Hey everyone,
my apologies for the lack of proof reading in my posts, sometimes I am in a rush and don't have time to fully check. I will try my hardest to check my posts before I send them to you but in case you see any errors, please understand.
thanks a lot
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Mae Chaem Homestay
Hello everyone,
I am just returning from my northern home stay in Mae Chaem, Thailand. My program group left from Chiang Mai last Monday and got back yesterday. My program has three academic excursions throughout Thailand over the course of the semester. These excursions essentially are trips to remote villages and historical cities or places. During our time on these excursions we are thrown into the given environment and expected to be able to handle ourselves in a respectful and professional manner. I personally think these academic excursions are very helpful because you learn about the Thai people, their culture and way of life.
Just to give you a brief history and understanding, Mae Chaem is a district of Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand; though Mae Chaem is southwest of my school in Chiang Mai. To add on, Mae Chaem is located in the mountains, which means it is surrounded by a lush and beautiful landscape. Considering its economic position, I would say its a developing town; majority of the people are poor however their attitudes are that of millionaires. Many of the houses in the village were shacks but there were some that were big and very nice. Usually the houses that were above the average were ones of wealthy and appointed officials. For instance, my friend Maggie's house was very nice and big. This was because her home stay father was the chief of the greater region of Mae Chaem.
Real quick, the group that went included everyone in my group here at Payap (23 college students). We also had our group leaders come and three professors.
We arrived monday and were immediately put in groups of three(my group consisted of two kids in my program) and introduced/given to our home stay parents. My family was amazing. They treated us like their own kids: feeding us everyday, doing our laundry, telling us to call the mom and dad and shedding tears when we left. Even though they didn't speak any English we connected with them in a very unique and understanding way.
The core family consisted of a father, mother and daughter. My father (Paa is the way to say father in Thai) is the village chief. He is 62 years old and full of energy. He honestly never stopped smile and shared drinks with me over every dinner. My mom (MAA is the way to say mother in Thai) also never stopped smile. She did my laundry, cooked and honestly was the quintessential mother. The daughter was our cook. She didn't really interact with us, but when she did she was very nice and gregarious.
Our week was like a typically school day. In the mornings we had our Thai language class and Thai history class from 9-12. Then in the afternoon, depending on the day, we went to local excursions. We learned how to cook northern Thai food, we visited a NGO (Non Government Agency) that works with Mae Chaem, watched how to weave and catch crabs in the rice fields. It was a unbelievable time, a great way to start Thailand out. Below are pictures and explanations.
-a typical dinner at my house. Rice, soup, spicy sauce chicken, frieds eggs, fish and crab were usually the dishes on the menu for dinner. And to cap it off, we had rice whisky (tasted exactly like scotch. Rice whisky can be found in any house in a village like Mae Chaem. They brew this whisky on their own by using the rice, mushrooms and tree leaves).
-during every dinner my house dad would begin passing out shots over and over again. It was a tradition by the third day to get a little bit tyspy at dinner.
-here is a picture of one of the local craftsmen. He makes gold hair clips for woman. Although he didn't speak english, our translator (all of our professors and group leaders speak both Thai and english) told us that he is one of the last craftsman of his art in all of Thailand.
-here we have a picture of the tallest mountain in Northern Thailand. Most of the days it was covered by clouds but I was lucky enough to take a quick picture before it disappeared.
-religion is the most important part of Thai culture. I have never seen people let along a whole country so dedicated to a religion. This is one of the biggest differences between the west and southeast asia. From a grandfather to a hip teenager, people in Thailand love Buddhism and treat it to the highest respect. Being here I can feel the presence of Buddhism anywhere I go; you cannot go down a street without seeing a temple, monk, or some sort of Buddhism ideology. This picture is of the inside of a local temple near the house I stayed in.
-as I stated before, we learned how to weave. Here is a local woman, who actually lived right next to me, weaving a scarf. Mae Chaem is famous for their weaving. The scarf that she is weaving was for a client all the way from Bangkok. A typical scarf costs about 1000 Thai Baht (about 30 USDs); somewhat sad because it takes two weeks to finish one.
-my villages temple. At night time woman come in and clean it. If you did not know, before entering a temple you must take off your shoes; in fact most places in Thailand make you take off your shoes before you enter. One night I went to the temple, a 15 second walk from my house, and just sat down and reflected. It was erie but amazing at the same time.
-my one roommate and family. I will miss them. Before we left my mother gave each of my roommates and me a pillow as a gift. The Thai culture is all about giving gifts. Whether its going to a friends house to stay for a week, or just for a day, gifts are usually encouraged.
-one of the days we went crabbing in the rice fields. The rice fields, which were outside of the town, we endless labyrinths of patties. Most of the men and woman wake up extremely early to work in the fields, coming back around 6 or 7 at night. This woman in particular, the one leading us, was a crabber. She goes into the rice patties and catches these small crabs that live in the mud. Once the crabs are caught they are brought back to a woman bowl and smashed into crab paste that is used for a spicy sauce for dinner.
-my house
-the sleeping quarters. My spot is the far right, inside the netting. Honestly, I slept well, other then being woken up at 5am every morning to the families roster
-a picture of one of the shrines that we visited during a village tour.
-here is a picture of the largest farmer area in all of Thailand. We were told to cover our mouths when we walked around because the farmers use pesticides to help grow the corn faster. Then the maze (corn in Thai) is shipped all over Thailand. The locals know better not to buy the corn grown here because it is deadly and extremely unhealthy.
Thank you for reading, I'll keep everyone updated. To see all my photos from this trip go onto my facebook page and check it out.
I am just returning from my northern home stay in Mae Chaem, Thailand. My program group left from Chiang Mai last Monday and got back yesterday. My program has three academic excursions throughout Thailand over the course of the semester. These excursions essentially are trips to remote villages and historical cities or places. During our time on these excursions we are thrown into the given environment and expected to be able to handle ourselves in a respectful and professional manner. I personally think these academic excursions are very helpful because you learn about the Thai people, their culture and way of life.
Just to give you a brief history and understanding, Mae Chaem is a district of Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand; though Mae Chaem is southwest of my school in Chiang Mai. To add on, Mae Chaem is located in the mountains, which means it is surrounded by a lush and beautiful landscape. Considering its economic position, I would say its a developing town; majority of the people are poor however their attitudes are that of millionaires. Many of the houses in the village were shacks but there were some that were big and very nice. Usually the houses that were above the average were ones of wealthy and appointed officials. For instance, my friend Maggie's house was very nice and big. This was because her home stay father was the chief of the greater region of Mae Chaem.
Real quick, the group that went included everyone in my group here at Payap (23 college students). We also had our group leaders come and three professors.
We arrived monday and were immediately put in groups of three(my group consisted of two kids in my program) and introduced/given to our home stay parents. My family was amazing. They treated us like their own kids: feeding us everyday, doing our laundry, telling us to call the mom and dad and shedding tears when we left. Even though they didn't speak any English we connected with them in a very unique and understanding way.
The core family consisted of a father, mother and daughter. My father (Paa is the way to say father in Thai) is the village chief. He is 62 years old and full of energy. He honestly never stopped smile and shared drinks with me over every dinner. My mom (MAA is the way to say mother in Thai) also never stopped smile. She did my laundry, cooked and honestly was the quintessential mother. The daughter was our cook. She didn't really interact with us, but when she did she was very nice and gregarious.
Our week was like a typically school day. In the mornings we had our Thai language class and Thai history class from 9-12. Then in the afternoon, depending on the day, we went to local excursions. We learned how to cook northern Thai food, we visited a NGO (Non Government Agency) that works with Mae Chaem, watched how to weave and catch crabs in the rice fields. It was a unbelievable time, a great way to start Thailand out. Below are pictures and explanations.
-a typical dinner at my house. Rice, soup, spicy sauce chicken, frieds eggs, fish and crab were usually the dishes on the menu for dinner. And to cap it off, we had rice whisky (tasted exactly like scotch. Rice whisky can be found in any house in a village like Mae Chaem. They brew this whisky on their own by using the rice, mushrooms and tree leaves).
-during every dinner my house dad would begin passing out shots over and over again. It was a tradition by the third day to get a little bit tyspy at dinner.
-here is a picture of one of the local craftsmen. He makes gold hair clips for woman. Although he didn't speak english, our translator (all of our professors and group leaders speak both Thai and english) told us that he is one of the last craftsman of his art in all of Thailand.
-here we have a picture of the tallest mountain in Northern Thailand. Most of the days it was covered by clouds but I was lucky enough to take a quick picture before it disappeared.
-religion is the most important part of Thai culture. I have never seen people let along a whole country so dedicated to a religion. This is one of the biggest differences between the west and southeast asia. From a grandfather to a hip teenager, people in Thailand love Buddhism and treat it to the highest respect. Being here I can feel the presence of Buddhism anywhere I go; you cannot go down a street without seeing a temple, monk, or some sort of Buddhism ideology. This picture is of the inside of a local temple near the house I stayed in.
-as I stated before, we learned how to weave. Here is a local woman, who actually lived right next to me, weaving a scarf. Mae Chaem is famous for their weaving. The scarf that she is weaving was for a client all the way from Bangkok. A typical scarf costs about 1000 Thai Baht (about 30 USDs); somewhat sad because it takes two weeks to finish one.
-my villages temple. At night time woman come in and clean it. If you did not know, before entering a temple you must take off your shoes; in fact most places in Thailand make you take off your shoes before you enter. One night I went to the temple, a 15 second walk from my house, and just sat down and reflected. It was erie but amazing at the same time.
-my one roommate and family. I will miss them. Before we left my mother gave each of my roommates and me a pillow as a gift. The Thai culture is all about giving gifts. Whether its going to a friends house to stay for a week, or just for a day, gifts are usually encouraged.
-one of the days we went crabbing in the rice fields. The rice fields, which were outside of the town, we endless labyrinths of patties. Most of the men and woman wake up extremely early to work in the fields, coming back around 6 or 7 at night. This woman in particular, the one leading us, was a crabber. She goes into the rice patties and catches these small crabs that live in the mud. Once the crabs are caught they are brought back to a woman bowl and smashed into crab paste that is used for a spicy sauce for dinner.
-my house
-the sleeping quarters. My spot is the far right, inside the netting. Honestly, I slept well, other then being woken up at 5am every morning to the families roster
-a picture of one of the shrines that we visited during a village tour.
-here is a picture of the largest farmer area in all of Thailand. We were told to cover our mouths when we walked around because the farmers use pesticides to help grow the corn faster. Then the maze (corn in Thai) is shipped all over Thailand. The locals know better not to buy the corn grown here because it is deadly and extremely unhealthy.
Thank you for reading, I'll keep everyone updated. To see all my photos from this trip go onto my facebook page and check it out.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
from the city to the clouds - Bhubing Palace
Everyday just gets better. After traveling to my roommates hometown and riding elephants, today we went to the Bhubing Palace which is a Royal Residence located Doi Buak Ha, Muang District, Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. After visiting the palace we headed up Doi Suthep and visited the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep at the top of the mountain.
-the trip to the mountain (the mountain is Doi Suthep and the palace and Wat are located at the top) was about 45 mins because we had to travel from the center city of Chiang Mai up it through the clouds to the Wat and palace. It was honestly like entering a new world. Over the course of the climb you could just feel the drastic change in temperature.
- the view at the middle was incredible, imagine the top
On the way up the mountain we passed many small towns that seemed like they were embedded in the jungle. The people who live in these towns are called hills people and they speak an entirely different language from Thai people. I found it fascinaing how even though Chiang Mai is 30 minutes away from these villages we passed, they speak different languages.
After arriving to the top we saw the palace, which was erie. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing but it happened to be very foggy when we were walking around so I felt like I was on a different planet. Visitors are only allowed to walk around in limited areas and they only get a 30 minute time period.
-
After the palace, or should I say after we got forced out after a measly 30 minutes we went further up the Doi Suthep and walked to the never ending steps to the Wat
We said our prayers, walked around and marveled at where we were
-the trip to the mountain (the mountain is Doi Suthep and the palace and Wat are located at the top) was about 45 mins because we had to travel from the center city of Chiang Mai up it through the clouds to the Wat and palace. It was honestly like entering a new world. Over the course of the climb you could just feel the drastic change in temperature.
- the view at the middle was incredible, imagine the top
On the way up the mountain we passed many small towns that seemed like they were embedded in the jungle. The people who live in these towns are called hills people and they speak an entirely different language from Thai people. I found it fascinaing how even though Chiang Mai is 30 minutes away from these villages we passed, they speak different languages.
After arriving to the top we saw the palace, which was erie. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing but it happened to be very foggy when we were walking around so I felt like I was on a different planet. Visitors are only allowed to walk around in limited areas and they only get a 30 minute time period.
-
After the palace, or should I say after we got forced out after a measly 30 minutes we went further up the Doi Suthep and walked to the never ending steps to the Wat
We said our prayers, walked around and marveled at where we were
traveling to lampang thailand - my roommates house
The last time I was invited to sleep over at someones house was probably 8th grade. Yesterday Jammy, my roommate, invited me over to his house. Yes I am 22 years old and accepted a sleep over invation. Pete, my good friend who came with my from SLU was invited to. So after class friday we jumped onto Jammy's motor bike and headed to his house in Lampang (about 30 min drive from campus). If you ever go to Thailand or southeast asia the best way to see and understand the country is to travel by motorbike. For the past week I have been accompanying my roommate anytime he goes out on his bike because it is the coolest experiance. Driving down a street filled with cars, bikes, people on a motrobike is one of the most surreal and unbelievable experiance you could ask for. So, although they are very dangerous, please take advantage of renting one or finding a Thai friend who has one. So long story short, Pete and I went to Jammy's house, which is really just a shop with a room in the back. We met his mother and aunt who spoke zero english and thought my friend pete, who is 6'2, around 200 pounds with red hair, was the most interesting thing they have ever seen. After meeting Jammys family, we went out to dinner, saw a temple made out of gold, ate bugs that were disgusting and finished our night by falling alseep in one big bed....what did you do last night?
-part of the ride to Lamgpang
-the beginning part of the ride. Chiang Mai is surronded by mountains on all sides, its very stunning to see the clouds lift showing the actual size and beauty of the mountains.
-another picture of the ride. One thing that I love about Thailand is wherever you go it is an experiance.
-so 15 minutes into the ride, Jammy tells me that I showed get excited because I am about to see the most beautiful trees. I am not sure the exact age of these trees, but I can only imagine.
-welcome to Lampang!
So we arrived in Lampang right before night fall and Jammy wanted to show us his temple. I was pretty tired and wanted to go to bed, but when I saw the temple in the distance my jaw dropped.
-The real name of the temple is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. It is a buddhist temple and made out of 100% gold leaves.
After stopping the bikes to go see the temple, it turned out that it was locked for the night...However Jammy knew one of the monks and he let us in, by ourselves walking around...it was amazing.
After seeing the temple we headed out for a night cap dinner.
-for dinner we stopped at this low key restaurant that over looked a night market. We were supplied with our own grill/stove as you can see and we just cooked all types of raw meats (pork, steak, fish, chicken). It was great.
My trip to my roommates house was a new experiance. Very different, odd but fun. I lived his life for a night. I slept in pretty much a hole in a wall with one bed. I can't wait for another experiance like it.
-part of the ride to Lamgpang
-the beginning part of the ride. Chiang Mai is surronded by mountains on all sides, its very stunning to see the clouds lift showing the actual size and beauty of the mountains.
-another picture of the ride. One thing that I love about Thailand is wherever you go it is an experiance.
-so 15 minutes into the ride, Jammy tells me that I showed get excited because I am about to see the most beautiful trees. I am not sure the exact age of these trees, but I can only imagine.
-welcome to Lampang!
So we arrived in Lampang right before night fall and Jammy wanted to show us his temple. I was pretty tired and wanted to go to bed, but when I saw the temple in the distance my jaw dropped.
-The real name of the temple is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. It is a buddhist temple and made out of 100% gold leaves.
After stopping the bikes to go see the temple, it turned out that it was locked for the night...However Jammy knew one of the monks and he let us in, by ourselves walking around...it was amazing.
After seeing the temple we headed out for a night cap dinner.
-for dinner we stopped at this low key restaurant that over looked a night market. We were supplied with our own grill/stove as you can see and we just cooked all types of raw meats (pork, steak, fish, chicken). It was great.
My trip to my roommates house was a new experiance. Very different, odd but fun. I lived his life for a night. I slept in pretty much a hole in a wall with one bed. I can't wait for another experiance like it.
Jammy, my roommate
Before coming to Payap I knew I would be living with one or two Thai roommates. I was extremely nervous about rooming with a Thai because from what I have heard they think americans smell, are to messy and loud...(odd isn't it). I also speak very, very little Thai, which added to my apprehension. But it turns out that my roommate is my best friend. I have slept over his house (i'll tell this story in my next post), we go shopping at the mall together, and we both LOVE eating out. He even has created a shower schedule for me so I won't smell to badly. Jammy is his name and he is a freshman here at Payap. He speaks very little english, but I think our lack of communication has created a strong bond because of our willingness to understand each other. I am also very lucky to have Jammy as my roommate because he has brought me all over Chiang Mai. I consider him as my personal tour guide/friend. My next posts are about my trips with him and some unbelievable experiances that I have had with him.
-here is a picture of Jammy's brother, the closest and Jammy the good looking guy in the back. Their favorite word is adventure.
-here is a picture of Jammy's brother, the closest and Jammy the good looking guy in the back. Their favorite word is adventure.
Orientation Week
As incoming students we had a orientation week that consisted of long days filled with tons of information. Waking up at 8 am every morning was painful, but in the long run it was completely worth it. When we were not in the classroom our program directors brought us on guides of Chiang Mai. We went through the old city, markets of all shorts and temples that are individually older than the United States.
Chiang Mai is a beautiful city busting with youthful energy. To give you a brief history, Chiang Mai is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is Thailand's second city, but in terms of quality of living, tourist attractions and development potential, it's second to none in Southeast-Asia. It is famous for its friendly people, beautiful women, refined handicrafts, cool climate and stunning mountain scenery. There are more than three-hundred temples, among them some of the most beautiful and revered in the entire Buddhist world, give the city an atmosphere of calmness and timeless elegance.
I obviously could write pages about Chiang Mai but I feel the best way to get a message across is through pictures. Below are pictures of the tours of Chiang Mai and the markets we went to:
-Markets are essential in Thai culture. Food, clothing and all goods are sold at these markets. They are amazing, completely overwhelming, but in a good way. The best times I have had here so far have been going to these markets and getting lost in the labyrinth of hallways and small streets that are filled with the best food you could ever imagine.
-here is another picture of one of the markets we went to. This was just a small part of the market but it shows how crazy and packed they are.
-you must understand that a market in Thailand is very different from one in the states. Thai markets take up 10 blocks and have no structure. This picture I took from a bridge that crossed over one of the streets. Be careful when you cross the streets, the drivers do not care if they hit you!
-these food stands/ bikes can be found on every street in Chiang Mai. I personal love them because if your hungry you can just walk a few steps and have amazing food for extremely cheap.
If you want to see all the pictures of my market trip I uploaded them on my facebook.
Chiang Mai is a beautiful city busting with youthful energy. To give you a brief history, Chiang Mai is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is Thailand's second city, but in terms of quality of living, tourist attractions and development potential, it's second to none in Southeast-Asia. It is famous for its friendly people, beautiful women, refined handicrafts, cool climate and stunning mountain scenery. There are more than three-hundred temples, among them some of the most beautiful and revered in the entire Buddhist world, give the city an atmosphere of calmness and timeless elegance.
I obviously could write pages about Chiang Mai but I feel the best way to get a message across is through pictures. Below are pictures of the tours of Chiang Mai and the markets we went to:
-Markets are essential in Thai culture. Food, clothing and all goods are sold at these markets. They are amazing, completely overwhelming, but in a good way. The best times I have had here so far have been going to these markets and getting lost in the labyrinth of hallways and small streets that are filled with the best food you could ever imagine.
-here is another picture of one of the markets we went to. This was just a small part of the market but it shows how crazy and packed they are.
-you must understand that a market in Thailand is very different from one in the states. Thai markets take up 10 blocks and have no structure. This picture I took from a bridge that crossed over one of the streets. Be careful when you cross the streets, the drivers do not care if they hit you!
-these food stands/ bikes can be found on every street in Chiang Mai. I personal love them because if your hungry you can just walk a few steps and have amazing food for extremely cheap.
If you want to see all the pictures of my market trip I uploaded them on my facebook.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thailand - The Land of Smiles
Sa-wat-dii khrap (Hello). I have been extremely busy as you can imagine, so my apologies for starting my blog late. To give everyone a good understanding let me introduce everything.
I will be studying at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand for 4 months (August 13th - December 17th). I am specially part of the South East Asian Institute for Global Studies (SEAIGS). I am taking five classes over the course of my time here; 1) Buddhism & Thai Society 2) Politics & Gov't of Thailand 3) Gender Identity, Sexuality and Transformation in Thai Society 4) Cultural Foundations of Thai Society and 5) Thai Language. Each class seems very intriguing and I cant express how excited I am for them to official start. Most of my classes are taught by a Thai teacher, however two of my teachers are American (which is nice because it is much, much easier to follow them). To add on, SEAIGS requires its students to partake in three excursions over the course of the school year. The first excursion will be to a remote village in Northern Thailand called Mae Chaem. We will be there from monday August 23rd to saturday August 28th. Each student stays with a host family (I will explain go into more depth with this excursion when I get back next saturday). I am extremely excited and also nervous, what am I going to see? How will my living conditions be? My second excursion is to the Thai Kingdoms Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. This excursion occurs on wednesday september 29th to sunday october 3rd. Once again, I am just explaining everything in the broadest sense, I will go into more depth once the excursions end. My last excursion is to a Highland Ethnic Minority Village in Chiang Rai; this excursion is the same as my first one. The dates are november the 24th to the 28th. And all this is just for school, outside of my academic studies and excursions I plan to travel as much as possible. Of course I will keep everyone posted! So there you have it. I am on a journey that will change my life forever and I am glad you are coming along for the ride!
I will be studying at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand for 4 months (August 13th - December 17th). I am specially part of the South East Asian Institute for Global Studies (SEAIGS). I am taking five classes over the course of my time here; 1) Buddhism & Thai Society 2) Politics & Gov't of Thailand 3) Gender Identity, Sexuality and Transformation in Thai Society 4) Cultural Foundations of Thai Society and 5) Thai Language. Each class seems very intriguing and I cant express how excited I am for them to official start. Most of my classes are taught by a Thai teacher, however two of my teachers are American (which is nice because it is much, much easier to follow them). To add on, SEAIGS requires its students to partake in three excursions over the course of the school year. The first excursion will be to a remote village in Northern Thailand called Mae Chaem. We will be there from monday August 23rd to saturday August 28th. Each student stays with a host family (I will explain go into more depth with this excursion when I get back next saturday). I am extremely excited and also nervous, what am I going to see? How will my living conditions be? My second excursion is to the Thai Kingdoms Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. This excursion occurs on wednesday september 29th to sunday october 3rd. Once again, I am just explaining everything in the broadest sense, I will go into more depth once the excursions end. My last excursion is to a Highland Ethnic Minority Village in Chiang Rai; this excursion is the same as my first one. The dates are november the 24th to the 28th. And all this is just for school, outside of my academic studies and excursions I plan to travel as much as possible. Of course I will keep everyone posted! So there you have it. I am on a journey that will change my life forever and I am glad you are coming along for the ride!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Beginging
Hey everyone, appreciate you checking out my blog. I obviously will try my hardest to improve and keep this blog up-to-date.
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