[THAILAND WEEK 5.]

It has been another exciting week at the volunteer house. As usual I have much more to write than I have time for but I will try and get a good update in :) The week started out with a cooking demonstration from one of the cooks, Jiew, that works in our volunteer home. We could pick what dishes we wanted to be taught so I picked green curry and Phad Thai. They were both deliiiciiousss! I have the recipe for both so I am going to give them a try when I get home. Of course after I get my pizza and Mexican food haha. I think I may have to get some of the ingredients at the Asian market. I am way excited to go home and be able to try and cook it all on my own. I have ordered it/seen it made enough times here I am sure I can figure it out. On Monday we also had a Thai massage lesson. The woman who came to give us the lesson has been doing it for 7 years! She taught us about pressure points and gave us a little demonstration. Then we got to try on each other and it definitely wasn't the same as her doing it! They actually kind of hurt but afterwards it feels really good, not relaxing like a regular massage though.

On Tuesday we had a Buddhist Nun come to the house and give a talk about her life. She moved to Thailand 26 years ago after leaving her family in Austria. She has given up a lot to be here in Thailand but she loves being a Buddhist nun. She talked to us about meditation and Buddhism and answered the bajillion questions we had for her. She came from such a modern life and it is so interesting to hear how happy she is living the simple life that she does now. Wednesday was a quiet night. I went into the city and got a foot massage and some ice cream (really what more could you need? ;)

On Thursday we had another lecture from Phra (means monk or nobleman) Dr. Anil at his temple, Wat Bovorn. He came to Thailand from Nepal and has been living here since he was 14. He has been a monk for 34 years and has become well known throughout Thailand. I was very surprised with how modern he was. He has a radio show, a television show, and gives lectures all around the world. He let us just ask him questions about his past, becoming a monk, Buddhas teaching, rituals, you name it we asked it. We ended up talking to him for almost 3 hours! Every aspect of his talk was incredible but I was very taken back by his responses when we started to talk about all the rituals in Thailand. The Thai's bow down to Buddhas when they see them, light candles and incenses, bring flowers, do chants, and the list goes on. I have become accustomed to seeing this pretty much everywhere I go. Dr. Anil told us that he doesn't do much of this "ritualistic" stuff. He doesn't light the candles or incenses, wear the blessing strings, etc. So of course we were very taken back by this and asked him why. He told us that some of Thai people need this to help remind them to pay respect to Buddha but he doesn't need it and he thinks its kind of silly. It is not part of their 'life philosophy' to do these sorts of things. This is why the rituals are different from country to country. This is a man with A PhD in Buddhism?! His points were so contradicting to what I have learned the entire time I have been here! It was so interesting to hear a different view point and learn that some people (even the monks!) don't think the rituals are as important as others. 

Friday was an adventurous day and I got to see the Grand Palace, The Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and Wat Po (the reclining Buddha). I had already been to each of these places earlier in my trip but they were definitely worth a second visit. The Grand Palace's grounds are magnificent and all of the buildings are so extravagant.

These are my two roommates and I in the grounds of the Grand Palace. After the tour with the group we headed to an Amulet Market right near the Grand Palace. I found a few cute Buddha amulets to put on some cord when I get home. (Kelli Williams get excited I got you something cool here! :) After the market we headed to the National Museum. I don't think I read more than like 3 signs in here but the pictures were beautiful and so were the grounds. They had these amazing chariots that the King and Queen used to (or maybe still do?) use for ceremonies that were in the back of the museum. We also got to see some of the costumes that they would wear for celebrations. The museum was definitely worth visiting but a bit run down. It probably could have used a modern update! After the museum we were supppppposed to head to a dinner show in Silom Village but when we got there the place was deserted. We figured out how to take the water taxi to the sky train and then walk to the village (very proud! hahah). Everything was going great til we got to the village and no one was there. Plans changed and we had dinner at a fantastic restaurant (Mom if you are reading we got Mango Tree again!) and then headed home for the evening.

Saturday was my last day in Thailand with my two roommates that I started the program with. We woke up early and headed to Ja Tu Jak weekend market. This is one of the largest markets in Bangkok! (or maybe even Thailand?) It has 15,000 stalls and is only open on Saturday and Sunday. We got some cool gifts and had a fantastic (and cheap!) lunch at the market. I am going to miss eating a delicious meal for a buck twenty five! Can we adopt this in the United States please? After the market we came home and freshened up and then headed into the city for one last hoorah (aka a foot massage). I couldn't have asked for better roommates on this trip. They were both fantastic and we all got along so well. I will definitely miss them! I got a new roommate last night who will be here for 4 weeks. She seems very sweet so I am sure that we will have a great time together as well. 

This morning I woke up and headed back to Ja Tu Jak market to pick up a few things. I wanted to get a plant for my hospital mentor Pi-Toy. I found a cactus at the market and decided to get that because it reminded me of Arizona. I have 4 more days left with her so I will bring it to her on my last day. She has been so fantastic! I will get another hospital update after this! Its now 3 in the afternoon and I am about to head to the health food store to get a snack (delicious rice crackers with plum sauce and sesame seeds) and some lemon grass tea. I don't have plans for later on but 3 new girls are in the house so I am sure we will come up with something fun....until next time:)