a weekend getaway

the shopping agenda did not goes as planned. the "lotus" store that is a few blocks from here (that kwang and i had to take a cab to by the way because i was melting) only had a few selections and nothing in my size. rene made me feel much better today by letting me know that he is a small in canada, but an extra large here. kwang says we will have to go into bangkok, but that we will have to wait until her mother can take me (as she is not allowed to go alone). i did manage to buy some thai musci c.d.'s though.

even though my pronunciation of "sa what dee kah" is horrible (the greeting that everyone, and i mean everyone, give each other with their hand together and bowing), everyone smiles at me just for trying. we were back at the house by 12:30 and were schedule to leave at 1. welcome to thai time, we left at about 2 and headed to the family resort house in the mountains. not bad hey? on the way we stopped at the old temple and the famous elephant pagoda. don't worry, i won't go into a history lesson. boy is it deceiving sitting in an air-conditioned car. even kwang was dripping with sweat while we were touring the "old thai house," so you can only imagine what poor little me was doing!! beside the temple there was a river where it is tradition to feed the fish. you have to see the pics to see how crazy this is.

along the way to the resort we passed through many small towns. i think the one thing about having travelled a lot is that some things that would shock others sort of fall by the wayside. the poverty, the traffic, the stray dogs are really not an entirely new experience to my eyes. and anyone who has driven with me knows that i'm not entirely scared of oncoming traffic! but today WAS the first time ever that i saw dog road kill.

the family's resort house is HUGE. their friends own one next door and yesterday evening they all came over and the ten of us sat down outside and had a huge thai feast, complete with heineken! PiWea kept calling me miss canada (pi is a show of respect to one's elders) and thought it was hilarious. i think the most awkward thing is that i can tell when they are talking about me, and, as kwang is the only one who speaks much english, it is all very difficult.

on the way home today we stopped at a temple in the mountains. it was gorgeous. again, you need to see pics. Pin (an eight year old daugter of a family friend) and i decided to go off on an adventure while the others waited. we climbed a trail up the cliffs and explored some caves. i think the cutest thing is that pin was talking in thai the whole time and i'm quite sure she was saying, at least at some points "crazy canadian woman."

also on the way home, PiJai (my homestay mom) swerved over to the side of the road when something caught her eye. it was a buddhist festival in progress. all the new monks were in procession. it was very colourful and humbling. i think for me the one thing that really stands out so far is the way the religion is absolutely everywhere. each plot of land has it's own "spirit house." very small but elaborate dwellings for the area's spirit. apparently david beckam bought one and brought it to spain. but those are kwang's words, not mine.

when we got home today, kwang took me to the salon. she was setting her hair for a popular thai concert this evening and i decided to get a couple inches off. i should really just shave it, but oh well. after that it was off to the school for our welcome dinner. i got a chance to catch up with the students from canada. they are all doing well. of course the two students from n.d. have already eaten at mcdonald's, but at least they are enjoying themselves. we were all given gifts and shown around the school. it was five in the evening and i was still sweating. there is no airconditioning in the school and i have NO idea what i am going to wear!! i dread the thought. PiJai actually GAVE me a really beautiful light weight shirt the other day. i think because she feels so bad for seeing me sweltering and melting the way i am. however, the school policy on clothing is much more strict. i need to go shopping and fast.

on the way home we stopped by pijai's parents' house. i think she just wanted to show me off, b/c we only stayed for a few minutes. and here i am. i am going to have my third shower of the day and retire soon. i have to get up at 5:30. maybe at that time of day i won't even sweat as soon as i get out of the shower, but we'll see.

did i mention that i have the airconditioning set in my room to 23 degrees. can you believe that? airconditiong at 23!

well...i suppose this is long enough. i will probably babble again wednesday after my first experience of teaching for three days. on thursday we set off for chang mai for four days.