"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.