Pictures - Week 1

Last Friday Scott and I walked around Bangkok, taking in the wats (Thai Buddhist temples), the food, and the thousands of Thai people in yellow shirts celebrating the King's 60th anniversary. The wats were amazing - golden and intricate. Here is an example of one of the spirals in the Grand Palace:

After checking out the wats, we wandered down to the river to see the dress rehearsal for the anniversary celebration. Fifty-two royal barges floated in front of our eyes, each intricately carved and royal outfitted. We watched the spectacle with many Thai people, who were hanging out of windows and balconies for a better view:



After riding the bus north to Chiang Mai, I found a room in the "Happy House" for a month. The two Thai sisters who own the guest house are sweet, and I've eaten dinner with them for the last three nights. They love that I eat spicy food! Thailand in the evening and morning is most beautiful. Here is the view from the guest house patio at night:


Massage classes are fabulous. I feel like mush after being massaged all week, but I'm certainly not complaining! I will take at least three more weeks of Thai massage at ITM, and maybe more at another school afterward. Here is our class on the last day of the first week of "school":


After passing our practical exams yesterday, my friend Phillipa, plus some boys from Texas staying at our hostel, went out to watch Muay Thai boxing. Muay Thai is basically violent kickboxing with some punches thrown in. During the evening we found some bugs to eat, and chowed down on crickets (mmm...crunchy), maggots (squishy and nasty), and even a cockroach (I couldn't stomach that one). The other girl in the picture is our waitress: