Last day of September

Woke up bright and early and went to the immigration office to get a multible entry visa. We were prepared to wait for hours but it only took about two hours :) then I went to dance and then back to the dorms to rest, read, eat and study. Then language where we had a quiz. 100%! Half of the final on Friday! Crazy. Then I came back and donated money on Half the Sky Movement website for Evelyn's birthday. You all should check it out. I bought a school uniform so a young girl in India could go to school for a year. Very cool. Then watched so soccer and a dinner of rice and spicy fake meat. Really good. Then reading and relaxing :) happy birthday Evelyn!

Crazy horse

Woke up before 7 and ate breakfast and then biked to the gym. Met my climbing partner Matt from Canada and got in the truck and headed out. It's about 35 min east of the city. Beautiful. In the jungle. Great stuff. Did three climbs total. Just getting started. There are so many climbs of all different levels. It rained a little but we just ate lunch then and headed out after. The rocks dried pretty fast. Hiked up to the top of the mountain and got a beautiful view :) Then watched some climbers do some real hard climbs and headed home at 5. Did three climbs total and I learned to lead balay so definitely a day well spent. I want to do more climbs in the future though. Got back to the gym and climbed a bit more and met a couple from Denver. Then biked to the market and got some black bean buns for dinner. Then I tried to bike to another market on my way home but got the location confused in my head and missed it lol but it was fine. I watched soccer and ate my food and hit the hay. Fun day. 
 

Temple

Went to a really cool temple on Saturday. It's called the tunnel temple because the temple is made up of tunnels and the Buddhas are underground. It's really cool and beautiful :) it's at the base of Doi Suthep and in the woods and a really nice place to read. The grounds are pretty big and there is a manmade lake. Nice place. Then I went back to Payap and ate some food and watch soccer. Then to prom and watched The Hear. Awesome movie!! Loved it. Had some bad ass women in there. Really entertaining. Laughed out loud and cried. Good stuff. Then I read some and headed home for dinner. Had pad Thai and green curry rice. Then soccer and talking to friends and sleep. 

Tired

This weekend was great and packed so I'm real tired but I have a lot to write. Luckily I have all day tomorrow to write because I'll be waiting to get a double entry visa for Thailand so I can come back after Myanmar. So that's when you'll hear from me. But it's been a blast :)

Fridayyyy

Had breakfast and then headed to Econ where we finished up learning all the basic Econ we'll need as background for the class. The professor is great. Really good at lectures and funny too. Then I biked back to the dorms and watched soccer and ate fruit. Then off to language in the rain. Learned a lot about time and letters. Final in a week! And a quiz on Monday. Then headed to big c to try and return my popped soccer ball. But I had waited too long and I could get a refuned. But it was real cheap so it's ok. Then I ate pad pok (sir fried veggies) and salad and then headed over to a meeting about Myanmar. Students and professors from Myanmar offered to present on the country and answer questions and provide food. It was really nice. There was a song proformance and we got to see the lirics in Burmese. So beautiful! Then Ozzie presented on the education system. Really interesting. And a woman who had loved there for a year gave us advice and we got to hear from the students as well. I learned so much! And it was really nice of them because it's finals week for them right now. Then I had a great philosophical discussion about the US and Myanmar and ethics and religion. It was so nice to have a intilectual discussion again! I didn't realize how much I missed those here. Then I went and watched a pick up game of futsal. Great stuff. They invited me to play but I was wearing flip flops. Then back to the dorms where I got invited to a temple at the bottom of Dui Suthep tomorrow and a trip to Vietnam during Halloween. Going on both :) should be amazing! Going to climb crazy horse on Sunday. I've got plans :) hope they're all awesome! And cheap! Lol so far so good :)

Rainy day

Had toast and rice and veggies for dinner and sticky rice for lunch. Climbed and then watched Elysium. Good movie. Interesting rich-poor dinamic. I know my brother would like it :) rained a lot today. Hope it stops but is cool tomorrow. Might go climbing at Crazy Horse this weekend. Hope so. Sleep now and three classes tomorrow. 

Pretty packed but fun day

Started the day off with toast and then headed to class with our new Econ professor. Great class! So good. I reminded me of back home lol I was taking notes the whole time. It was nice. He was able to compact a large part of an intro to Econ class I to one lecture. Really good stuff. Then dance where we are learning a complicated and fast dance. It's fun. Then rice and veggies and fruit in the park while listening to Redwall. Language was so long! We missed a class on Monday so this class was longer. It was 2.5 hours. Don't have classes that long. It's hard to pay attention lol but we learned a lot. I'm nervous for economics of the sex trade class because they are three hour classes and much harder than language. Ahh! But it'll be fen and I'll enjoy being challenged on a topic of interest. Then back to the dorms where I watched this crazy game on TV being played in Ireland. It's played with a ball smaller than a soccer ball on a field about the same size as a soccer field. Players play with hands and feet and it's semi-contact. There's a keeper and a field goal. If you kick it or throw it through the field goal it counts as one point but if you score on the Kepler it's three points. Really interesting to watch. Never seen it before. Any ideas about what the game is called? Then watched the begening of a Real Madrid game in the champions league. All the games have already happened when they play here usually so I know what's going to happen lol I stayed till the first goal and then headed to dinner. It was Laos night so we had sticky rice and meat stuff. I had pad Thai to complement the fruit and rice. I love sticky rice!! Then back up to finish the game. So many goals! 6-1 was the final score. It's crazy to see the two most expensive players in the world playing with each other. Madrid paid over $180 million just for two players. Crazy. But we all know Messi would cost more than Bale but he's never being sold. No way. Going climbing tomorrow. Should be fun. Maybe a bike too. We'll see :) 

Soccer and "teaching"

Today was fun. Had breakfast and watched soccer and some rugby before reading for a bit and getting ready to head to the school. When we got there we found that the English students were talking a test so we sat in on the art class. We just did what the students did which was painting with leaves. Then I went and was in a computer training class taught by Chiang Mai college students. I don't speak Thai so I couldn't help. Then back to art classroom where we participated in a very simple Thai dance. Then we left. So not too much teaching. Hopefully that will change. We'll see. Then I read and listened to new music. For dinner I had pad Thai with glass noodles. They are really thin and made from greenbeans. Nice change. After some good remenising about the states I watched soccer on TV and then headed out to play the real thing. Biked to the courts and played for a bit before heading in and getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we have a new professor for culture class. Can't wait! 

Start of the week

Had pad Thai for breakfast and so much toast! Love that stuff. Then watched soccer and rugby. I love that there are so many sports on TV here! Then dance where we are learning a new faster dance. Then lunch. Thai language was cancelled today so I finished Grapes of Wrath instead. Great book. A real classic. Great style and meaning. Then I changed my back bike tire. I'm glad that worked out easily. Then more soccer. All this soccer is making me curious about players and clubs so I have to research them to get answers so that takes up some time. Then dinner of rice and veggies and watermelon followed by ping pong with Katie. Great games. We each won three. Real work out. Then read a paper. I've got teaching for practicum in the afternoon tomorrow. Should be good :)

Sportsy day

Today was fun and filled with sports! Woke up and ate rice noodles while I skyped my family. Then watched a Spanish football match and a rugby match. Love it! Then lunch of pad Thai. They took a long time with my order so I missed the bus but never fear. I biked to promenada instead and then got a ride to the city from there. I was deciding whether to go to a movie today but the movies out aren't that good so I didn't go. But the hobbit comes out while I'm here! They have Orlando bloom back! Yes! Went climbing for about two hours. Then tried to find he flower market but the no avail. Ate spring rolls, sticky rice, mango, and black bean buns for dinner. Waited a while for the buns but it was worth it. Then I biked 6 miles the the Chiang Mai sports stadium. It's called the 700 year stadium to celebrate 700 years of Chiang Mai. Nice place. Chiang Mai FC was playing an international friendly with a Chinese club. Good game. Only 100 B! My back tire was a little flat when I pulled up but it still held air so it was fine. Maybe 2000 people there. Game crowd. It was a fun game. A lot of yellow cards and fouls and faking fouls. Kind of annoying but whatever. It was a tie and ended with penalty shots. We lost in the end but it was great to watch. Then the bike home. It was a very nice bike. The moon was low and huge and gold :) listening to music. Good ride. Stopped three times to fill my back tire but I made it easily. I'll have to replace the back tire I guess. Got home and got ready for bed. Class tomorrow. Haven't had that in a while. It'll be nice :)

Back home

Had our last breakfast at the village and then said good bye. My host mom loved her gift. We stopped by the small power plant fueled by the local river that supplies the village with all it's power. Very cool. Then home and the Grapes of Wrath. Had rice noodles for lunch and watched soccer and rugby. Then school stuff and cleaning my room. Had more noodles and crackers for dinner along with soy milk and a red bean bun. Updated my phone. Woo! Going to go climbing tomorrow and sleep today. 

Day 2

Slept pretty well. Woke up at 7 to give an offering to the monks at the temple. Then breakfast of rice, mushrooms, herbs, and tofu soup. Then we walked with everyone else along the road and planted about thirty baby trees. Then we walked back and got Thai massages. That was very relaxing. Some got a sauna as well but that didn't appeal to me. Then lunch of pasta and veggies. Very American and very good. Then sleeeeep. I woke up and stuffed a small bag with dried tea leaves. It can be put places to smell better. Also chewed fermented tea leaves (non alcoholic) with sea salt. A acquired taste but I enjoyed it. Then I relaxed and listened to the Grapes of Wrath. It got a little colder  after that which was such a nice change. Time for the farewell ceremony! We all gathered and had a prayer over a farewell flower arrangement. We were all connected by a piece of sting. After the prayer in northern Thai we got a piece of the sting tied around our wrist for good luck. Then the feast and live music! We had rice and watermelon and tofu soup with cucumber and cabbage and peppers. So good! Then Thai dance. There were three performances and then we all partook in a simple movement. Too bad we didn't show them our Thai moves! Then I hung out with most of the gang and played some games. Then a beautiful walk back to my place and sleep! Heading home tomorrow. Sad to see the village go but I had a great time and it'll be nice to be back home I'm sure :)

First day of home stay

First day was real fun. We left Payap at 9 in the morning and drove an hour up into the mountains to our village. It's a small village of about 130 families and was the first village in Thailand to do home stay visits. We got introduced to our host mom and then went to our house. It's right off the main road next to the convenient store. It's a two level house. Very cute. All the vegans are together to make it easier. We are separated into two rooms and we have a balcony. We ate lunch of rice and green beans and pumpkin vines and tofu. It was real good. Then we walked over to the temple and saw the beginning of a Buddhist ceremony and one of two "floating" temples in Thailand. The temple was built on the river so that when the water is high enough it looks like it floating. Then we walked with the rest of the group up the mountain and saw tea plants and a waterfall. The waterfall was beautiful and we were able to hike up stairs and see the very top of the falls. Then we walked back down to the base and swam in one of the pools at the bottom. Then we walked back through the jungle to the village. Then our house played with each others hair and did yoga stuff and stretched a bit. Then dinner of rice, tofu, mushrooms, cucumbers, spicy sauce, and peppers. Then we said hi to out friends and played a fun guessing game with them. This house has a baby that is very cute. They all love my hair lol then the three vegans had a cuddle puddle and talked till it was time for bed and then dispersed. I read a bit and then slept. It was nice :)

Long day

Today was quite long. Skyped some of my family this morning :) Had the last class with our current professor in cultures before the switch to a new professor. He told us about his long and adventurous life. It was cool to see old pics of him. Then learned a northeastern Thai dance that is a work out. Then language where we learned more about food. Then I watched some soccer then biked with Ozzie and another woman to play ultimate near Dui Suthep. It was a intense bike and a fun game. Played till the sun went down and the full moon came up. It was nice to run on a field again :) then biked home. The other two got off the road before I did and gave me alright directions. I followed what I thought was the right road and then after 30 min pulled off and asked for directions. First guy spoke English! Turned out I had been going the wrong way! Ugg!! I was so tired and hungry and thirsty I wanted to get and songtow but none were in sight so I had to keep going. It wouldn't have been so bad if in wasn't on a fix gear. Honestly, I don't understand the point. I'd much rather have gears but it is what it is. Finally made it home and ate some food and drank some water. I'm kinda done with pushing my body for the moment lol if I can help it. I'm leaving for a village home stay tomorrow until Saturday. I doubt they'll have wifi so I probably won't be able to post for that time. But I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures :)

Tuesday

Had some good old toast and jam for breakfast. Then headed to the elementary school to teach. On arrival we sat in on a Buddhist ceremony being held by monks for all the students. A lot of chanting. It was very cool. A one point we all grabbed a string from a big woven thing on the ceiling and tied it around our head. It reminded me we were all connected. The. We were blessed with water by the monk. Very cool experience. But it took up our whole time so we'll come back in the afternoon next time so we can teach. Ate rice and veggies then took a nap. Then climbing. Working on overhang stuff. Then a good dinner and writing friends from home. Still tired from Sunday but I'm getting better :) 

Recovery

Today was sore and tired lol had cultures and then a quiz in dance. Did well I think. Then lunch and a quiz in language. Did well in that. Getting ready for our home stay this weekend. Would be fun. Then I fixed my shoes from yesterday and did laundry. After dinner I watched soccer and rugby and looked at camp photos. Then catching up on emails and blogging. Tomorrow I'm teaching English to elementary kids in the morning and then climbing afterwards. Night!

Pics from Sunday

All taken with my waterproof phone :)

Crazy Sunday

Hello friends. So sorry for not posting yesterday but I was a bit tuckered out after a good romping on the mountain. It was quite a day. Got picked up with my bike and gear around 1030 and headed to the mountain. Got dropped off at the base and found the trail. In was following written instructions online. Locked my bike to the map post and headed up. It was a steep climb. Met a guy named Mike from Ireland who was a nice fellow. Hike was pretty steep and beautiful. Got to the first temple and took a break. Really nice waterfall and a real cute and wonderful little temple on the side of the mountain. Ate lunch and then kept going. It started to rain hard which was actually kind of fun. On a multi day trek I care about my stuff getting wet but not on a day hike. I got to enjoy the cool down as I hiked steeply uphill on a clay path. Picked up trash on my way. Can't have any of that! Hit the road twice and the second time went through the back way to the main temple. Beautiful place. Great view of Chiang Mai. The temple was pretty expansive and there were a lot of people there. I got blessed by a monk :) ate crackers there a watched the rain move in over the valley. Then it hit and it was time to attempt the summit. Temple was about 3400 feet. Started at 1600 and the summit was a mile high. My guild was a written piece that was as interested in describing the wildlife as describing the path. But I managed. Bought some mangosteen and another fruit. Good stuff. Walked up the road and found the herb garden. Sheltered in a pavilion till the rain let up and then headed down the path. The plant were huge and beautiful! Came across a rock cliff where monks sometimes take up residence and a swollen waterfall that almost engulfed the bridge over it. Really great walk. Hit the road and found the path again. Walked on this one for quite a while. Saw a snake with a frog in its mouth :) but as I said, the directions were not that clear. But I found the right turn off from the path and eventually ran into the palace compound. This is kinda like camp David for the president. But the royal family wasn't there so there weren't any guards on duty. I took what I thought to be the right trail but after hiking up steep terrain I found that the trail had collapsed so I turned around to try the other path. Hiked past mutinous guard towers which was good because those were in the directions. Gained about 300 feet and found a path. I turned off and hit the road and helicopter pads. Not good. I wasn't suppose to hit these. They weren't in the directions. I are and drank and regrouped here. Also found my first leech crawling on me. Gross. Headed back and up on the path again. It was 4 by now. Found an abandoned house further up and the barbed fence turned left. I knew I had gone the wrong way then. Turned around and headed back to the bottom. Most smart people would have turned around by now but not Graham. He had to reach the summit. So I kept going. Climbed the trail I had originally taken and climbed over the collapse. It was very steep and a long trail. Very taxing on the body. This whole day had been. I decided I would turn around a six whether I was at the top or not. I found the right path and started hiking to the summit. Finally, at six, I reached to top of Dui Suthep at 5580 feet. There is a monument for the 13th century on the top. Very cool. But as I'm sure you know, getting to the top is half of it. Getting down is the other part. Here is where the going got rough. I sat down to eat and saw a leech on my leg. And then another. I pulled up my shorts and they were more. About ten in total. First time I had really self with them before. But I pulled them off and killed them. It was kinda scary. Then I realized it was 6 o'clock and the sun sets around 6:30. So I tightened my shoes and backpack and be gain to run to the road in the fading light. I ran for a solid 4-5 miles downhill. I lost 2000 feet in half an hour. I only fell once and only cut my shoes on barbed wire and not my feet. I had two flash lights but I wanted to cover as much ground as I could in the remaining light. I was greatly helped in my run because it was down hill but it was still a huge challenge. I finally got to the road after about half and hour and flagged down the first car a saw. It was three Thai men who drove me to the temple. Really nice guys. Didn't speak English but I speak enough Thai to get by. Hoped for a songtow down the mountain at the temple but they were all gone as it was almost 7. I checked myself for leeches again and found two more. Then they agreed to take me into town. Had a beautiful view of the city going down. These were really nice guys. Good music too. It was so good to be in a car lol. Near the bottom I tried to get them to take me to my bike but then it became clear that they were from around here and didn't know where anything was. We stopped three times to try and find an interpreter but just gave up in the end and got dropped off some where with people. Paid them 100 for their troubles. Found out where I was and walked to tha pad gate. Got a tuktuk to Suthep road where my bike was. He got lost but eventually found his way. Got suited up and bike 2ish miles to the city. I was trying to catch the bus the Prom but missed it because tuktuk got lost so I ended up buying a custard bun and black bean bun and then biked the 6 miles to Payap. Got home around 10:15. Showered and went to sleep. Crazy day. I'm glad I had the experience and fitness to be alright but someone without that probably wouldn't have gotten themselves into that situation in the first place. I was definitely lucky. Totally worth it but I won't be trying stuff like than any time soon. As I said, really crazy, intense, and wounded up day :)

Sat. Uh. Day.

Read this morning and then headed to the wall to climb. I got a blood blister under one of my calluses the last time I climbed and I got a blister in the same place today. The blood blister popped inside the blister so it's a pretty crazy party on my right pinky finger lol and it's all under thin skin so it's not going anywhere. Never got a chance to see the Ted Talk but I was fine with that. Headed back to the theatre to watch Any Day Now. What a good piece of film. I loved the actors and the director did a great job depicting the discrimination faced by gays. It was really moving. I cried multiple times. It was so good to see a gay couple doing regular couple things on the big screen. So refreshing. You should really see it. Then headed home and ate rice noodles and watched soccer and rugby on tv. Then packed for my day trip to the mountain tomorrow. Should be a blast!! 

Fridayyy

It's that day of the week again folks. Learned about Thai language and culture today. Sword dance was cancelled. Started a new book today: a new world. Talked to a lot of my friends from home today. That was nice. Went to a street market after dinner and then to a bar with live music. Tried a durian. It was alright. Not eating the fruit again though. Rode my bike home. Going to watch some Ted talk tomorrow in town and climb as well. Then Doi Suthep on Sunday. 

Relaxing

Today was relaxing. Woke up and had toast and tea and fruit for breakfast. Then finished Half the Sky. There is a section in the back of the book that tells four ways people can help in the next ten minutes. I'll post the page and you all should do them!! It's the small things that sometimes make the biggest difference. Then I headed to promenada to see Jobs. It was very good. I learned quite a lot about apple and about Steve Jobs that I hadn't known before. It was a good tribute as well to the smart and hard working man that Jobs was. Very cool. Cried one time also. When Steve was crying with his dad. Made me miss my parents and the times they've been there for me when I really needed them <3 after the movie I headed home and had pad sie yu. Thick rice noodles and green veggies. It was good and a nice change from pad Thai but not as good. Then rest followed by badminton with Katie on the courts behind the women's dorm. Really fun. We also had a long talk which was really awesome and really needed. So glad I can talk to someone like that here. But badminton was really fun. We looked silly as first but then got the hang of it. Headed inside once it started raining for a bit. Definitely a good day :) 

Group Climb

Today was pretty full. Had an early quiz and rocked it. Then our final lesson in the dance we are learning. Have a quiz on the dance on Monday! And a private sword dancing lesson on Friday :) then lunch in the park where I climbed a tree. Yes! Miss climbing trees :) then language where we learned about kitchen ware and more food. Makes you hungry! Worked on my bike a bit after. Just adjusting tire pressure and brakes to suit me. Might bike to Promenada tomorrow :) that'll be fun. I definitely have adjusted to driving on the opposite side of the road which is really cool. Then a quick dinner of rice, Thai eggplant and fried bread. Good stuff. Then nine of us headed to the rock wall for ladies night where women climb for free :) everyone was really inexperienced but they rocked it! Really fun and good climbing. There were some new climbs so I got to fool around too :) we had a blast. Then home and then 7 (7eleven) and then bed. Might go climbing again tomorrow for a bit and then movie? Who knows. I know I'll go to the market on Friday and then go out. Probably. Bike on Saturday? Hike the mountain on Sunday and then the walking market :) for sure. Going to be good :) 

Really good day

Great day. Got a lot done and feeling good. Woke up and wished Evelyn good luck on her first day of work at SMCM. Ahh :) then got driven to my practicum post. Went to the usual fertilizer place but it was locked because it was the morning I guess so we drove back and then I was driven to the preschool where my friends were helping out. I helped set up a ladder platform and then watched as workers built a roof for an hour and a half lol it was very relaxing. I just listened to my audiobook. I Thailand you have to learn to go with the flow sometimes and this is a perfect example of just that. But I do think I will switch to teaching as that is probably a more enriching experience. On the way home our driver, P. Jew (Thai's names are very long and so most take on nicknames) stopped at his house and offered to sell me a bicycle. It was a nice bike he had bought from a exchange student last semester. He offered 2500 and I signed on. He said I could sell it back to him for 1200 which is a good deal but I might be able to sell it for more somewhere else. Either way, I have a bike now! It's a fixed gear with frontal brakes and racing handlebars. The tires are racing style as well. It's a good city bike. Ride about a bit on campus tonight and it preformed well. And yes moms, I wore a helmet as I always will ;) but after I bought the bike I ate a quick lunch and headed to promenada to watch White House Down. It was phenomenal. I really loved it. A lot. The plot wasn't all action. There was great twists and surprises. But it definitely was a male-dominated action film with a lot of violence. Plus a few jokes and a lot of awesome lines and scenes. It made me feel so patriotic! Which was probably the intention to some extent lol well they did a good job. I teared up a few times because it was so moving. As I said, a really good movie. Highly recommended.  It made me miss D.C. so much! And the U.S. in general. It was really strange walking out of that theatre and being in Thailand lol but I have to talk about one of the previews for a bit here. It was call Any Day Now and it looked so moving. It was about a gay couple trying to adopt a mentally impaired child in the U.S. when it was less acceptable to be gay. One of the men is a lawyer and played by a favorite actor of mine who plays the granddad of Hope on the show Raising Hope. The movie kinda reminded me of my own parents fighting for parental rights for me. The preview made me cry and I was shivering for almost all of it. The movie looked like it seriously challenged negative societal stereotypes and seemed to me like a movie largely based in mortal grounding. It made me so happy! To see something like this today when most popular movies made have at least hints of violence or discrimination was so amazing I just had to cry. I can't wait to see it! It really is going to be something else. After the movie I headed home and and had a revelation while reading Half the Sky. I love the law a lot but it means nothing if it is not followed. I think in the U.S. we experience the law being generally followed more than it can be in other places in the world. Thus, pursuing the law as a profession might not have the same effect in the developing world as it would in the developed world. As the former is the area I most want to help I realized that some professions, such as law, would not make the impact I wanted to make. I realized that probably the way I could make the most positive impact that could also be a possible career that played to my strengths would be education. But not just any education. Education focused on females, if I can. I've benefited so much from education and I'd like to give that back to those who haven't been so lucky and who can use an education to change the world. Clearly, I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of questions to answer but it was definitely a "moment" that I'll look back on and think about. We'll see but I think this will have a large effect on me. After the "moment" I had fried noodles and veggies in gravy. Desert was squash in coconut milk. All of it was really good. Then my bike ride and studying for our first quiz in cultures class tomorrow. should be fun lol this post has been a long one but I hope you've enjoyed it :) as I said, really good day. 

Moonday

Woke up. Ate some macaroni and veggies and read my book. Then Thai dance where we learned more of the welcome dance and the sword dance. Then lunch of the same mac and veggies and a nice walk in the small park on campus. Then Thai language where we learned about food. I then watched some Thai dance being preformed in the stadium. Pretty cool. There was also some intense drum dancing. Then soccer and a nice long two hour dinner with friends. We don't really have a hangout place because all general use areas are outside where there are bugs and its hot and I can go in any girls room and vise versa. So our hangout place is either the men's dorm lobby or 7eleven lol then we got a little artsy and made beads out of paper and glue. I might have found an abandons bike I can use which would be sweet. Did some hw and now an early bed for work tomorrow. After my environmental work I'll go climbing and then watch a movie :) should be great! 

Walking market

Today was relaxed. Woke up and read Half the Sky and a paper on socialist feminism. Ate a bunch of pad Thai and then headed to promenada to watch the Bling Ring. It was enjoyable. Definitely not my genre of movie but it was still a good time. Then headed to the walking market. I got a lot of good presents for my friends and family but I can't talk about those here so I'll tell you about the food I got instead. I got a fried pancake with glaze for ten B, mini bananas for 15 B, rice on a stick for 10 B, and a black bean bun for 15 B. the bun was the best. It was fresh white bread filled with a sweet black bean paste. So good. They sell a packaged version at 7eleven for ten B but it's not nearly as good or as filling. It was so nice to have the real thing! I walked the full mile if the market thing time. There's quite a lot of venders and costumers. And that's not even including the many branches off the main street. Huge market. Lots of fun. Got the ride back and listened to Grapes of Wrath and started a paper about cross cultural feminism. Then for home and talked with my roommate and finished a paper written by one of my professors. So much reading today of so many different sources! I love that I have the time and resources to read like this. It's been to long :) school tomorrow. Time to sleep!

S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y.

Weekend! Went climbing at the gym. Real work out. I love when my hands hurt. Met and guy from Italy and one from Scotland. Then back to promenada to watch a movie. I watched rakko or something and it was entertaining but had its flaws. The token female character was sexualized a lot, the men talked about dominating her, and she never went outside of the base on search missions like the men. But she was a lesbian and she definetly stood up for herself and fought back against her mistreatment. Overall I liked the movie because it was easy to sit back and watch the action in a air conditioned Thai theater for half the price of US theaters :) headed home at 8:30 and, after some thoughtful decision making, decided not to go to Crazy Horse tomorrow. Too much money, rocks might be wet from the rain, I'm tired from the gym, and I don't know how to lead climb/belay yet. Once I learn that hopefully I can go with Amy who has all the gear. That should be fun :) 

Fridayyy

Had something for breakfast. It was good. I forget exactly what it was. It was probably pad Thai though lol had class at 9 which was bearable and then got pictures for my visa to Myanmar :) got 12 pics for a great price so I'll never need visa pics again! Then lunch and studying! There are a lot of words we have to know. So it was definitely the most stressed I've been about school so far here. Which is really nice because I was not that stressed at all. Just a little. I did all right on the quiz. Not bad at all but not an A+++ either. Then I played soccer on the activity courts behind the women's dorm. That was fun and then it started raining so I headed inside to read. Then a long dinner with friends and very funny conversations. Then ping pong where I got creamed every time! Ugg! Lol I as probably just rusty. Either that or Katie's getting better and I am not. Oh well :) then reading and sleep. I'm going climbing tomorrow and hopefully watching a movie at the theatre. Their in English! :)) five dollars with student ID. this might become a regular thing :) then walking market on Sunday. Presents! And getting a bike on Monday and then Chiang rai next weekend! Woo! Good times :)

No class=climbing

No class today so... You guessed it! Climbing :) had bananas, watermelon, cantaloupe, toast with strawberry jelly, and pad Thai for breakfast. Saved most of the pad Thai and bananas for lunch. Then texted and read as well as worked on my hair and fixed my shoes. Then got on the promenada bus. Checked out some movies. I think I'd like to go to a movie here. They're like $5. I hope they're in English. I don't like subtitles lol then to the climbing wall where I haven't been for a whole week! There are four new climbs that were set while I was gone and all are pretty easy so I did them all along with a climb I had been working on before :) then worked out with the weights and stuff. Now I'm tired! But a good tired. Calluses are getting better. The flies at the gym are annoying though. It's outside But I've kinda gotten use to it I guess. Raining now. Pretty nice. It cools the city down :) I'll head back home at 5:30 and hopefully make it in time for the ride to Payap and not miss it this time! Then dinner and studying for a language quiz tomorrow where we have to relate meaning to different Thai words. Crazy how fast we're learning! I can read some Thai now :) then reading some more Half the Sky and then bed! I like this quote. I think I'll keep it :)

*update* 

Missed the bus because of traffic. Ate ramen instead. Reminds me of the states lol

Tired!

Wednesdays can be tiring. Three classes can be a lot. Kinda reminds me of high school. Days starts at 9 and ends at three with a one hour lunch break. Had a cool lecture today in cultures by a nice professor and then continued to learn sword dancing and another hand dance. Then practice for language and then the actual class where I can read some Thai :) very cool. It's harder to speak and listen though. Then nap, dinner, tv, reading and sleep. Gotta rest!!

"Environmental" work

Got a tinny orientation for the Mayanmar trip today. Should be very intense but very fun and interesting. We will be the first long term exchange student group to study in the country. Very cool :) I feel very lucky. Then did work in the community for practicum class. I was doing environmental work. It was explained to me in Thai how fertilizer was made and then I  shoveled fertilizer into bags for an hour and a half while listening to the Grapes of Wrath. Good stuff. Pretty relaxing. Kind of environmental work but not what I was expecting which is fine. The other jobs people did were teaching elementary and preschoolers, working in a hospital and teaching adults English. This job seems a lot less stressful then those jobs but less of a cultural experience. So we'll see if I change jobs or not. I probably won't. I like the silence and the manual labor. Then had dinner, did laundry, watched sports on tv and then sleep.  

Back to work

Today we just had one class- Thai language. Had pad Thai for breakfast but it was in the line of food not on order this time :) then cleaned and organized my room and headed to class. Learned a lot of new letters today. I'm pretty sure this is how you would spell my name if you wanted someone to pronounce it correctly: กเรดม. :) then I took a nap and dreamed about school and flying and hot tubs and nerf wars lol then dinner of noodles with tofu and now language hw and reading. Pretty low key which is what I needed :)

Magical weekend

Pai was fabulous :) so much fun! And the whole trip cost me less than $30!! Woke up on Saturday and had bananas and toast with strawberry jelly provided by the hostel. Then most of us walked into town while a few others rented bicycles and biked to a waterfall and a farm. The rest of the group took a taxi to the hot springs. I rented a bicycle and biked there. It was so beautiful and so great to bike again! It wasn't that hard biking on the opposite side if the road. I guess I'm kinda use to it now. Hot spring was so amazing!! It only cost 100 B because we are students. It was like a natural hot tub. I went up to where the spring originated and the water was boiling. You could boil eggs :) I made ramen in a water bottle with the water. It was really good. The water felt so good to rest it. It was very relaxing and rejuvenating. Sitting in a hot stream in the jungle :) then I biked back, watching as the rice paddies and steep mountains rolled by. Then I visited the unfinished White Buddha on the mountain we could see from the hostel. My bike peddle broke on the way up the mountain but I was able to return it and get my 500 B deposit back the next day with no problem. Walked up the crazy long/steep stairs and got a sweet view of the valley of Pai and the surrounding mountains. Went up to the Buddha further up the mountain and was able to climb up onto the statue :) it was really cool. Then went into town and buy so e bananas for 10 B for dinner. Ate them and finished my book. Then we got ready and went out to the town. Went to a bar which was fun. Left at 12 and went to bed at 1. 

If you haven't woken up to the sun shining over the mountains onto the rice paddies you are resting over, you should try it, it's great :) had a slow morning and then checked out of the hostel but left most of our stuff there. Some went to a farm and the rest of us went to the Buddha again and got some great views of rain on the other side of the valley. Then the others went back down while I grabbed a hardened bamboo stick, fastened my knife to the end with string and then headed up the rest of the mountain. There was an unmaintained trail that lead up and around the mountain. I walked along and then judged when I was near the summit and started climbing with my hands and feet up the steep slope. Reached the summit at 3000 feet and had nice views of the surrounding mountains. Ate bananas and drank water. Then the wind whipped up and it started to drizzle. I ran around getting cool views and then headed down a different way but intending to hit the path I had left. Well, I missed. I went down a different ridge all together and could see the Buddha and the temple on another mountain lol so I headed down the the river to then hike back up to the temple. Only problem was the maintains here are super steep which is harder going down then up at times. I made it down by running into trees, stepping sideways carefully, and sliding. Made it to the river with a few scratches on my legs and then headed down the river until it seemed live the right time to head up. Started climbing and hit the temple head on :) good adventuring. Headed to the hostel to pick up my stuff with dirt and blood and sticks. Felt like a real trekker :) then headed to town and got on the bus where I listened to the Grapes of Wrath. Good stuff. Got a little car sick. Got home and unpacked and showered and slept. Great weekend :)