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The Thai market, while not unique as far as markets go, is a wonderful experience. There are rows and rows of fruits, vegetables, clothing, cleaning supplies...anything you could possibly need. Like most towns, Thai has a permanent market that is open 7 days a week. This is the market that we visited on Sunday night. Rose, Gaudhi, Andy and I were taken into town by a friend of Rose's friend. We gave her a list of the things we needed, and she quickly and efficiently led us through the stalls, taking us to the locations with the best bargains. Dish soap here, toilet paper there, fresh fruit across the way. It was fun to race through the maze picking up our items as quickly as possible. Better yet, we were treated to Thai teas and then visited the friend's home where we were stuffed full of dragon fruit and mango and pineapple. If nothing else, Thailand is a great place to eat fruit.
Monday morning we were up at 5:45 am to catch a ride with Pi-Peter to Phrao's Monday market. We were again led through the stalls, this time in an open field in search of cheap clothing. None
of us had brought clothes we could paint in, and started out the morning with 20 baht (less than a dollar!) pants. True, they appeared to be made from potato sacks, but the price couldn't be beat considering they would be covered in paint within hours. Then t-shirts (39 baht unless you are larger than the average Thai woman like me, and then it's 99 baht for the men's sizes), towels (a real splurge at 150 baht each) and some fancy fisherman's pants (one size fits all that actually fits me. woo!). A quick stop at the permanent market earned us a breakfast of fresh hot soy milk and custard with sticky rice for breakfast. I wish I could start every day this way.
Almost every day since has included a trip to town for various items: water, king shirts (for Mondays, in honor of the king's birth), lanna shirts (for Fridays, in honor of the Northern Thai culture), fresh fruit, take home dinner, phone cards... The last was an exciting step, indicating that I am finally cell phone enabled. And incoming calls in Thailand are free, so if anyone wants to call and harass me, I'm taking calls,
Rain Clouds
Approaching our beautiful paint job... but can't afford to make them! There are plans this weekend to go into Chiang Mai and visit the Sunday night walking market. I would worry about being broke from all the shopping, but so far it's mostly been spent on food and necessary clothing, at a fraction of what it would cost in the US (average cost of an outfit: 120 baht or $3.75). I can't really complain.
Transportation is an interesting dilemma here as well. So far we have no motorbikes, as Warm Heart hasn't been able to acquire enough for us yet, so we are making do my putting as many people as possible in the back of a pick up truck. So far, so good, although my risk adverse self lives in a constant state of worry about accidentally falling off the back. I blame that white water rafting trip where I went over the side.
Monday was spent painting the office, which was an entertaining, if exhausting, day. As you can see from the pictures, the IR/PS crew had a grand old time utilizing our auto timer camera functions to pose for group photographs. We got a lot accomplished and it was a
Before
Pre-painting very satisfying day.
Tuesday night we got home early enough to go for a walk, and a group of us headed out to this temple in the forest that we had seen on our daily commute and had been dying to explore. It is about a 15 minute walk from the resort, and well worth the trek through the heat and the bugs. Of course, the view en route didn't hurt, filled with trees, ant trails, birds, and rice paddies. And then we arrived at our destination. The grounds were fantastic - full of hidden Buddhas and trees and elephants and dragons. There was a cave full of bats that we left for a day when we could return with flashlights. We saw a reclining Buddha that rivaled the one in Chiang Mai. And at the top of a grand staircase was a small cave filled with Buddhas and decorations. It was stunning. Possibly better than anything I saw in Chiang Mai. Even here in the countryside there are Wats everywhere. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful they all are. The care that goes into their decoration and upkeep is astounding.
The rest of the week
After!
Note the very white feet. has been devoted to orientation. It has been a good couple of days, and I am excited about the direction we are headed in. This group of people is going to build an organization from the ground up, and it's pretty thrilling to be a part of that.
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Sara
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fun times!
You seem to be having a great time, and your pictures are beautiful! Looks like your home for the summer is quite lovely! And you've got me jealous with all your descriptions of food so far! Glad you're having fun!