Hanoi, Vietnam

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

We went to Mae Sa Elephant Camp to ride try an elephant ride and see the show. Elephant used to be used to help cultivate the land in Thailand, among other things, but now they are mainly used for tourism or left alone to roam in nature at conservatories. After a couple months in the country we still hadn't taken the obligatory elephant ride so we headed up north a half hour to the countryside to check out the camp. We got to see a nursery, the trainers giving the them a bath (they loved it- playing around and splashing each other), and a show. Who knew elephants were so coordinated? The ride was fun and the scenery was gorgeous!

Tiger Kingdom; Mae Sa, Thailand

One of our last days in Chaing Mai, Chris and I went to the Tiger Kingdom. We had seen signs all over town advertising it, but were a but sceptical it. We drove by it on our way home from doing an elephant ride in Mae Sa and decided to stop in.

They allow you to chose which age tiger you would like to visit in its cage. We chose the youngest age, 4 months, paid the fee and went inside the entrance. When we got inside and were waiting for our turn to visit the cub, we could watch other tourists in the cage with the older tigers.

The tigers were asleep, so much so that the park employee that went in the cage with the patrons had to poke and provolk the tiger just to get it to open its eyes for a picture! We felt so uncomfortable and scammed; the tigers seemed drugged. We tried to get our money back but of course there were no refunds.

Feeling a bit duped into supporting this operation, we asked the employees about why the tigers were all so lethargic. They explained that this was normal tiger behavior; they just sleep up to 80% of the time. They said the tigers had been handled by humans since birth and were used to it.

Soon it was our turn to see the little cub and we went into a nursery, washed our hands, and got to pet him for our ten minutes. It is so adorable! The trainors put him in my lap and I got to hold his not-so -little paw in my hand. We could touch his paws and tummy but could not go near his face. At one point, Chris touched him a bit soflty and the cub jumped up to see what was on him! We both jumped out of our skin! It wmade me nervous to take my eyes off him to take a pitcture!as a it scarey to look up to take a picture. All in all, we left there feeling excited to have that once in a lifetime experience, but still felt a bit of guilt.

A Christmas Celebration, Thai Style

Chris' nonprofit invited us to their annual Christmas party. We were so excited to be with them and to see how they celebrate Christmas!

We went to the home of one of Chris' coworkers who lives in a nearby village outside Chiang Mai. They prepared for the party, soaking the vegetables and setting up the karaoke.

This is Petsila with the whiskey she made and her little cup ready to try it out!

Cute Nomjay with the ubiquitous Thai peace sign or hello kitty ears (whichever it is). First we sang Christmas carols and prayed as a group.

Then, we all sat around a barbeque grill and cooked our chicken, pork and squid and dipped it in spicy sauce; the food was great and we had so much fun!

As if they had not already done enough for us, Ajan Tawan, the Director of SDSU gave us all Christmas gifts; we got beautiful polo shirts. Pi Cai gave us each these great scarves-thank you!

Chris karaokee'd and we all danced the night away!

Habitat for Humanity, continued. . .

Pictures from top: The home we helped build for Wanida (who worked harder than all of us volunteers). Me, Wanida and her daughter after the home dedication. And Wanida accepting the key to her home. (Wanida is a client of the organization I am volunteering for -which is how we were lucky enough to be involved.)

Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project in Chiang Mai

Rachel and I were privileged last week to be able to take part in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter / Habitat for Humanity Work Project here in Chiang Mai. The project was a coordinated "blitz build" across locations in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China. In Thailand alone, Habitat volunteers built a new community consisting of 82 new homes for low-income families. (The foundations were done when we arrived; we put up the walls, roofing, windows & doors, etc.) Literally thousands of volunteers took part from all over the world, including President Carter himself, who helped build a house down the street from the one I worked on. We'll post more later, but here are some pictures from the week.

Rachel with part of the team from House 34. These volunteers (and several thousand others) worked through 100-degree heat for five days to build homes for low-income families in northern Thailand. (Check back for Rachel's comments on her experience in the next few days.)

Here's me (back row, fourth from the left) with the team from House 5 on the first day of construction. The new homeowner, Kanchana Nimphisut, is in the front row, second from the left. She worked along with the rest of the crew every minute of the construction process; in fact, I almost never saw her take a break.

Former President Jimmy Carter installs a door latch at a new home down the street from where I worked. Over the course of the week I watched the former president and his wife carry buckets of concrete, stack bricks and sweep floors along with the rest of us. Pretty amazing considering that he's 84 years old. (Reminded me of Grandpa Thompson, actually...)

President Carter arrives at the closing ceremony for the event. Rachel and I sat a couple of tables over from him and his wife (and a whole bunch of Secret Service guys). The closing ceremony featured traditional Thai dancing and a heartfelt speech from one of the new homeowners.

I know this post won't convey the scope of the effort that went into the Habitat work project, or the gratitude that Rachel and I felt to have been involved. Like I said, we'll try to post more later. But the generosity of the volunteers, the spirit of teamwork at the site, and the sheer logistical magnitude of the project were truly awe-inspiring. We've had an absolutely incredible experience here in Chiang Mai so far, and the Habitat project was truly one of the highlights. Check back for Rachel's comments later this week.

First Saturday Night in Chiang Mai

We went to a college campus outside the city for a Lantern Festival. When we arrived at the ceremony site, we saw a huge Budhha on an altar and many monks sitting around the steps of the altar -each holding a candle in their hands. They chanted prayers as we sat and watched along with thousand of other Thais who came out for the occasion. After the prayers, the crowd stood up and lit their lanterns.

The monks directed us to let all of our lanterns go at the same moment. The result was one of the most beautiful sights- thousands of these lantern floating up into the sky at the same time. It is right up there on my list of most incredible experiences of my life. -Rachel