This has been a week of loving being here while laughing at the frustrations, and appreciating the people who are helping us through them.

First, the fun. We have finished making all the reservations for our trip to the beach in April. We have two weeks off from school at the hottest part of the year, so we're heading south to the islands. The first week, we'll be on the west coast on the island of Phuket along with three of the girls friends who will be visiting at that time. Phuket is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Thailand. The pictures are gorgeous! We'll be able to alot of fun touristy things with our visitors, parasailing, snorkeling, shopping, etc. The second week, after the girls' friends have gone home, we're going to travel to the east coast, and meet up with friends from Chiang Rai to see Koh Samui and Koh Tao. I love making vacation plans, and this is the vacation of a lifetime. It will mean buying a smaller, cheaper car when we get home, but it'll be worth it.

The frustrations were small this week. Our car broke down, again. It has broken down at least once a month, probably more than that if I counted. The gas line started leaking badly on my way to school, the one day that Dan didn't come because he had gone golfing with a couple of friends (yes he played hooky to go, but golf courses are crowded on the weekends here, just like they are at home and he wanted to play before the hot season begins). Thankfully, we made it to school. There is a Shell gas station just around the corner from the school that also does repairs. One of our Thai speaking friends at school took our car over and explained the problem. He also asked if they could fix the front passenger door that has been stuck locked for about three weeks. The shop was able to fix the gas line, but they weren't able to unlock the door. However, they did fix the latch on the driver's side door, which has always been very tricky to open because the latch was in such poor condition. This car (we've named it SpEd, short for special ed car) has deserved a blog all to itself, if you can't tell! It cost about $15 to get this work done.

(SpEd, unwashed because we're afraid if we wash it all the paint will fall off)

Our car has made me appreciate the Thai people very much. I (Cindy) was at the Chiang Rai night bazaar with the girls and one of their friends the night the door wouldn't unlock. I had locked it because I was able to find a free spot on the street, too cheap to pay to park in the hotel lot (80 cents) where we usually park that has a security guard. Knowing it would be late when we got back, I wanted to lock the car, which we've been able to unlock before, although with some difficulty. Anyway, three teenage girls and a woman obviously unable to unlock the car, so a Thai man came to help. He was able to unlock the driver's side (which we've never been able to unlock) so we could all get home. When the gas line started leaking on the way to school, another Thai gentleman knocked on my window and motioned under the car to try to warn me what was happening, which allowed me to find the problem when I got to school and get it fixed before school was out in the afternoon. We've had mechanics come when another hose burst at the bowling alley (the only western style entertainment in all of Chiang Rai), they came immediately and fixed the problem for only a couple dollars (thanks again to Tim, the same Thai speaking friend for organizing that). When a tire blew, again, Tim and some helpful Thais were there to take care of the problem quickly and inexpensively. Several times I've had Thais help me parallel park that just happened to be on the sidewalk, I don't think my parking is that bad, I think the Thais are just that helpful.

On top of the car problems this week, our upstairs bathroom acted up again. We realized we have had a problem with just about every piece of plumbing in the house, washing machine (replaced) downstairs toilet, kitchen drain, the hose next to the toilet upstairs (all toilets here have spray hoses next to them as a sort of simple bidet), upstairs sink (twice now) and upstairs toilet (it just sings about every fifth flush, a musical toilet). Knock on wood the shower has been fine except when we had no water at all for four days the first week of school. Each time we've had a problem, though, our landlady has responded immediately and had a repairman (our househelper's husband) come and get it fixed by the next day. This time the bathroom faucet, which was just installed a few weeks ago when the previous one blew apart, decided to turn itself on anytime water was running anywhere else in the house. Weird. Wandee came with her husband to fix it and cleaned up the kitchen and ran some laundry for us as long as she was here. So, while there are frustrations about the durability of structures, I am so appreciate of both the Thais and the Americans and how kind and helpful they are!

The beautifully tiled, but unpredictable upstairs bathroom.

Valentine's Day and more

Friday we celebrated Valentine's Day at school. This is a much different experience in a school where many of the students have never celebrated Valentines day before, and you don't just run to the store and buy a box of valentines. Eventually, thanks to the book A Zillion Valentines I managed to convince even the boys that it was fun and wasn't all about boys and girls. They had a great time delivering their cards and opening them, frosting and eating heart shaped cookies and watching a movie about the history of the day.

Chat, on the far right, is obviously a bit of a clown, and just couldn't resist hamming it up for a picture.


There are many advantages to having your whole family involved at the same school. Friday was one of those. The student council sold roses, chocolates and songs to raise money for the prom. Our girls were two of the four singers, and Dan and I gave songs and chocolates to each other and the girls.

Zion looks a little demonic in this picture, sorry, he's actually a very nice young man, I'm not quite sure what Kenny's doing!


The day ended with a dance, themed cosplay, which means the kids could dress up as any fictional character. Megan was Pippi Longstockings, Lindsey and some of her friends dressed up as Alice in Wonderland characters. Lindsey is the Queen of Hearts.



The dances at FLC are for all ages, including parents and teachers. It really is fun to see the teenagers dance with the little kids, parents dancing with their children, and everyone just having fun. The teens all have a great time just dancing in big groups for the most part, and if they do partner up, it's so they can use some of the dance moves they've learned in their ballroom classes. It really is all the joy of music and movement that dances should be, without any of the heaviness that pervades high school dances in the States.

Today Megan turned 17. She's now too grown up to want to do much to celebrate, but she did reach a milestone last night. She stayed overnight at a friend's house for the first time while her friend's parents were out of town. Knowing Megan and Grace, I'm not even worried. We're looking forward to going out for great big hamburgers and yummy fries later for her birthday dinner. There aren't many places to get those in Chiang Rai. I can hardly wait!

These pictures are from our only other trip to Barry's Restaurant. I could barely eat my much smaller burger.

Exercise

I know alot of runners. They love to go out running because it helps them think, clears their minds, makes their bodies feel great and provides an outlet for stress. I am not runner. I am most definitely a jogger. I go out because I like to eat (I need to write a whole blog about all the wonderful food here) and I don't want to get fat, my dog needs exercise and I want a healthy old age. I don't find it addicting, enjoyable or relaxing in any way, except for the time spent with my husband, who is in equal discomfort. I wish I did enjoy it since it's cheap and convenient and because we do it four mornings a week (in the dark). This time of year the routes we normally go are too dark (no streetlights) so we've started running in circles around a quiet, pretty block behind us that has streetlights. That is not helping my enjoyment any although Lacey loves it because she can be offleash and sniff and race to her heart's content. I suffer through Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday because I can look forward to the weekends.
On Saturdays we generally go bike riding. Bike riding in Chiang Rai is alot of fun. First of all, it's flat. It is located in a huge, flat valley surrounded by mountains on three sides. A block or two off the main road and you're surrounded by farmland; rice fields, cows, chickens, small villages, and always with the backdrop of the mountains, steep, but low and covered in green. Now that the rice fields are greening up again, it's really beautiful. We have one good bike and one bike that is good exercise that the Quesenberrys are kind enough to let us use while they're back in the States. On Saturdays we often ride for an hour or more, just enjoying the scenery, the beautiful weather, and the change from jogging.
Sundays are even better. We go to a 50 meter pool about 15 kilometers north of us. It belongs to a man who built it for his daughters who love to swim. He charges 30 baht (just under a dollar) for people to come use it. It is a beautiful outdoor pool, set in a garden of palm trees. The owner lived in the States and speaks English fluently. His daughter is trying to become fluent enough to get her master's degree in the States, so it's fun to talk with her as well. When I get in the water, I have all those sensations that runners talk about. I feel like I could go forever. I relax, get in a zone, love the sensation of using my muscles, and feel the stress fall away. This time of year the water is chilly, but after a few laps, it feels great, and so do I.
Yesterday we biked with friends up to the pool, swam our laps and biked home (after a stop at the pink windmill coffee shop, which is owned by new Christians and which is absolutely beautiful). We finished by stopping at the outdoor restaurant down the street and picking up deep fried bananas and sweet potatoes, sticky rice and papaya salad for lunch. Yum!! No sore muscles, but I did get sunburnt. Imagine swimming outdoors in February and not freezing!
Things I will miss when we leave Thailand? The great biking and swimming!


This area of Chiang Rai province is famous for its pineapples and they are delicious. Sweet and ripe, they come in all sizes from smaller than an apple to the huge ones we're used to seeing. You can eat a whole pineapple and not get a sore mouth. There are dozens of these little stands lining the roadside in this area.

A typical view in our area. There are two temples in this shot, the red roofed gate in the front leads to one behind the tree and the white tower is another one in the distance. There was one more even further off and further to the right.

Post swim and feeling great in the warm Thai sun!




Butterscotch frappes await! (The pink windmill is off to the right, you can't see it in this shot.)


Sorry about the bad angle, Ruth, but you can see how pretty this shop is.

Working in the rice fields looks painful. Most of the work is still done by hand, I don't know how they can stand up at the end of a day.

A well earned lunch.

Sticky rice is far stickier than any rice I've had before, and the best rice ever. Green papaya salad has a vinegar and coconut sugar dressing, tomatoes, green beans and peanuts. Lindsey and I love it, Dan and Megan don't care for it. Deep fried sweet potatoes are a favorite food for me here, Dan likes the bananas. Off to the left is morning glory. We eat it stir fried for school lunch reguarly, but somehow I just wasn't interested in the raw stuff.