Sweet and Spicy

Well, our cool, rainy weather has sadly come to an end. We're finally beginning to understand the true meaning of the hot season. It's been so warm and humid that I get a sunburn just from being out for a few minutes. We're constantly sweaty and running the air conditioning more than usual. Luckily we've been able to find air conditioned coffeeshops and internet cafes. Yesterday our friends took us to an outdoor cafe that was in a shady garden. It was breezy and the coffee was cheap but good. I was finally able to get a decent americano, that is, one that wasn't full of sugar. Thai people seem to love two very distinct tastes: spicy and sweet. Whatever is not spicy is generally very, very sweet. If you've ever tried Thai iced coffee or Thai iced tea you'll know what I'm talking about. It makes sense because drinking a very sweet drink really balances out the spice from the food. We've also discovered that the Thais have amazing pastries and ice cream. The ice cream here tastes so rich. It's like ice cream mixed with whipped cream. Hilary and I can devour a box in one sitting. We're all being very careful about what we eat after Noah's food poisoning incident. Because it's almost the rainy season, the flies are very bad right now. They're everywhere in the market and so we've been avoiding buying anything that's not sealed up. We're staying away from most street food and only eating at very clean restaurants. Noah has even become a semi-vegetarian and only eats meat fromt the very top-notch places. Hilary and I have discovered a new favorite food. Mostly we've been eating so much green and red curry. Yesterday we were finally able to find vegetarian suki-yaki which is a Japanese-style soup. It has vermicelli noodles, vegetables and tofu in it and there is a special kind of dipping sauce. There are restaurants in Lampang where you cook your suki at your table. Each table has a hot plate and a large bowl and you order whatever you want to put in your suki. It's pretty cool. Tonight there is a tea party hosted by the director of the international department. I'll let you know how it goes!