Four More Thursdays to Go!!

Since the beginning of the semester, Thursdays have always been Hard (for those of you listening to recordings of my blog, that's "hard" with a capital H).  Apart from the fact that I have 5 classes, each one is more challenging than the next.  I noticed recently that on the first day I had written myself two notes next to two of the classes on my Thursday schedule; "Algo difícil" (kind of difficult) and "socorro" (help).  The other problem with Thursday is that each of my classes is  separated by an hour break.  If that doesn't sound like a reason to complaint to you, just imagine that you get a good momentum going and then you have juuust enough time to cool off and lose it but not enough time to actually do anything productive.  Then you have to suddenly break out of your "relax" mode and start again.  By the end of the day, I've hit that rollercoaster so hard I'm exhausted and don't know which way is up and which is down.

This is the first Thursday in 6 weeks that I've taught all my classes.  That is not an exaggeration nor is it meant to be funny, I have documented proof that for one reason or another the classes have been cancelled for 6 weeks in a row.  Needless to say, all of the above made me start off my first full Thursday of 2017 with a mild sense of trepidation (I always thought that word was "INtrepidation" by the way) and by that, I actually mean I was freaking terrified.  Not to mention, I was supposed to be due to give these guys a test but since we hadn't covered the material in almost 2 months, I was hesitant about expecting them to remember enough to do well (I eventually asked my Thai teacher friend what I should do and she looked me straight in the eye and in the kindest way possible explained to me that my grades will not matter in the long run).

Now that I have fully set the stage, I'll tell you about my day.  I hit my first class with the perfect amount of energy and control, and "Nice Cop" never had to turn to "Mr. Hyde" like I'd expected.  We even had some nice "conversations" where I took the vocabulary words to another level and they nodded and at least pretended that they understood me.  Hell, one student even raised his hand and asked a question!  I thought I'd die right then and there.  It's almost like the class has given up on treating me like the useless school decoration that I had just found out that I was.  

Several students in another one of my classes today went, "Teacher! We missed you!"  Only in retrospect writing this blog did I realize that that should have made me ashamed.  I just happily responded, "I missed you guys too!" And actually felt like I could have meant it.  

Fine though, these weren't the classes I was most worried about anyway.  My most difficult class of the day (the one next to which I had hand written my solicitation for help) made me wonder if I'd been remembering the whole group of them wrong.  They were almost... delightful.  I can't say that all of them shut up for the whole class but I got through all my material and I even had some time to spare (sometimes I don't even finish with them).  Furthermore, more than once my antics solicited loud group laughs from the class.  Basically I thought I was losing my mind.  

On my way home, a little color to my step and slight, carefree smirk on my face (I had defeated my evil Thursday!) it occurred to me.  Maybe my classes hadn't changed at all.  Maybe they hadn't gotten better or learned to appreciate me in the last 6 weeks.  Maybe what had changed was me.  Maybe all I needed was a little break from the constant pelting of difficult classes to get my feet under me.  Or maybe, most surprising and annoying of all, I had finally figured out a key to this classroom management thing out 4 weeks before I would no longer be needing it.

That could all be wishful thinking.  I could be writing another post in 7 days about how I cried my eyes out during every hour break I was mercilessly allowed, but for now I just want to bask in some form of "success."  Cross your fingers that the rest of the semester goes as smoothly as today did!

Last weekend we went to Lampang and here are some pictures!

Selfie on our horse carriage ride.

  

Sorry there were a disturbing lack of puppy pics in that collection.  I'l do better next time.

Thai Priorities.. Thairorities?

There have been some questions raised (by me) about the exact purpose of spending hundreds and thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of Baht on foreign English teachers when you cancel their classes half the time.  Perhaps you'll want to accuse me of implementing my usual hyperbole here, but the class I will have seen the least at the end of my 16 week semester will have met 7 times, so the "half" is actually generous.  In the past, I have witnessed the school bring some pretty incredible projects to fruition (the sports day parade) and have heard of even more (the actual sports competition as well as several more academic competitions all over the north of Thailand).  Today, I got the unique chance to see yet another fantastic display of Thai patriotism.

The best way I can describe it was a concentrated and more specific version of the parade in the guise of a theatrical play.  Don't ask me what the play was about cause I still don't speak Thai, but you didn't have to understand a word to sit there slack jawed for 45 full minutes.  I would also say that maybe it's because I acted enough in High School or because I watch a lot of theater, but either way I pride myself in being able to recognize talented acting no matter what language is being spoken.  Let me tell you, these kids had "it."  They cheated to the audience!  They projected their voices (the expensive microphone system helped there) talking slowly but expressively!  They were never idle even when it wasn't their line and they stayed in character the whole time!  There were even some fairly difficult scenes, including several elaborately choreographed sword fights and death scenes with ACTUAL.  METAL.  SWORDS.  Talk about a liability risk that would never be taken in US American schools.

Basically, I just watched a professional-level performance but it wasn't just the acting which left me ogling!  The costumes, as you can imagine if you've read my parade post from several weeks ago, were unreal.  When you have a bunch of high school students in a performance maybe you cut some corners on some stuff, making sacrifices of money or time.  However, there was nothing tacky about what the student-actors wore and it was clear that all the stops had been pulled.  I don't think the queen herself would have turned up her nose to donning some of the more elegant gowns.

Furthermore, as can be expected in any Thai performance, there was traditional Thai dancing, accompanied by the stereotypical Southeast Asian tune.  However, even when the focus was on the drama in the story, the background music was gorgeous and certainly did it's part to tie the whole thing together.

Arguably the most breathtaking and unbelievable piece of this insane little puzzle were the props.  I've already mentioned that all the actors risked life and limb to bring you the clang of steel on steel during the fight scenes, but there was so much more than just that.  There were homemade beasts of burden made out of papier-mâché but strong enough to carry students and roll underneath them to give the appearance of real life.  So real was the cannon and so engrossed were the viewers that when it was pointed towards the audience, there were little screams of fear which quickly turned to giggles as we realized we were safe.  There were even scene changes with beautiful bamboo walls on wheels serving as makeshift curtains.  It was fabulous.

At first, I didn't take many pictures because I was facing the sun and quite far from the stage.  However, I moved up a little bit towards the end, including a creep behind the "stage" in order to get to the other side.  This is what I have to show...

These videos might not work... fingers crossed.

Thai Holidays

Bangkok, Thailand is one of the biggest cities in the world.  I looked it up and since it wasn't in the top 10 I didn't bother mentioning it's ranking, but do you realize how many cities there are in the whole, entire world?  The fact that it made the list at all is impressive.  Anyway, maybe you didn't know this about me but for all that I love to travel, I thrive best in the wee, off-the-beaten-path gems with a low human density (that part is important) with more nature to show than infrastructure.  So, gun to my head and only one syllable in my voice box, do I like Bangkok?  My answer would be: No.  However, when I went down for the holidays I did have an absolute blast and I'm glad I went.  Will I go back alone for shits and giggles anytime soon?  I could be allowed to use more than a syllable and I'd probably still say no, but if the Friskneys invited me it would be an "abso-freaking-lutely."

Jessie "Coolest Chick in the Land" Friskney is someone I had never met until the day after Christmas.  She and her lovely family had decided to make their first Southeast Asia trip in Thailand and it worked out perfectly for us all to meet up in the capital.  It wasn't a random encounter, she is a dear friend of my dear friend, Libby, so I was pretty much convinced that we would really hit it off, and did we ever!

I think the bottom line with my generally negative outlook on Bangkok is that tackling a mega-city like that on your own is neither fun, nor relaxing (I would say "safe" too but I would only be referring to the traffic and the cars who like to plow over trusting pedestrians like me and not other people which is what the word usually implies). The day I spent with Jessie, Darrin and Stella, however?  Was magical.

We kicked it off with a yummy breakfast at their hotel and then set out for the grand palace, which is like the Thai equivalent of the White House.  I guess a more appropriate word would be "version" because there is nothing "equal" about two places, no offense, America.  The grand palace is a must see in any trip to Thailand and any travel book or blog will tell you this.  

The trip to our destination was actually quite hilarious.  Right off the bat, we found a tuktuk driver who told us that he would take us to the palace for 100 baht.  Great!  We thought.  Not only would it be a super inexpensive drive, but they'd get to check "tuktuk ride" off their "Thailand Must Do" checklist.  We got about 2 minutes away when our driver told us he wasn't gonna take us to the palace after all.  It's not what you think!  It's was the middle of the day, we weren't about to get kidnapped... or at least not permanently.  There is a market that is better than the palace, he told us.  Right.  If Thai royalty don't want to live in this market and Thai politicians don't hold meetings of the state there, then I'm sure its a market just like any other.  We want to go to the GRAND PALACE.  Please.  We argued for a bit and then finally demanded that we be released off the side of the road.  Grumpily, our driver pulled over, although I'm not sure why he thought he had any right to be upset.  We were the ones who had been lied to.  

After Darrin and I inspected our GPSs we made a different plan to walk to the bus stop and jump on the number we were instructed to ride.  However, it soon became evident that we'd boarded on the wrong side of the street, meaning that we were being hauled off in the opposite direction.  Disembarkment number 2.   

At this point, if I had been alone, I would have been in tears.  Getting "lost" alone is not nearly as bearable as making directional mistakes with a fun-loving group of interesting people who all have their heads together for the success of the same mission.  We had kind of given up doing things the non-tourist way, however, and decided to call an uber.  (Yes!  Surprisingly they have uber in Thailand!  Who knew?)  However, after waiting 20 minutes and watching the little car on the GPS go around and around in circles in front of our eyes we cancelled it and made a Plan D.  This failure to make contact with the uber, by the way, is another thing that I despise about Bangkok; the travel infrastructure is absolutely nonsensical.  Remember Dr. Seuss' story about the south-going and north-going Zax?  They build roads all around them, which don't appear to make sense either.  Well, it seems to me that Dr. Seuss had a hand in designing the layout for the roads in Bangkok.   As amazing a writer as he was, I seriously question his ability to properly organize a city's transportation system.  Bottom line, sometimes walking gets you to where you want to go about 500000x faster than driving and it's not just the traffic; you end up having to do a million round about turns to get to a place that you can see in front of you.  It's kind of awful.

When we were waiting for our uber where the bus had dropped us, we noticed this awesome little guy in the moat behind us.  We determined that he is a water monitor.  This is what happens when you get lost and don't lose your head about it... I should remember that for future reference. 

Plan D just turned out to be a taxi.  Boring, I know, but guess what!  It FINALLY did the job and we got to where we needed to be.  

There was a little bit of a glitch getting into the compound as well because, why not?  It wasn't my first day in Thailand so I knew about covering myself for temples.  And Jessie and Stella, being experienced and well-adjusted traveled, had done their research about what woman can wear and when in Thailand as well.  My point is, none of us was particularly what you'd call "poorly prepared."  Since it was hot, the girls were wearing short sleeves, but they had brought shawls.  Their preparation was literally textbook.  I had a skirt that, yes, was shorter than my knees, however, I wore leggings under to cover them.  Literally nothing was inappropriate about any of our outfits, however, we were still directed to the clothes rental area where they charged us las perlas de la pinche virgen to rent gross, sweaty "skirts" and button up shirts.  That took a bit, but when we made it inside, our frustrating morning seemed to fade away as if it had all been one big hypothetical. 

Stella, Jessie and I with our stupid rental clothes, but stupid happy smiles on anyway.  Pay more attention to the faces, they tell the real story.

The rest of the day was filled with exploration, giant buddhas, water taxis and sky trains.  When ended up back at the hotel quite late but the family had tickets to see a Muay Thai fight and I decided to go tag along, not yet prepared to see such a perfect day come to an end.  

Next stop on my holiday adventure was Rayong to visit my XA friend, Madeline.  We were set to meet up with more English Teachers in Ko Samet (an island about an hour drive + 30 minute ferry from Madeline's house).  It was absolutely the most refreshing and fun trip and it was also great to see my friends again!

Maddy and I at our first reunion.  SO HAPPY!

New Years Eve in Ko Samet.  Madeline took control of my makeover as if I were a doll.  

Everyone should ring the new year in with a puppy.  It's just common sense.

Clearly unhappy to be leaving.  Why am I wearing a lifejacket?  I AM ONE.

I've been back a school now for a couple of weeks.  Let's just say, it's hard to take it seriously anymore when 1. classes get cancelled left and right and all of our schedules are completely screwed and 2. it doesn't seem like anyone cares that you're there or not and 3. you just got back from a great, fun adventure with friends on an island.  Maybe my feelings will change in the next 5 weeks (yea, that's ALL that is left! Yikes!).  I'll let you know.

I hope 2017 is not a disappointment.  You know what I'm talking about, 2016!

Random Pre-Holiday Photos (Forgive me for Kicking Chronology to the Curb)

A few weekends ago we went to this Buddhist theme park without the rides.  Amazingly bizarre styled structures that make for some great and weird pictures!

Every time I see these giant statues of monks (and these here could rival most "giant Buddhas") I think about the article I once read about monks (in Nepal?  India?  Not Thailand I know that much) who had a competition to see who was the most humble.  The first test must have been, "Will you enter this competition?" and those who said, "Oh heck yeah!" were immediately eliminated!  Anyway, I feel like you're not supposed to make giant, golden statues of people who live their entire existence avoiding the spotlight and attention... but what do I know?

This temple is absolutely one of the most stunning pieces of art that I have ever seen in my life.  I was left breathless just walking though it.  It's called the White Temple and if ever there was a Thailand "must see" it's this one!

What makes this temple so fabulous is that it's 'not exquisite and humbly meditative.  It's freaking scary.  These are the dead souls trying to claw their way up and out of their purgatorial existence.  You have to walk over them to get into the temple, no big deal.

From this distance, I just suspected intricate and elaborate carvings of shapes and maybe some Buddhas or your average humanoid monkey.  I had no idea I was entering hell itself.  Who knew the underworld was so white and clean?

Singha Park

I almost irrationally stole this dog.  He has a mangled foot and I named him "Trex" (one word).  However, his soft, well groomed fur and fat little tummy led me to believe that although he maybe he did spend a good bit of time on the streets during the day, he was actually probably loved.

This photo is actually quite interesting and much cooler than it looks.  This is me at the apex of 3 countries at once.  I've never been straddling as many as three whole nations before!  Behind me is Laos and Myanmar, while I'm technically in Thailand! Too cool.

Water, Water Everywhere

"Alone" and "lonely" aren't the same thing.  One is a physical state of being and the other is 100% emotional.  However, the two go so closely hand in hand that that differentiation isn't always evident, or even existent.  Being one without the other is either a frightening predicament or an incredible achievement.  Basically, it can come down to your own way of looking at life but it can also be a product of circumstances outside of your control.

For the past three Christmas seasons (I'm including this one), I have been outside of the states, but not once yet have I been alone OR lonely.  That first year in Mexico, Friedly trip abruptly cancelled, Colleen still made it down, ergo neither of us was alone at all.  The second year, my family was able to make the visit and it felt like any other Christmas because, really what is Christmas, anyway, but time with Family?

This year, even with my countless Christmas "lessons" for my Mathayom 3 classrooms, it still shocks me that I have found myself, today, writing a blog on Christmas eve.  I'm used to the lack of white wonderland (I may not like it, but I have learned to accept that the season isn't always snowy or cold), but the lack of anything is strange.  Even before my American visitors arrived, the office at INAOE was always more than festive.  We had a Christmas tree and we had a gift exchange and Cholula was lit up with Christmas lights for weeks before the day and weeks after.  It was present in my life.  Not here.

I'm sitting in a café, alone and maybe a little lonely, trying to get in the spirit but it's not so easy.  This cafe looks the same as always and the music dancing through the speakers isn't even Christmasy.  It's not all in Thai but even the English stuff is what they always play here.  Nothing has been altered in any way to acknowledge what today is.  Tonight I am taking an overnight bus to Bangkok to see some friends from training and while I'm excited to have plans... there is still this nervousness present in my heart.  While I am going to, presumably, meet up with people, I'm still going alone.  The hostel I booked, is for me, alone.  I won't even have a seat-mate on the 9 hour bus ride.  It's a strange feeling and it reminds me of the moment I realized that the Thai language was a challenge that I had not fully appreciated or anticipated.  This aloneness wasn't avoided (and maybe it couldn't have been anyway) but I didn't think it would affect me this much.

Yes, missing holidays with family is hard no matter where you are.  It doesn't matter if all the people around you are overdoing it with their own joy or if they barely recognize that the day is something significant for you at all; the people that know "your" traditions and do all the right things to make Christmas what it is for you aren't there to fill in the picture.

Outlook is everything, right?  And Christmas is "just a day."  That means I'm going to have to try and take control of the "circumstances out of my control" and remember, once again, that I chose to be here and I'm genuinely glad for it (every other day of the year).  I might be more alone than I've ever been before (holiday or no) but I refuse to be lonely.

Allow me to wish everyone the best Christmas possible and an amazing entry into 2017!  Photos to come.

Just one of those days...

Today was kind of rough.

It was one of those days where you wake up and you just know that every waking hour is going to make it hard on you.  It was the kind of day where all the little pieces of the world you live in are varying shades of black and white, you can't help it, of course, because who'd rather watch only the first part of The Wizard of Oz knowing how much better the second part is?  It's just the way it is and all day you have these little moments where you tell yourself, "You made it to the light at the end of the tunnel, this day wasn't as bad as you thought" and then your internet goes out and you think, "Internet is a luxury anyway what do I need it for?" but your coteacher sees you struggling and then kind of hijacks your computer to "fix" the problem and 2 hours later the problem isn't fixed but all the tabs you've been carefully hoarding for months are definitely deleted and the screen looked a little different and you can't figure out how and you definitely can't be mad about it because she was trying to help.

It's the kind of day where you are taking attendance and you notice that one of your students keeps raising her hand for several similar sounding names in a row and that she is very confused about who she is or what her number is and you come to find out that you've been working with an attendance sheet that is not up to date so even the kids don't know what you are talking about and not only is your entire attendance record for the semester ruined (it's been 7 weeks) but the test you gave them might be trash as well because you'll never be totally sure whose is whose.

It's the kind of day where your last class is 15 minutes late so you're sitting outside waiting and a Thai teachers breezes over to you and tells you, "You can't sit like that" and you are so surprised and affronted and, yea, mad too because, 1. In YOUR culture it's not ok to just tell a coworker how to be, and 2. You honestly didn't know there was a more polite way to sit than "legs crossed."  And you try and be like, "Wait, what? Why?" but your students show up at that exact moment (to save you?) so you let yourself get swept into the classroom leaving her outside, and you think you could have maybe hurt her feelings and most of you cares about that but a small little Benedict Arnold part of you doesn't because she hurt yours first and you know it's petty and elementary school but does she know what kind of day you've had?

It's the kind of day where you go to buy another GB on your phone (no internet at work, remember?) and you tell the lady 200 baht and you know you said it right because the same thing that always happens when you ask for 200 baht happened- she says something in Thai which you have come to decide means, "There's a promotion" and she shows you that she will be charging you only 150, lucky you!  But then she tries to give you 300 baht change for your 500 and instead of thinking you misunderstood how much the 200 baht top-up cost (it's obviously not 150 baht for a 200 baht phone plan) you try to tell her that you need 350 back.  So what she does instead is CHARGE you 350 for your phone instead of the 150 you thought you were paying.

It's just one of those days.

But then again...

...you didn't ask for help with the internet but your friend not only recognized that you were frustrated about something, she figured out what about and went out of her way to try and turn it around for you.  Who cares if she didn't succeed?  Isn't there still such a thing as "it's the thought that counts"?

...the attendance thing was certainly annoying, but one student randomly (and thankfully) just happened to have a copy of the updated version for you.  Then, all the girls in the class spent the last few minutes filling in all of the nicknames for you in English so that the next time you came to class you wouldn't be woefully unprepared without even realizing it.

...yea, god we're all adults, but bottom line about the inappropriate sitting thing is you definitely don't have Thai faux pas radar yet.  In fact, that's probably not something you can ever achieve (did you ever figure it out 100% in Mexico?), so it's probably possible that you got told in the sweetest possible way that you were offending everyone in the world (your feet were showing after all and aren't those incredibly undesirable in Thailand) and now you know for next time.

...are you gonna use 350 baht on your phone eventually?  Oh, god yes.  You've already spent 300 baht more than you thought you should this month, you just saved yourself a trip to the store for the next time you burn through a G in a super short amount of time (but whose counting and keeping track, really?).  So must we complain about a simple little miscommunication?  I mean... you never claimed to speak Thai but you clearly spoke more than that woman spoke English and you kinda achieved your goal anyway.  Let's take a win on this one.

Oh.  Huh.  Maybe my day wasn't so bad after all.

Capital of the North

Normally, my blogging happens on the weekends.  You'd think, therefore, that having two 3-day weekends in a row would mean an overwhelming number of posts.  Instead, I've been busy working on memories to write about.

It's taken 2 months, but I've finally made it to the capital of the north, otherwise known as "the whole reason some people go to Thailand," or what you'll find on the map- Chiang Mai.  In the past 2 weeks, I've spent a total of 6 days there and that adds up to about a million and three moments where I had to stop and think, "You're in Thailand, girlfriend."

Even the bus ride from Phrae to Chiang Mai (a windy 4 hour trip) is like a person tour of a national park.  I felt like we were disrupting a rainforest, everywhere I looked was green, green and more green.  I think my jaw went a bit slack at times and I certainly couldn't look away for most of the entire trip.

When you get to Chiang Mai, the beauty continues but what you see more in the Old City is the human-made variety.  I honestly felt like you could havae given a monkey a go pro and sent her out to haphazardly take random pictures of the city and more than 80% of those pictures would be Time magazine worthy.  There is something to be said about putting down the iPhone and letting the sites surround you, taking it all in and I know that even those pictures carefully framed and shot aren't as good as the real thing, but I had to make it a point at times because I was so driven towards the documentation aspect.

The first weekend that I headed up, I was mostly on my own.  I did meet up with some friends on the last night but the first 2 days were spent with me, myself and I.  Something that I've been able to realize about myself here in Thailand is that I can be independent when need be.  I feel like a growth curve of my life (age on the x-axis and personal strength on the y) would show an insane leap in these past few months and most of that has to do with this forced solitude.  When you are not in a group of people all the time and bound by the whims of the majority, you see your own desires and personality pretty clearly in a way that you didn't even realize you were missing out on.  There is definitely a stigmatism to it- when is the last time you went out to eat at a restaurant by yourself?  To the movies?  But, god, when you get over that, there is certainly something liberating about it too!

What did Jesi decide to do with Jesi that first weekend?  Well, a lot of temples and coffee houses were visited.  But, when you are in Chiang Mai, there are a lot of temples and coffee houses to check out so the pressure to see and try them all is pretty real.

I love temples for many reasons.  Maybe you'll recall in a previous blog the cameo of the words "I love cathedrals," and a lot of the principles to both statements are the same, but if possible I love Buddhist temples even more.  How can you not love a place where you are obligated to remove your shoes to enter?  In all seriousness, I've always been comforted by traditions and I like to learn about Buddhism in general.  Every time I go to a new temple, I feel like I learn something new.  Ever realize there are 7 forms of the Buddha?  Those are for the seven days of the week.  Ever realize that people always donate food?  That food is not for the Buddha, or the King, or dead ancestors (my mind always went to Día de muertos), it is for the person donating said food to eat in the afterlife.

This canal wraps all the way around the Old City of Chiang Mai which, for geographically oriented people like myself is thankfully shaped in a perfect square.

Rest in Peace.

Did I said I did Chiang Mai all alone?  Maybe I had company for a lunch or two.  This is Noodle, named for floppiness.

This is a picture of a scene inside of my favorite temple compound, Wat Lok Molee.  How does one pick a favorite temple? you may ask.  I think it's safe to say that you just know because when I walked into to this temple I just did.

The other thing I made a point to do on my weekend alone was hit up all of the famous night markets.  On Saturday, that was the Night Bazaar.  We're talking entire streets of stands and then giant market buildings along the side which are also filled with everything from painted elephant keychains to the flowiest, most colorful pants you can imagine.  What do both of those things have in common?  They have great smile inducing properties for your humble blogger.  What else did the Saturday Night Bazaar have to offer?  Food.  More food than you could ever imagine.  Now you don't come 24 hours on a plane hating the food of the place you're going and I love Thai food as much as, if possibly even more than, the next guy, but when you eat nothing else for 2 months, guess what?  Mexican food sounds really good.  As luck would have it, at the end of the street of shops, I stumbled upon the most beautiful beer garden.  I happily overpaid for a beer and a Mexican burrito bowl (nowhere near the caliber of Chipotle, I'm afraid, but still tasty) and sat on the hay bales that had been laid around to be used as benches.  Because the world is a beautiful little ball of happy coincidences and terrific moments, the DJ made sure to play song after song after song in Spanish.  Tears were imminent and part of being alone meant that I honestly didn't care if anyone looked at me sideways for my excessive smile and over the top joy because I was already the only weirdo without a buddy.  Let them wonder what they were missing out on.

As much of a success as the Nigh Bazaar was, I didn't buy much and although I was impressed, I was completely floored by what Sunday night had to offer.  I thought I'd seen it all, you see.  Sometimes you get cocky when you travel.  A night market?  Sure, I'm always down, but please don't expect to blow my mind or anything.  Oh man, was I wrong.   To be honest, there is no way to describe it so I won't even try.  All that I can say is that at the end of the day there is a reason Chiang Mai is on the map for one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world and I think any travel blog will tell you that one of the main reasons for that is this Sunday night market.  Forget about it if you struggle with decisions, like I do, but even that and the crowds (my kryptonite) could deter me from spending hours there trying to see every booth; a task I soon learned was impossible.

This event was so big that when the time came to make plans for the second weekend, I convinced myself that I needed to leave Monday morning instead of Sunday night.

Now, even I will say that no matter how much I loved Chiang Mai the first time, it was very unlike me to show up a second weekend in a row.  However, when some of my friends from training who are teaching in Krabi (a Thai city in the south an hour from the beach where it, apparently, never stops raining) told me that they would be there since they had the week off school, I couldn't resist the opportunity to meet up with them.  We had a total blast!

Saturday morning, we shared a delicious breakfast at a Mexican restaurant that had huevos rancheros on the menu- cue the "homesicknessy" tears that come with the universe aligning to give you a small little hug to let you know that its got your back.  Afterwards we went to the Grand Canyon.  That's right, folks, we popped onto a plane headed for Arizona and 24 hours later got to see the deepest pit in the world just in time to catch another day-long flight back.  That's not really true, of course, but I bet you didn't know that there is a Thai version of the Grand Canyon and can be found in none other than Chiang Mai.

Although they made the Human Lifejacket (I'm still just not totally satisfied with my superhero name, but this will do for now) wear a lifejacket, I still had a wonderful time swimming in this beautiful pit that wasn't quite as big as the one in the US.  There was even a spot for some cliff diving but I respectfully declined the opportunity.

My Krabi buddies had to leave after breakfast on Sunday, but me and my fellow Piriyalai English-teacher, decided that we wanted to take full advantage of being in a big city and do things that one can't do in Phrae.  We went to the movies and saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in English!  The traffic was horrible and we arrived "late" but there are definitely more commercials in Thailand than I've ever seen, not to mention there is a King's song where all in the theater are compelled to stand to show fealty.  It was the first time I'd seen the new official "King photo" of the new King and I have to admit I was a little confused initially.  I never did make it to the movies when Bumihbol's face was on the big screen and I'm a little sad about that to be honest.

Of course I hit up the Sunday market again and made it home in time on Monday to get some work done.  Not to beat a dead horse (and also, not to merely repeat anything you'll ever find on tourist websites about Thailand) but if you do make it to Southeast Asia anytime soon, CM needs to be on your list.  Amazing!