Pictures of Life

I haven't put up very many pictures yet so I thought I would give you a taste of everyday life in Chaing Mai with a few pictures:
This is my corner of the room I share with two other girls on my team. The matteres is made of bamboo with very little padding - I think it's because of the heat but it's not the most comfortable thing to sleep on...I'm getting used to it too. Also notice the lack of blankets - I couldn't bring any with me because I was packing so light and haven't seen the need to buy any because of the heat. Don't you love my pink curtains? Colors like pink, purple and yellow are very popular for decorating over here - our house is pink and all the curtains throughout it are as well.

This is a street in our neighborhood. From almost anywhere in the city, there is a view of the mountains that almost surround it. I think they are beautiful and I'm realizing what I missed not growning up around mountains.

This meal is called "Kaw Soy Gai"; it's a soup kind of dish made with coconut milk, boiled chicken and rice noodles. This is one of my favorite meals here in Thailand - it's a little bit spicy and very rich. In Thailand they don't eat with thier forks - they only use them to push the food onto a spoon or eat with chopsticks. This meal is a challenge with any utinsil and is messy no matter what you do. One of the best parts about it is that we can buy it for 25 bhat...which is about 70 cents American.
and the resterant that makes it the best is just down the road from us - about a 5 minute walk.

But we don't walk as much anymore since we recently aquired a small fleet of motercycles. When I say small fleet I mean six - everyone on our team has one, except for me. So I hope on the back of someone elses. No worries Momma - we all where helmets. This is not only a really fun way to get around town but it is also much cheaper then public transportation or buying a car.
Here are a couple pictures of the streets we drive through daily.

The red vehicals you see in the picture are called "Soung-taos". They are like pick up trucks with the back covered and little benches to sit on. Although not expensive compared to American prices, we are still saving a bunch of money not paying them for our daily transportation.

Mango Stand!

Flower Market!
Buddhism is the prominent religion here in Thailand. This is a larger version of the spirit houses that are in front of nearly every home and business. Buddhists believe that the evil spirits will live inside of these rather then in thier homes.
Chiang Mai has more then a hundred Buddhist temples so monks are nothing out of the ordinary here.