Holiday in Chiang Mai

Ok, get ready for a super long post because it's been a while since I've last visited here. My family would joke that it's because we've been playing too hard! Haha. And it's true. During the middle of July, we hit the middle of the semester so we had a week off while our students took their midterms. And that week was preceded by a 4-day weekend due to the Buddhist Lent holidays. So we almost had 2 full weeks to ourselves and we chose to travel around Thailand!

If you're looking for the typical mountainous, green parts of Thailand, full of lush forests and rich with tribal culture, look no further! Chiang Mai is the place. I have to say that if for some reason we decided to live in Thailand for a long period of time (and I'm not saying anything by this hah), I would probably pick Chiang Mai. For me, it was the perfect blend of city life and mountain country. It is pretty international-friendly with diverse food options and many more people speaking English than where we live in Saraburi. But you can still find places tucked away from the old city that are less-touristy. We loved it and have already planned another trip to go back!

From Bangkok, we took the 12-hour train nearly all the way up to the northern tip of Thailand. I didn't actually think that I would enjoy being on a train all day, as much as I did. We had A/C, there was frequent complimentary beverage service and the seats did recline a little. We just spent the whole day munching on our snacks and watching the scenery transform from the plains and fields of the Central Region to the elevated rice fields and jungles of the North. We got into Chiang Mai around 9:00 pm, found the nearest hostel, battled the cockroach awaiting in our bathroom, and passed out for the night.

You can't stay in Chiang Mai without having at least one day of temple-seeing. And the wats (temples) in Chiang Mai are the coolest in all of Thailand! (We at least think so). I think we were used to seeing the Central Region architectural styles so having a change was very refreshing. Up there, they use a lot of different building materials, other than gold, and they have the 5-headed dragon serpent, Naga, incorporated on many of their wats. Here's a picture of Naga below. Our whole first day was spent exploring the Old City and running into as many temples as possible. And there were A LOT. Here are a couple of our favorites.

Wat Chedi Luang. Super big and super ornate. Gorgeous inside. This is where the Emerald Buddha was originally held before getting moved to the Grand Palace grounds in Bangkok.

Wat Pan Tao. This one is of special note because it is made entirely out of teak wood. After a while, all the temples kind of start to look the same... but not this one! 

And Wat Sri Suphan. The one and only temple in all of Thailand made out of silver (instead of the usual gold)! This one took us a bit of time driving in circles to find. It's a little more off the beaten path, at least for tourists. It was well worth the trouble though.

We just happened to miss the celebration of Wan Asana Bucha which was the night before we arrived in Chiang Mai. This holiday commemorates the Buddha's first sermon, outlining the 4 noble truths, and is also basically the birth of Buddhist sangha (monkhood). Buddhists celebrate by trekking back to the temples of their ancestors, listening to sermons and bringing offerings to monks. I didn't take this picture, but we saw the aftermath of all the candles the next day. So unfortunate that we missed it by only one day :/

We had an early morning the next day as we got picked up and taken to Baan Chang Elephant Park. Spent the better part of the day feeding, bathing, and riding elephants! We picked this particular park because we heard good reviews on how they treat these majestic animals. Apparently many of their elephants are from other camps where they were mistreated or their level of care was too low. I'm not going to judge or start a big thing here, but from what I saw, the mahouts at this camp seemed to really care for their elephants and we had a very positive experience.

This "Mahout Training," was fun to do because I felt like we got a lot more time and intimacy with the elephants. We got to be really close to them and I even stuck some bananas directly into an elephant's mouth! Ha! We were taught the commands to have the elephant briefly sit down (so you can get on and off) and the directions for go straight, turn, and stop. Basically we got elephant driving lessons! It was pretty awesome.

After a couple of pretty thorough showers, we headed back out to the city in the evening and spent a few hours (and a couple thousand baht) at the Sunday Walking Street. Basically a huge section of the Old City which is blocked off and lined with markets and vendors of fabrics, snacks, and home décor. We bought our first souvenirs since being in Thailand and it was oh so good.

On day 3 of our Chiang Mai trip, we took our rented motorbike up the mountain, Doi Suthep (west of the Old City) and had the most pleasant drive we've EVER had in Thailand! (And that's saying something because we've done a lot of driving and traveling). As we ascended the mountain, the air got crisp and was incredibly refreshing. That is the first time I've ever felt chilly outside! It was delightful! Halfway up, we were rewarded with a fantastic view of Chiang Mai city and then we headed up to the temple on the mountain, Wat Phra Doi Suthep.

Out of all the temples we've been to in Thailand, this one is our FAVORITE. Maybe it's because the drive up to it was so fantastic, or maybe it's because of this gorgeous 306-step Naga staircase. Whatever the reason, it was the highlight of our trip. The story behind this temple is that a monk strapped a Buddhist relic on a white elephant's back and let it loose to wander and 'choose' a spot for the temple to be built. The elephant continued to wander through the forests and ended up dying on this spot on the mountain, so that's where they built it. The temple mount itself is beautiful, of course, and if you walk around the grounds there is a breathtaking view of the city.

We spent a good amount of time walking around the grounds, in and out of little shrine rooms. As I walked into one of them there was a group of farang (foreigners) gathered and sitting in front of a monk. I knelt down by myself in the corner but then the monk called out to me and wanted me to join them. I've seen Thai people kneel before monks as they make merit and are in turn blessed, but I was not expecting to experience it myself! So I scooted over there while spotting Jonathan and urging him to go over there too. We got sprinkled with water by a lotus flower as this super outgoing monk blessed us in Thai and then ended it with the little English he knew, "happy, happy, happy, good, good, happy!" Happiness and goodness; that's all you need I guess!

Before leaving, we got to sign our names on a roll of golden fabric that was to be wrapped around the pagoda the next day! We have officially left our marks on Thailand. Oh and we stopped on our way back down the staircase for a photo-op with this little girl from one of the many hill tribes who inhabit Doi Suthep.

After driving further up the mountain (trying to find the summit, we were unsuccessful), we headed back down and had a late lunch at the best Mexican place EVER. It's the first and only time we'll probably get Mexican food in Thailand. It's called Salsa Kitchen, for anyone who wants to know. It was so good that we ate there multiple times during our trip haha. Anyways, we went back into the Old City and stopped by Wat Chedi Luang (to see if they were doing anything else for the continuing holiday) where we witnessed something unique. We came upon a huge meeting of all these monks. This day was Wan Khao Pansa, which I believe commemorates the beginning of the "Rains Retreat" which many people have dubbed 'Buddhist Lent.' It is historically when the Buddha urged monks to stay in one temple to prevent them from wandering the countryside and accidentally stepping on the rice fields during the few months of rain. Some Buddhists observe this holiday by giving up or withholding something from themselves for the duration of rainy season (July-Oct), hence the 'lent' reference. Anyways, I think this gathering had something to do with this holiday. But if not, it was still pretty cool.

Oh, I forgot like the coolest place we went to! I don't remember what day we went to it, it's all kind of a blur now, but it was a pleasant surprise! The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek. As part of celebrating His Majesty the King's 60th anniversary of reign (in 2006), a huge flower festival was put together as a 3-month long expo. Afterwards, it opened up to the public (it's been revamped a few times) and now you can easily spend 2-3 hours walking through 200 acres worth of various gardens, nature displays and flower pavilions. Jonathan and I happened to get there about 2 hours before it closed and we were almost the only ones there! (One of the benefits of traveling during off season). Basically had the whole park to ourselves.

We walked through the gates and had this view. Breathtaking! They also had music piped through a speaker system that was set up throughout the whole park playing a combination of piano instrumentals and elevator music. It was very relaxing.

SO many temples!

And another time during our trip (don't remember when), we stopped at Wiang Kum Kam which is the archaeological site of an ancient city. It's not too far from the old city of Chiang Mai, but it is much, much older. Neighborhoods have been built on top of it, so we drove around through the maze of sois (little streets) trying to find random ruins sprinkled here and there. We had no idea where we were going and even got chased out of someone's backyard by a super aggressive dog, hah! But we eventually found our way to the most beautiful and notable temple, Wat Chedi Liam.

There was almost NO photo editing done on this one. It really was a fantastically beautiful day! I've decided that Thailand has the best clouds.

Our final day in Chiang Mai definitely came too soon. I was already making a list of all the things I wanted to do and see next time! We made our way out to the forest wat, Wat U-Mong which, you guessed it - is out in the middle of the forest. What made this wat cool is that this was a popular temple for monks to retreat from the city and practice meditating and such. Beneath the temple they made a series of tunnels, I guess to really retreat and be one with the Earth. It was interesting and pretty. 
(Can you see me below?!)

Chiang Mai really does love its Naga staircases...

After one more stop to our favorite Mexican restaurant, we caught the overnight train back down to Bangkok and drove in the public van to Saraburi, just in time for proctoring our students' midterms for one day. Then back on the road we were, for a quick trip to Elephant Island! Here's the ferry boat that took us from the mainland to Koh Chang (it's real name in Thai).

The vacation itself wasn't ideal, but it was a vacation nonetheless. I'll give it to you in a 2-sentence recap: We were there for 3 days, two of which rained all day and all of which Jonathan was sick with a fever. However we did have one beautiful day on the beach and we spent the whole trip doing two of my favorite things - eating and relaxing. It was essentially a vacation from our (other busier) vacations!

This is how a lot of our time was spent. Jonathan sick in bed while I read a book or watched the waves outside our window. Poor guy.

One of the days, we slept in and went to this little hang out spot for brunch - called the Magic Garden. We took our sweet time there and then as soon as we were about to leave, a huge storm poured on us so we were stuck. We curled up with our books and waited it out. Next thing we know, we are hungry again for lunch! How convenient that we were already sitting in a restaurant haha. So basically we spent almost a whole day in this one spot. The ultimate definition of a lazy day.

Hammock reading in front of the ocean. Life doesn't get much better than this!

After nearly 2 weeks of straight traveling, we got a stinging slap back to reality. We headed back to school, to lesson planning, and back to grading stacks and stacks of midterms. I guess vacations do come with a price.

Anniversary in Kanchanaburi

I can honestly claim that I have the best husband of the year.

A week and a half ago, June 23, was our 2nd year anniversary. [I cannot believe it's already been that long!] We've really been trying to save money as we are taking some trips soon. So Jonathan and I talked about it and decided that we'd just do a short weekend trip to Bangkok to celebrate - which is still really awesome. I mean, we're in Thailand!

So after school on Friday, we went home to pack for our one night stay in Bangkok. I pull out my backpack and Jonathan says matter-of-factly, "you should probably pack for 3 days." What?! Ok, he didn't have to tell me twice! And then he adds, "I am bringing my tennis shoes and swimming suit, you should too." My mind was turning... where are we going? What will I need sneakers and a swimming suit for? Rainy season is in full swing now and I knew that all the beaches in Thailand were having horrible weather all week. I tried not to pry, but as we got onto the vans to take us down to Bangkok I couldn't stop asking Jonathan what we would be doing! I'm just one of those people who HAS to know. But I gotta give credit to him, he kept it a tight secret. Although he did indulge me and say that we were going to Bangkok, but that it wasn't our final destination.

We got off the van at Victory Monument and I proceeded to find the entrance to the BTS station so we could go to our usual little bed and breakfast near Siam Square. But then Jonathan flagged down a motortaxi and asked him to take us to the Amari Watergate Hotel. WHAT?! We had been to that hotel once before - for the LDS Church District Conference - and let me tell you, that place was nice. Jonathan slyly mentioned to the reception desk that we were celebrating our anniversary and they bumped us up to an Executive Room on the top floor of the building! It pays to travel during the low season :) I think that was the nicest room I've ever and probably will ever stay in. The hotel also dropped off some gourmet chocolates and macaroons for our enjoyment. Hah! I definitely could get used to traveling in luxury.

Here's the view of Bangkok from the 34th floor.

After we dropped off our bags, jumped on the bed for joy, and thoroughly investigated all the complimentary items in our room, we caught a taxi and went to this DELICIOUS Italian place. Well, it did take forever to get there (infamous Bangkok traffic), but it was well worth the wait. Legitimate Italian-style tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella pizza, home-made pasta, grilled salmon, and crème Brule and coconut icecream for dessert. It was phenomenal! Ah! Food just makes me so happy. And we were delightfully fat the rest of the evening.

The next morning, Jonathan still wouldn't tell me where we were going! Super frustrating. We headed back to the vans at Victory Monument and Jonathan finally divulged our destination - Kanchanaburi. YES! We went there for like one day during our orientation, but we have wanted to go back so bad. It is so green and beautiful and so much to see! I did not see that one coming. I was thrilled! And I had the 2.5 hour van ride to let it all soak in.

 Our first day in Kanchanburi, we did only what crazy tourists do..... and that is to rent a motorbike. Well, it wasn't that crazy, only because Jonathan was getting a lot of practice driving around everywhere in Saraburi, so we felt pretty comfortable that he could get us around safely. We also saved a TON of money that way. Anyways, we got an early start and drove up to Erawan National Park. A whole 65 kilometers - about an hour and a half drive. Man, after that, my behind hurt in places that it never has before. Before heading to the famous Erawan Waterfall, we wanted to check out one of the many caves in Kanchanaburi - Phra Tat Cave. There was a little bit of a hike to it and we could tell that a storm was coming (it's rainy season, so of course there was a storm). Anyways, the wind was blowing and it made the whole bamboo forest creak... it was such a cool noise! And kind of creepy too.

Here it is! Phra Tat Cave. Jonathan wasn't able to take too many pictures inside because we happened to be with a group of people that rushed all the way through. But it was a gigantic cave! You kind of have to crouch down to get inside, but after that, it was the largest open-roomed cave I have ever been in! It was gorgeous.

Then we had to race down the mountain to the nearest little vendor with a roof because it started to downpour. We got stuck there for a while because the mountain was very steep and our rented motorbike basically didn't have any brakes. That would just be asking for a disaster. But as it always does, the rain cleared up and we went down to see the Erawan Waterfall. The reason why it's so well-known is because it is so beautiful and so big! It should actually be called the Erawan WaterfallS - seeing as there are seven tiers. And it's like a 2 mile hike from the first tier to the seventh. We didn't realize that the park closed at 3:30 and because of the mid-day downpour, we were already a little behind schedule. We so badly wanted to get all the way to the top so we basically ran up the mountain. Stopped at each tier for a second, took a picture and continued upward... until we were halted by the closing ranger guy at the fifth tier. I was so disappointed. We were SO close! I begged him, we only want to take a picture, but no dice. And then we were really depressed because we realized that we now didn't even have time to swim in any of the waterfalls. And we were GROSS. Jonathan turned right back around and raced down the mountain to try and get ahead of the guy closing up all the waterfalls so he could take a dip. I was so mad that I didn't even try haha. But as it turns out, we made it to the second tier and did have time to jump in. We actually had time for a super nice swim! At least 20 minutes. It was perfect, with the exception of the jumbo-sized fish that wouldn't just "nibble," but would vacuum-suck to your ankles. Ulgh! I couldn't stand that feeling. So I had Jonathan give me a piggy-back ride out of the pool haha. One of the many perks of having a husband.

(P.S. Isn't Jonathan such a great photographer?! He snagged this picture after everyone got out of the water).

On our second (and last) day in Kanchanaburi, we took the motorbike up towards the Sai Yok area and went to see part of the WWII historical railroad. We had already seen the actual "Bridge of the River Kwae" but there is this beautiful part of the railway that bends and curves into the side of a little mountain. It took us a while to find this place, but it was very rewarding. You can even walk on the train tracks themselves, and that almost gave me a heart attack. Number one because parts of it are being held up only by wooden stilts, and number two, it's still an operating railroad. If a train came by, we'd have to jump off the tracks, and in some places that meant down...very very far down. Not to worry though, they assured us the train goes very slow. And lucky for us we made it out with life and limb.

Then finally our last stop and the highlight of our trip, the Tiger Temple. What to say? We got to see tigers, pet tigers, and even walk a tiger on a leash! It was awesome. You basically take some pictures with the tigers, walk to another area, take some more pictures, and then go to the last canyon area and take more pictures. Sounds mundane, but I mean, they are TIGERS. Haha. Just look at them, they are so beautiful and majestic. Especially in person, it was surreal.

(See the link on our facebook for more pictures of tigers and bears on Jonathan's flickr).

As we were waiting in line for pictures at the last area, Jonathan saw a sign for playing with bear cubs. And my heart stopped. Jonathan was JUST asking me earlier that morning if there was anywhere in the world where you could play with baby bears! (Bears are his favorite animal) And here it was. Destiny. He asked if we should do it even though it wasn't in our budget. And I was like, "if we don't do this, you will regret it for the rest of your life." He definitely agreed so we ran out to the entrance of the temple, withdrew some money from the ATM and raced back just in time for the last time slot. Usually the time slots are only for 15 minutes, but I guess because we were the last ones, we got to feed and play with them for like a half an hour! AH!!! I can't even describe it. They were almost like little humans, just sitting there taking a bottle, crawling up onto our laps and cuddling. They even started sucking our arms! It didn't hurt, it just felt weird. (Well, it kinda hurt when they would yank down your arm with their claws haha) But it was SO cute.

What better way to spend our anniversary than exploring the mountains of Thailand, swimming in a world-famous waterfall, petting tigers, and playing with bear cubs?! But more important than just doing cool things, is that we are doing them with each other. Some people say as the years pass, you naturally celebrate more and more... I think it will be hard to top this anniversary haha. But there is no need! If I am with my husband, I am a happy girl. No matter what we are doing.

Here's to our first two years of marriage - and many, many more to come!

Short stories of our "firsts"

Things have seemed to settle down here. We have now been in Saraburi for over a month, and it is starting to feel super comfortable! It's weird when we come back from little weekend trips and as we pull into our neighborhood, it feels like we are back home. :)

But that's not how our first few weeks were... it did take a bit of adjusting. Here are a few stories of our adjustments to life in Thailand. The good and the not-so-good. But all of them were adventures!

Our first moped and first monsoon. (With our luck, these just happened to coincide). After crunching the numbers, we realized that it would actually be cheaper for us to rent a motorbike each month rather than taking two motortaxis everywhere we go. So here it is! (along with it's amazing driver...)

After a mini driving lesson (and let me tell you, it was very brief), we picked up the motorbike from one of the teachers at our school who rents them out. We wanted to grab some dinner before meeting up with our friends to see a movie, so Jonathan precariously drove us to this little restaurant on a corner not too far away from our house. However as we started eating, the first big downpour of rainy season hit us. Haha that would be a great way to break in the bike - driving/sliding in monsoon rains amidst chaotic Thai traffic. The rainy season in Thailand doesn't mean that it's constantly raining, it just downpours for like an hour or two every day, usually in the afternoon. But when it pours, it is violent! So we figured it would be best to wait it out. We ended up waiting in the restaurant for about an hour and a half after we finished our meal haha. But the Thais always take forever to eat, so it wasn't a big deal. The first break in the rain we saw, we booked it home! Didn't really want to spend the night there if we could help it. Now THAT would have been a story.

First movie theater experience. Since we don't live in a touristy town, there is only one movie theater in Saraburi that plays movies in English. And it doesn't even always do that. But when it does, the movie is only in the theater for a couple of weeks. So we had to get on it! Our first movie in Thailand was X-Men: Days of Future Past. But the tickets were even more expensive than in the States! Like $12 a ticket. I think it's because it's a luxury here. And we had to pay for our 3-D glasses (it was only being shown in 3-D). Anyways, we bought some popcorn, (I feel like I should note our choices were cheese, sweet, or original, not butter) and went into the theater. Before every single showing, everybody stands up and they play an anthem to the King while clips of people crying and showing their love for the King play on the big screen. After which, we enjoyed our movie! It was very entertaining. Unfortunately though, this may have lead into the next experience...

My first (and hopefully only) bout of gastroenteritis. Ugh, I will spare you the details, but I have NEVER been sick like that before. Where I've been physically constrained to my bed and the toilet. For 4 days. Once figuring out that it probably wasn't just mild Traveler's diarrhea, we took a quick trip to the hospital down the road and got some antibiotics from the doctor. You know how I said how cheap healthcare is here? Well get this - a doctor's visit, plus a full round of antibiotics, plus pain relievers, plus a pain relief IM injection, plus rehydration packets - all for under $15, without insurance. Couldn't believe it. After a week on the medications, I felt like a new woman. I have never missed food that badly before! The only thing we could trace it back to was the popcorn that I ate at the theater. Jonathan and I have the same food every day, all day. Except I had that popcorn and he didn't. The doctor laughed when I told him that, but that's the only thing we could think of! Haha. Either that or I just had super bad luck.

Our first day of church. We knew there was an LDS Branch located semi-close to us, we looked it up online before flying into Thailand, but we had no idea of how to get there. Yeah, there kind of was an address on the website, but that's not how transportation runs here. Even if there were taxis out here (which there aren't), they don't know any addresses. Luckily, one of my friends from BYU study abroad served his two year mission in Thailand so he was very helpful! (S/O to Robert!) The branch is located in Lopburi, which is the neighboring province and about an hour away. We went to the van station down the street and kept on saying, "Lopburi?" until we got to the right van. Lucky for me, I am Thai-sized, but poor Jonathan was crammed in the back of that van with 4 other people and under-operating AC. We then realized about halfway through the drive that we didn't really know where/when to get off. We were assuming it would go to the station in Lopburi and then we would pick up a motortaxi from there. But the van made multiple stops...whenever the passengers asked him to. My friend had sent me a little message in Thai that explained where it is we were trying to go (thank you!!!), so we showed this to the lady sitting next to us on the van and she pointed behind us. We had passed it - great. So we yelled, "yut kha" which is 'stop, please' and clamored off the van. Then we proceeded to walk down the road, showing that message to a few people and they just continued to point downward. We had no idea how far away we were, so we kept on walking, but then we finally saw a policeman on his motorbike. We figured he'd help us out. After reading the message, he flagged down a motorbike taxi and gave verbal directions to the driver. Jonathan and I squished onto the motorbike (I think this was the first time we tripled hah) and we took off. The guy took us a few minutes off of the main road and we were getting worried because we thought the church was on the main road. We figured he was given wrong directions, so we asked him to stop and then showed him the message. Just like we thought, we had to turn right back around and make our way back. Right as we entered onto the main road again, we saw the same policeman drive up from right behind us! Haha, I guess he realized he gave the driver the wrong directions and he chased after us. How sweet :) Then we finally made it to the meetinghouse - well, it is more like a couple of rooms inside a building shared with a pet store - like 30 minutes late.
The meetings were all in Thai, but there were a couple of missionaries that translated for us during Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School. As I went to Relief Society, a cute little sister came up to me and introduced herself. She said she was learning English and wanted to be my facebook friend :) She couldn't translate, but she pointed out where we were in the lesson and I tried to follow along with the English version on my phone. Hardly anyone speaks English in the branch, but they were all welcoming and friendly, just the same. Once all the meetings were over, the members put out these long tables and brought out a bunch of food. Apparently that's the thing here! A linger-longer every Sunday (except for fast Sunday of course). It is always so delicious and so authentic. We love it! I think we will try to bring rice cooker-macaroni and cheese to the next one, and share our American goodness :)

First time teaching school on a Saturday. So apparently our English Program students go to school on Saturdays as well. I guess its a very normal thing for all students in Thailand. Even shopping malls have extra classrooms and group study rooms for self-teaching and English instruction on the weekends. We were asked by our school if we would teach Saturday morning classes. We wouldn't turn down extra money, so we said yes. It's only for 3.5 hours and we only do it every other week (so that we can travel on our off-weekends). But the students don't really want to be there, and the teachers don't really want to be there either, so what do we do? Watch movies, of course! To help with their listening skills..... :) You know I have seen Tangled now about four times now and I am still not sick of it haha. And Megamind is up next! It's weird how much I love movies.

First Wai Khru Day. Wai Khru is a day where all the students in the school pay respect towards their teachers. Wai - is the greeting of respect (where you put your hands together and bow) and Khru - means teacher. Each class spends the whole previous day arranging bouquets of flowers and then they present them to their teachers during a ceremony. We all got up on stage sitting above the students (a little awkward) and each of the class representatives took their turn walking up to the stage and bowing at our feet while giving us flowers. I couldn't believe how respectful these kids are! I mean, they are still kids so they still act up sometimes, but each one is so genuinely sweet. Even students I didn't even know would stop and 'wai' to me on campus. It was incredible. I don't think "teacher appreciation day" in the States even comes close to this.

Unfortunately we couldn't keep the bouquets, they are just for show and they were actually part of a little competition. But all throughout the day, students had little flower bracelet things that they bought and would hand out to teachers of their choice. Needless to say I was super touched and appreciative that I was lucky to receive a few :)

First Thai massage. If you've heard anything about the famous Thai massages, you know that they are amazing, but horrible at the same time. Well, I never had a professional massage before, like in my whole life so I knew that I was going to be pretty tight everywhere. It also didn't help that I did a bunch of squats for the first time in several months the day before and I couldn't even walk. We went to this place down the street from our house and a full-on Thai massage is only 200 baht ($6) for one hour! My first time, I was so tight and in so much pain that two ladies worked on me almost the whole hour. They just giggled and kept on saying, "broken lady, very broken lady." And don't I know it! Haha. They also would laugh and say "baby, same, same" when they would get to my feet and hands. Who knew that I would still be considered tiny among all these Thai ladies :) It was actually very helpful that their little granddaughter was running around and putting toys in our faces while she sang songs in Thai. She is so adorable and it helped keep my mind off of all the pain. Her grandmother has her practice her ABCs and other English vocabulary when we come in for massages. It's a fun break and a great way to de-stress. Hopefully getting regular massages will help my migraines too! I think it will become a weekly occurrence for us.

And LASTLY...

First District-turned-Stake Conference. Just this last Sunday, we went down to Bangkok to attend District Conference, for the Bangkok North District. After we taught Saturday morning classes, we hopped in a van and took the 1.5 hour trek down there. Once we got into the city, we found a little bed a breakfast, and had 5 minutes to change before heading out to the hotel where the Saturday evening session was going to be. We were told that it was only a 10 minute walk...but of course it took almost 30 because we kept on having to stop and ask people for directions. We finally got there all sweaty and gross and walked right into a high school prom. Hahaha, turns out the Saturday evening session was at a DIFFERENT location. After deciding we weren't dressed for the "Great Gatsby" theme, we cut our losses and grabbed dinner and a movie. Sunday morning though, we made it to the right spot. And at the beginning of the meeting, they announced the formation of the new Bangkok North Stake! Meaning that now we are members of the Lopburi Ward. For those of you readers who aren't LDS, you probably don't understand the significance of this. (All it means is that membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in Thailand). And it is incredibly exciting! After the announcement you could just see all of the members' faces light up with huge smiles :) I didn't know this, but apparently Thailand has the fastest growing membership in the church in all of Asia! This new formation makes now 2 stakes in Thailand. Once we get a few more stakes formed, there will be serious talk about building a temple here. All of the members can't wait! It will still be a while, but it has been amazing to witness the growth here :)

Impromptu Weekend Getaway: Ayuthaya

It was a normal Friday morning, Jonathan and I woke up and got ready for school. Then I get the thought to look at my phone. There awaited two texts from fellow teachers at our school saying that all the universities and schools were closed that day because of the declared coupe. Cool, long weekend! However we sat there wishing we could see into the future so we could have put together some sort of trip. Dang.

But then Jonathan turned to me and said, "Why don't we just go somewhere? Like maybe that Ayuthaya place." Although he didn't really say Ayuthaya, it was more like uh-you-tayama, haha close. But I got the gist. We pulled out our Thailand travel book, read a little bit about the area, packed up our backpacks and headed toward the train station! Can I just say how awesome this felt?! I am the kind of person that has to have all the details worked out in my planner before we take a trip. I need to know where we are going to stay, how we are going to get there, and what we are going to do once we get there. But this was so exciting! Just dropping everything, grabbing a toothbrush, toothpaste and some cash and heading out the door. 

The train schedule said that the next train heading towards Ayuthaya would be getting in at 11:51, so naturally, we Americans made sure to get there a few minutes early so we could buy our tickets. Haha, silly Farang. We forgot that Thailand runs on "Thai time." Turns out the train would be an hour delayed, coming in at 12:51. So we walked around, grabbed some lunch and went back to wait at the station around 12:30. Time came and went and then the train finally showed up at 1:22. An hour and a half late - mai pen rai! We were shocked that the tickets were only 9 baht each, that's about 28 cents for an hour train ride, but it made a little more sense when we boarded. There were at least some benches, but it was pretty crowded, super hot, and vendors were walking up and down the aisles selling dried squid on sticks....ulgh.

Ayuthaya is somewhat known to be the "Venice of Thailand." The central part of the city is completely surrounded by a river so you have to ride a ferry to get across. Once getting to the 'island' we found the soi (street) where most of the guest houses are and found a place to stay. It was very interesting because as we were walking down the street, people would be running out to us and asking us if they could show their place. It is the low season for tourism, so for once, we Farang actually had a bit of say in the price! Found a little room (with AC - that is non-negotiable), dropped off our stuff and went back out to see the sights. 

So when you see pictures of ancient ruin temples in Thailand, almost all of them are in Ayuthaya. This city was the ancient capital of the Siam Kingdom from 1350-1767. It was a major trading port between Asia, Southeast Asia, India and even Europe. It was a pretty big deal back in the day. Because it was the central capital there are temple ruins everywhere! Apparently at one time, there was a total of 400 temples standing within the city. Modern Ayuthaya has been built up around it, so you'll just be driving down the street and then a huge ruin pops up on your right. Here are some pictures of the Wats (temples) that we ran into on our first night out:

Wat Phra Mahathat. Throughout all the temples, most of the Buddha heads are cut off, I'm not sure why. I think they were stolen by thieves after the Burmese ransacked the city. But looks like they left one behind! Some people say the head was too heavy to steal so it was left and trees protectively grew around it. 

Wat Ratburana. At night, they turn on a bunch of floodlights towards the temples. It was gorgeous. Too bad they were doing construction... pardon the scaffolding.

The next day, Saturday, we wanted to spend hitting up all the most famous wats in the area. One of the ways to get around the city is by tuk tuk - those 3-wheeled kind of car things. But they are pretty expensive...they try to charge 'farang price' which we couldn't afford paying all day. So we chose instead to rent a couple of bicycles! Turned out to only be 30 baht each for the whole day (that's under $1). It was a blast!!! Riding our bikes around, pulling the map out, getting lost (once), and discovering everything on our own. We started the day off by stopping at this little vendor on the side of the road. This really sweet lady made each of us a rockin omelet with some toasted garlic bread and orange juice. Perfect way to start out the day. It was so funny that she really wanted to get a picture with us - we are just such an oddity out here I guess.

Our first stop on Saturday was Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Well, actually we went into this building which is right next to the wat. This building, Wihan Mongkhon Bophit, houses a 17-meter tall Buddha statue so those people who come to see the once-great temple can pray and pay homage.

Here, you can see a picture of what the Buddhist monks look like. We see them everywhere here, just walking down the street, riding the train, some even using their cell phones haha. But of course you see them most frequently in the temples. I also wanted to show that little Buddha statue on the right - it's covered in little paper gold leaves. As part of 'paying tribute,' people will either buy a lotus flower and kind of shake it while praying, or you can buy a little gold leaf to press onto one of the many statues located around the inside of temple. As you press it on, you make a wish for good fortune. It's also a good way to keep all the Buddhas looking golden!

Now here's Wat Phra Si Sanpet. The largest (and most iconic) of all the temples in Ayuthaya. Love it!

Wat Lokayasutharam. Has the largest reclining Buddha in all of Ayuthaya at 37 meters long.

After a morning of biking around, we grabbed a couple of smoothies and spent part of the afternoon in the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum where they house all of the images and Buddha relics found in the temple ruins. It wasn't really air-conditioned but it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit.

Then we were back out on the road. This was our last and probably our favorite temple. It took quite a while to get to it considering it's 'off the island.' Wat Chaiwatthanaram. SO massive, pretty well put-together still, and there weren't hardly any people around! I did get my first Thai sunburn that day so I spent most of the time hiding in the shade while Jonathan walked around some more. (Can't believe that we forgot sunscreen!) But yeah, I could have sat in this spot for hours just taking it all in. Beautiful.

Sunday morning, we were able to find the Ayutthaya LDS Branch and go to church. Again, everyone was so incredibly sweet and inviting. We enjoyed a very Thai lunch afterwards and then walked over to the last few neighboring temples.

Here is Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. One of the few temples that you could actually walk up the stairs and see inside one of the chedis/prangs (those cone-shaped things).

Wat Phanan Choeng. And here is the largest Buddha in all of Thailand! Just kidding, it's not. Stands at 19 meters tall. I just did my research and this one doesn't even come close to the largest in Thailand... which is 92 meters tall, but that one is outside. This one was pretty big for being indoors. By the way this picture does NOT do it justice, so you will just have to take our word for it. It was huge.

Then before heading back to the train station, we spent an hour walking through the Ayuthaya floating market. That was a perfect way to end our weekend. Found some good spots to get souvenirs and bought some fresh coconut ice cream topped with peanuts and sweetened condensed milk - the Thais drizzle that stuff on top of every dessert. It was delectable! And was served in a little clay pot, which we got to keep.

There are still SO many things that we didn't see! We will definitely be taking another trip back down here to hit up that market and see more of the sites. The city itself is not that big, but there is just too much to see in only 2 days. Our trip back to Saraburi was much better on the train (I think we may have inadvertently bought seats in a nicer car), but still 2 hours behind schedule haha.

Mai pen rai!

Mai Pen Rai

What does, "mai pen rai" mean? It's Thai for you're welcome. But it really means something like, "forget about it" or "no worries." I decided to title this post as such because here in Thailand, it is more than a phrase... it is their philosophy! You could say that mai pen rai is like Hakuna Matata! It means no worries, for the rest of your days :) Seriously though, that is what the country is drinking. You'll see what I mean in a little bit.

Before I go into what a typical day for us looks like, I want to tell you about our house! And technically it's our very first house together! How fun that it's in Thailand, right? So the house is owned by one of the teachers at our school and is therefore provided free for us, we just have to pay for utilities. And it's a legit house! There are two floors: bottom floor has a living room with cable TV, a kitchen with a little refrigerator, a sink and a washing machine, and a bathroom. Top floor has one bathroom, and 3 rooms. I think the house was designed for 3 single people because each room had a single bed, a wardrobe, vanity, and desk. So what did we do? Took apart one of the beds, pieced it back together next to the other single bed in the biggest room, crammed both wardrobes and vanities into the same room, and put the desks in the empty room. Now we have a study! (And one fully put-together guest room.... if anyone wants to come visit!) Our make-shift bedroom is a bit cramped, but it totally works. Oh, and we have little AC units in each room! Which is a TOTAL life saver. Here it is!

And we have it all to ourselves! Well, us and a couple of geckos. One particular little baby gecko likes to greet us every morning by scurrying out from under our bathmat right as we step on it. What a terrible place to settle down. Now that I think about it I haven't seen him in a while.... maybe I should check on that.

Ok. A typical day. Wake up at 6:30 and get ready for school. I feel like I should point out that the showers here only have one lever - no hot or cold. It's lukewarm most of the time but when it rains, the water does get a little chilly. Which is actually very refreshing! And there's no tub or tray or anything... the water falls straight down to the floor, so the whole bathroom gets a little flooded haha. It actually only took a couple days to get used to. I am just happy that we have running water! Alright, then we get dressed (I wear a dress or skirt everyday, except for casual Wednesdays we can wear pants) and have breakfast. We are holding onto the Americans inside of us and are still rocking cereal every morning :) One of these days I'll cave and have what the Thais eat for breakfast - chicken, rice, and eggs (which is what they have for EVERY meal anyways haha) but not yet! We live only a few minutes away from the school which is handy, and the basic way you get around is by motorcycle taxi. Cabs are only found in the big tourist cities like, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. There's this motortaxi station right at the end of our street and it's super funny that after only 2 days, we don't have to tell them where we need to go anymore! They see our Farang (foreigner) faces and say "Sawbowa, Sawbowa" which is the nickname for our school. Heck, they even see us walking at the end of the road and will backtrack to pick us up. They are so friendly :) We'll see them driving by and they'll start honking and waving at us haha. Yeah, if you couldn't guess, we stick out like a SORE thumb! Saraburi is very much a residential city, there aren't any tourist sights here, just a couple of local temples, so Farang don't come through here too often. Especially for months at a time. 

We are going to video one of our motortaxi rides to school just so you can see what it's like. It is CRAZY! Weaving in and out of traffic, hugging the shoulder on the wrong side of the road, and even driving on sidewalks. It's an adventure every morning. Our first day of school, we got dropped off and we walked towards the middle of campus where all the students were gathered for their daily announcements and such. Um, and they have 3,900 students. Since we are new this year, they had us get up and introduce ourselves to the whole student body. I don't know how many of them actually understood us, but they all laughed and giggled after we were done. :) Afterwards our coordinator showed us our desks (there is a foreign language department where we are stationed) and then handed us our schedules. There were a few unexpected surprises. I thought I was teaching science, but actually I am teaching Supplementary Science (like a lab class), Health, AND English/Grammar. We thought that Jonathan was teaching mainly English and a little Computer Science, but he is actually only teaching Computers. That kind of threw us at first. Then they handed me a different schedule (because the first one was wrong) and it turned out that I had a class right then, and I was already 15 minutes late and I didn't really know where it was. Then later in the day, my schedule said that I had one of my science classes over in a different building, but when I go over to it, the room is locked. I peek through and all the desks are piled high with books and my students are no where to be found. After walking around and triple-checking my schedule, I went to the nearest office and tried to explain what was happening. Of course, no one really spoke English, but then they got some department head on the phone to tell me that they moved my class for the meantime, because of all the books. But then I didn't really know where my students were.... I walked around and finally found them, and the class time was already half over by then. GREAT first day haha. But no worries! Mai pen rai. That's how things go here. Especially with the foreign teachers. Just go with whatever they give you!

So with Jonathan and I teaching subjects that we weren't really mentally prepared to teach, we were asking around for curriculum, books, a syllabus, anything. And you know what we got? A piece of paper with 3-4 handwritten bullet points of what to teach for the whole year. Mai pen rai! Everyone was really nice, told us not to worry and that we could spend the first couple of classes introducing ourselves and getting to know the students. But then that was done and we had to start teaching for real. I was told that my English classes had some books, but didn't get those til the middle of the second week of school (let me tell you, we did a lot of getting to know you games until then.... ha). And for Science and Health, I have to come up with basically everything. Mai pen rai! Oh, and Jonathan was given the same thing - a couple of bullet points for teaching computers. He's actually creating his own curriculum for Computer Science which is really cool! ....... And then 2 weeks after school started, he was given two more classes, teaching English. Mai pen rai. He LOVES teaching those classes though. He's definitely more of an English teacher than Computer nerd, but he is doing fantastic and all the kids just love him. Of course. He's a pretty likeable guy ;) So it's been a little bit more work than we were anticipating, but we are learning a lot and it's fun having to figure out this part of the adventure!

The Thai students here are SO sweet! Teachers are very respected in this culture and it's awesome. (Like second to only the Buddhist monks and the Royal Family). So you don't get the same rebellious nature that kids have in the States. There's no talking back or defiance whatsoever. The only issue you have in the classroom is chitter chatter, which you would expect from teenagers everywhere in the world. But once you set your boundaries, its really fun to teach. And all the students are so sweet!!! (Did I already say that?) Seriously, the other day I got caught in a monsoon downpour after one of my classes and one of my students took out her umbrella and walked back with me to the foreign language building! They just didn't want me to get wet :) Also whenever we walk by any students on campus, or outside of school even, they say, "teacher, teacher!" and then they wai you (that is the traditional greeting of respect - bowing with your hands together). It makes me feel so good haha. So all of my classes are part of the English Program at the school. Saraburiwittayakhom offers an English Program for grades 7-9 where all of the subjects (with the exception of Thai and Social Studies) are taught in English, with farang teachers. Students have to take tests, do an interview, and pay extra to get into the program - it's a cutthroat process. So their levels of English are higher, which is really nice to teach with. Jonathan's two English classes are part of the regular Thai program, so his classes are bigger, about 50 students (rather than 30) but he says that they are a blast to teach as well. Bottom line: We got the best school with the cutest students! We really got super lucky with our placement and we couldn't be happier!

Ok. Enough about school. We get off at like 3:30 or 4:00 and usually ride a motortaxi home. Most of the time we can't find two of them so we both squish onto one motorbike with the driver. Super fun when everyone is hot and sweaty. Then we go home, try to cool off and relax by watching one of the two English channels on TV. I have never watched so much Law and Order in my life hah. And then we come up with something for dinner. We've cooked spaghetti in our rice cooker a couple of times, but we mostly have instant noodles (thai style - which means with very spicy seasoning) or rice and eggs. I think we are going to try some more adventurous meals with our rice cooker in the future. [Any tips on rice cooker recipes, please comment below!] Or we head over to the night market. There is this really good night market about a 5-10 minute walk from our house and they serve a bunch of delicious food. You can get 5 sticks of grilled chicken for only 20 baht! (That's under one dollar). There's also this lady boy who makes super good fruit smoothies - strawberry, banana and coconut YUM. Grab some chicken and a couple of smoothies and there's dinner! Oh and I just have to say, last time we went to the night market, there was a little baby elephant just walking down the street. In the middle of the city. Haha, only in Thailand! Of course there were men with it, selling bananas and such to feed the baby elephant. They came up to us and we were like, no thank you, shaking our heads. But then they gave the bag of bananas to the elephant to hand to me... and I couldn't say no to those little eyes! We forked over the 20 baht and I got to have dinner with a baby elephant on the streets of Thailand.

The past couple weekends we've mostly caught up with grocery shopping and laundry, but we also went to a Saraburi football game! Wow, was that fun. It's just their local league but it was definitely spirited!!! We sat right behind the drums and some fans that were standing and singing literally the whole entire time hahaha. It was so funny because I was hoping that we could get a picture with them at the end of the game, but then they turned around first and asked to get a picture with US! I guess we are as much of a sight as they are to us hah. So here's the picture. We are definitely going to buy ourselves some Saraburi jerseys and go to more of the games.

Alright, I can't end this post without at least mentioning the coup d'état. I'm pretty sure all of you in the States know more about the situation than I do, because here in Saraburi, we've haven't noticed anything different! Doesn't affect us here. I think the only military personnel I've seen are a couple that help direct traffic during rush hour, but that's it. No tanks or protests or anything. There is a countrywide curfew from 10 pm to 5 am "indefinitely" (more like until further notice) but since we are a boring married couple, we are in bed by 9:30 anyways. The people of Thailand seem to have a "mai pen rai" feeling even about this... at least here in Saraburi. No worries! So we aren't :) The day after they announced the coup, they did close all of the schools and universities in Thailand though. So we woke up Friday morning, got ready for school, and then realized that we had 3 day weekend! What did we do with all that extra time? Well, we wanted to see more of this beautiful country... hence our impromptu trip down to Ayutthaya. Courtesy of the military of Thailand.

A post of our adventures in Ayutthaya is forthcoming!

15 Things I've learned about living in Thailand

Wow. So much has happened! Time has just gone by too fast and I can't keep up with everything that is going on! So I'm just going to jump right on in and give you some of the highlights...

The flights to Thailand weren't too bad. I mean, I'm not a fan of 6 hour layovers, but it could have been worse. With the exception of our first leg (from SLC to LAX), we were flying completely at night. I guess the way the earth turned while we were in the air, kept us in the dark the whole time! Which was great - helped us sleep some. And when we didn't sleep, we watched a stream of endless movies - they had a seriously legitimate selection.

We flew into Bangkok at about 11:00 AM Tuesday morning and met up with our program (OEG) at the airport. And here is where I start my list of things that I've learned about living in Thailand.

1. Thailand is known to be the 'Land of Smiles.' And it's true!

I was talking with one of our fellow Thai teachers and she said that the reason Thais smile and laugh so much is that they don't know how to respond to foreigners (or "Farang"). They see us, weird Westerners and they get shy, so they just start to smile and giggle. Super funny when you think about it :) Even the airport security personnel at Customs and Immigration were smiling and chuckling when we told them we were coming as teachers... Not sure if that was a good sign or not.

Once OEG drove us to the orientation hotel, we turned right back around and got some vaccinations in downtown Bangkok.

2. Health care is SO CHEAP here! 

Well I can't speak for other things, but the vaccinations were ridiculously cheaper than in the States. The American travel clinics wanted us to pay $600 (per person, per dose - 2 total) for Japanese Encephalitis. Oh, and insurance wouldn't cover any of it. And guess how much it was in Bangkok - $16! And only one dose! So that was awesome, however the ride home was not so much.

3. Bangkok traffic can be horrendous.

The ride to the travel clinic was about 20 minutes from our hotel... and it took us over 3 hours to get back. Not even kidding. And that was after it took us about 15-20 minutes to find a taxi that would even take us. They were either full, or would say that our hotel was too far away. But we were grateful to have some shelter in the taxi considering it started to downpour.

So this picture is from the internet, but this is pretty much what it's like during rush hour every day in Bangkok. In my opinion, the traffic patterns are a giant mess. There are a million of these forks where 3-4 lanes of traffic have to merge. We were stuck basically where that yellow cab is (in the middle of the picture) for at least a half an hour - wedged between all these lanes of traffic trying to merge, but really everyone was at a dead stop. I think there were some protests going on around our hotel as we were trying to get home; nothing violent, just another thing to contribute to the traffic chaos.

4. You don't tip here.

The taxi only charges using the meter, so naturally, we gave our driver a little tip (especially because of how long the drive was) and he absolutely lit up! I attempted to say "khawb khun kha" (thank you) and he busted up laughing. Haha, I hope that made up for the couple of hours he pretty much wasted. Anyways, apparently you don't tip in Thailand! At restaurants they already include the service charge, and everywhere else, you just don't do it. It makes things easy.

5. The Thais are so welcoming and endearing! 

Our orientation in Bangkok was about a week long and mostly consisted of classes - some that taught the Thai language, and other that gave us tips on teaching English here. When we met up with our program, the Thai OEG staff conducted the traditional Thai Welcome Ceremony. I forget what it's called, but they wrap basically some string around your wrist and give you a blessing. It was so cool and everyone was so sweet :) I guess you are supposed to keep it around your wrist for the whole duration of your visit? But you don't have to - just if you want to keep the blessing, which we will. We can use all the help we can get!

6. There are like NO bugs! Thanks to you, Mr. Gecko.

Seriously. There were NO spiders, flies, even ants in any of our hotel rooms. Not ONE! (And here in our house in Saraburi, only one cockroach sighting). And it's all because of those amazing little lizards :) They are super common here - and we love them because they eat all the bugs and mosquitos! So as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Gecko will be our permanent roommate.

7. This country is literally dripping with humidity.

Multiple showers a day is a MUST. Like I said, we mostly stayed in the hotel during the first few days of orientation, but they did take us to The Grand Palace. And wow, was it beautiful! But mostly sweaty. Like a LOT of sweat. Every person was completely drenched, and we were only there for a couple hours in the morning! It is so humid, that when I leave our air-conditioned bedroom and enter the hallway of our house, my glasses fog up! Haha, that has never happened to me before.

Here are some pictures of us at the Grand Palace:

8. The Thai people LOVE their King.

People speak so highly and personally about the King and the Queen. Their pictures are everywhere and they are fervently worshipped. It's pretty crazy to find that kind of loyalty nowadays. Their King has been in service for like 65 years now, so for many people, this is the only King they've known! Thailand's Father's Day Holiday is actually on the King's birthday - and same with Mother's day for the Queen's birthday. It's interesting how reverent the Thai people are towards the royal family... it's cool.

9. Do NOT drink water from the tap.

Luckily, neither of us learned this the hard way. We were definitely forewarned. When Jonathan filled up the sink to shave, the water was brown. Ew, gross. Though you're ok to brush your teeth and wash your dishes in it. Just whatever you do, DON'T SWALLOW. Every Thai person only drinks bottled water. In fact, there is a joke that there's a water fountain somewhere in Bangkok that actually IS safe to drink, but its never been used. Better to be safe than sorry!

10. Rise and shine - get ready for some rice.

That's what Thais have for breakfast! The same food they eat all day... chicken, seafood, eggs, and rice. However we've caved and bought some cereal and milk. We've gotta start our American tummies off right in the mornings!

11. Phad Thai is NOT spicy.

Yup. It's not. A lot of other Thai food is really spicy (that's kind of what they are famous for), but not Phad Thai. Which is great because I can actually eat it!

12. Westerners have been mis-pronouncing "The Bridge over the River Kwai" for decades!

Let's set the record straight. It's NOT the River Kwai (like in 'high'), but the River Kwae (like in 'quack'). You learn something new everyday! So that's how its supposed to be pronounced. The cool thing is, that we actually got to visit it! Here are some pictures:

As you can tell, it's still a functioning railway. So when you hear the horn, all the tourists scurry away and then follow right behind it. It's funny because we were taking pictures of the train, while the people on the train were taking pictures of us!

After we visited the bridge, we were taken to this place called the Rafting Restaurant. We walked on and there were tables and chairs set up and we were like, cool! Eating dinner, floating on the River Kwae. But then a little tugboat came, strapped our raft to his and then he pulled us down the river! The sun was setting and it was gorgeous! Just look at these sweet pictures that Jonathan got. Oh, and side note, the raft then turned into a raving dance party - complete with colored strobe lights and a disco ball. Haha, only in Thailand.

13. 7-Eleven runs this country!

There are more 7-Elevens in town than there are bathrooms. Ok, maybe not (including the bathrooms in houses). But you can look down the street and see three 7-Elevens within walking distance. It's the bees knees here.

14. Fruit is considered dessert.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fruit! It's just funny that after every meal, they usually have 'dessert.' But it's fruit. So instead of thinking that I'm being healthy, I guess I am really just consuming treats all day.

And I saved the BEST for last....

15. Elephants have a great sense of humor.

On our last day of orientation, they took us to an elephant camp in the Kanchanaburi province (about 3 hours away from Bangkok). It was amazing! They brought out these baby elephants that put on a little show for us. There was a part where they asked for volunteers to receive an elephant massage. Some girls went up there and proceeded to get their 'backside' worked on, if you know what I mean haha. It was pretty funny. Since Jonathan has really wanted to get an elephant massage, I told him to volunteer! Well, I think you can guess what happened by the picture...

Got slapped in the family jewels by an elephant. I guess that's crossed off on his bucket list now. I just hope that we can still have children! Hahaha, poor guy. Had no idea it was coming. And neither did all the other guys who volunteered to go up later (that was fun to watch hah). But then things got a little better because then we got to feed and play with the baby elephants :)

And of course, finished up with taking a quiet stroll atop our very own mama elephant.

More to come about our new home in Saraburi.....