State of Immersion (pt. 1)
Sa wa dee kha - hello! I am finally in Chiang Mai after almost two days of traveling. Everything went smoothly for the first day and a half thanks to Emirates being such a luxurious airline (free movies AND free wine!) The Dubai airport was just as I had expected - beautifully over the top and full of shops with designer everything and huge candy bars for 300 AED, the equivalent of 100 US dollars. I booked the cheapest hotel I could find close to the airport and it was still probably the fanciest I've ever stayed in. Unfortunately I didn't get to enjoy many of the perks; I was so jet-lagged I slept for the majority of my stay. Nonetheless, considering the circumstances it was quite an enjoyable experience.
My flight to Bangkok was smooth as silk but arrived late and left me with little time to get to my gate. There was also a mix up with my luggage, leaving me anxiously waiting at the baggage claim thinking my suitcase was lost when in fact, it had already been transferred to Bangkok Airways. Alas, I missed my flight and was put on standby for the remaining three flights to Chiang Mai that night. Luckily, I was able to get a seat on the next plane out, but it was majorly delayed due to rain and I ended up missing the first nights' activities, which were...
A Thai massage and a shopping trip to buy essentials, like a pillow and a towel. Without these items, you can imagine my first night in the dorm was a tad uncomfortable.
The great thing about the dorms at Chiang Mai University though, is that for the doubles each student has their own room. Those of you who have lived in a college dorms in the US know that sharing a room with a stranger can be tough, especially if you and said stranger don't end up becoming close friends. And if you snore like me. Honestly I was a bit worried about disturbing my roommate - I didn't want to come off as a the loud, obnoxious American - but thankfully this turned out to be a nonissue. The privacy of these rooms is also a gift. Privacy is very nice and completely necessary when you're spending all day with people. After all, despite being social creatures, human beings can only socialize so much, even us extroverts. Also I have the AC knob in my room - bonus!
So I arrived late Thursday night and woke up early Friday morning to meet the group and head to an all-day Thai cooking class. It was on a farm out in rural Chiang Mai- about 45 minutes from the city. The man who runs it, Sammy, was incredibly funny and entertaining and he operates the business with his wife and kids. We got to choose between several dish options and my meal ended up being: Spicy green curry, Thai vegetable soup (with pumpkin, SO delicious), Pad Thai, Papaya salad (incredibly spicy and not what you would expect - see picture below) and mango with sticky rice for dessert.
Here in Thailand as many of you may already know, people eat rice with almost every meal and there are two distinct types - regular steamed white rice (what we're used to in the US) and sticky rice, which takes about twelve hours to soak and cook, and which Thai's eat with their hands. Both are yummy and can basically be mixed with anything.
So the cooking class ended up being really fun, especially because I got to know the other nine IPSL students. The only downside was my stomach... we went to a market prior to cooking and I bought a drink, which had a picture of what looked like a grapefruit on the bottle, but which ended up being an aloe, plant-based drink. It was the only thing I had for breakfast and I was STARVING when we finally sat down for the lunch we had cooked at 1pm. But as soon as I started eating I felt sick, and quickly excused myself to throw up in this royal-looking bathroom chamber. I was a bit freaked out because it was my first day and I thought I was already sick, but I immediately felt better after emptying my stomach and was able to finish my meal. I swear it was the aloe drink. Never again..
(Note: all pictures can be found larger and with descriptions in the "Gallery" tab of my website)
On day two (Saturday, Aug. 11) we went to an elephant park for the day. Calling this experience amazing does not nearly do it justice; I have never seen such large, gentle and beautiful beasts. As someone said that day, elephants are truly the closest things to dinosaurs we have left on earth. First we fed them and let them smell our clothes with their vacuum like trunks, while our guide showered us with information. Then we learned commands that would help us when riding them in the afternoon. In order to get onto an elephant, it must learn a command to sit down on its knees, at which point you can use their front leg to hoist yourself up (elephant skin is incredibly thick so they can barely even feel your weight.) There were two of us per elephant; one in the front steering and one in the back. I was feeling courageous and volunteered to be in the front, where I sat basically on the elephants neck. If you sit too far back on their shoulders it is actually much easier to fall off because of how much the shoulders move up and down as the elephant walks. To hold on you can grab the backs of the ears, and you use your feet to steer just like with a horse.
After the walk we brought them into the water where we scrubbed them down as they sprayed us with water. Fun fact: elephants can hold their breath underwater just like humans. They will immerse themselves fully and roll around to cool off, which is really cute and funny to watch. I can't remember how many elephants were at the park total, but they were all different ages and a few were even pregnant (big boobs and everything). There was also a separate area for injured elephants because if these creatures get upset or angry they will fight and hurt each other, despite being incredibly tame most of the time. Each healthy elephant had it's own trainer, to whom they get very attached. Again, kind of like horses and their trainers, or really any domesticated animal.
Between these two excursions, settling into the dorm and getting to know new people it was an action packed and fun-filled two days.
On Sunday we toured the Chiang Mai university campus and had a loooong orientation led by the director of the program and several other faculty members. We also got to meet students from the other three programs here, who are also living in the same dorm compound. I think there are 23 of us total and it's a great group! There are a handful of people from the states but also others from Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, so I already feel like I've been exposed to many new cultures. Compared to Hampshire, the CMU campus is HUGE, but luckily all of the classes for international students are in one building. And one week later I am just finally remembering how to get there...
On Monday morning we had another short orientation, and then left for a five day homestay in a northern Thai village. To learn more about this trip check out my next blog post - State of Immersion (pt. 2) !
Thanks for reading - I hope you all had a restful weekend!
-Amy
