What's the Story Morning Glory?

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Here at the farm we eat morning glory a lot.  You know that weed in your most precious flower bed that keeps growing and growing until it has taken over every beautiful daffodil and chrysanthemum you have?  And then you get out this thing called weed killer, and spray it all over that vile plant in order to take it out of this world. We eat that here.  Okay, not exactly.  Here we eat what is called Chinese morning glory, sometimes known as Chinese spinach.  So it's really not bad, or weird, but for the first week I thought we thought we were eating that exact weed.

Here are the differences.  This is Chinese Morning Glory

This is the weed you kill.

I really just wanted to write about morning glory because I have never heard of eating it like they do here, and I wanted the title of this blog to be What's the Story Morning Glory (you know the play Bye Bye Birdie?).

So, last weekend we headed up to a city called Lampang with some ward members and missionaries to spend the day at a blind school.  They had the day filled with different activities for the children like reading them stories, singing songs, and games like telephone.  My favorite was playing this game where they stood in a line and they had to pass water from one person to another eventually into a cup. We were all laughing and laughing as they tried to pass it, but mostly ended up throwing it on us and each other.  It was great, and I really enjoyed working with them and getting a taste for what the blind community is like.  The kids were so happy with life, it made me once again remember the blessings I enjoy everyday.

I am loving it here, hot weather, bugs and all.  I'm not sure if I've told you about Frank, the big daddy long leg that sits in the corner of our room.  He's pretty chipper most of the time.  Except when we have to kill the daddy long legs on the floor of our room, then he won't talk for a few hours.  But give him an ant or fly and he cheers up again.

p.s.

For whatever reason my computer decided to stop reading my SD card so I can't get the pictures off of my camera. So until I figure that out, I won't have any pictures to post.  

I got it to work, see the link at the top.

Wats, Massages and Opinions.

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This last weekend G and I headed down to Chiang Mai to do something "touristy" with all the other interns in Chiang Mai (there are 11 of us total)  Saturday afternoon we headed up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a famous Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai.  Sadly I forgot my camera, so maybe I'll try to post some pictures from my phone.  It was beautiful.  The Wat has these big, long stairs that take you up to the temple, then you go inside and everything is gold plated, with these beautiful intricate southeastern Asia designs.  We got blessed by a monk for "success in all your life," (which I am very excited about), and then we were given a string bracelet for good luck.

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep: Stairs leading up to the temple

In the Wat looking up at the main gold plated steeple.

We spent the evening eating great food and going to the night bazar (a series of small shops and stands that sell everything from wooden frogs to vans).  We all the famous Thai massage, and let me tell you, it is famous for a reason.  I got a foot massage and it was perfect after being on my feet all day.

Some Thai Culture:

Many of you might know that sex trafficking is a big problem here in Thailand.  Last Saturday night as our wonderful facilitator Spencer was sending everyone home G, Chloe and I started people watching.  We saw again and again old grey haired men with young beautiful Thai girls.  I don't know if this is technically "sex trafficking" or prostitution, and it could be that it's just a man with his wife/girlfriend in a completely normal relationship.  All if's and buts aside, 9 out of 10 times it's nothing good.  Here in Thailand this is a very common sight, and I just want to express how grateful I am to grow up in a place where things like this aren't commonplace.  I am so grateful that where I come from women are more than an item to be played with.

I hope that I haven't offended anybody by what I just wrote.  I just think that reading about what it is Really like in Thailand is more interesting than hearing about me sorting through illegal DVD's for 15 minutes.  I also am a strong believer that people should get the cake, not just the pretty icing on top.

What's your opinion on issues like this?

The Children's Shelter Foundation

I attempted to upload pictures but it was taking too long.  So, go here to look at the coolest pics you'll ever see. (maybe a bit of an exaggeration?)

Genevieve and I made it to the orphanage on Sunday night.  It is much cooler here than in Chiang Mai so it is possible to be outside during the day.  Everything here is so beautiful.  Every inch is covered in something green and growing.

The children are amazing.  They are all so cute and loving.  They pretty much take care of themselves and each other.  Tomorrow they will start going to school in the city.  Genevieve and I are going to teach English one on one to about 4 people each.  I'm really excited to start working and teaching except for the fact that I have NO idea how to do it.  My respect for teachers has grown a lot since being here.

It is very humbling being here with the kids and seeing how they live and what their lives are like.  Most of them have some family, but their Mom or Dad can't afford to send them to school so they are living here.  Today we had a little art class and we had them all draw what they wanted to be when they grow up.  Some wanted to be nurses, a hair stylist, a tour guide (tourism is the big business here, most Thai people go into it.  It's a love hate relationship because it's a job, but many could be doing better things.), or something like Iron Man, spider man etc.

There are so many bugs here.  There are always three or four Geckos in our room.  Last night I turned over my pillow and a Gecko was on the other side.  I took my pillow outside and was trying to shake it off but it just kept running around the pillow.  It got a little too close to me and of course I threw the pillow onto the ground right into a pile of ants.  Most of you know that I Hate ants.  A lot.  There was a frog in our bathroom one morning, and there are always a few spiders and moths hanging out by the shower.  I was getting a mento from an already open pack and a bunch of tiny ants came out and up my arm.  I kept finding them crawling on me for a while after that.  I am slowly getting used to all of this, and it really isn't too bad. Overall it is fun a beautiful, everyone is so so nice.

p.s.
If you have any suggestions of how I can teach English to someone who speaks none let me know!  Keep in mind that I don't speak any Thai...

A Day in Chiang Mai

Street view from our apartment

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After 40 hours of flying on planes, Ambien induced memory loss, walking in foreign airports, taking sketchy shuttles to our hotel and a long smelly bus ride, Chloe, Genevieve and I finally made it to Chiang Mai.  We staggered of the bus and sat at the station enveloped in the hot humid air while we waited for Spencer, the facilitator of our internship, and Bird, the man who lives in Thailand who helps us get our internships, to come pick us up.  We were the typical Farangs ( a Thai term that means "foreigner") standing there looking disheveled and lost with our big suitcases.

So far we have worked hard to get rid of our Jet lag, eaten lots of very delicious foods, and learned how to count in Thai.  Genevieve (or G) and I are staying in a "guest house" before we move up to the orphanage, about 40 minutes away from Chiang Mai in the middle of nowhere, where we will be working with hilltribe orphaned children.  I'm not one hundred percent sure what we will be doing but I think that it will be teaching English and ASL, working in their garden with the kids, (its huge and it's where they get all the food they eat), and cooking.  The guest house G and I are staying is tiny and has no air conditioning.  That means that we avoid it at all costs during the day, and at night we sleep in shorts with no blankets, just a fan blowing on us.  Surprisingly that fan keeps it at a near perfect temperature, though it's still a bit warm.

Yesterday was our first real day in the city.  It was such a long day, by the time I went to be I felt that I had been here for three days.  During the day we went around with Spencer and Bird doing things to set up internships for the other people that will be coming and working in Chiang Mai.  In the evening we walked over to Wat Phra Sing (pronounce, pa-sing).  It was beautiful.  Everything was so elaborate and detailed.  When you go in you have to take your shoes off out of respect.  In Thailand your feet are the dirtiest part of your body and therefore you don't show your feet to anybody or touch your feet to anyone.  The Buddha statues that are placed around the temple are also sacred.  Years ago around 1980 I think some missionaries climbed on the statue, touched the head (the most sacred part of the body, also something you don't touch), and then took pictures. They made the mistake of developing these pictures.  The people who developed them saw this and as a result missionaries weren't allowed in Thailand for years, destroying years and years of of the church developing a good relationship with this country, and one was in jail for about 6 months.  Needless to say, you are very respectful around the statues.  If you decide to be in a picture with one, you just smile.  No funny faces or stances.

Genevieve by Wat Phra Sing

After we went to the Temple we went to a wedding that was being held in the LDS Church.  It was beautiful and everyone was so happy.  The LDS Church is so nice.  It is clean and has this big grassy area next to it, something you just don't find here.  Also it has air conditioning.  A BIG bonus.  After the wedding we went in to the gym where they had small tables laid out with small bowls of food on them.  The little Thai boys are Crazy!  Bird keeps telling G that she is "do" (pronounced with a sound we don't have in English).  There's not a direct translation, but it means that you are naughty.  Like a little kid is naughty.  You are crazy, talk a lot, and have a lot of energy.  Bird tells her that she is "do" just like his son.  Anyways, being at this wedding I saw exactly what he meant.  Bird's son was there and he was "do" right along with every other boy.  They were running around the gym laughing and screaming only sitting down for a second to get a bit of sticky rice.

The last thing we did yesterday was the Night Bazar.  It is a series of stands where people sell things, mostly to the Farangs.  It can be a little expensive compared to what you might find at the Sunday March, but to us it's not.  A pair of sunglasses is 200 Baht, about 6 dollars, and some shorts are about 300 Baht.  It was full of energy, so many people were there buying and selling all sorts of things.

Thailand is so amazing.  I wish that all of you could be here.  I am hoping that I will soon get used to how hot and humid it is because at my place at the orphanage I don't have air conditioning either.  It's so hot that in the morning when you are getting ready you sweat.  When you are sitting down eating lunch, you sweat.  At night when you walk down the street, you sweat.  Besides all of this is is perfect.  The people are so so kind.  They help you with anything and don't mind that you can't speak Thai.  In Europe if you try to speak, say French, they just look at you and speak English and act like you are a hassle to deal with.  But in Thailand when you try to speak and mess up they kindly correct you and smile, they're just glad you are trying to speak it.

There are more pictures here.

First Post

The title of this blog effectively explains the purpose of this page.  With that considered I guess I don't need a "first blog post."