Khanom......

We have been living the good life here in Khanom. Our job pretty much pays us nothing (about $100 a week for between the two of us) but we are living in air conditioning for free, have free great Thai food, and a beach to play on each day. We have learned more Thai this month than in all the months we’ve been here combined and have read a lot. I just finished “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian” by Marina Lewycka. It’s a pretty funny book. Codie just finished “The Brothers K” by David James Duncan for the second time. Great book if you’ve never read it.
The beach here is nice but there are jellyfish once and a while so we are constant alert. Two days ago Codie almost had a heart attack while looking in the water until she realized it was just her arm. They also have pink dolphins that we usually see swimming by once a day. They look like they should be swimming in a Disney movie or at least be on a birthday cake from a supermarket.
As summer in the U.S. is getting started we’re especially missing hanging out with the Eugene crew in beautiful Oregon. One downfall to where we’re at is that April in Thailand is like eating red curry on the sun. It’s soooooo hot so I actually spend all the time Codie is teaching in our room writing, playing guitar, and reading while we usually go out and do things in the late afternoon. Oh yeah, we also play a lot of Catan.
We have a motorbike out here which has been super fun and allowed us to explore other beaches, waterfalls, etc. It has no speedometer though so it's anyone's guess how fast we are cruising around but we get passed a lot so we're guessing it's within legal limits.
Having my guitar here on the beach has also forced me to learn how to play the following songs: Zombie—by the Cranberries, Winds of Change- by the Scorpions, and Hotel California- by the Eagles. There is a serious lack of current music that Thai people request around a bonfire on the beach. I can't wait to showcase these hits back in Oregon. Wishing everyone well.

Rab Yang Sai...the Education Vacation

Codie and I have been teaching the past few weeks at Rab Yang Sai resort in Khanom, Thailand. It's on the beach. It's beautiful. We love it. The staff is half Thai and half Burmese. We hang out a lot even when we;re not teaching. F-U-N!

Songkran is Thai New Year. It is a water festival in which people go around and throw water at each other. Regular water, colored water, ice water (Brrrrr....) and smear colored paste on each other's faces. It's a lot like Holi in Nepal. We spent the day getting doused on our bicycles before we met up with some friends with a pick-up. We cruised Talad Mai, now armed with a tank of water and buckets, in the annual water war.

Leaving the festival. Cow eating trash. There was no decernable organized sanitation system from what we saw in KTM. The smell of burning garbage is a frequent smell.

This is soooo Lagaan

The Maoists wanted us to know that they like us. I'm sure they also wanted the local people to know it's sure not thier fault there has been a huge drop-off of tourism since the US government declared an advisory due to Maoist activities throughout the country (it has since been listed for everywhere we went since they are now a big part of the government).

So here we are to see, Kumari, the world's only living Goddess. She is selected and installed in this temple at around 4 years and then gets booted after she reaches maturity (see health class for details). To figure out who is the next Kumari, people search for a little girl who has the characteristics of Kumari. Then, after they weed it down to a bunch, they put all of the little girls in a scary room with 99 severed buffalo heads, scary music, and demon-like masked dancers. The REAL Kumari doesn't get scared. True.
Every once in a while she pops her head out of the golden window and people get to see her. We had no such luck. She is a big deal at all the festivals, though, where she gets pulled around by this giant chariot.

Drive-by praying.....

Notice the "drive-by" shrine. People would touch it, make a blessing, and ring the bell as they biked or drove by. Talk about efficient......

Temples!

A the temples and shrines have bells by them, whether they are big or small. People hit the bells to wake up the god or goddess so they can hear their prayer or offering.
Religion is everywhere! I've never been to a place where spirituality was so much a part of peoples' daily lives. A motorcycle can be parked next to a temple, kids can jump on statues out front, you can set up a ping-pong table, etc... no biggie.

The third picture are people doing their pujas, or offering to the gods at the particular temple.

The fourth picture: Buddhist prayer wheels surround the temple with Hindu Gods. You walk around the temple clockwise and flick the wheels as you go by chanting (if you want) Om Mani Padme Hum.

Fifth picture: Same temple. You can buy some flowers and red & yellow paste, you put some on the god and then it is made holy. You then bring the paste (often mixed with rice) home and bless your family with it. They should be good to go for the day. Many women do this every morning for their families or you can just go solo.

Thamel

Thamel--the tourist bubble inside of KTM. Anybody need knockoff Northface gear, singing bowls, or stripped hippy MC Hammer pants that are somehow cool in the backpacker world of Nepal?
We landed in Kathmandu. Popcorn / lentil vendors were a favorite snack in the city.

Teeth!

We got to this section of the city with teeth themed stores everywhere. Lots of "dentists" in candle lit cave-like shops on the side of the road.
There was a shrine(?) if you need a little luck from the gods to help your teeth (of course in the teeth section of the old city). You hammer a coin on or just touch it as you walk by. A lot of people were touching this thing.