Temples and volleyball and cooking...Oh my!

Sawadee Ka!!

I think I left off on Wednesday. Because Wednesday had an earlier wake-up call then most mornings, we left Thursday free to give everyone time to sleep in or go exploring if they wanted.  It was a lazy kind of morning!  I find, for me, that being in a different place and having the sunlight coming in that I can't sleep past about 8 here.  This is good because I won't get too far off my school schedule!  We rounded everyone up around 2 and headed to the old city walled city.  Aum led us on a tour of the city.  We discussed the history of Chiang Mai and then made our way to a temple in the middle of the city called Wat Phra Singh. 

The temple above was in the center of the area and was surrounded by other temple buildings; each one ornate and unique.  There is an ongoing debate about whether to restore/refurbish the temple or to leave it the way that it is.  Currently, they are leaving it the way that it is.  After walking around the temple (clockwise) we went into one of the nearby buildings.  It was a shrine to a famous monk.  There was a wax sculpture of him right in the entrance.  Normally the don't make shrines to living monks but this monk was so influential that they made a shrine to him prior to his death.  After he died a couple years ago they added jars of hair, ashes, teeth, and nail clippings in the shrine from that monk.  After that we continued on to another temple in the city.  This was the first temple that we had actually gone in to.  Everything is so ornate inside the temple and lavish.  You really can't help but be reverent and respectful because the space demands it.  Inside the temple, Aum continued to teach us about Buddhism.  It was fascinating to hear his explanation of it.  You can read about it in books but it does not compare to having someone who practices explain it.  At one point he addressed a question that had come up many times; why are temples so ornate while Buddhists profess simplicity.  As he explained it, monks often start in a small village; their home village.  They start with a small, simple temple.  Over time and good work, people want to provide a bigger space for the monk to show their appreciation.  This continues over time and produces these fantastically ornate temples.  We wrapped up our tour in the market and weaved through one of the local markets in the old city.  There were lots of items that I had never seen before that I was tempted to just buy.  For dinner we went to a local curry place, Aroon Rai, and then headed over to the night market.  I didn't really feel like shopping so I just hung out.  Back at the house, I hung out and watched everyone play poker for a while and then headed off to bed.

Friday!! Happy Buddha Day (and Maria's birthday)!! Friday's first activity was a game of volleyball at Chiang Mai University.  We just played on their courts.  I held my own until slipping a little in the water and popping my knee.  Not a great feeling.  Not surprisingly, I continued to play for awhile after it happened.  Ultimately, my team won one of three games and the one they won -- I sat out -- go figure! We ate at Organic Vegetables for lunch.  Instead of just getting plain fried rice this time, I got it with yellow curry and vegetables.  It was a good change.  Back at Spicy, we had a little brainstorming session about possible college essay topics that the students write about.  Once we got going on a list, they came up with some really good moments/thoughts/experiences that they had that could be formed into solid essays.  Rest time complete and snacks eaten - we headed to Noom's village to make preparations for Buddha Day.  At Noom's house we made cones out of banana leaves and decorated them with banana leaf foldings.  I desperately needed my sister Laura, the origami queen, in that moment because I could not manage to adequately made the object.  Several misfolds and staples later, I had a decent enough product that I decorated with flowers, incense, and a candle.  Once everyone's were complete, we headed back into the city to a temple.  We bypassed one temple because it was already too crowded.  Walking up to the temple at night with candles and incense lit up outside and the temple illuminated was a calming sight. We lingered a little outside as Noom expressed the chanting inside the temple was almost complete.  Soon monks and others were filing out of the temple with offerings in hand.  We all followed in line behind them and circled the temple three times going clockwise for good luck stopping each time at the doors to the temple to wai.  During this time our incense was lit.  Following the third trip around, we deposited our incense and lit our candle and left it on a big metal stand.  After leaving my incense and candle behind, I went up to the shrine to pay respect and leave my cone of flowers as an offering.  It was strange because it was one of the first moments that I didn't feel as much like a foreigner.  To be invited into someone's home and village and be allowed to participate in a ceremony that is very sacred to Buddhists made me feel more a part of the culture.  We hit up the noodle soup place near Spicy for a little dinner when we were done and then walked home.  After a lot of scheming, whispering, and planning it was time for Maria's birthday celebration.  The song "Sweet Sixteen" was blaring and Maria came down the stares to a lopsided (there was some Fahrenheit/Celsius oven confusion) but beautifully frosted cake with an M&M "M".  In the cake were two candles; a 6 and a 7 that was whittled into a 1 - nice problem solving team! I was impressed that after only two weeks, the students went above and beyond to make Maria's 16th birthday special.  Because I'm lame I couldn't stay up much longer and had to call it a night so that I was fully rested for cooking class!

Saturday morning we all hopped in a red trunk at about 8:15 to take us to the train station where we met our cooking instructors.  We made our food selections so that everything would be ready when we got to the cooking school. Two stops on the train and we were off.  Waiting for us were a row of bikes.  All morning my knee had still been bothering me; popping in and out regularly.  Jane suggested that the bike ride might do the trick.  We mounted our bikes and began to ride off somewhat single file towards the school.  Despite the bike turning at will a few times, the ride was lovely. We made our way through a few villages and allow a small stream.  I greeted people as we passed and everyone (except for a truck that was delayed) seemed amused by our parade of bikes.  After about 20 minutes we arrived at the cooking school.  We were given refreshments and a snack. The snack was delivered to our tables.  It was a big plate with several piles of food; leaves, roasted coconuts, roasted peanuts, honey sauce, chilli slices, shallot, ginger, and small lime pieces - rind on.  It appeared that we were in essence making lettuce wraps.  However, I was not so sure about putting all the ingredients in together as the instructor suggested but when in Thailand...So I put it all in the small leaf and took a bite.  It was really delicious. I don't know why I was skeptical.  A recipe can be found at this link.  After we had a little sustenance, it was time to cook! We started with the first two dishes; soup and stir fry dish.  I chose to make sweet and sour prawn soup and pad thai.  After those, we sat down to eat them.  Both were great but the pad thai was I think the best I've ever had.  Then it was time to make our spring rolls and salad and get our curry paste ready.  I made traditional spring rolls and papaya salad.  The salad was made with green papaya and is a savory dish.  Round 3 was our curry and desert.  My phanang curry turned out so good it became my favorite for the day.  The desert was sweet sticky rice with mango and jackfruit.  Everyone was full and satisfied with their cooking endeavors and we even got a cookbook with all our recipes to take home.  I would definitely recommend the cooking school to anyone coming to the Chiang Mai area. It's called Smart Cook: Thai Cookery School (this is the package we did - Daily Course). Only problem, now we had to bike back to the train station on a full stomach.  As with the ride in, though, it was a really nice.  As we got off the bikes and milled about waiting for the train, I noticed my knee was no longer popping.  Jane was right -- the bike did the trick.  Soon we hopped the train back to Chiang Mai and descended back on Spicy Thai.  The students were eager to sign out and do some shopping.  I was eager to lay down and have a little quiet for a moment.  That quiet moment led to me thinking that it had been a few days since I had updated everyone on all that's been going on --- so here we go!

Hope everyone back home is having a great summer.  I miss you guys a lot and hope you are having great adventures as well.  I would love to hear what everyone is up to - leave a comment or e-mail me!!