Food and other fun!

To answer one of the questions that people keep asking: yes, the food is absolutely amazing here!! It has so much flavor and color, it’s more like a work of art than a meal.  In fact, Thai cooking is actually a part of our cultural arts class here, that’s the level at which food is held here.  Thai’s love their food and love sharing it with us.  Amazingly, I have not hit a rice wall, at least not yet.  I expected to be eating it at every meal, and while they do eat it often (even as a part of breakfast or dessert) it is not always included.  They also use (rice) noodles!  Honestly, there are so many flavors accompanying the rice, that you don’t even notice it.  I hit a spice wall long before any rice wall even appeared.

 

The other big question: chopsticks?  Yes, but only with noodle meals.  It was probably quite entertaining for the Thais to watch us all try chopsticks for the first time.  Suffice it to say, that meal probably took at least twice as long as it should have :P  Slowly, but surely, we are all improving.  By the end of the semester I will be a pro, or at least I hope so.

Yesterday we learned how to weave in our Cultural Arts class (Pictures coming soon!).  Looks easy, but it’s not.  If you do one thing out of order, the process won’t work right.  It also takes FOREVER!! Because the thread is so thin (like embroidery floss) it took us 3 hours to do about a foot and a half of fabric!   It is actually really relaxing.  Once you get the process down and get in a rhythm, you can just sit and (or attempt to learn Lahu!) while you weave.  Nanipa (the lady who taught us) can make a shoulder bag in one day, and sells it for 150 baht in the market.  That’s the equivalent of $5!  She also makes beautiful skirts and shirts, which take her up to 10 days to make.  It would probably take me a year just to make one!

We are able to go work on our fabric whenever we want.  We keep them at Nanipa’s house, which is really neat because it is a place where the Lahu are comfortable.  Even though they can, they do not come to our house because it is an unfamiliar place and most of them are shy.  Because we are in their space and doing one of their traditional activities, they come help us and talk with us.  It is a lot of fun to get to know them.