Routine

Well, we are almost not sick anymore, and the students got here, so things are looking up! I started work today, and I am really excited about the projects we are working on. Andrew has been busy busy getting everything situated for the students with their host families, cell phones, weekend trips, etc. He won't start work until the middle of next week, but I'm glad he may have some down time before then--he needs a rest!

Here are a few more pictures to keep us up to date on our experiences here:

This is my pile of laundry, fresh from the nice lady down the street who washed, air-dried, and ironed my clothes! I couldn't believe how flat and nice my clothes looked all piled together. 

Big adventure night: Moo Getat. Totally guessed on the spelling, but the romanized spelling is made up anyway, and this is how I would spell it.This is a giant open-air warehouse with the longest buffet table you've ever seen. Rows and rows of tables surround the buffet line, and each table gets a kettle with hot coals underneath to cook the meat, veggies, and noodles from the buffet. Andrew was pretty good at it. I was overwhelmed and mostly watched at first. But then I got into it, and the whole experience was a good one!

The desserts we enjoyed: (including some fruit)

Then, last Wednesday, we got to attend the BYU Ballroom Dancers' performance here in Chiang Mai. They were amazing, and we were glad for a fun and cheap date night. The Thais loved it too--the Governor of Chiang Mai was there as well as the President of Chiang Mai University.

Andrew played with the panoramic setting on the camera for this spot, and it was worth the long awkward smile on my part! This is halfway up Doi Suthep, the mountain near our house. We really enjoyed the view overlooking the city. And the air was so much cooler up there, too!

At the top of the mountain, there is a Palace. It is called the Phuphing Palace (stop laughing, Tyson!). It is one of the queen's palaces, and it is surrounded by beautiful gardens and luscious jungle. We loved visiting this spot.

A rose for my mama! You would love to see the flora in the place.

This old tree was pretty amazing.

Andrew, hiding in the jungle. We had to rent his pants and my wrap around skirt to walk on the grounds. They want everyone to be modest. Pretty cool! (We were wearing shorts underneath)

There is a few of these tree trunks on the palace grounds. They have amazing carvings in them!

This is some giant bamboo. I am actually standing on a road, and behind me the bamboo continues on to the ground another 20 feet or so. It was enormous!

On Monday, we got to drop off two of the students at the Children's Shelter where they will work this summer. The shelter is home to orphaned children from the hill tribes in Northern Thailand. Many of the children are deaf, so everyone communicates in sign language. You can read more about the shelter here. It was such a beautiful place up in the mountains. When we got there, a few little girls had made us these beautiful flower crowns to wear! It was such a sweet gift, and they had such skill in making them.

That's all the photos for now. We'll try to take more this weekend.