I don't understand the chemistry of women's brains when they get flowers. (Or when they don't get flowers for that matter.) But I think if men gave women flowers regularly, the drug industry would take a big hit. And here in Chiang Mai you can do it so spectacularly (as Anonymous put it)for so little cost.
Two bunches of these orchids was 140 Baht. (32B/$)
Someone from Holland got here googling "thai keyboard shipping holland online." I doubt if he/she will be back here, but just in case, last week I bought stick on letters for my keyboard. I didn't put them on that straight, but it sure makes it easier to find the letters. 20 Baht (32 B/dollar). I don't think anyone needs to ship a whole keyboard, just the stick on letters.
These singers are using the same Karen language of the people in the Fire Break posts. I like Thai music, but it took a long time for my Western ear to adjust. But this Karen music is immediately accessible to Westerners.
A CD, I'm told, is coming soon. I don't have the contact information tonight, but if you are interested, you can go into my profile and email me.
When I got to the office yesterday, there was a man selling silver pieces and Ew was buying. She will make bracelets and necklaces and sell them on the Thai version of E-Bay.
Yesterday, Ew asked if I'd eaten. She had to get something at Wororat Market on the other side of town. The traditional Thai Costco - anything you could imagine to buy, wholesale prices, much being sold to small shops to resell. But you don't need a membership card. We went to get some ingredients for traditional Thai drinks - basically dried flowers and fruit.
Lots of different kinds of fish - just one type here.
We went by the wholesale flower market and I found some really beautiful orchids to bring to Joan.
Our dinner yesterday was noodle soup with quail eggs.
The drinks were for a party tonight in honor of Ajaan (Teacher/Professor) Anan's 60th birthday - though I understood that he was now 61. He's been involved with a lot of community development work and so many of the NGO's (Non-Governmental Organizations - or non-profits) working with farmers on land and sustainability issues were there. That's why I was there, though most of the people in my immediate office couldn't come because they were working on presentations for their exchange trip. They probably are leaving about now (11:24pm April 1). J and I will head out Thursday for Mae Sai, where we can cross into Burma again to we can start the 30 day clock on our passports again. By May 2 I'll be back in Anchorage and J makes it on the 3rd. It seems like we just got here. The next post will have a video of two Karen hill tribe singers playing some traditional music.
We need to do another border run this week, so I can't go with the office on their exchange trip to the Northeast of Thailand. Also was able to change my return ticket from Bangkok to Taipei to Singapore to Taipei. And I just booked my ticket to Singapore. Tiger Airways that J took to Singapore, doesn't have any flight to Chiang Mai after today. So there are no non-stop flights to Singapore from Chiang Mai. Air Asia makes you book each leg separately on line.
I accidentally booked the 11am flight instead of the 8am flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, so I get to Singapore at 8pm instead of 3pm. Bummer. And it looks like luggage is severely restricted. Double bummer. But it's only about $150.
All the AJWS volunteers met with visiting New York rep, Dorcus, last night for dinner.
It was a chance to talk and catch up on what everyone is doing. A chance I didn't completely take advantage of. I got to meet an AJWS staff member I didn't know about and her former Peace Corps husband - who, it turned out, taught a year at the new university in Kamphaengphet.
After dinner we walked a little bit to get some ice cream. I had one of the best I've ever had - mango-blueberry sorbet. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Boy, things really changed in the last two days. While I realize you Alaska folk think 75ºF is hot, it's like the temperature dropped from 30ºF to 5ºF. It feels deliciously cool, even though the humidity went up. We had thunder and some rain today. About the second time we've seen rain in six weeks. After highs over 100ºF all week and lows in the high 80s, 64ºF seems downright chilly.
Transportation is an issue in Chiang Mai. I've already posted about the difficulties of walking. The basic form of transportation is the motorcycle as you can see by this video I took while we were eating our sticky rice. The AJWS handbook is very clear: No motorcycles. The Peace Corps has the same rule. When I was a volunteer at least there was no prohibition against riding on the back, you just couldn't have your own. Now, if you are caught on a motorcycle you are sent home.
But one of the AJWS volunteers we met last year had a motorcycle, so I was wondering how strictly it was enforced. One volunteer had heard a staff member say, you really need one in Chiang Mai. But she changed her mind when a young volunteer from another NGO was killed recently in a motorcycle accident. And last night we saw a sign in a shop asking for blood for a young foreigner who'd been in a motorcycle accident. So that is two foreigners we know of in the six weeks we've been here. And when Dorcus - the New York AJWS staff person who oversees Thailand - came by Friday (all four volunteers are meeting with her for dinner tonight) to the office, she reiterated - No Motorcycles.
Transportation is a problem. The easiest form of transportation is the Song Thaew. That literally means two rows and you can see one of the two rows in the picture of the Song Thaew at the bus stop, with the sign broken and hanging.
They are fairly cheap - 15-30 baht per person most places in Chiang Mai (about 32 B to the dollar). More if you book it private or at night. It seems the song thaew drivers who hang around tourist areas expect higher prices also. But there is also the bus. I know there's a bus because there's a website with a map. I've even seen the white buses pass now and again. But I've yet to see an actual bus stop near where we live. I have no idea what their schedule is. (The link above says 'schedule' but there is only a map.)
So as we walked I kept an eye out for bus stops. You can see two typical bus stops. (One with the back of the song thaew above.) Damaged and it seems that way for a long time. Someone gave me the best explanation the other day. The Song Thaew mafia doesn't want a good bus system. Sounds like a plausible explanation to me. But I did find a long range public transit plan that was written by Chiang Mai University faculty that essentially says buses are going to have to be used or traffic will become unbearable. I also found a plan for a Chiang Mai subway system. Note that this is on a real estate website and all the lines go nicely out into the suburbs where western style subdivisions have been and are being built.
And as I was trying to find the mass transit plan website again, I found this two year long chat room discussion about mass transit in Chiang Mai. (only a few entries per year from 2004 to 2007) I also found the main transit website (the map above is linked from the website, but not back to the main transit website. Struggling through the Thai, I haven't found anything about how often they run, bus stops, or fares.)
So, in the end we use what I all the song thaw (sounds like the tow in towel) transportation system at lot. (Song means two, thaw means feet.) And when I go to work I use my bike. Last night, after some time in the night market we caught a song thaew back. (sounds a lot like foot - thaw - but with the (m)eow sound a cat makes.)
First they make the sticky rice. Then they add sugar and coconut milk and the banana (it's in the middle of the rice.) Then they shape it and wrapped it in the banana leaves and grill it. Other times it has black or red bean instead of banana. I think I've seen banana leaf strips for sale at Sagaya's. Let's see if I can make these when we get home.
As we the through campus shortcut, I realized something was different. It just felt different, familiar. Some combination of temperature and humidity and smells was taking me back 40 years. I looked up. There were actual clouds in the sky, not haze. It was a strange deja vu, due clearly, to some atmospheric condition that took me back to how it felt in Thailand long ago.
Here are some seed pods on campus.
One thing on our list today was to see if I could get a connector so I can go directly from my MacBook to the projector. By chance we passed a Mac store we didn't know was there. 1000 Baht - about $30. We were headed for the giant discount computer place and I wanted to check the price online first. The computer place didn't have it, but got some dvd's to save some of the video and make more space on my Mac, and I got stickon Thai letters for the keyboard. I have checked on the connector and there are various issues mentioned on line so I'll wait til I get back home. Oh, it was $25 online, but not sure it was exactly the same connector.
When I got to the office yesterday, there was a man selling silver pieces and Ew was buying. She will make bracelets and necklaces and sell them on the Thai version of E-Bay. 
J and I will head out Thursday for Mae Sai, where we can cross into Burma again to we can start the 30 day clock on our passports again. By May 2 I'll be back in Anchorage and J makes it on the 3rd. It seems like we just got here. The next post will have a video of two Karen hill tribe singers playing some traditional music.
Boy, things really changed in the last two days. While I realize you Alaska folk think 75ºF is hot, it's like the temperature dropped from 30ºF to 5ºF. It feels deliciously cool, even though the humidity went up. We had thunder and some rain today. About the second time we've seen rain in six weeks. After highs over 100ºF all week and lows in the high 80s, 64ºF seems downright chilly.
(Exchange is about 32 Baht/$1US, so 500 Baht is about $13.)
First they make the sticky rice. Then they add sugar and coconut milk and the banana (it's in the middle of the rice.) Then they shape it and wrapped it in the banana leaves and grill it. Other times it has black or red bean instead of banana. I think I've seen banana leaf strips for sale at Sagaya's. Let's see if I can make these when we get home.
Here are some seed pods on campus. 
