dog days

This afternoon, a dozen of us piled in a truck and drove outside the city limits to pick snails in some marshy lakes there. If eating pond snails doesn't appeal to you, neither will our impromptu stop en route. We were bouncing along to the banjo-like folk tunes one of the guys was picking out on a traditional thai instrument, when i heard a thud and we abruptly pulled to a halt beside the road. There was a commotion as all my thai friends began to give their opinions about something... and i looked back to see a dead dog lying in the road. I couldn't tell for sure what the debate was, but i had a good idea what it could be, and i cast my vote with the handful of people motioning to go on. We apparently lost the vote, and one of the guys leaped out of the truck with a bucket and collected our victim. Just what i was afraid of. So the dead dog came along with us, and sat stuffed in a pail for an hour and a half while we waded in the marsh in the late afternoon heat. Yeah, pretty sure they are totally outside right now preparing it for use at one of tomorrow's meals. And no i am not jumping to conclusions. While its not part of normal popular Thai cuisine, people from the outer provinces are always ready and willing to make the best of a spare dog. And several of our friends here are from those provinces and couldn't bear to see our road mishap go to waste.

The sweltering day is cooling into a hot evening, and by this time tomorrow there is a chance i will have eaten roadkill. I love my life.

life in slow motion

Feels like time is standing still, now that i am outside the pace of city life- both China and Bangkok seem far away. Yesterday was busy- taught a two hour english class at a local university (we are pictured above with the girls from the class), and then spoke at a Christian gathering in the evening. But even with plenty to do the days seem lethargically long, maybe owing to the hot afternoons and easy going pace of life.

north by northeast

My residence in Mahasarakham affords a view of the blazing bright sunsets- now if only there was a beach to go with that... ;)

sawasdee kah from Thailand

A quick day to run around Bangkok before we head for a city up in the northeast ... I made sure to hit as many of my favorite places here as possible! I got a Thai massage, went to Khao San Road (an easy going traveler enclave) , and ate at a half dozen street stalls:) And then sat in a bit of traffic before ascending to happily zooming over it all in the city's elevated Skytrain.

Tomorrow its off to the northeast.

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drawn to a close

Looking back, a month and a half in China has come and gone so rapidly- i am here at the end of my stay and have to turn my reluctant face to look ahead. Time with friends (old and new) has been precious and has now drawn to a close...it feels a little empty out here on my own now! And while a chapter is over, the story goes on. The next chapter's opening scene: a flight to Thailand...

girls out on the town

A day off gave me and a few good girlfriends from Maui an ideal opportunity to spend some quality time together and take in the city. We ran around the shopping discticts, saw a guy dressed as a chicken, explored markets, and even ate fried scorpions!! Are we having fun yet?! After that, we figured we had earned our Starbucks stop downtown, and when we were finally tired of riding the metro and hailing taxis and eating arachnids, we topped it off with a nice dinner out . A truly memorable and fun day in China as my time here comes to a close...Sunday we will depart for Thailand. Time here has gone so quickly- but they say time flies when you are having fun...

barbeque in the park

Such a great day with our friends! And as we all know, there is nothing like a good handful of blueberry flavor potato chips to top off a great day barbecuing in the park ...

China in color

the faces that fill my days

My local friends are always a joy to spend time with- whether in one on one settings, or at study and discussion nights. As is apparent in the first photo, they love my Maui friend's baby son- he is a total celebrity on study night...! The other images are me with some of the girls I have been engaging with one on one during my time here, outside the venues where we first met.

I'd like to thank the Academy...

A visit to the Chen Clan Academy building with its cultural arts exhibits was a photogenic way to spend an afternoon. A local friend brought me here just last week, but my camera battery was dead! So i came back to share the site with a friend from home that is visiting here as well. From paintings and antiques to the delicate brewing of tea and embroidery, it seemed there was some hall devoted to every aspect of the local heritage.

cold weather, warm hearts

Despite another especially damp and cold spell here in the city, my heart is warmed by the arrival of even more of my friends from Maui. Having so many dear old friends around is such an encouragement, and making new local friends is a joy as well. As an added bonus, it all helps distract me from the biting weather!

Daily life is always interesting here, we laugh a lot... both at ourselves and at some of the inexplicable sights we behold. In the humor category: trying to buy a hot dog at a tea shop while being serenaded by a violin playing punk college student, seeing dozens of badly dressed pets (the chinese seem to love to dress their dogs- i see few unclothed ones), finding locals asleep in beds/on couches in a large furniture store, running across an intersection with a friend still unfamiliar with her high heeled boots (resulting in flailing arms and much screaming- i would gladly pay for that traffic cam footage....), seeing a middle age couple in full pajama get up (w/ house slippers even!) out in a fancy desert shop in the evening, paying just over a dollar to have a woman on a street corner nail tire tread to my badly worn down boot heels (it took courage to let her go at my Steve Maddens with while i sat freezing on the curb, looking on with trepidation), eating pig tongue soup with unidentifiable branches protruding from the pot, and of course reading all kinds of badly worded signs.

24 hours in Hong Kong: Day

A ferry ride across Victoria harbor proved the skyline to be imposing even by day- regardless of the haze that drifted in mid-morning...and the streets were just as exciting and abuzz with life at high noon as midnight. We ate noodles, used the metro to hop around downtown, and bought random souvenirs in a packed market before catching our train back to the mainland. I really enjoyed the day away, and was glad of the breath of fresh air that even such an abbreviated trip provided.