The Pottery Village

Another place we (meaning just a few of us) went to in Laos was a pottery village. This was my favorite place in Laos. At this village they make ceramics for local Laos people only. You won't see one of their pieces in a foreign country. They dig the clay right out of the ground, spin a pot with a slate over it for the wheel, and dye their hands attempting to glaze/protect the pieces. The only things you could buy were little animal figurines. I bought a turtle. Minds Open, hearts close, Bellies Full.

-Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

P.S. that big hole in the ground with the fire, yeah that's the kiln. 

Laos, a Dance, Kind of...I guess....

So we went to a theatre which is at an old palace. It was cool to walk around the grounds and take some cool shots at sunset. The dance? Well it was boring. It was supposed to tell a story but we were all wondering where did the story go? We couldn't tell what was what, where was where, who was who, it was a complete loss. Even our professor fell asleep. So here's one shot of the dance and some cool shots of the grounds.

BTW, sorry  this is so out of order, I will add all the dates in later (when I return to the US)

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full.

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Witnessing and becoming an Accident

LONG & NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH:

So for those of you who are not my family nor friends: I witnessed an accident today while in Thailand, and I was literally a jump away from being in it. I was walking home from the market at Chiang Mai gate. I had just finished my meat sticks and spring roll as I came to an intersection I am very much familiar with. I was about to walk across the street when I looked up and saw all red lights. I thought I better play this safe and wait to see who was about to get the green light. The light to my left turned green. I turned to watch the cars come at me. I saw a black car with a scooter right beside it. The scooter was heading straight and so was the car but at the last second the car turned on its turn signal. I thought "don't do it. You're going to hit. don't do it." But the words never escaped my lips, not that they could hear me anyways. I heard the crash and watched the scooter turn its passengers on the rough road. I lost track of the car. My eyes were glued to the bodies sliding and rolling closer to me. My body hunched in a "I'm going to catch you stance". It wouldn't be the people I would be catching though because the bike was hurdling at me faster than they were. This is where my mind, from the adrenaline, decided not to remember anything. I remember thinking oh shit and MOVE! By the time I came to I was on the sidewalk the bike was right where I was standing, the girl was against the curb and her companion (possibly grandmother) was laying down slowly rising. I was shocked. I watched her helplessly sit up and put her head between her legs. I walked over to her and just gawked. Thai people came running from everywhere and began helping her up. I backed up back to my sidewalk watching with eyes probably looking like I was concerned yet mortified because that's how I felt. The elder woman called "911" reporting what had happened. A red scooter with a woman wearing a cream shirt pulled up and started talking. I caught enough of the Thai to realize she had followed him and got his license number. Several Thai people ran for paper, the ladies digging in their purses. Numbers and letters flew threw the air. I was scared. I tried to understand the Thai words squealing through the air but nothing. I turned my attention to the girl her toenails on her right foot were completely gone. Blood trickled everywhere legs were demolished. She didn't shed a tear. Adrenaline. The ambulance came and I freaked. I can't speak Thai! I saw this thing happen and almost got hit by the bike but I can't speak Thai! Maybe I should dip, no that's not right. I stayed. but then freaked out again a when I realized police were coming. I didn't have my passport. What if he wanted a witness statement but didn't speak English. He would have had to take me to the station to get a translator. I can't be detained. Wait what if they tell me I can't leave the country until the court date. I stood there trying not to make eye contact with the officer. A bystander saw me jump out of the way of the bike and kept glancing at me waiting for me to say something. I looked at the cars rolling up and saw a black car. "That's the car!! that's it look at the bumper I think that's the car!" but my screaming thoughts could not escape my lips. I watched it drive away. At least we had the license plate. I stayed. I watched them take the girls away. I watched the cop collect the woman's information who came back on the red scooter. He looked at me. I stood there. I could have said something right there. But I was afraid. I was afraid to walk across the street. I was afraid of cars. I realized walking back that my rib, which is already messed up, was hurting really bad. Great when I jumped and my memory faded I slammed into something. Had to have been the gates on the sidewalk. I am afraid. I am ashamed. I am disappointed in myself. How could I just stand there? Thoughts of my past when I was calling myself a bad person and hanging myself from a beam popped in my head. I would not be that person again. I am not a bad person. I am a person in shock, in pain. My mother really helped me and told me about her experience watching a woman get hit by a car. It's okay to be  traumatized. Okay. You couldn't do more. okay. It was self preservation. Okay. Then why do I still feel like this? It's okay to be scared.  Okay. It's okay to be weak. Okay. You don't have to be strong. Okay. Okay okay okay.
I'm scared.

minds open, hearts close, bellies full.
& remember you never know when life will throw something scary at you & that's okay.

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Laos...at least there was a waterfall *sigh*

Laos was pretty sucky. I’m just being honest. We were so used to Lanna food, full of seasonings that Laos food tasted like water. Tasteless. Dinner was $5, when most of us were used to Thailand which was $1 (hawker food) to maybe $5 (nice dinner in a sit down foreign food place). The tuk tuk drivers were loud and obnoxious where Thai tuk tuk drivers just honked or slowed down and looked at you. All you have to do in Thailand is shake your head no. In Laos? No. No. No. No. no. FOR GOD’S SAKE I SAID NO!!!! The Laos people got drunk and were LOUD. Where Thai people you ask to speak up and they keep their volume the same, quiet. Did I mention Laos is a communist country? It was quite unsettling to see the soldiers walk with AK’s towards you. We’re Americans, we hear the horror stories… Anyways we did go to a waterfall together. That was really fun. Lauren and I climbed to the top of the mountain together to stand at the waterfall’s beginning pools. It was beautiful. Then we climbed down on some steps we thought were stone, but were actually wood stairs with minerals deposited on them from the water. Then we found our friends and went into the bright sky blue pools to enjoy the cold water. I jumped off the waterfall at the pool and just had a blast. Plus it was the first time I had been in a bathing suit since I got my last tattoo.

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full!

-The foodie and Nature Enthusiast

My First Buddhist Holiday

Erica and I decided to offer alms to the monks bright and early on a Friday morning, the day we were going to Laos. It was a Buddhist holiday and the university offers the campus for students to offer alms. Holy Buddha there were a LOT of students there! There had to be well over 2,000. Erica and I were so shocked! We thought man the monks could live off this amount of food for years! We couldn’t figure out how they were going to do this. The monks walked with silver pots barely 6 inches deep. How? After chanting and blessing the day the monks began walking. Erica and I waited a while and then we saw people running towards the middle of the road…wait what? was all I could think. We got in the middle of our section (one of the first few people) and looked up the street and realized the running was to make 4 lines. YES 4! We had 4 lines of students shoulder to shoulder cradling food to give to the monks. Traveling at a very slow speed behind the monks were 2 large dumpster trucks, yep dumpster trucks. Volunteers held trash bags for the monks, as the bowl was filled, the bag was filled. Bags were tied up and left in the middle of the 2 middle lines of students. As students ran out of food they departed leaving room for the trucks to come by and pick up the bags. No idea how many bags, it didn’t matter to me. What mattered to me was celebrating a Buddhist holiday for the first time in a country where Buddhism thrived. Cool! Minds open, hearts close, bellies full.

-The foodie and nature enthusiast

To the left                                                                     To the right.....

And with the middle crowds

Erica (chaikha)

The Zen Guy and My Struggles Afterwards

So we had a class with this “full of bullshit” guy who talked about Zen Buddhism, well really he didn’t talk about Zen Buddhism he talked about himself. Yeah the first day was a powerpoint with some good information on Buddhism in general. He also broke it down into sects for us, but he threw in a lot of personal stories. Now normally that wouldn’t bother us, but here’s why it did. In Thailand it is not okay to talk about one’s self/personal past stories without permission. Often times teachers will ask before they tell you or they will apologize with “I’m sorry if my story offends you and if I am talking to much about myself. I am also sorry if my opinions offend you. Please tell me to stop if I am offending you.” Does this guy do that? No he’s from New Jersey (no disrespect but he did follow the stereotype and made ya all look b-a-d) and it was just a total change for us. The second day we had to ask questions. Well most of us tore him a new one, especially Ryan. I even asked questions I knew the answers too, I mean I am Buddhist, but I just wanted to hear how he’d possibly dance around a question a very simple straightforward “This is what Buddhism practice says…” and he totally did. By the end of the class we were all frustrated and never wanted to see the man again. Okay, now that my rant is done, back to the first day. The first day I felt troubled on the inside. I was feeling like I abandoned a true part of me by stopping Buddhism and I felt horrible. After class I decided to go temple wandering. I walked around several temples and finally found myself and happiness. I am a Buddhist. Deal with it. J

These are just some shots from wondering around Chiang Mai trying to find temples.

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Peter's Birfinday!

Peter wanted to go out for Italian for his birthday. These are the results.

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Dhamma Center Pics

I have already posted about the Dhamma center and the Burma border. The city we went to is Win Haeng. These are the pictures. I know the pictures and the explanations are really far apart but when I made my first post I just had to get out my feelings and my emotions before I forgot. So sorry for the delay but here are the pictures with some small captions so you kind of know what you’re looking at.

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full.

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Burma/Thailand border

 Artwork in the temple at the border. We actually met the artist

 Sketches in the temple at the border. Soon to be what's above.

This is the artwork by the same artist above. This is actually where we met him. He was working on some artwork that he will be putting in a new meditation center. He doesn't like these a lot (they were the first ones he did) and he made a mistake in the story of Buddha in one of the panels. He took one year to paint around 30 of these panels. The one on the left of the bottom picture with the man with the machete is the artist's personal favorite. 

Flower Festival

Thailand has a lot of festivals and when Thailand does it. They do it big! They had all these floats that were driven throughout Chiang Mai the weekend we went to Win Haeng. But before they ran the streets they were on display at Tha Phae gate. There was a huge stage where they held many competitions and dances. Street vendors took up every inch they could to sell Thai food, souveniers, clothes, and anything else they thought the dumb farong (foreigners) would buy. The food was pretty good but it was expensive considering noodles were 5B cheaper at Chiang Mai gate, but hey that’s coming from a cheap-o. Minds open, hearts close, bellies full.

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast

Fruit Fruit Oh and More....BARGAINING

If you couldn't tell already from previous blog posts, because you haven't been following or whatever the reason, I love fruit. I bought these at the market close to the East gate (ThaPhae). I recommend everybody goes to the street it's on. You have to pass a lovely food hawker location then you turn right BOOM market. If you keep going down the street you'll run into this great little bakery with cresecents for a dollar and you'll see the best restaurant in Thailand (refer to previous post for explanation). So there's a mango, mangosteen, and strawberries there. By the time I took this picture I had ate half the bag of strawberries. I walked up to the woman and grabbed the mangosteen and asked her how much, she immediately went down from 100 to 90B. I nodded slightly. Then I quickly grabbed a mango (70 B) and the bag of strawberries (80B) and asked her tang mot (all together)? She looked at me shocked and as she giggled she said 200B. SCORE! Anybody who is reading this I got a crap ton of fruit that was supposed to be 250B for 200B. I spent $6 on all this fruit! Bargaining here is socially acceptable and is actually considered a cultural norm. So if you come to Thailand...BARGAIN AWAY!

Minds open, hearts close, bellies full!

-The foodie and nature enthusiast

The Best Thai in Lanna...Supposedly

February 5th, 2014

FOOD PICS ALERT!!! If you are about to view this as a hungry person I do not recommend you read this blog post.

This restaurant we found while walking by a little market. Peter, Ryan, Trevor, Evan and I all decided food was needed. The restaurant claimed to be the best in Lanna. On the walls were pieces of paper covered in many languages raving about the food there. German, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, English, French, Russian, you name it they had it. Below is the food we got. The food was good but I'm not sure if I would stretch it to the best Thai that I've had. Under each picture I have the name of the food and what is in it. The women who ran the shop let me take a picture so there's a picture of our cook! 

fuq kai (pronounced fuck guy) fuq means squash but most Thai people use it as pumpkin. This was Peter's food pumpkin with chicken soup with rice. 

If I remember correctly this is green curry. Ryan's dish. Capers, veggies, rice etc. Ryan likes spicy so he always puts red pepper on his meals. 

sen mii Luuk chin muu naam. Vermicelli with pork balls soup. I get this dish quite often mostly because I really like pork balls. My teacher says it's because there is borax in the meat...but oh well I still like it. There's beans and kale and a broth (haven't quite figured out the kind yet). Garlic is always included. Garlic here is like ketchup in America. garlic garlic garlic

Evan's dish: Pad thai. Glass noodles fried with egg and some veggies with peanuts on the top. I haven't had this because I'm allergic to peanuts but my friends enjoy it for me and tell me how it tastes. Evan likes spicy too so he usually adds red pepper flakes as well. He is known as the trip's garbage disposal. What we don't eat, he does. One always needs a garbage disposal. 

phat phak khaaw. Rice with fried vegetables. Trevor got the easy meal. This is actually not a Thai dish. When you order fried rice a lot of places say "American fried rice" because most rice dishes are not fried with eggs. 

OUR COOK! SHE'S SO AWESOME!

Minds open, hearts close, Bellies FULLLLLL!

-The Foodie and Nature Enthusiast