Best Day Ever!

Well Rick and Chan's wedding day was preceded by the arrival of Becky and her boyfriend Shawn. I was so relieved to see them at the train station. We had a pretty chill day...rented Thai outfits, ate curry and got massages. We eventually made it out to the hotel where the wedding was taking place. It was a gorgeous hotel called Mae Rim Lagoon. It was nice and full of plants and ponds and just lovely all around. We met some of Rick's family and talked to Chan about the plan for the next day.

We had to wake up at 5 AM because we went to the temple at 6. The monks need to eat their breakfast before 7 because they will have another meal before noon after which time they don't eat for the rest of the day. We gave the monks food that Chan's family had prepared. Then the 40 monks began to chant. It was such a beautiful, powerful sound and I was completely mesmerized. We all got some special "sai sin" for the wedding day.

We went back to the hotel and chilled out for awhile, ate, went swimming with the kids. Around 1 Chan and the women in her family came to our room and Hilary and I helped to her hair. It was really simple: loosely swept back in a bun and surrounded by white orchids and baby's breath. She looked stunning. And then of course Hilary and I had to figure out how to get into our crazy Thai outfits. Luckily there were some Thai women in our room who put us together. We got Becky and Shawn ready and all went downstairs.

Chan had asked Hilary and I to wait with her family so we didn't get to participate in the parade. We heard it coming down the road because there was a huge gong and lots of Thai horns and men shouting. There were people throwing flower petals everywhere and Thai women dancing. When Rick approached us, I had to explain to him that if he wanted to pass through Chan's family, he would have to give them some money. There were various points set up like this along the way. The idea was that Chan was hiding and Rick had to pay the family members to help lead him to her. Unfortunately, Rick wasn't prepared for this and so he had to borrow money from his family. Chan was hiding in a little open-air sala by the lake. Once Rick found her, they kissed and posed for pictures.

We moved inside where a village elder chanted some words of wisdom for Rick and Chan. Although I couldn't understand what he was saying, I got a bit teary just because I could tell Chan was really choked up. The elder tied Rick and Chan's wrists together with sai sin and also attached a big rope to both of their heads. It was connected and I think it symbolized being mentally connected. Afterwards, all the friends and family members got to tie sai sin around them and then they were lead up to the bedroom where they presumably sealed the deal.

It was a lovely afternoon. We waited for Rick and Chan and drank Boone's farm and some crazy tropical wine which only Hilary enjoyed. Then it was time for dinner. The hosts had thoughtfully prepared some veggie food for us. The dinner was lovely and Rick's speech was particularly mushy and emotional. It was very clear that he absolutely adores Chan and I know that Chan really enjoyed hearing all of those nice things about her. After dinner and speeches, there was a Thai dancing show, a fire dancing show and then we all lit off Thai hot air lanterns over the lake.

After that we pretty much just danced and hung out with everyone. Hilary and I desperately tried to communicate with Chan's family and we spent some time with Rick's family as well. A lot of people from Lampang were there so it was nice to catch up with everyone after the long break. I went to bed smiling and thinking that it was the best day I've had in Thailand and feeling so lucky to have such amazing friends.

Mae Ping River Cruise

Yay! This was the most relaxing morning...floating in the cool morning breeze and then visiting a thai herb garden and eating fruit, drinking lemongrass juice. My sister fed the catfish in the little pond and we laid on hammocks. It was lovely!

TUK-TUK!!

Tuk-tuks are a crazy form of thai transportation as my family quickly discovered. it's like a motorcycle with a cart attached to the back for you to ride in. they go very fast and are very windy. more expensive but much more fun than riding in the songtaew(minibus).
rob and elaine are not looking the most comfortable.

Doi Suthep

Second day the family was here, we went to Doi Suthep which is a temple at the top of a mountain outside of Chiang Mai. We made merit by walking around the chedi three times. Then a monk blessed us and gave us "sai sin." We couldn't get a good view of the city because it was foggy but it was still a beautiful drive even though dad was taking the curves at lightening speed!

Round Two

Well I have been struck by pink eye once again. I can't believe this is happening to me! I made merit twice (TWICE!) last weekend and apparently it did me no good. I was fine all weekend and then Monday night it hit me once again. Luckily I knew what it was right away and went to the hospital. It was a little embarrassing cause I was crying in the tuk-tuk and the driver kept looking at me in his rearview mirror clearly wondering what the problem was. So most of my break has been spent indoors watching TV and reading. I suppose it could be worse. The guesthouse I'm staying at has a little balcony for each room and I've spent my afternoons sitting out there reading and watching all the backpackers come and go. The view is lovely...a couple of chedis peaking out from the guesthouse roofs and the mountains in the near distance. Today I watched the rain for an hour. I'm just thankful that I won't be contagious when my family is here. I'm getting so excited to see them. Everyday I think of how wonderful and amazing these new experiences will be for them. I can't wait...but for now, I'm still resting.

Wat Lampang Luang

So we accidentally celebrated the end of Buddhist lent on Saturday cause we showed up at this really cool old temple outside of town and the joint was hopping. Even with all the rain, we managed to walk three times around the chedi and make lots of merit. The chedi is 2000 years old! We got to write our names on a yellow piece of material that will be wrapped around the chedi for the next year. Our minibus driver came with us and showed us what to do. He is so amazing and friendly...i feel so lucky to have him as my Thai father. We also got to see one of the Jade Buddhas. There are 4 of them in total in Thailand and one of them has some of the Buddha's relics but they keep it a secret which one actually contains them. I think that makes it more special not knowing. We had a lovely day driving around in our song-taew, eating noodles and getting saunas and massages at the Herbal Center. I think Shannon had a good time in Thailand. Next up is the fam!

Eat Your Veggies!

So the Fruits and Vegetables Party was a huge success. In Thai, the word for vegetarian is "jay" so we called it our Jay Pride Party. Everyone was encouraged to dress up and there were many bowls of fresh fruits and veggies. Nick was a peas and carrots combo. Karen was a pumpkin while I was an ear of corn. Candace was a strawberry. Hilary was a bell pepper...she wore all green and bells around her wrists. Our friend Matt came as a mangosteen which is a Thai fruit. He just wrote "Go-Steen" on a shirt and said, "I'm a man already so with the shirt it makes me a man-go-steen." Nadine was wearing a letter P and had dark eye makeup on. She was a black-eyed pea. La looked like Coolio cause he braided his hair and said he was a rambutan which is another thai fruit that's spiky. He also pained a watermelon on his stomach. I'm glad we have such creative friends!

Chiang Mai Weekend Market

Well I really don't think i've posted any pictures from any markets so it's about time. These are various hill tribe folks and a thai folk band. The little girl in the black and red outfit was dancing her heart out. Lovely.

I bet you didn't know

that Lampang has an ocean! Well it's actually a reservoir but it's kinda like the ocean. I was out of commission the entire week cause i had pink eye and then hilary got it and i was just going crazy staying in the house and watching movies. we watched a whole season of ally mcbeal, sex in the city, bits of monty python and the godfather series. it was ridiculous. my day consisted of getting up, making tea, taking a shower, watching movies, reading the newspaper, eating and watching more movies. however, i think it was much needed and hey, i got to miss my last week of work so now i'm officially on break.

yesterday, hilary's friend shannon came here from Seoul. she's teaching ESL there and had a little break so she came to visit. we didn't do too much yesterday but for dinner we went out to the Lampang ocean. they have these little boat/huts that float out of the water. you order dinner and they bring it to you and then you float away from the dock and eat out in the middle of the "ocean." it was perfect to be there during sunset...gorgeous colors and the water was calm. after the sun set it was very dark and the sky was streaked with lightening though there was no rain. we were planning to go out but got tired so we all just went back to the house and watched arrested development. and had a slumber party of sorts.

this morning i awoke early and decided to go for a walk. we're having this fruits and vegetable party tonight so i wanted to get some material for my costume...i'm going to be an ear of corn. i have a bright yellow sundress and i bought some light green material to fashion into a husk. still working on how i'm going to make my tassle. anyways, i stumbled upon a temple and the monks were in full chanting and the temple was packed. it turns out that today is the end of buddhist lent so there was a big ceremony. i'm glad i caught it...all the little old people had flowers in their hands as they were wai-ing to the buddha statues. it was a lovely way to start the day.
well we're off to some temples and the thai herbal center today. yay!