Singapore

The end of the school year here was quite busy, with little time for adventures or the ensuing blogs. But now it is summer (you heard me right, it's summer here) and there's a little more free time to share my escapades.

Two weeks ago my friends and I visited our friend Aimee while she was visiting home in Singapore. It was wonderful to see a new city, country, and culture, as well as spend time with a wonderful family.

Things you can learn about Singapore

Even the 7-11s look really classy!

Food is important. Taking pictures of your food is equally important. I spared you the rest, but this is one of the many Indian dishes that we ate.

Two things you can learn here: they take law enforcement very seriously. This is a no trespassing sign. Also all signs in Singapore are in 4 languages: English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. 

(English because Singapore was a British colony, and the three major people groups are Chinese, Indian and Malaysian.)

The wildlife in Singapore is amazing!

(You wouldn't think it in a country that is literally a city)

You might not be able to tell, but this ant is about the size of a dog. No joke. German Shepherd size. And we didn't get a video, but right after this he looked up and said in perfect English (with a Singapore accent) "we're genetically refining our race to be human sized and take over the world. We're going to live off of human brains!" 

This monitor lizard was a few feet long. He's a relative of the Komodo Dragon, and they can grow up to 2 meters long. We saw 3 or 4 of these big guys.

We took a wonderful hike, complete with canopy walk, on which we saw lizards, skinks, car-sized ants, a giant centipede, turtles, and about 10 monkeys!

Friends

Aimee's back yard.

Legend says that vomit from the magical Merlion will make you a clean, non-gum chewing, non-spitting citizen who loves to eat and shop. It seems to be working for Singapore and it's visitors!

Singapore has the world's only nighttime horse race. We had to check it out (although we had to leave for the airport before night). This is us pretending to care about the results.

Laos

Christmas break was a relaxing vacation in Luang Prabang, Laos. My friends and I were excited to see a new culture and landscape. 

Laos was absolutely  beautiful. We spent 2 days on a river boat traveling through the mountains of Laos before arriving in Luang Prabang. While there we enjoyed the town on the river, an elephant camp out in the hills and cycling to a little textile village on Christmas day. 

We made wonderful, meaningful connections with vendors, students (in an English practice center that we volunteered at) and children. While in Chiang Mai I don't usually experience the tourist culture. My area of town is very Thai, which I appreciate greatly. So I don't know if my observations of Laos are tainted by that. But it seemed that vendors and tuk-tuk drivers in Laos were much more pushy than Thailand. A simple "mai bpen rai" (no thank you) was not sufficient to alleviate their hollering for our attention. Additionally we were not greeted by the constant smiling that Thailand is famous for. We noticed almost the second we stepped into Laos that we were no longer in the Land Of A Thousand Smiles. 

We did, however, meet many wonderful people. Many of them spoke Thai and were delighted to hear about our lives. The students we met were anxious to tell us of their homes and have us visit them at work (usually as waiters). The children we met were kind and unabashed, very different from children in the hill tribes of Thailand or even the shyness of children in Chiang Mai.

We did observe that backpackers are very loud (the main backpackers lodge was next to our guesthouse), especially when they get free whiskey all night. Additionally Laos roosters have a very unique, loud and constant crowing. They take a break in the evening (just to let you fall asleep) and then they start up again at about 3 AM. Jing jing (really!). 

Christmas will be a little sparse this year

1 week ago, in the wee hours of the morning my time, our family dog died.

Gabi came to us the Christmas I was 14. Mom and dad decided that every boy needs a dog, so that was Jem's  gift. He spent many trips to the city pound searching for our new family member. The pound said that Gabi was aggressive and bad with men, children, and other pets; Jem knew that wasn't true. She was rough around the edges. She was insecure and hurt. She needed a home and stable, consistent love. She got us (and obedience school!).

We had a wonderful 10.5 years with our girl. She entered a family of non-dog lovers. She left us devastated.

I have two parts; half of my heart is home, with my family. The other half of me is here, happy and completely content in life. At least, that is the usual balance. This week my 'home half' feels empty. It is sad, homesick, and missing my dog. My 'here half' goes to work, teaches, grades, spends time with friends, and functions normally. It is happy and thankful for the life I live. But this week, just this week, everything has felt not quite right. My 'home half' aches. My life has been blessed by my wonderful dog. Right now there is a hole, but I know that that hole will be filled with more blessings.

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2010

I'm thankful for so many wonderful years with, in my opinion, the greatest dog on earth.

City Wide Photo Scavenger Hunt

You may gather from my silence that the new term has started. I find it fascinating that it takes me so many hours of prep to be ready for each hour of class time. I had heard that this was the case, but now I am experiencing it.

This weekend Jason Mraz was scheduled to perform in southern Thailand. Several friends and I had tickets and were excited for a road/concert trip. On Thursday, however, Jason canceled the concert because he was worried about travel for his fans due to flooding in Bangkok.

In an attempt to cheer up my gloomy friends I organized a photo scavenger hunt yesterday in Old City, Chiang Mai. It was a huge hit and we hope to do it again next month. We even met some people through the hunt who would like to participate next time!

Here are some pictures.

Anisha and I at Three Kings Monument

Justin with a squatty potty (we were lucky enough to find one in a toilet store!) Angela mailing a postcard to her mom

 Our entire team dancing "Single Ladies"

Our entire team eating ice cream!

Us at a Wat. For some reason we're all making ridiculous faces

Angela and I as guards at the city gate. She chose to be a human guard while I chose to be a meerkat guard

Massage, Kitchens and Kittens

These last few days have been full of firsts. Saturday I got to cook dinner, a real dinner, for the first time since moving here. My friend Anisha's parents are gracious enough to have an open door policy with us, so we crashed their house to make dinner and hang out for the evening. It was so fun to be in the kitchen that I cooked the next two days also: Sunday a dog shaped cake for my Ajaan's birthday, Monday focaccia bread for fun. I will definitely be making a point to getting into the kitchen more.

Today was my first ever massage, and a Thai massage to boot! Anisha describes Thai massage "it's like doing yoga, except they do all of the work." Lots of pushing and pulling, prodding, and cracking bones. I'm a little ticklish while getting a deep tissue massage in the area of my armpits. I'll admit it. I was nervous, first massage, but it turned out to be absolutely the best use of an hour and 100 baht. 

These last two days a small, friendly, adorable tabby kitten with a kinked tail has found us at the nursing dorm. I spent the better part of an hour this evening playing with the kitten and chatting with students and Mae Bons (house mothers) in Thinglish (*tin-glish, Thai-English). The consensus was that we love cats, our boss Ajaan Rujira does not, and I was delegated to ask Ajaan Esther (Vice President in charge of Residential Life) tomorrow what we should do with the kitty. I heard a lot of Thai conversation to the effect of "Ajaan Esther likes dogs. Do you think she likes cats? She'll take it!" Tomorrow I will find someone to adopt him.

I  recommend cooking with friends, getting Thai massages with friends, and finding homes for stray cats. All good hobbies. 

The World's Longest Ongoing War

Before coming here all the I knew of the war in Burma was that Karen refugees often find a new home in Boise. Sure, I read the Wikipedia article on the history of Burma, but it was an abstract account jumbled with dates of fighting and changing government. I admired Aung San Suu Kyi for her courage in the face of danger. Although she is no longer on house arrest (as of earlier this year) she will not leave Burma for fear that she will not be allowed to return. What devotion to her people!

In Thailand it is not so abstract. I have not been to Burma. I have not seen it with my own eyes. But it is a part of my life here. I hear from friends stories of the living conditions and the fear that dominates the people in Rangoon. I play volleyball and hang out with Free Burma Rangers, courageous individuals who brave the Burmese army, landmines, and countless other dangers to bring training, supplies, medical treatment and love to pro-Democratic ethnic groups. I have friends who cannot return home to Burma and haven't seen their families in years.

May they be blessed. May they be safe. May this war end.



My friend Jenica's blog here.

Documentary on the war in Burma here.

Well, how was YOUR flood weekend?

It started Tuesday. Reports that the dam upriver had broken (still don't know if this is true). A VERY heavy rainy season this year has already caused almost 200 deaths in Thailand from floods and mudslides. Reports of a storm is moving in from the East. There is no place for the water to go.

Wednesday was flood prep. Sandbags and furniture moved to the second story reminded me of the Boise River. The predictions said 3pm Wednesday. And the water level started rising.

We watched the Mae Ping swell and rush, carrying logs, trees and garbage from upriver. We watched it begin to spill over it's banks into houses, shops and roads.

By Thursday this was my boss' driveway (picture taken from the front door). The CV team ran into a little traffic problem trying to get to an appointment.

We had to find a back way. I decided to run down to the river to see the flooding Thursday night.

My normal running route by the high school was a bit inaccessible. The high school students, however, were ecstatic to get 2.5 days off school for flooding.

In the end the flooding was not nearly as bad as predicted. The water level did not rise as high as they thought it would, and the storm from the east was downgraded and ended up just being another rainy day. For us in Chiang Mai, it was a good weekend. My thoughts are with those who did not fair so well in this weather.