Yesterday Matt and I went to the elephant conservation park. I was really excited about going because I have been reading about and studying the painting elephants of Thailand for about 2 years now. But once we got there it was kinda weird.
The camp was supposed to provide "room and board" for former timber elephants now out of work, and the painting and other stuff was to help pay for the expense of keeping them. I dunno if this was really the case or if they were just exploiting the animals for the tourist dollars. We also went on a jungle ride on an elephant. The rider was a bit of a sadist and seemed to enjoy beating the elephant with this wooden/metal tool or stabbing his ear with the metal hook. By the time the ride was done our elephant had a bloody ear :-(
The painting was interesting to watch, but what I had been reading about was more like the elephants get to paint however they wanted and use whatever colors they wanted. This was more like they taught the elephant a form and then he just performed it. Not as exciting as I was hoping.
It was a bit of a disappointing experience, but overall I am glad that I went.
We also joined a group of other volunteers going to the Chiang Mai Zoo. There's not much to report there - we walked uphill most of the time, in the rain, and never really saw any animals. I think they lure people into this animal-less park, the people inevitably get lost with all of the windy uphill paths and they have to pay a zoo truck 20 baht to bring them to the exit. I wanted to go to see how they house the penguins (penguins in Thailand?) - we found out. They no longer have any.
I probably won't have a chance to post until Shanghai (I leave on Sunday)!
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Famous Noodles
Chiang Mai has been great!
I have found a new addiction - Chiang Mai noodles.
They are a little bit of spicy heaven. I just got back from lunch and was able to enjoy my new favorite dish.
Today we started our TESOL training so I won't be too offensive when I teach. Yesterday we went to the Sunday market - very large and neat (a lot of Thai crafts). I thought that I would have better luck with street vendors for food, but we have not had any success yet.
We are already making plans for this weekend - hopefully I will be able to see the painting elephants.
Anyhow, I will be sending out a mass pretty soon about some taboo topics that we shouldn't discuss over email and that will hopefully help keep me out of Chinese prison.
I have found a new addiction - Chiang Mai noodles.
They are a little bit of spicy heaven. I just got back from lunch and was able to enjoy my new favorite dish.
Today we started our TESOL training so I won't be too offensive when I teach. Yesterday we went to the Sunday market - very large and neat (a lot of Thai crafts). I thought that I would have better luck with street vendors for food, but we have not had any success yet.
We are already making plans for this weekend - hopefully I will be able to see the painting elephants.
Anyhow, I will be sending out a mass pretty soon about some taboo topics that we shouldn't discuss over email and that will hopefully help keep me out of Chinese prison.
Friday, July 15, 2005
The Moment of Truth
After 16 hours on a plane and 12 hours on a train we are finally in Chiang Mai, Thailand! It is absolutely beautiful here, hot, but beautiful!
I wasn't quite ready for it but I had my first encounter with a squatter on the train. I haven't had the best of luck with such commodes in the past especially on moving vehicles. So far I have fallen in - head first (Korea), slipped in tail in first (with tadpoles - Indonesia), and slipped into one (where's the toil... squish - Japan) and those are just the highlights. So really what was the expectation for success on this particular occasion on a very bumpy train?
After I committed to the thought of using the squatter and psyching myself up to the duty, I had to choose the "method" since I chose to wear pants and then step up to the little platform. Everything was going well until the moment of truth - where's the toilet paper?
There's that moment of panic when you have to carefully consider your options - finding some sort of paper inside your pocket (will I really use the 20 baht note?), wallet, or whatever just not, unless there are no other options - good ol' righty or lefty will have to do the trick.
I chose lefty. But right before the um, deed, I noticed that hidden under a teapot was a nice, clean roll of paper for me to use instead - Whew! So, not entirely a bad experience and everything in the end went where it was supposed to go.
Today I spent my first full day in Chiang Mai - we went to a really cool temple (wat), I got a blessing from a monk, walked around the city (they have a huge square moat around the old city) and fed an elephant. This is a seriously cool place, very hot and sticky, but awesome! I will be here for about 2 weeks and then off to China. I will post some pictures once I figure out how to do it (and if they will let me tinker around on a public computer).
I wasn't quite ready for it but I had my first encounter with a squatter on the train. I haven't had the best of luck with such commodes in the past especially on moving vehicles. So far I have fallen in - head first (Korea), slipped in tail in first (with tadpoles - Indonesia), and slipped into one (where's the toil... squish - Japan) and those are just the highlights. So really what was the expectation for success on this particular occasion on a very bumpy train?
After I committed to the thought of using the squatter and psyching myself up to the duty, I had to choose the "method" since I chose to wear pants and then step up to the little platform. Everything was going well until the moment of truth - where's the toilet paper?
There's that moment of panic when you have to carefully consider your options - finding some sort of paper inside your pocket (will I really use the 20 baht note?), wallet, or whatever just not, unless there are no other options - good ol' righty or lefty will have to do the trick.
I chose lefty. But right before the um, deed, I noticed that hidden under a teapot was a nice, clean roll of paper for me to use instead - Whew! So, not entirely a bad experience and everything in the end went where it was supposed to go.
Today I spent my first full day in Chiang Mai - we went to a really cool temple (wat), I got a blessing from a monk, walked around the city (they have a huge square moat around the old city) and fed an elephant. This is a seriously cool place, very hot and sticky, but awesome! I will be here for about 2 weeks and then off to China. I will post some pictures once I figure out how to do it (and if they will let me tinker around on a public computer).
Monday, July 04, 2005
Send in the National Guard!
My apartment is a disaster zone! We are getting ready to leave for our two year adventure to China. It is Sunday, July 3rd, the movers come Friday and we leave on the 11th. Geez, I have so much to do before we go!
I'm posting this now so I can go live with this blog page before I go. I probably won't have time to post anything else until I get to Thailand - ahhh, Thailand....
I'm posting this now so I can go live with this blog page before I go. I probably won't have time to post anything else until I get to Thailand - ahhh, Thailand....
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