Mango Season!

The much awaited mango season has arrived. I am taking full advantage of it. I eat about two mangoes everyday if I can. The only problem is finding someone to take me to the morning market to buy them fresh. They are huge, cheap and delicious. I don't want to leave these. It is heating up though it is supposed to hit over 100 degrees today. We will see if I go to aerobics or not. I'm just hanging out by a fan trying to stay cool. I will walk to the grocery store and get some fried rice or something for lunch. Not much to do now that there is no school. I am getting caught up on my laundry finally. I also have another wedding to go to with my host family on Sunday and one in Lampang that I've been invited to on the 17th.

All is well, Dacotah Smith

The Festival

So I woke up and was at the temple bright and early this morning. I stayed there until about 1. I guess it was a big three day long festival meant to raise money for temple renovations. There were different dancing acts and everyone of the acts got payed. There was tons of free food, more than anyone can or should eat. There was iced coffee, iced tea, strawberry milk, water and those were just a few of the drinks. They had rice crackers, tamarind, noodles, pad thai, som tum and many other dishes to choose from. I ate this fried rice with garlic oil put on it and some rice crackers, tamarind and iced coffee. I watched the dances and got to meet a lot of people. It was fun and everyone wanted me to join in the dancing. I am now at Joe's home/ shop where I can use wi-fi to upload the pictures. I taught here yesterday and then hung out here until about 3. When I got home my family was having a party to celebrate the end of the Saturday classes for summer break. There were about fifteen adults and ten kids. It was really fun. The parents were drinking way to much but the nice thing was I could just leave and play with the kids, hold the kittens or go up to my room and watch a movie.

All is well, until later, Dacotah Smith

Festival at the Temple

Dancing in the Parade

My Khun Mai (Mother) and Khun Paw (Father)

Dancers

Cool Costumes

The animal goes around and collects money in it's mouth throughout the dance

Khun Mae and me

Random Dancer 

Soloist

Kittens and my baby Spots!

Right where momma hid them, between the microwave and the wall

My baby Spots

To my Class and Pim

 So I went to school fully planning to attend the whole day of class when I found out that they were taking exams on their last day of school. So I said hi and bye and left. After school they came to the place where I teach English and gave me this scrapbook, in which everyone signed and put pictures of us together in. It was so sweet it almost made me tear up. The only thing was that I brought a flag to them two weeks ago to sign and I got it back unsigned, but the got the scrapbook instead. I think I will have the other exchange students sign my flag. As for Pim she is a girl in my English class that I have grown to adore. On Thursday after being gone for a week she came running up to me and planted a big kiss on my cheek and jumped on my lap, wanting to see my pictures of the trip. She doesn't take classes on Saturdays but came today to hang out with me. She's so cute and gives me a reason to teach. Her mother died of AIDS when she was a baby so she now lives with her aunt and doesn't get hugs and kisses from them. So I give them to her everyday at school!


All is well, Dacotah Smith

PHUKET!!!

The hostel

My room at the hostel

From the moment I arrived I felt safe. The taxi driver from the airport was nice and very talkative...it gave me a chance to practice my Thai for about an hour. Then not only did he drop me off and help me find the Hostel at 2 am he made sure I got in and took my bags to my room for me. I then opened my room to this view. It was a lot nicer than I expected and a lot nicer than my room at my house here. There were even two mirrors. I had to share a bathroom but I never saw anyone else in the bathroom. The staff at the hostel was nice to me but I heard from others not always this way. In the mornings I would get up and have a breakfast of toast and tea and then head by a motorcycle taxi to the beach. 

Breakfast

I would then lie on the beach which was wonderful. The water was refreshing but not to cold. I got to meet up with some of my family.

Kjerstin and I 

Rene with his cocktail

After watching numerous people go para sailing one day I decided that I too wanted to go. So I got harnessed and was off on an adventure. I had watched about 15 people go that afternoon and not a single thing had gone wrong. After about two minutes in the air the boat pulling me ran out of gas and I got slowly dropped into the middle of the Andaman Sea. It was quite an experience, I was just wondering what was going on. A guy on a jet ski came and unclasped my parachute and then I got on the jet ski where he proceeded to take me back into shore and share the details of why I went down in the ocean with me. Meanwhile once I got back to shore I realized everyone on the beach was looking at me, some even came up to ask if I was okay. I told them of course I was okay and that I was just waiting for the boat to fill up with gas and then I was gonna go out again. It was a great experience I even got to see some sea turtles and jellyfish in the crystal clear water from above. 

And..were off!

Enjoying my vacation

My vacation ended with a fancy Thai dinner with my family and then I took a taxi back to the hostel and left early the next morning. It was a great relaxing vacation perfect for soaking up the sun!

The best part was I came home to seven little kittens at my house!

Don't know where to start!

Phuket is amazing! The city looks just like any northern Thai town. There are rolling hills, malls and all the usual things. I'm staying at an Hostel and it is actually pretty nice. It may be nicer than my house in Chiang Kham. I just walk out to the road and start walking everyday a taxi comes and stops and takes me to the beach where my family is. I have already gotten pretty sun burnt even with applying sunscreen every hour. I went to the beach today after getting burnt yesterday but only layed in the shade. Anyways it will soon turn into a tan so I'm not super worried. The beaches are beautiful, there are people in speedo's and some women topless, which I am definitely not used to. But the water is crystal clear and gorgeous. There are islands off shore and long tail boats waiting to be taken out to sea. Also today I watched about 15 people go para sailing, one right after the other. It was super cool. I got to meet up with my family and we went out to dinner last night and then today I went to the beach with them and out to lunch with them. For lunch yesterday I had a shark fillet and today I had some delicious shrimp. Yesterday after I got home from dinner and shopping with my family I was sitting outside reading because in my room with only a fan it was still to hot, I met a guy from White Fish, Montana only a few hours from our cabin and a younger guy from Germany but who has been traveling all over the world for about two years now. We had a nice conversation and then I went to bed. The one thing that is getting to me is the overly expensive taxis they all cost way more than I was expecting even with me bartering a little bit.  All is well, hot, but well.

Until Later, Dacotah Smith

Lemon Pork Recipe

5 Cloves of Garlic
8 Chilies
1/2 teaspoon of Gelatin
1 teaspoon Coriander
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup Fish Sauce
1 Tablespoon Brown Coconut Sugar Paste
2 Tablespoons of lime juice
Mix it all together, either blend it or smash it all together in a mortar and pessel.
Simply boil, fish or pork or grill it and serve the sauce over it. It is very spicy so cut up a cucumber to eat with it to calm it down.

My shot at some Thai recipes

Tom Yum Goon (Spicy Soup with Shrimp)
First an introduction. This is one of two very famous dishes in Thailand. It is served at every Thai restaurant and is normally served in a round dish with a kerosene under it to keep it bubbling. It is normally very spicy, I'm talking when they make it non-spicy for me they only put 10 chilies in it. This recipe's amount of certain ingredients is estimated because not only would I have to convert it but Thais don't measure anything, just a handful of this and a pinch of that etc. Also some of the ingredients you may have to find an Asian market to get a hold of...but here it goes.

The dish it's served in

4 Cups of Water
4 Tablespoons of  Tom Yum Chili Paste
1 Tablespoon of Fish Sauce
4-7 Fresh Smashed Chilies
2 Stems of Lemongrass cut in half leave the green part out
6 slices of Galanka (if can't find fresh looked for dried)
4 Shallots
2  Keefer Lime Leaves
10-15 Peeled Shrimp (uncooked)
1 Limes juice
A sprinkle of Cilantro and Parsley after dished




Start a pot of bowling water, enough to serve as many people as needed. Then add the 4 Tablespoons of Tom Yum Chili Paste feel free to add more or less to make it as spicy as desired. Add the Shallots in and let it sit and bowl for a few minutes and stir. Add the the galanka and the lemongrass and the chilies and let it boil for a few minutes. Add shrimp and add the fish sauce the Keefer lime leaf and a pinch of salt add the lime juice and bring to a boil. Let boil for a few minutes and then serve. Add cilantro and parsley to eat bowl. Enjoy!


( If you can't find some ingredients even at a Asian Market let me know and I will make a list of things to try to bring back.)

Miscellaneous

A great way to start my day is playing with all the kids in my hosts moms class. Normally I eat breakfast and as the kids walk past us eating on the floor in the hallway they shout P-Fah, P-Fah meaning sister Fah. It is so cute. As soon as I have finished eating I go chase them around the room and play tickle monster. Normally within a minute of walking in the room I get a big hug from about 5 students at once. Sometimes they turn on the television and watch cartoons before school starts so I sit down and I have at least one kid sitting on my lap and others resting an arm on me. It is a place where I truly feel I fit in and am liked. I still haven't gotten the package from home but am hoping it comes today. I got to Skype my family today and my brother proceeded to take off his shirt and show me all of his muscles. It was hilarious but it was nice to talk to them. I also got to Skype another friend and I had a good laugh. All is good in Chiang Kham.

Until Later, Dacotah Smith

My host mom is so cute!

Today when we were at school waiting for the other teachers to arrive so we could eat breakfast, my host mom asked me in Thai when I was going back to America. So I told her (by the way I got my official plane ticket back home today). She marked it on her calendar and told me that before I go she is going to take me to the temple to receive a white string to put around my wrist. It is put on people whom Thai Buddhists respect and for me it will mean a blessing for safe travels back home and a reminder not to forget them. I thought it was so cute that she was going to plan when to do this. In the meantime I am waiting for a care package from my grandparents. I'm so anxious to get it, hoping when I stop at home before teaching today it will finally be there. I'm still knitting my scarf I'm making lots of progress and I'm reading a really good book.

Until Later, Dacotah Smith

Random Things

Some random food that I saw at the fair that is all over Thailand is dried, pressed squid. It smells disgusting but alot of people like it. They put it through a metal press and smoosch is until it's flat and sell it like that. Also at the fair people were drinking huge containers full of beer, with an big ice cube in the middle, some tables of two people had two of them. It was crazy. Thais love their beer. They also love their fruits at the morning market you can buy any kind of fruit for a crazy cheap price. You can get a bag of about 10 passion fruit for less than a dollar. One of my new favorites is green, unripe mango peeled, cut up and dipped in a mix of sugar and chili flakes. It is so good. I eat three meals a week at Tai's house and even though she says she's not a good cook, I love her food. It is so fun to hang with her I get someone to talk to and someone to feed me delicious healthy food. Everything is fresh and we buy the meat and fruits and vegetables from the morning market. Sometimes it is hard for me to walk through there because there are just pig intestines and hearts and all kinds of things hanging up dripping blood waiting to be sold. On the street outside the building is where the fresh fruits and vegetables are sold so that is normally where I hang out. I love this town, at first I was mad that they put me in such a remote location but I'm realizing it's not at remote as I thought, my first host family just didn't really show me the town. I get to ride on the back of a motorcycle everywhere which is also fun. I'm seeing new parts of the town, meeting new people, I'm starting to love this sleepy little town. It's not as sleepy as I thought, I don't depend on Rotary for anything anymore, I've realized it's pointless and doesn't help anything. It's easier to depend on myself. If I need any help I have plenty of people to help me. I also have tons of support from back home which has gotten me through my darkest days here. I'm busy teaching, doing aerobics and knitting and reading. I only have a few weeks of school left here so I'm on the lookout for a Thai flag that I will bring to school and have everyone sign. I think it will be a nice souvenir to hang in my college dorm room. Some of these people I will never forget. I'm touched by every one's kindness. Sure some people stare and some little kids hide from me but almost everyone is willing to help and willing to do there best to make me happy. My host mom is so cute and just wants me to be happy, my host brother is starting to talk to me more and I'm starting to fit in. Also when I first got here the thought of eating cold pork with sticky rice for breakfast was unthinkable. I couldn't even get it down. Now if there's a morning where I don't have that or fish or chicken for breakfast I'm wondering what's up. I also couldn't eat much if any rice when I first got here, now I find myself taking one spoonful and then another and then another. I'm finally starting to adapt and fit in as much as I can for being about a foot taller and whiter than everyone else here. It's so exciting, I can't stop smiling now. Everything is a new adventure and a once in a lifetime experience. I will definitely be coming back to visit all my friends in the future. I see my friends around town and they wave or honk or yell "Fah" and everyone is so nice.

Until Later, Dacotah Smith

The Winter Festival

So every February the winter festival comes to Chiang Kham. They rent out the military training fields and set up booths and a concert stage and bars and games etc. It is a way for all the teenagers to go drink beer and smoke way underage, I mean they have kids as little as 13 drinking pitchers of beer. Every night starting at 10:30 there is a famous singer, usually from Bangkok and there is a huge concert. Almost every night the concert is interrupted by stupid drunk teenagers that get in fights. A few years ago someone got stabbed, but they have police men and military men with shoots of bamboo to break up fights with. Despite the dangers, I went with Tai my new friend and her maid Ram last night. We went walking around played dart games, pretty much wasted about 3 USD but it was fun. We then sat down ate some peanuts and watched the beginning of the concert before I had to go home. It was a fun night out on the town. It was also the last day of the fair and so now all is quiet and peaceful again. I also had a conversation with my host brother before I got picked up and he read me a sentence out of his English/Thai book it read " She is not only beautiful but also clever." He pointed at me and said "you" and then pointed at the sentence and it was translated to Thai so I know he knows what it meant. This means that my beef with him calling me fat is now over ha ha. It was a fun night after I got my butt kicked at aerobics. It was fun we were actually doing sped up Thai dancing during aerobics. I'm enjoying my time here and all is well!

So Happy

Well for the past few days I've been having some stomach issues. Now that I'm better my host mom is very sick. I had to sit and eat breakfast while listening to her puke today...needless to say I lost my appetite. Then she wobbled to the car and my host dad drove us to school. As I was heading to my class she was sitting on the steps looking about to do it all again. I think she ended up going home. Also Tai the lady I'm hanging with says both of her kids have been doing the same thing as well. I think it's best to just stay away from whatever is going around. On a lighter note last night was the Chinese New Year and there were firecrackers going off all day long. I'm having fun teaching and everything is going great.

Just a quick update, Dacotah Smith