Doi Mae Salong 1

This is Doi Mae Salong "a city in the clouds" as you can see it really is in the clouds. Its on top of a mountain deep in the northern province of Chiang Rai. Its an amazing place that isnt really very discovered yet by tourists. This jungle covered mountain is laced with corn, tea and rice fields. It is truely like being in a postcard.








This city is well known for its tea. The city has many tea shops where you go from shop to shop tasting the tea that is served in a chinese tea ceremony. All of tea is grown on this mountain and when you are finished you usually buy some of the tea. Here is Katie, Lindsey(a new volunteer that lives up in Chiang Rai) and Merissa in the first tea shop we stopped at. Notice the very interesting cups. First, they make the tea then they put them into a small long cup and cover it in a wider bowl and turn it upside down on the table. Then you pick the taller cup up, put it up to your nose to smell, and put it over your eye for healing. Finally you enjoy the wonderful ginger, orange, green, oolong, etc...flavored tea.



Most of the tea shops are owned by Chinese people. Many Chinese people moved here and have now formed a very interesting culture that is not exactly Chinese, Thai, or hill tribe. Here is a picture of a door covered in Chinese decorations.








This is just another beautiful scenic view on top of the mountain.

Doi Mae Salong 2

Doi Mae Salong has mainly chinese and hill tribe people from the tribe of Akha. There are like 7 or 8 different tribes in Thailand. Here is a picture of some hill tribe walking up the hill.












Here is Merissa, Katie, and Lindsey in front of a tea field











This is a picture of some workers working on a terraced tea field.













Here is Merissa and I pretending to be tea pots in front of this tea store witha window in the shape of a tea pot. Think Im a little tea pot short and stout!










Here I am in front of a this beautiful mountain backdrop! This trip was amazing and I will forever remember this as one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Motorcyle Chicken

Sometimes you see animals doing really funny things in Thailand. This Chicken was just perched on top of this motorcycle. I thought it was really funny, so decided to share it with you all. Some facts about motorcylces in Thailand: You will often times see women riding side sadel, a dog riding in the front seat, families of 4 or 5 riding on one motorcycle, even children as young as 3rd or 4th grade driving a motorcycle, and even chickens trying to get in on the action. Its a whole different world here with different laws of safety!

Snail

Thailand has a lot of interesting animals. Another animal it has is the snail. You dont see them very often. This snail I saw at night. They are really large. This snail is probably 7 inches long. I know there are snails in America, but Ohio doesnt have any, or at least any with giant shells like this...so I find them really interesting and fun to watch.

A Home at the End of the World

Yesterday, I finished A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham. It is about three unlikely people who fall in love with each other, have a baby, and move from New York City to the Country. It also talks about their parents, one of the boys's mother being a main character. The initial setting is in Cleveland Ohio...which I loved because a lot of the places and people I could totally see in my head. The book is also set in the 70s and 80s.
I give this book a 5 out of 5. I could not put the book down and it absolutly goes into my list of favorite books of all time. Even though I LOVED it I would not recommend this book to just anyone. I feel its pretty liberal and someone deeply conservative would probably not enjoy this book, as it has a lot of unconventional characters. Think the musical Rent. If you didnt like that then you wouldnt like this book...if you loved it you would probably love this book. But then again, the writing is lovely, so I could be wrong.
My favorite quote from this book..." They were Ohio hip". All of my friends back in Ohio can definitly identify with that quote and understand it. Not exactly negative, yet not entirely positive.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Today at School I finishedThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. It is about 4 girls who were raised together and will be spending the first summer apart ever. They find this pair of pants that seem to magically fit them all and mail it to each other throughout the summer while writing each other about their adventures and or everyday lives.
I give this book a 3.9 out of 5. It was a decent enough book. I might have liked this book a lot more if A. I was a girl, and even more than that if B. I was also in high school. Its a quick read that takes no time at all. Amber, Shannon, and Meghan you will probably all appreciate this book much more that I did.

Anna Karenina

I have finally conquered the book Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, who is the writer of War and Peace. I say conquered because the shear mass of this book is amazing. This is the largest book I have ever read. This book is about two completly different love stories that are started by the same unifying event of love almost lost.

I feel that anyone who has ever been in love, been married, been spurned by love, or is planning to get married would really enjoy this book. Even though it was written in the late 1800's and is translated into English from Russian...it is so well written and compelling that it is very prevelant and an interesting read in todays society.

I give this book a 4 out of 5. I would give it 5 out of 5, but I feel its just too long. Its over 700 pages with print almost the size of print in the bible. But if you ever have a lot of free time on your hands you wont be upset you picked it up.

PIG FACE

This is exactly what you think it is....a pig face. They really do use every part of the pig and Thailand, as pork is the main meat eaten in Thailand. Pig faces are generally used for one of two things. First, you will sometimes see them at temples used as an offering to the spirits. Secondly, they are sometimes boiled down and turned into whatelse...a dip! When I was told this I laughed so hard and the Thai person didnt understand why I thought this was so funny. I saw this pig face in the village of Klong Pi Krai where my good friend Becky lives. We were really bored so we made up a song about pig faces. This song uses the tune Go Go Go Joeseph from the musical Joseph and the technicolor dream coat......
Go Go Go Pig Face we know where you are. Down at the Talahd(Thai for market) just like a star. You have no body, only a face, not even a head to display your grace. There was more but I cant remember the rest. Yes, peace corps volunteers really do have no lives and like to do things like make up songs about pig faces to pass the time.

Water Buffalo

All over Thailand you see these delightfully dumb creatures known as water buffalo. The word for water buffalo in Thai is Quai. In old times water buffalo were used for helping in field work. They have now mostly been replaced by machinary and are only used for food. I really like these creatures because sometimes they will make their heads and backs really flat. They are really fun to watch swimming in the ponds and rolling around in the mud. I usually dont have my camera on me when I see a water buffalo and was very excited when I saw one today on my way to the university to upload pictures.

The plastic is only meant for shipping!

All over Thailand you will walk into offices and even homes to see much of the furniture still covered in plastic. Not only is it covered in plastic, but it has often times been left on so long that it is all torn and ratty. Many Thai people believe that the plastic will keep their furniture new. This is just another misconception. I get great pleasure on ripping the plastic off while explaining to the Thai people that actually the plastic only makes your furniture look bad and is only meant to be left on to keep it safe during shipping.

The legend of Chalawan

This past weekend I went to visit my friend Katie in the neighboring province of Pitchit. Pitchit is well known for its crocodiles because of the many marshes and swamps in this province. There is a Thai legend, that comes from Pitchit, about the monster Chalawan. Chalawan is a giant crocodile that can turn into a man. One day Chalawan takes two women under the water with him to be his wives. One of the women has a boyfriend who goes after Chalawan and kills him. There is a crocodile park in walking distance of Katies house. Here are some of the crocodiles in the park.

Beautiful Hand Painted Pottery

In Katie's province of Pitchit there is an OTOP product of Ben Jarong pottery. OTOP stands for one tombone(village) one product. It is basically a thai initiative to teach a village a marketable skill. Ben Jarong pottery is hand painted pottery. In the old days it was used to keep spices in. It is an art form from Northern Thailand.






We visited a small craft workshop for this pottery this past weekend. Here is a picture of an artist painting one of the pots. It is amazing how fast they paint the very intricate designs.

Yang Reung School

This is my new school Yang Reung. Last year I was teaching at Klong Hoi Sai School, but the education office changed my co-teacher...so I followed him here. I only work here on Mondays. Its actually in another community than I was previously working at. I like this school a lot, but it has kind of a big campus, which is not fun on rainy days as the roads are not all paved so you have to walk through the mud. I teach 1st to 4th grade in this building.




This is an open pavillion where I teach 5th and 6th grade. The students sit on mats on the floor to do their work.












I dont actually teach in this building, but I use the very slow internet here occasionally.











This is a picture of my co-teacher of two years Ajjan(teacher) Kanong. He is also the principal of the school.