hear her words. So within a foreign country and situation, I have made friends with a third kind of 'foreign' and it has helped shaped the way I think and handle situations--allowing me to make my stay abroad more smooth and enjoyable.

So here is a view of an golden umbrella which we learned is a Chedi or monument, unique to Northern Thailand. This particular Chedi is at the wat Doi suthep, it was amazing and so remarkably beautiful and serene. I want to go back someday and oh yeah, Payap students get in for free with an Student id :)

Walking with Silver Toes somewhere near Thapae gate

Somewhere near thapae gate
Me, Angela, Joy and Kate

Wander as I might
with soar limbs and
a broad mind

There is much to excite

Thai silk
one for nuhn roy bhat
and the larger for
song har sib

No thank you--not today

As I look down upon my feet,
silver toes look up back at me

Can it be?
That money has taken over me

who do I love
and
do they love me?

Can products love me back,
as much as I love them?

Before I lose my focus
I look up
And there
waiting for me
I find you

You were there all along
telling me nothing is wrong

So there is my poor attempt to write a poem about...can you guess? My over spending habits as of late. It expresses concern for me losing my focus of why I came to Thailand (for the culture not the products)...but maybe I am being overly critical of myself :)

Finding Similarity in Unfamiliarity

One thing I have found myself doing here in Thailand is using strategies to cope with my new found 'differentness'. It is not like I value blending in and conforming with the masses, but I am sure like anyone who finds themselves in a strange situation, I too am trying to fit in.

At my stay in the hospital I found myself looking for One such instance of familiarity. I was staying in a room with several other patients while in the hospital and witnessed several family visits, one of which particularly struck me. The woman in the bed across from me (appeared to be around 'grandma age')was visited frequently by a large welcoming familial looking group, as was every other patient in the room.

So what was particularly intriguing about this woman and her family?? The way they seemed to care for each other and include in their intimacy for each other a physical sense and disregard for distance and shame. This is how my large Mexican family often is! Often what looked to be the granddaughters (one around my age and the other around 10) would hop into bed with the woman and remaining family (husband, daughter, sisters, friends)would cluster in chairs around her. The closeness I saw demonstrated between family members such as kisses, hugging, personal closeness and open dialogue between all members regardless of age reminded me of the way my family interacted back home.

To see this same type of affection demonstrated in an otherwise 'different' or 'dissimilar' country not only comforted me but increased my understanding of a culture that labeled me 'strange'.

Fish market

Fish market at Warorot.

Warorot Market/ Flower market

The Warorot Market 'area' was so smell, sight and sensory filled that it is difficult to know where to begin describing it. To make sure that I do not leave anything out, I will briefly retrace my steps.
So starting with exiting the Song Tao and crossing the overpass, I immediately looked for the entrance into the Market, after walking by a line of fruit stands, I finally find the entrance in between a fruit stand and a souvenir stand. Going inside is like trekking into another world; a damp world where all that exists are shops, darkness, funny smells (at times) and delicious treats (also at times). Before settling down anywhere, I decided to go exploring and to experience what the market had to offer. With some classmates in tow, I walked up and down the isles of some of the vendor shops, and ordered a small round pastry--further exploration took me to a fish market, where I watched in awe fish and seafood being prepared, and where I lost the friends following behind me due to the strong smell :)

It was soon after I exited the market complex and took refuge in an shop selling school supplies, among other things, across the street that I stood and observed the goings on of the people selling. They were Thai people, most of them--perhaps farmers, or fishers or maybe even "middle men" who were in charge of selling the goods of others--I saw each of them so diligently cleaning and prepping their areas and whatever product they had to sell. I even saw tourists or "faran" who in broken Thai would ask 'how much' or say..'song roy hok sib har'?

I decided to move from my spot and wandered around the corner to an Pan la may stand selling Som o's! I love Som o's so I bought some and tried engaging the friendly women vendor in conversation with my poor Thai and some simple gestures and English. I first inquired about the fruit. She assured me that it was good, and gave me a sample to convince me to buy some. It was delicious and I was sold, I told her I would want one...I payed her and while she rummaged for change asked her if she grew the Som o's, whether she was a farmer. She told me yes (I hope she understood and was not just uncomfortable by my engaging her in conversation). I then asked her where her farm was, in Chiang Mai? She told me it was in the Chiang Mai area (once again I wonder about the success of communication between us..but I tried).

Overall the market was a fun and intersting excursion, and I learned a lot about the inner market culture; bartering, asking for prices, showing interest without imposing, communicating with the vendors, the sort of people that go to these markets (a mixture of Thais and tourists) and most importantly I ate some delicious Som o!

Sunday Night market

Sunday Night Market

Mak mak ron!

Today I had the oddest 'Thai versus America' check sensation. I was talking to my friend on instant messenger and they told me about their poor decision to bike outside in a t-shirt in the cold. When I stopped to think about it, I realize that while summer weather will eventually cease, turn into fall and then winter at home, here in Thailand their will be no seasons. It was the oddest little, "oh yeah" to think of. Not having seasons, is not an huge travesty, but it still an completely different way to conceptualize the passing of time.
Related to the passing of time, I feel like I have been in Thailand for months now, when in fact it has been only two weeks as of today. I am not sure if the pace of life here has greatly altered my long range vision of time passed, or if perhaps I have been enjoying myself so much that time has 'flown' by me. Either way time in this country feels different that back at home. It seems everything takes time, and future planning does not exist which is the complete opposite of America where, not a single second should be wasted and 'time is precious'...just sitting here now, i thought of already about 5 sayings emphasizing the importance of time use.
Either way, I hope my time here in Thailand is priceless.

Goals and Expectations

What I expect out of Thailand is limitless. As I prepared for my trip, numerous adventures and possibilities entered my mind. I was not sure what Thailand has in store for me, or what I had in store for Thailand. There were some basic expectations, I expected to encounter difficulties in making friends (with the language barrier), I expected to get sick being introduced to an entirely new food palette and drinking water, I expected to be overcome with the beauty of the sights and I also expected to find things that I couldn't even imagine seeing or doing. I am glad to say that thus far, all of those but my difficulty making friends has come true.
Having said as much some goals I still carry for my stay here in Thailand are firstly to make even more friends, to not miss out on an incredible opportunity. I want to know not only the outsider perspective of Thai culture but an inside, exclusive perception which will hopefully shape my idea of that 'Thainess' is. Already the things that most amaze me here, other than the rolling mountainside and extravagant Buddhist monasteries (that impress everyone)--but are the people, their kindness, their stories and what they have to teach me. It is seeing them smile and learning from them that I anticipate the most from day to day.