Food Thai Style!

I figured this was an appropriate day to talk about the food here in Thailand. The food is delicious (aroi) in Thai and cheap. A conundrum I have had to overcome is that here in Thailand the cheaper the food and more informally presented.....the better. For example I have eaten at a nice restaurant in a mall and been thoroughly disappointed while paying 350 (10 dollars) baht...but nothing hits the spot like the pad thai stall down the road from me where I can basically pet the nearby roaming cows and eat my delicious padthai under a thatched roof for 15 baht (50 cents!) Well actually it usually turns out to be a dollar because I can't just have one :). So anyways I eat most of my meals (the better ones) at places that in the United States would be considered....hum....well possibly not considered. Are there any restaurants that consist of a frying pan island type thing on wheels, a plastic table 4 plastic stools and a thatch roof in USA? Not that I know of except maybe some tacky novelty ones that make you feel "in the jungle." Definitely not the same thing! So eating here is not an issue...and the cheaper usually the better which is very convenient.
Now the vegetarian staple/ the only thing I can confidently order in Thai is Fried Rice with Egg. This stuff is amazing....ok get the picture out of your head of China Star fried rice that cures your hang over, it is not the same thing. Fried here simply means it touches the frying pan (which is the only thing they cook in, so technically everything is "fried"). The rice is lightly coated in oil and then some fresh vegtables and an egg are added...serve it piping hot and hand the lady a 20 baht roughly 75 cents and your meal is served. And the utensils they use...fork and spoon not knife. So the left hand handles the fork (which does not go in your mouth) and the right handles the spoon (does go in your mouth). The fork is used somewhat like a backhoe pushing the rice (all meals come with rice unless you get noodle soup) onto the spoon, then the spoon takes the rice into your mouth...Yum it fits way more than a fork such a great idea. I might eat the rest of my life this way.
Ok vegetarian in Thailand- not as common as you would think considering it is suppose to be part of Buddhism. Now I have found it difficult to get it through to the Thai teachers I work with the understand that I DO NOT EAT MEAT, yet some how when I order myself I do fine. I have concluded they think my vegetarianism is a disease and think if they secretly get me to eat meat I will be cured! Example: (how all my lunches go). Pe (teacher): Liz you want noodle or rice. Me: Um today I will have rice, what do they have? Pe: Ok they have chicken curry. Me: um I do not eat chicken (remember this is the thousand time I have told you). Pe: oh ok you can have the pad thai with tofu. Me: wow that sounds Delicious. Skip to 5 minutes later me picking the pork off my pad thai (just added to the top for decoration I can only assume). But for 50 cents of deliciousness I can pick through it. So everyone enjoy your turkey I am going to head to the cafeteria for some Fried Rice :).

Loi Krathong

One of the most beautiful things have ever seen, the festival of Loi Krathong. A brief history- Loi Krathong is a festival in which the Thai's give thanks the the river for letting them use it and giving them life. Also it is a day to let go of one's grudges and have a fresh new start. To symbolize this people float rafts (Krathongs) down the river. They are made of parts of the banana tree trunks and are usually decorated with flowers and then have a candle on them. The site of all these Krathongs floating along the river is amazing. Oh ya and did I mention it is celebrated on the full moon in November, so the full moon is big and bright and then the river is lit up with the rafts. The rafts symbolize letting your problems float away, pretty cool huh?
I watched the festival from three different locations. The first was an hour north of me where the biggest festival of Central Thailand is held. Then I traveled to a temple (wat) on the river in my city Pethchaburi, here I let my krathong with all my problems float down the river :).

Down on the Coconut Farm

This past weekend after getting into the car with a bunch of Thai's and one western friend I expected to see a floating market and some fire flies. Little did I know I was in for a much larger adventure of driving up the coast. I fell asleep in the car...it was hot and I had woken up for the sunset earlier. To my surprise when I woke up I was getting out of the car at a Church???? Now a church is a common scene in almost every country since the spread of colonializim, but this is Thailand "land of the free," never been colonized. Yet here I was standing in front of a church. The Thai's were very excited to show us the church which was admittdlely very beautiful and right on the water. It was kind of a funny scene though when I had to take off my shoes to enter the church and then the Thai's left my friend and I to pray! We politely declined and said we should probably get on our way...there are many other things to see in Thailand.

After a little more driving and a lot more asking directions (there is no planning ahead here) I noticed on either sides there were rows of coconut trees and clear irrigation streams cut. Next thing I know we arrive at a house and are told this is the house of a former student at my school. We shuffled into the wooden house and greeted the owners in our few words of polite Thai we know. In the back of the house was a canal and then....you guessed rows of coconut trees! Here we were on the coconut farm. We were allowed to use the boat (a typical Thai style) which I was admittedly skeptical at first but come on when else am I going to be on a coconut farm, so I jumped in. Actually no no I very cautiously eased my way into the rickety boat hoping I would not end up in the canal that is filled with....well that's actually it I have no idea what it was filled with! So it was a serene scene paddling up the canal....apparently my Thai friends were also not coconut farm people because they could barely get the boat to move in a straight line. But we had some laughs and a good time down on the coconut farm.

Election Day in Thailand!

Since I was so excited about the election in the United States and so hopeful our country would finally head in the right direction I decided to incorporate this into my classes for this week. I found a great website on the internet that explained the electoral college system and the process the USA goes through to elect a president. The website was for kids that is...so in easy terms and I was hopeful the Thai students would understand. I put this in a powerpoint but realized that it might still not get the message across about the bipartisian nation and electoral college and how some states count as more and blah blah blah. Then a light bulb went off....there is no better way to learn then have a mini election in our class! So this is what I did (after showing the powerpoint). Each class (they are big, which was helpful), first held 2 conventions democratic and republican where they nominated a candidate and then speeches were given. The speeches were great! One of my candidates said if they were elected there would be free food and education...how wonderful haha. Anyways then the class was divided into states (all of different populations). They got to pick a name and a draw their state on the board and then I divided up electoral votes. After 15 mins of campaigning we had ourselves a mini election! I think that they get it so-so which is a term I use in class...but its better than nothing and I know they enjoyed it. A great treat for me when my class was done and I went on the internet and find out Barack Obama had won...what a great day!!!!! Most Thai's are Obama supporters...so everyone here is happy to.

Phetchaburi

Ok the area I am in, Phetchaburi Province is really famous for the number of Palaces and temples it has. 3 of the kings built summer palaces here beause it was so close and easy to access from Bankok, and therefore it is also known as the city of 3 palaces. Yesterday I visited one of the palaces. This one Phraram Rajanivet is the palace of King Rama the Fifth. It is in a European style. Now it is empty inside and open to tourists. The grounds also house the Petchaburi Military Base. Behind me is a statue of King Rama the Fifth and then the palace. It was very nice inside.

The most famous Palace is the one built by King Rama the Fourth. FYI all Kings are Rama...the current reigning king is Rama the ninth to give everyone a little perspective. Also a tid-bit about the current king is that he is the worlds longest reigning monarchy with 61 years and still going! Ok back to the famous palace it is called Phrana Khon Khiri or also Khao Wang (palace on the hill). I have not made it here yet but it is a city landmark and lucky me gets to view it from outside my door all the time! Check out my view of it! Hopefully coming soon will be a post of my visiting the grouds. I can either hike up the mountain or take a cable car. We will need to see how hot it is before deciding how I approach!

Prachamkalo College of Nursing

After a week in Bangkok I finally arrive at my teaching location in Petchaburi, about two hours south of Bangkok. It is a really nice college campus. There is a four year program to recieve a bacholers degree as a nurse and then a two year program for a certification as a professional health officer. I will be teaching english to both parties so my age range is 19-40! I think no matter what age the important thing is to make sure learning english is fun! I plan to have my class active and continually vocal. I have a nice dorm room, office and everything is going smoothly.

Week 1 of teaching-

Week one was great, we worked on introducing yourself and as an activity I had the class in groups introduce some of my friends and family. There were certain facts about certain people on a sheet of paper and in groups they created a paragraph and then read them allowed. This was fun for me and for the students! There is nothing like being introduced to your friends by Engligh speaking Thai students, everyone enjoyed this class!