I ATE A WORM

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Jan 12^th,

On the 12^th, we went to a city on a hill known as Doi Tung. Here, we toured the “Princess Mother’s” residency and a beautiful flow garden. While in the garden, we ran into three women playing an instrument and singing along to the tune of Amazing Grace. Our group was so excited to see something other than people bowing down and praying to Buddha, and we all decided to sing along. It was a pretty special moment. In the same area, there was a ton of shopping and something called the Hall of Inspiration. It talks about how the King’s wife changed the land from a place to grow opium and foster opioid addiction into an agricultural dream full of employment opportunity and newfound wealth.

When we were in the garden, a Thai family asked me to take their picture. I decided to put my new language skills to work and count to three in Thai. I said, “nung, song, sam,” and everyone within a 20 foot radius from me erupted in smiles and laughter. They couldn’t believe that someone as white as me knew how to count in Thai and actually did it out loud. I could tell they really appreciated it, and we all went on smiling about it for some time. Before we left the area, we made sure to try walking on stilts (which is nearly impossible) and to race down a hill in man-made wooden racecars. Don’t worry, we made sure to make a scene and be the loudest ones everywhere we went.

Next, we headed to Choui Fong tea plantation, where I was able to feed my addiction by drinking my third green tea + milk for the day. Followed by the tea plantation was a nice American meal of pizza and salad. We stayed overnight at a hotel called Jansupar Court for our last night in Chiang Rai!

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