Miss Tiffany

Thailand is an interesting place. One of the things that I have found most interesting is the concept of gender in Thailand. Basically...it's pretty loose. You have men, you have women, you have ladyboys... The amazing thing is how open everyone is. The term "kathoey" refers to ladyboys (men who live as women) and is completely socially acceptable among all levels of Thai society. In some schools they even have three bathrooms: girls, boys...ladyboys. I work at a Christian school, mind you, but that didn't stop the school from having it's annual "Miss Tiffany" pageant earlier this year. Keep in mind: these are 15 year old BOYS. The most amazing part is that it's totally fine - no one makes fun of them, no homophobia from the school "jocks". This is all just part of growing up, discovering who you are...Thai style.







Perhaps realizing they have no chance?



Thailand...

Newspaper Fashion

Hey folks! Here are some pictures of a "newspaper fashion show" that I did with the other 8th grade teacher and our students. Basically, they made outfits out of newspaper and then we plugged in a tiny boombox and played "You Sexy Thing" on repeat as they sashayed across the stage. It had something to do with our unit on recycling...we decided. It was a great way to get out of teaching for the day and it was really fun! -Sarah

The glasses are a nice touch.










Elaborate!


"I believe in miracles..."

Big Time

We finally made it! Our photo was taken for the "Around Town" section of the local English language newspapaer. We were watching football at the Irish bar in our neighborhood.



Our picture's on the bottom right of the page. Yeah!

Chiang Dao Caves

On our last day in Chiang Dao, we went to visit the city's main attraction - The Chiang Dao Caves. My cave experience was pretty limited, so I didn't really know what to expect.

We entered the cave after making a small 'electricity donation' to keep the flourescent lights in the beginning part of the cave on. After a few steps down, we realized we had to pay extra for a guide to take you into the cave with a lantern. We paid about $3, our guide lit the oil lamp, and we headed in.

After a couple minutes walking through the cave, I started feeling pretty claustrophobic. Without the lantern, there was no light whatsoever, and we were heading deeper and deeper into the cave. What if there was an earthquake or something? The ground was wet and slippery, and we could hear the bats above us. That's when our guide asked us to creep down and climb into this tiny hole, maybe two feet wide and three feet high. The guide went first, then Sarah - which blocked out all the light in front of me. This was insane...


[We took the photos on 'night mode' so some of them didn't turn out so clear. I think they better capture the mood though.]







Sarah walking in the cave

Elephant Riding

After strolling around the tiny village for about five minutes, we started heading back to the truck. That's when we saw this! Maybe the biggest elephant I've ever seen.



Sarah and I were then told to get on by climbing this really run-down ladder. It was really scary getting on. We held onto the rusty elephant seat up top. Our tour guide took this photo for us.



We then proceded to walk down a pretty steep hill on the elephant. We had to hold on with all our strength not to fall out of the seat. I'd say were were maybe 12+ feet off the ground... I don't know, but it definitely wasn't the safest thing we've done before. But we realized there was no stopping our adventure now.





The elephant driver sat right on top of the elephants head the entire time like it was no big deal! After a few minutes walking downhill, we started heading up at a really steep angle. We were walking up really narrow path between trees, dropoffs, rocks, and everything, just hoping for it to end.

We then saw the platform to get off the elephant in the distance. We'd survive afterall.





there she goes...





the ride back was great...

Tiny Village

The next stop on our tour was "elephant riding" - however it was a little weird because we had to ride about 45 minutes on a dirt road with giant holes into the most remote place we've been since being in Thailand. The driver of the van seemed like something was wrong. We pulled into this really tiny village. I don't think they even had electricity. I've never seen a place like this before. Our driver made some calls on his cell phone and Sarah and I walked around a bit.




not the best picture of me but just wanted you to check out the scenery


I don't normally look that angry...





the school of the village was a two room cinder block building





next up, elephant photos!!!

Bamboo Rafting

In Chiang Dao, Sarah had set up an "adventure tour" where we'd make a few stops during the day. The first was a bamboo rafting trip. The tour van picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the river. It was great, just the two of us. When we got to the river, we realized we'd be basically sitting on floating bamboo sticks tied together with scraps from tires.



En route to the river...



our raft is that pile of sticks just beyond the boat...




raftin!


our leader


we got picked up at the side of the river and drove away...

Chiang Dao Part I

Sarah surprised me for my birthday weekend to a trip to Chiang Dao, a city two hours northwest of Chiang Mai known for its mountains and caves. We stayed in a really cool place where every building was basically a hut.









I'll be posting lots more photos of Chiang Dao over the next few days!

Dunkins

Not sure if I ever mentioned it, but they do have Dunkin Donuts here in Thailand. I've had their iced coffee before, but it's just not the same. Way too sweet and way too many ice chips... still not bad though.



Also, the Pizza Hut here is pretty terrible and expensive. Can't really tell you much about the KFC except that it's incredibly popular. Burger King tastes exactly the same - the french fries and onion rings that is.

Waterfall

A few photos from a waterfall Sarah and I visited one sunny weekend.