Hopefully the pictures work this time

Right, I'm back in the cafe, which doesn't close for another 4 hours so hopefully I will have time to load all the pictures this time. The net connection is painfully slow, but I'll update as they load. On a side note, it's about to POUR. The sky is so black, it's ridiculous, and it's just gotten really windy (all you climatology buffs out there will know that's called a 'gust front' and usually travels ahead of large thunder storms). The lightning and thunder are kind of a giveaway as well. (And just before you get all 'what? using a computer during a lightning storm? this is madness!' on me, relax. I have a powerbar. Besides, this is Sparta)

moving on,

Yesterday was awesome. I had so much fun. It started unassumingly enough, going to the farm with Greg for 6:30AM (though we were originally aiming to be there for 6 which meant I was up at 4:50), because Mr. Khai had told us that the guys start work at 6 in the morning every day.

As a side note, Greg’s bought a new motorcycle which is really great because I no longer have to hold on for dear life when we go somewhere. I had no idea that gear shifting was supposed to be a smooth operation on a motorcycle. Also, it’s nice because now we can keep up with traffic on the highway.

Anyway, when we got there, the guys were just rolling out of bed and hadn’t had breakfast yet, so we sort of sat around and scratched our heads trying not to look awkward while everyone sort of did their getting-up routine. Greg called Mr. Khai who was at the office in town and needed to look over a legal agreement concerning the lease on the land for the farm, so we headed back into town. Mr. Khai looked over the agreement on Greg’s computer, and we went into the city to look for a place to print the file. Unfortunately it was 8:15 at this point and none of the printing places really opened until 9 so we found a nice café and sat and had a coffee (or in my case fresh squeezed orange juice because I’m not a fan of the coffee). The café where we stopped also provided internet access upstairs and that’s where I snapped this picture.

I thought it was really neat the way it was designed so people had to sit on the floor and sort of recline on those triangular cushion things. It’s incredibly reflective of the relaxed atmosphere in Chiang Mai. You see those cushions a lot of places around here.

Anyway, things opened up at 9 and we printed our documents and headed back to the farm. Mr. Khai was there when we arrived and he had brought his wife and daughter as well as the few students currently living at the office. There are also maybe 9 guys at the farm now. Today was a big day because they were celebrating the planting of the rice. You need to understand that in Burma, to say that rice is kind of a huge deal is a serious understatement. I don’t know what the actual statistics are off-hand (I’d Google them to make myself look more informed except that I don’t have an internet connection as I’m writing this.) but to be sufficiently vague, rice is an incredibly important dietary staple as well as a source of income for a large portion of the population. To put things in context, when Greg asked David how he should approach Mr. Khai about switching to a different rice planting technique, David sort of scoffed and said "Good luck. You don't tell a Burmese man how to grow rice...you just don't do it." Needless to say the new technique never really flew.

Oh! Excellent, the first set of picture just loaded. I will explain these while the second batch are loading.

First off, this is a picture from Natasha's (my boss's wife) muay thai boxing match. I realized I never really followed up on that one. It was really really neat. The match itself took place in a venue in the heart of the red light district. Basically there was a big ring in the middle and a bunch of bars aroudn the outside where you could get drinks/food if you were so inclined. Depending on where you sat in the crowd, you would be approached by the waitresses from the bar that served that section. There were 5 matches, organized by weight class from 60 pounds to 160 pounds. The 60 pound kids couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 and I wasn't quite sure how I felt about watching 8 year olds in a ring beating the stuffing out of each other. You could also tell that muay thai was a sport laiden with tradition...

On a side note, the rain's just begun to come down in buckets and I just watched a sopping wet policeman sprinting down the street for cover.

Each fighter went through a ritual before their match, which involved walking around the ring, kneeling and bowing to the crowd and to their oponents. All in all, it was a good night. Unfortunately, Natasha lost her match, though if I were judging I think I ould have given her the win.

Eee, I'm right by the door and the rain is coming in...my computer's getting slightly wet.

This is a picture I took while riding my bike around the city. You can see the moat which surrounds Old Chiang Mai, as well as remnants of the original wall that used to encircle the city to protect it from attack.

This is a Buddhist temple, or 'wat', one of many that can be found inside the city, and all over Thailand. They are usually ornately decorated and the architecture is quite intricate. Monks study and train at the 'wats', and you see them around the city swathed in their orange robes. Actually, when Greg and I went to work really early yesterday morning, there were monks out everywhere. I'd never gone outside that early in the morning, but I suppose this happens every day. The monks each had a metal (brass I think) container around their neck which was for donations of money or food. I think the Buddhist belief is that basically giving donations to the monks is the equivalent of building up good karma in this life so as to improve your stature in the next life and bring you that much closer to achieving nirvana. But I could be wrong. I want to pick up a book on Buddhism the next time I pass a used book store.

This is a picture I took on that long bike ride partway up the mountain the other day. (Oh bother. The connection cut out and I have to start loading the pictures again). If you click to view the picture full size and look at the top of mountain peak farthest to the right (sort of close to the middle of the picture) you can just make out Wat Doi Suthep.

This last one was one I just throught was neat. It's the playground in front of the Japanese restaurant down the street from our building.











Okay, I'm afraid the internet connection is going to cut out again and prevent me from posting, so I'm going to put up these and try for some more later. I realize I still haven't explained in full why yesterday was so awesome, but it will come in due time.