the end of an era

granted, the title may be a bit dramatic, but my time in chiang mai is quickly coming to an end. the days here seem even more numbered since chris left tonight and im writing this after returning to what feels like a really empty apartment. chris and i have lived in this studio (together) for the past six months and since he's Star Alliance Gold, he was able to check in three bags from chiang mai home. this was nice because he ended up taking most of our stuff, and i just have to bring one bag (mostly with my clothes and maybe some books) down to bangkok when i leave chiang mai in a week (!).

chris is excited to go home, but i have more bittersweet emotions. thailand really feels like a second home to me, and despite the (many) frustrations i've had this year with the fogarty, i've always loved living and being in thailand. i feel really blessed and lucky that chris and i got to spend a large part of our first year of marriage together in chiang mai, traveling around thailand and southeast asia, and just enjoying being husband and wife without the stresses of school, work, etc. like most other times i've been to thailand, i've made some really great friends here and expanded my thai 'family'.

there's lots to love about thailand. food is number one on many (including me and chris's) lists. food is seriously available here 24-7 and can range in cost from snacks for 5-10 baht to straight up meals (rice/noodles) from 20-40 baht (a little more than a dollar). street food culture is strong here, but there are also stalls that have seating areas, especially at night food markets, and a broad range of restaurants. chris's favorite thai snack , moo ping, (marinated pork on a stick), sells for 3 baht a stick, and is eaten with sticky rice. once, when i was gone to a conference in bangkok, chris ate it for dinner and was really proud that he spent less than $1 on 10 sticks of moo ping and sticky rice.



in chiang mai, chris and i eat thai, chinese, laotian, mexican, american, and italian food on a regular basis. there is such a diversity of things to eat and we've become friends with some people at local restaurants and food stands, including the couple who sells fruit on our soi. they know that chris and i always get green mango (for me) and pineapple (for chris), but will explore other options (like cantaloupe, rose apple, or watermelon) if our faves are sold out. you get a bag of cold, sliced fruit for 10 baht and it's seriously a terrific (and filling) snack on a hot day. this reminds me - i have some green mango in the fridge now! :)

fruit and veggies are really cheap here and there's many kinds of both that are hard to find (if available at all) in the states. besides raw fruit, you can get smoothies/shakes/yogurt mixed with fruit all over the place. i dont really even know what most of the fruit/veggies are called in english, but ill try to figure it out and update you all.

ok, maybe i should start sticking to a list format before i start waxing poetic about every other thing ill miss about thailand ;) following is a list of things i love about thailand:



1) The people, esp. my friends and family. I like that Thai people are generally friendly, laid-back, and that friends are really like family here. For example, one of my friends who lives in Bangkok offered to come up to Chiang Mai (a 9 hr bus ride each way) to help me clean my apt and pack to go home. I told her that was too much, but I think she's coming anyway.





I think it's nice that certain traditions are also preserved in Thailand, like celebrating Thai New Year by wearing traditional Thai clothes and conducting a ceremony where you pay respect to your elders (we just had this ceremony at RIHES last Friday). It consisted of everyone participating in a small 'parade' from the second floor to the fourth floor of our building. The procession consisted first of Thai musicians, followed by men carrying special water in silver bowls used in the blessing ceremony (elders bless younger people by splashing water over your hands), and women carrying gift baskets. Later, we all gathered in this assembly room and sat on the floor while some RIHES women performed a traditional Thai dance with knives and then listened to each 'elder' present at the head table give advice and blessings for the coming year. At the end, we formed a single file line and got blessed by all the elders. I like that stuff like this happens every year because I feel like it builds community and makes you feel like you're part of something bigger than just yourself....I also always love hearing elderly people tell stories about back-in-the-day and imparting their experience and thoughts on us young peoples.


Another nice Thai thing is having EVERYONE and their mom go to the airport with you to send you off if you're going on a big journey (returning to the US for a long time counts as one of these events). I think that this might be happening less since the airport was moved to Suvaranabhumi and it's expensive (and difficult) to get out there right now, but I'm sure I'll still have a few friends with me at the airport at 4 AM to help me check in for my flight at 6 AM. Heck, how hard is it to find someone in the US to take you to the airport at that time? (Y'all know what I'm talking about).



2) Last minute plans (or lack of plans at all). Thai people sometimes dont really plan things in advance, but just call you and are like, "Have you eaten yet?" "Do you want to go camping?" "Are you available right now?" This has both good and bad sides, but most of the time it's fun and we've been on lots of adventures that we never planned on...and we've done our share of last minute bookings at well (see previous phuket entry - we booked that ticket the day before we left!) I also appreciate that temples are open spaces and that you can drop in at any time. Chris and I visited two local Burmese temples before he got on the plane to make some donations and also ask for a safe trip home. I always feel welcome at temples and friends who have visited (of other faiths) have also noted the same feeling when visiting temples in Thailand.

3) Thai karaoke (plus cheesy dances that go along with the karaoke). Chris loves it too, even though he doesn't really understand what's going on (I explain it to him). We also sing our tried-and-true boy band songs at karaoke when they're available.

4) Quality of life. My quality of life here could seriously NOT be better. although we wish we had a washing machine, we send our laundry to get done (washed, dried, folded/ironed, and delivered to our door weekly) and it generally costs less than $3 a week for both of us. we also used to have a maid come to our apt once/twice a week (included as part of a rent) for around $8 a month. Besides help with housework, I also enjoy regular massages ($3-$5/hr) , pedicures ($5 for a super nice one), and get my hair washed and blow-dried ($2). obviously, NONE of this stuff happens for me in the US, unless im treating myself to something special.

5) DIY/handmade stuff. I really appreciate all the little shops/boutiques/stalls, street culture, and the ability to get unique clothes, accessories, and home stuff for really cheap (or pretty reasonable) prices at such places like the market in front of our local mall (Kad Suan Kaew, held Thurs-Sat nights during the summer), 'Walking Street' on Sundays (where a few miles of the 'old city' gets shut down and filled with vendors selling everything you could imagine), JJ market or Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok (sadly being shut down later this month), or in the night markets held around Chiang Mai University.

6) Since Chris doesn't understand Thai TV, we've been semi-addicted to this channel called 'Zone Reality' which doesnt have any commercials (I'm not sure how they make $..all their commercials just advertise different shows that they play). They apparently buy seasons of shows and then play them over and over again. So far, we've seen tons of Rescue 911 episodes, most of the episodes from Seasons 1-3 of Hogan Knows Best, quite a few episodes of Dog: The Bounty Hunter, and then an assortment of different forensic/crime shows (ie Dr G: Medical Examiner). Sometimes we also watch National Geographic Channel in Thai.

7) Our motorcycle. I've really liked riding around with Chris through the city this year - you definitely avoid getting caught in traffic jams and it's easy, cheap, and fast. We're both looking forward to driving when we get home though (I can't believe I haven't been behind the wheel in over eight months!)

OK, that's about it for now. More posts to come!