"Sabai, Sabai" ...aka Everything's Cool

Hello again! Suwana here! (According to my professor Suwana is my Thai name, which means “golden”. Obviously I was delighted to learn this and adopted my new name immediately.)  Another few weeks have elapsed since my arrival and I have now officially been in Chiang Mai for over a month.  While the blissful intoxication of being in Thailand has yet to wear off, a few sobering realities are beginning to sink in.  One has to do with the simple fact that I won’t be home for the holidays this year.  Of course I knew that going into this experience, but I only just recently pondered how strange it will be to not carve pumpkins, eat turkey, or get sick of “Feliz Navidad” in the coming months.  And most significantly, I won’t be able to enjoy the loving company of my family on my favorite day of the year.  I am actually a freak about Christmas and will miss our lil family traditions SO much. 

Some less sentimental realities are starting to surface as well.  For example, there ain’t no doubt a-baht it: it is deceivingly easy to spend a decent amount of money here.  Everything really is so cheap by American standards that somewhat-thoughtless consumption of goods and services does happen. Thais in Chiang Mai eat out for every meal too, but tend to eat street food for super cheap while so far my farang and I will more often spend a bit more baht to enjoy our meals in restaurants with servers and a nice atmosphere.  I don’t really think twice about buying a smoothie or coffee drink if I want one because they’re so cheap and it is easy to justify the little luxuries… I know these small transactions are adding up.  Still, I don’t think I’ve spent more than $5 USD on a meal which is amazing.  But as I am starting to plan weekend excursions and trips for my month break in the winter, I am realizing I need to be a little more Froogle.

Another frustration is learning the language.  It being a tonal language, a word may take on five different meanings dependent on how you say it.  I consistently make the mistake of using a rising tone when I am saying a word I am unsure of because I will say it how we would pronounce a word at the end of a question in English.  I also find myself wanting to use Spanish words to describe things when the Thai I know won’t suffice.  It’s loco.  Still, my Thai has gotten a little better these past few weeks.  I have had the opportunity to go to a few Thai language exchange meet-ups that are held at a café nearby.  They are very informal social gatherings, where Thai people come to practice their English and foreigners come to learn Thai.  It works out very nicely!  The guy who owns the café and hosts the meet-ups is an Australian who has been in Chiang Mai for the past four years teaching English.  He is just one of many farang I have met who came to Thailand a while ago and just never really left!  (Another guy I met was an ordained monk who initially just came to Thailand for travel!)  It really is a great place to be so I understand why these people have stayed for so long.

sahwatdeekaaaaaaa gin aa-haan! (hello eat food)

more like kitch-fun am I right?!

To me, even just the food is a legitimate reason to stay here.  I had a great experience in my Thai Cuisine class, which ended a couple weeks ago.  We got to cook around 30 different Thai dishes using ingredients that I had never heard of and when the class ended our teacher gave us her recipe book!! I am eager to try to replicate some of our masterpieces when I return to the States.

Spicy Pai, the awesome hostel we stayed in!

scootin' around

A couple weekends ago, I went with a group of friends to Pai, which is a little village town about 3 hours from Chiang Mai. Someone had compared it to the Humboldt of Thailand so I was very excited to see it!! It was absolutely beautiful, and the temperature was slightly cooler than the weather in Chiang Mai which was a definite plus. We had a fantastic weekend renting scooters, exploring the country side and generally just taking in the incredible views! Still, none of us anticipated it being such a touristy area.  While the countryside still seemed relatively unaffected by foreigners, the downtown area of Pai was quite evidently catered exclusively for tourists and backpackers passing through.  We had a first hand account of the backpacker culture staying in a hostel right outside of town.  The hostel was very cool, all made out of bamboo and in the middle of a fantastic view!  It was my first experience staying in a hostel and it was so interesting to see so many people meeting from all over the world, all with their own physical and metaphorical baggage.  Seeing so many young people so alive with adventure definitely further sparked my interest in traveling!

awesome waterfall w rock slide!

beautiful views all through the countryside

enjoyed breakfast in a former Coloradan's cafe´!

first Thai elephant sighting!

juss me bein cute

Last weekend, I was able to take part in the TedX event in Chiang Mai.  It took place in a beautiful hotel and completely exceeded my expectations!  We listened to some fascinating talks, had an unreal buffet for lunch, and enjoyed floating around different stands they had set up.  

 

my pal Lexis and I as intellectuals

There were a few talks in Thai but we were given headsets with a translator relaying the speakers’ messages for us.  As you would expect from a Ted event, I left the event feeling inspired and creative!  If you haven’t listened to Ted talks before, you must check them out!  Here is a personal favorite of mine (not from event): Ted Talk: Louie Schwartzberg

Some highlights from this past week:

1.  I bought a bicycle and my world has gotten so much bigger!! Now I can explore more of the city and get to class in 5 minutes!

my new ride

2. I met a very interesting man from Japan who grows organic coffee near Chiang Mai.  (One of his many occupations including biofuel engineer, humanitarian, and journalist)  He introduced me to a friend he has here who is putting together a beautiful space filled from floor to ceiling with intricate Hindu paintings that depict some of their mythology.  A friend and I got to visit the place, which will eventually host social events like weddings.  It has a very calming temple-like energy.  The Ganesh statue outside took about two years to carve from a tree.  Ganesh being the god of knowledge in Hinduism, Thai students apparently come to make offerings in order to pass their exams.  We happily took part in the ritual!

just one of the impressive murals 

Ganesh statue... so beautiful!

3.  Some friends and I went to a monk cave about an hour outside of Chiang Mai and it was amazing.  The cave was made naturally, not by human hands and was home to a huge reclining Buddha and many little shrines.  After visiting the cave, we hiked up to an amazing viewpoint and saw about 8 monkeys on the way up!!! Those were the first I had seen during my time here!

 

*there is a monkey in this photo*

lil shrine 

the reward at the top

I have an exciting weekend coming up exploring the capital of Thailand, followed by a weekend where I will spend the night in a Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai.  I am so lucky and happy to be here!  Thanks for reading!