I got back last night from my four day stay in a Lahu village in Northern Thailand. I was really excited to get away from the schoolwork, but I had no idea what I was about to encounter. First off, we arrived and immediately got placed in homestay families. We were in groups of two, so it really wasn't very intimidating, although we couldn't communicate at all with our family because they speak Lahu, not Thai. Our house was very humble but our host family gave us everything we needed and more, constantly watching for opportunities to give to us. The bathroom situation was...very different. There were squatty potties...but wait, it gets better: the "shower" consisted of a bucket of cold water that you poured over your head while squatting down to make sure that no one from outside could see you through the 4 inch crack inbetween the ceiling and the wall (Thai people are much shorter). To make it even better: all of this was done by light of a candle. Needless to say, I only took one shower while I was there.
The first full day that we were there, Friday, was spent planting banana trees at the top of a mountain near their water system. Apparently banana trees produce water, so by planting them at the top of the mountain, it will ensure that the village never runs out of water. While we were hiking through the jungle on our way to plant said banana trees we decided to also try out some grub. So yes - I have eaten live maggots. Two maggots, actually. They're rather tasty, although a little more tasty when they're fried. (side note: so far I've eaten live maggots, fried maggots, fried crickets, and fried worms.)
After our hike we went back to our homes, ate dinner that they prepared for us, and began the nightly festivities: playing with/fending off the hoards of village children. We learned that tickling breaks all language barriers and creates instant connections. Friday night was especially horrifying for some of us: I'm pretty sure the kids got together beforehand and came up with this plan, because it was brilliant. They would ALL (and by "all" i mean at least 20) swarm one person, climb on them, tackle them to the ground, tickle them incessantly, until someone took pity on them and tried to rescue them. Then all the children would immediately leave their victim and turn on the bleeding heart and carry on the same punishment out on them. This pattern ensued for some time. I'm not sure when it ended because I was hiding in the outhouse. No, just kidding...
On Saturday we spent the day at the orphanage farther up the mountain. There are about 50 kids at the orphanage, some of whose parents are still living but cannot afford to keep them. We all split up and did different things: some painted nails, others played ball, and still others painted faces (me). This is the place where we handed out the toys/toothbrushes/coloring books/gloves, etc that we brought for them. Thank you to everyone who donated gloves for me to bring - believe me, they're going to good use. It is absolutely freezing up there at night! After we played for a while we all went inside and had a "song exchange." The kids sat on one side of the room and we sat on the other, and we performed songs for eachother. They had intricate songs and dances planned for us, and we sang songs like "Father Abraham," which they actually loved and made us do a second time. Ajaan Mike also presented the orphanage with a sizable sum of money that will provide lunch for evey child for the next year. In past years they have not had the funds to feed the children 3 meals every day so they only have breakfast and dinner, but now they will have lunch as well!
Saturday night was the highlight of the weekend. Ajaan Ann's birthday is coming up so they had a huge surprise birthday celebration for her. They had us all sit in a circle around a huge bonfire while the men and women of the village came out in a line dressed in their traditional Lahu outfits, playing weird instruments and doing their tribal dances. They even presented Ajaan Ann with what we think was a rice cake (more to come on that subject). They presented each of us with a handmade Lahu bag, which is sooo neat! And they made us get up and they taught us some of their dances. This was the point at which I realized that my pictures that I took that night belonged on the front page of National Geographic magazine.
Oh, and the rice cakes: The Lahus have a saying that if you can make pretty rice cakes, you will also make pretty children. So we decided to have some fun with that. The women of the village helped us make the rice cake dough (as in: they made it and we pretended to help but really got in the way) and we had a contest to see who could make the perfect rice cake. They end up looking like pinkish brown hamburger patties so none of them looked especially beautiful, but they were delicious!
Sunday was a very interesting day - we were asked to pray over a girl from the village who was very sick. She's 18 years old and was training as a nurse when she was diagnosed with a blood disease. The doctors said that she couldn't be cured, so they sent her back to the village to die. We met her and prayed over her, and the whole situation hit me really hard. I think it's because if she were in America, she would be given every available treatment to help her, but here that's not even an option. There is no hope for a cure through medicine - only through God. If you've taken the time to read this, I also ask you to please pray for her and her mother. As I hear more about her condition I will put it on the blog.
Also on Sunday morning we ate our rice cakes with breakfast, and had a processing group where we talked through some of the things that happened that weekend. The major thing that struck everyone was the idea of hospitality. The villagers said over and over to us that they had nothing to thank us with for coming and helping them with their water project. But they did so much for us: opened their homes, cooked for us, made us individual handmade bags, and let us in on some of their awesome traditions. And let's be serious: they could have planted those banana trees in half the time that it took us silly Americans. They were so grateful to us and looked for any opportunity to serve us, when in reality we didn't do anything to deserve it. My friend Tiffany described the weekend as a good slap in the face from God - showing us what we ought be like.

Not only the title of an incredible episode of LOST, "lost in translation" has been the overriding theme of my life for the past 36 hours. I moved in with my host family yesterday morning, and i have never been so intimidated in my life. The only comparable experience was when my parents sent me to summer camp in 4th grade with kids I didn't know. These experiences will go down in the books as the two most traumatic of my life, I'm sure. (I'm being melodramatic, I know). But more of that later...
Saturday morning we woke up at 6 am to embark on our trek up a mountain to get to a wat (temple) at the top called Do Suithep. The hike started off pretty mild, but halfway up the mountain we came to a road and were offered rides to the top, being told that the second half was a killer. Not wanting to lose face, I chose to suck it up and hike the rest of it. Soon after this point, two of our students nearly fell down the mountain when a rope we were using to help us climb up came loose and sent them tumbling. After that we found ourselves climbing up rocky slopes steeper than you would think possible until we finally reached a road and saw the wat up ahead of us. For the entire 3 hours of the hike I was reminiscing about the senior trek and how glad I was that I would only be hiking 3 hours...and not five days. (just kidding, jon!) After our time at the temple we were treated to 2 hour Thai massages which was equally as awkward as the hike was strenuous. There were "girl rooms" and "guy rooms," but there weren't enough mats in the "guy room," so one poor male soul was unwillingly transfered to our room, which allowed enough comic relief for us to overcome the awkwardness. Later that night we all enjoyed our last night together since we would be parting ways the next day.
On Sunday morning we went to the school to meet our Thai families. We waited at tables with our names on them as our families came out one by one to find us. Awkward? I think so. My family is a mom, dad, and two boys, ages 8 and 12. They live a little bit out of town and the mom and dad run a school next to their house for computer students. The dad is a physics teacher and the mom runs the office. Teng (the 8 year old) likes playing basketball and Tay (the 12 year old) plays the tuba. (Keep in mind that all this information could very well be false since I really have no idea what they're saying.) Yesterday was spent entirely with my family, and it was so intimidating/frustrating/exhausting/awkward. I became really overwhelmed with the language barrier and the fact that I was alone in a house with strangers. We went out to dinner that night with the family and about 20 of their students from the computer school. Talk about intimidating! When we got home I immediately locked myself in my room, called my parents crying, and tried to go to bed. The best part about it was that we left the house at 6 AM the next morning to go get breakfast...my class isn't until 8.
Today when we arrived back at school we all had stories to tell. The details of everyone's experiences were different, but we all had the same feelings: intimidating, loneliness, etc. Some people are living in mansions while other are in very modest houses. My friend Tim is living in a mansion with fountains and streams running through the house, while my other friend Desiree has to take bucket baths. Some are sleeping in beds big enough for 5 people, while others are sleeping on the floor. We laughed so hard this morning exchanging stories, it made all of it worthwhile. The best one of the day was from my friend Chris: his host father was trying to explain to him in broken English that he was Muslim and chose to say it this way: "you know Bin laden? ... Me....bin Laden." I can't imagine being on the receiving end of that statement. Anyway, we laughed a lot and empathized with eachother. It makes it better knowing that everyone else is feeling the same way.
Today was the first day of my internship at RICD, a center for children with disabilities, and it was different than I expected. For some reason they weren't expecting us so we didn't have much to do. There were only 3 of us, so we walked around a little and studied some Thai and generally were bored. Finally we found someone who needed our help: a Belgian man is here working on putting together a wheelchair distribution. He is actually the man who started the non-profit called "Wheels of Hope." In February they will be going around the country giving out wheelchairs to disabled people, most of which have never had the luxury of owning one. I was looking at the applications and pictures of people they will be giving them to, and it broke my heart. There was a picture of a 20 year old boy who looked like he was 10 or 11 at the most. Helping him coordinate wheelchairs with people's applications really made me feel like I was doing something. I came there to do music therapy but ended up doing something completely different, and that's okay. Mai pen rai (it's okay).

Sawadikah! Dichann pen naksiksa thii whithayalay chiangmai. Dichann choop khaw-phat gai le naam saparot pan maa. Dichann say suia le ghankhen.
I promise that I know more Thai than that after taking a week of intensive Thai class, but that's enough for now.
Translation: "Hello! I am a student at Chiang Mai University. I like fried rice with chicken and pineapple shakes. I am wearing a shirt and pants."
Pretty elementary, i know. Intensive Thai language class has basically consumed my life for the past 5 days. Class starts at 8 am and goes until 2:30 with an hour break for lunch. If that isn't intense, I don't know what is. The great thing about the Thai language is that there are no verb tenses, so those awful conjugation charts that you remember from Spanish class don't exist for me anymore. The downside is that there is an entirely different alphabet complete with sounds which are not possible for the white man to reproduce. As much as I appreciate spending 5 hours a day learning how to master the art of ordering chicken at the cafeteria, I will be happy to start up a regular class schedule on Monday.
Monday also marks the first day of my internship at RICD, a development center for disabled children. I met with the staff at the hospital this week, assuming that my collegiate music experience would not be of help to them, but to my surprise they suggested that I help in their music therapy program. I'm excited to be there, but I feel unqualified to help in that way, since I have no idea what music therapy really is. I was trying to decide whether to take this internship or one at an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS, but I really felt that God placed this opportunity specifically in my lap. I know that this semester is going to be a testament to God working through me, since I am definitely not qualified for this position.
Well, tomorrow we wake up at 6 am to begin our hike up a mountain. There is a temple at the top of the mountain that overlooks Chiang Mai, so it should be pretty cool! If my internet situation is any better at my host family's house than it is here at the dorm, maybe I will be able to upload some pictures. Until then, Sawadikah!!!

"Sawadi" is how you say "hello" in Thai, and it is the only Thai word that I know so far. But you don't just verbally say hello, you also do something calling "wai"-ing (pronounced why-ing). The "wai" is the typical Asian hand bow that those karate kids do before they fight their opponent. Saying hello is quite a process, and becomes even more complicated when you "wai" to someone who is "above" you. Respect is huge, so when you say hello to an elder or someone in a superior position you are to "wai" lower. We've had our hands full simply trying to figure out how to do this simple task, so maybe by next month we'll know how to order pad thai.
So, I say "sawadi" to you and hope that you enjoy reading about my time in Thailand, and apologise (notice the British influence now emanating from my grammar) in advance because I will probably leave you hanging in the middle of my trip, just like last semester. But I promise I'll try to be better.
I arrived at the LAX airport on Tuesday night and arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Thursday afternoon, and a lot happened in that 24 hour period (yeah, try to work that math out). The handle on my rolling suitcase broke at the check-in counter and I realized that I had severely overpacked, so it didn't exactly start out fantastic. The flight itself wasn't bad, although the food was strange. The other half of our group coming from JFK airport was delayed so they missed their connection in Bangkok by 30 minutes and didn't arrive until Thursday night, along with all of our luggage which mysteriously missed our flight and arrived 8 hours later. The first day was full of introductions because most of us don't know each other since there are five universities represented in our group. It's amazing to think that 48 hours ago I didn't know these people, because I've already experienced so much with them.
Yesterday 7 of us went walking around town to explore. We did a LOT of walking and saw a lot of images of the king (which are everywhere!) and smelled lots of amazing food (it is said that there are more restaurants than people in Thailand). We went to a Buddhist temple although most of us could not go inside because our ankles were exposed. When monks are walking down the street you are to walk on the opposite side of the street and females are not allowed to touch the monk. We went to a convenience store on our walk and bought the most outrageous things we could find. I bought seaweed crackers, which I vow never to buy again. We all sampled eachother's purchases, most of which were greeted with sour faces after tasting. I guess Thai snacks are something I will have to get used to. We decided that we wanted to eat dinner at an authentic hole-in-the-wall, white-people-free restaurant, so we ate at this outdoor market and it was delicious! The fruit in Thailand is absolutely unparalleled! There was actually a lady making crepes in the market, and of course we got some. They were good, but definitely lacking compared to the delicious crepes at the Kensington Creperie. We headed back and went to bed early since we had to be up at 5:30 the next morning for our next adventure.
[Preface: The reading experience of this next section will be greatly enhanced if read while listening to the Indiana Jones theme song. ]
Today was so exciting, and I can't imagine what else the semester has in store if this is only the second day! Today's agenda included riding elephants, rafting on bamboo, and visiting the Queen's botanical gardens. We left the hostel at 6:30 am to drive up to a rural village where the Chiang Mai Elephant Training Center is. We meandered through the jungle atop elephants, which was surprisingly frightening. At one point my elephant decided that he didn't want to wait in line and tried to go around the other elephants on the ridge as the ground was crumbling beneath us. I thought for sure that we were going to slide right into the water, and I think that my screams may have alerted him of the imminent peril since he quickly gave up his quest to be line-leader and got back on the trail. Next we took an hour long trip down the river on bamboo rafts, and our raft got stuck on the rocks 4 or 5 times. At one point when we were stuck, some elephants were coming into the water so we had 3 elephants splashing around in the water a few feet away from our raft. That was also terrifying since elephants apparently have bad eyesight and weigh around 10,000 pounds. [NOTE: The Indiana Jones theme song can be turned off now. ] The rest of the day was not so terrifying since it was spent at the botanical gardens, although we did see some terrifying venus fly traps. Tonight we are having a bible study, going to dinner, and then I'm going to try to get some sleep before church tomorow morning, which I have a feeling will also be a terrifying experience. If I knew how to say "goodbye" in Thai I would do so now, but maybe next week.