spent yesterday and today (monday and tuesday) in the mountains northeast of bangkok.
see pictures here.
it was quite nice. we drove up through khao yai national park, visted thap lan national park to see a waterfall with no water, saw some cultural sites. i went with sataporn (the head biology teacher, my de facto boss), her husband and her mother. we visited her husband's family, who run a grocery store in wang nam keow. it was all very green. there is a lot of agriculture on the flatter parts of the mountians. papaya, mango, rubber, corn, sugar cane, some rice here and there, banana, jackfruit, watermellon, grapes, all kinds of things. not just corn and soybeans.
i was on the lookout for a rogue elephant raiding a field, but i didn't see anything. i caught a toad at once place. it was just sitting there, waiting to be photographed and caught for closer inspection. it was very obliging. sataporn told me to go show it to her husband because he doesn't like animals, so i took it over and as soon as he looked at it the toad went and peed all over! it was pretty funny! then later we saw a snake swimming in a pond along the road. sataporn's mom said it was a king cobra because they can swim along the surface like that. she knew this because she grew up around a lot of rice paddies and there were a lot of king cobras. i will just assume that is true and not personally verify it, although i may look it up somewhere. (certainly other snakes in the US swim, so maybe other thai snakes do?)
for dinner on monday, various members of the family cooked things and then we took all the food to a family friend's house out on the edge of a mountain. he owns a lot of land out there, grows mango, papaya, and banana. it was very nice, we could see really far off into the distance to the east, south and west. after dark, we could watch the lightening in the rain clouds. it was quite beautiful. when we were getting ready for bed, we heard a tokay gecko. too bad it didn't show itself! then maybe around midnight, after we had gone to bed out there, it started pouring.
today we just visited some cultural sites. a statue of a herine of khorat, thao suranaree. she saved the city by getting the invaders drunk, or something along those lines. now people leave flowers and other offerings for her so that their wishes will come true. we also stopped at The Mall, where there was a display of carved (or molded, not sure) wax floats that were made for asanha puja day and the start of buddhist lent (today). they were huge, like any parade float. they show scenes that are important to buddhists, but i don't know the stories surrounding them. they also, of course, feature some tribute to the king. the floats were very intricately done, it was quite impressive. during the buddhist lent, the monks can't travel and most stay in their wat (temple) so they don't ruin the crops.
after that, we went to a huge wat that is still under construction. it is the largest wat and/or houses the largest statue of a monk. i'm not clear what the correct superlative is, or if its both. the whole thing is funded by a famous thai movie star. they feed whoever shows up for free, but of course its always nice to make a donation. and if you can throw your coin in a cup at the top of a fountain, you'll have good luck.
after that, we went to a dairy farm. they had excellent ice cream. didn't get to taste the cheese. :( we didn't actually see the cows or anything, just had ice cream and looked at the western-themed gift shop. i was so tempted by the large belt buckle featuring texas, let me tell you. there is a good thai souvenier for you.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
the saturday adventure
today was the start of a long weekend. there's no work on monday or tuesday pretty much anywhere. its some sort of buddhist holiday, i haven't heard an actual name for it that i could even guess at spelling. but on monday most people will to go temples and make offerings. but most thais are travelling, i hear either to the beach or to their hometown to see family.
my friend kook's family is from the very southern part of thailand, near malayasia. they come up here to visit her and her younger brother, who's at a university in bangkok. today they invited me to come with them for some touristy things. first we went to the don wai floating market, which is not far from here. i didn't really notice anything floating other than the boats in the river. but the market was right next to the river, so maybe it used to be actually people selling stuff from their boats. there was a lot of tasty-looking fruit, but i didn't actually buy any. we had a great lunch there. they ordered a few spicy dishes and i could eat them!
then we went to the samphram elephant ground and zoo. doesn't meet the american standards for zoos, but they seem to treat the elephants well. we got to pet them and such, and take lots of pictures with them. we also saw a show were the elephants danced and played soccer and they re-enacted how elephants were used in wars (like horses were, they rode them around and attacked) and that sort of thing. there was also a race where the elephants had to run along and pick thing up and put them in a basket the mahout was holding. it was pretty fun. there were also about a million crocodiles there and a performer guy who put his head in their mouth. crazy man.
pictures here.
on monday and tuesday i'm going to the khorat area, which is northeast of bangkok 250 km or so. the head biology teacher's in-laws live there and they invited me to go along. its mountainous and there is a large national park (with wild elephants and sun bears and other fun things!) in the area. i hope we have time to walk around in the forest some. supposed to be pretty nice area, very lush, lots of birds and butterflies. and it will be interesting to travel with people i only know a little, and stay at a stranger's house in the country. it will certainly be nice to get away from the city....
my friend kook's family is from the very southern part of thailand, near malayasia. they come up here to visit her and her younger brother, who's at a university in bangkok. today they invited me to come with them for some touristy things. first we went to the don wai floating market, which is not far from here. i didn't really notice anything floating other than the boats in the river. but the market was right next to the river, so maybe it used to be actually people selling stuff from their boats. there was a lot of tasty-looking fruit, but i didn't actually buy any. we had a great lunch there. they ordered a few spicy dishes and i could eat them!
then we went to the samphram elephant ground and zoo. doesn't meet the american standards for zoos, but they seem to treat the elephants well. we got to pet them and such, and take lots of pictures with them. we also saw a show were the elephants danced and played soccer and they re-enacted how elephants were used in wars (like horses were, they rode them around and attacked) and that sort of thing. there was also a race where the elephants had to run along and pick thing up and put them in a basket the mahout was holding. it was pretty fun. there were also about a million crocodiles there and a performer guy who put his head in their mouth. crazy man.
pictures here.
on monday and tuesday i'm going to the khorat area, which is northeast of bangkok 250 km or so. the head biology teacher's in-laws live there and they invited me to go along. its mountainous and there is a large national park (with wild elephants and sun bears and other fun things!) in the area. i hope we have time to walk around in the forest some. supposed to be pretty nice area, very lush, lots of birds and butterflies. and it will be interesting to travel with people i only know a little, and stay at a stranger's house in the country. it will certainly be nice to get away from the city....
Thursday, July 26, 2007
cuisine on a stick
i'm sure most of you are somewhat familiar with thai cuisine. pad thai, curries, fiery hot spiciness, etc. there is also a lot of "street food" in thailand, where there's a little stand by the road and the lady (some times a man) makes the food right there for you. its hard for me to eat a lot of those things because i don't know the words. but i can always find something i can point at and ask for, because so many things come on a stick. like a kebab, but its only one thing on the stick. chicken, pork (sidenote, the thai word for pork is moo, so i get it confused with beef), meatballs (these can be made of any kind of meat, including fish, so its a surprise), squid or octopus, shrimp, chunks of various sausages and sometimes they are even wrapped in bacon. these are all roasted on a grill and then you get some kind of sauce with it. the chicken with satay sauce is delicious!
you can also sometimes get roasted plant matter, usually bananas. there is a lady across the street from school who makes some delightful roasted banana slices. then there is the fried things on a stick. those come in all varieties also, but there are more sweets on a stick when its fried instead of roasted.
or say you feel like some fresh fruit. well, you pick out what you want and the lady chops it up for you and puts the pieces in a plastic bag and gives you a stick. then you use the stick to pick up the fruit pieces. or if you get a dumpling or patty sort of thing, the lady chops it up and puts it in the bag and gives you a stick. you can't avoid the stick. its how you eat.
on a related note, you may have noticed that i said "delightful roasted banana slices". you may or may not know that i have always found bananas rather revolting. something about the texture and the smell combined. but since i've been here, i've had some good banana snacks! banana chips in a variety of flavors, long slices rolled up and covered in honey and baked, battered and with sesame seeds and deep fried... i have to explanations for this newfound like of bananas. (1) i still think raw bananas are gross and haven't eaten one yet, so they are still gross in that form. (2) there's something like 10 varieties of banana cultivated here, each slightly different and i think none of them are the variety we eat in the states. so maybe i just am revolted by that one variety and the rest are ok for whatever reason. regardless, i'm gonna keep eating the banana snacks.
two new fruits i tried today: rambutan and duku. i like the duku a little better than rambutan, but they are both good. they are more common in southern thailand, near malayasia. kook is originally from there, her parents brought them up with them (they are visiting for the weekend). can't hold a candle to mangosteen, though. i need to go eat some mangosteen right now...
you can also sometimes get roasted plant matter, usually bananas. there is a lady across the street from school who makes some delightful roasted banana slices. then there is the fried things on a stick. those come in all varieties also, but there are more sweets on a stick when its fried instead of roasted.
or say you feel like some fresh fruit. well, you pick out what you want and the lady chops it up for you and puts the pieces in a plastic bag and gives you a stick. then you use the stick to pick up the fruit pieces. or if you get a dumpling or patty sort of thing, the lady chops it up and puts it in the bag and gives you a stick. you can't avoid the stick. its how you eat.
on a related note, you may have noticed that i said "delightful roasted banana slices". you may or may not know that i have always found bananas rather revolting. something about the texture and the smell combined. but since i've been here, i've had some good banana snacks! banana chips in a variety of flavors, long slices rolled up and covered in honey and baked, battered and with sesame seeds and deep fried... i have to explanations for this newfound like of bananas. (1) i still think raw bananas are gross and haven't eaten one yet, so they are still gross in that form. (2) there's something like 10 varieties of banana cultivated here, each slightly different and i think none of them are the variety we eat in the states. so maybe i just am revolted by that one variety and the rest are ok for whatever reason. regardless, i'm gonna keep eating the banana snacks.
two new fruits i tried today: rambutan and duku. i like the duku a little better than rambutan, but they are both good. they are more common in southern thailand, near malayasia. kook is originally from there, her parents brought them up with them (they are visiting for the weekend). can't hold a candle to mangosteen, though. i need to go eat some mangosteen right now...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
bangkok and beyond
i went into bangkok this past weekend to (1) see the harry potter movie and (2) buy the new harry potter book. it was pretty fun, i went early to avoid a long bus trip due to traffic. the movie theater was very fancy. it had assigned seats, so i got to choose where to sit. only about 6 other people were there. they had leather seats. the movie was in english with thai subtitles. i confirmed that, without a doubt, you don't often use spaces between words when writing thai. not that i can read it, but when a whole sentence is one long string of characters, its pretty obvious. shopping is a big national pastime here, so right in downtown bkk there are a lot of huge shopping malls. nestled between 2 of the largest is a temple.
then on monday i went on a trip to a mangrove forest along the gulf of thailand with 2 of the biology teachers and 6 students. the students were working on projects of some sorts, mostly about crabs. i didn't really follow everything that was going on, but i got to see some new areas. there are pictures of that here. while the students were working, i wondered around and looked at whatever i found interesting. i could hear monkeys off in the forest somewhere, but it wasn't until we were getting ready to leave that they came to check us out. first there was just one male, who climbed a tree above the boats. after watching us for awhile, he ran down the tree and onto one of the boats and stole a bag of leaves the students had sampled! one of the boat drivers climbed up the tree and made the monkey give it back. then the monkey pooped and it almost landed on someone. then a few minutes later we were surrounded by an entire troop of monkeys. it was fun. they didn't come very close to us, they were much more wary than the ones at the summer palace. three videos of the monkeys in the picture album. it was a good trip, but kind of tiring because it was super hot and never rained to cool things off.
last night i caught my second amphibian. this time it was Kaloula pulchra. it was very attractive (my book gives the common name as painted burrowing frog) and pretty big. when i grabbed it, it puffed up with air. then i hid it under a bowl while i went to get my camera. it was pretty good for about 5 minutes of picture taking, then it kept hopping around and trying to hide under my foot. a couple pictures of it in the "school" album.
this week is the mid-semester break so most of the students are gone. but there is some sort of camp for kids from southern thailand, so its not like the place is deserted. i'm not sure what they are doing in this camp, but there is a lot of singing and such, so it sounds like fun at least. i don't have anything to do with it other than watching the kids sing and dance from afar. they are only hear til thursday.
we have a long weekend coming up, its some sort of holiday. no work on monday or tuesday! then back to business as usual on wednesday.
then on monday i went on a trip to a mangrove forest along the gulf of thailand with 2 of the biology teachers and 6 students. the students were working on projects of some sorts, mostly about crabs. i didn't really follow everything that was going on, but i got to see some new areas. there are pictures of that here. while the students were working, i wondered around and looked at whatever i found interesting. i could hear monkeys off in the forest somewhere, but it wasn't until we were getting ready to leave that they came to check us out. first there was just one male, who climbed a tree above the boats. after watching us for awhile, he ran down the tree and onto one of the boats and stole a bag of leaves the students had sampled! one of the boat drivers climbed up the tree and made the monkey give it back. then the monkey pooped and it almost landed on someone. then a few minutes later we were surrounded by an entire troop of monkeys. it was fun. they didn't come very close to us, they were much more wary than the ones at the summer palace. three videos of the monkeys in the picture album. it was a good trip, but kind of tiring because it was super hot and never rained to cool things off.
last night i caught my second amphibian. this time it was Kaloula pulchra. it was very attractive (my book gives the common name as painted burrowing frog) and pretty big. when i grabbed it, it puffed up with air. then i hid it under a bowl while i went to get my camera. it was pretty good for about 5 minutes of picture taking, then it kept hopping around and trying to hide under my foot. a couple pictures of it in the "school" album.
this week is the mid-semester break so most of the students are gone. but there is some sort of camp for kids from southern thailand, so its not like the place is deserted. i'm not sure what they are doing in this camp, but there is a lot of singing and such, so it sounds like fun at least. i don't have anything to do with it other than watching the kids sing and dance from afar. they are only hear til thursday.
we have a long weekend coming up, its some sort of holiday. no work on monday or tuesday! then back to business as usual on wednesday.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
wildlife
last night i caught my first amphibian! it was a toad, probably Bufo melanostictus but potentially B. macrotis. of course, i didn't have my camera or my amphibian book anywhere near. it was on the steps outside my room. it was pretty small, maybe 30 cm. it was not an exciting catch, it just sat there and let me grab it. didn't even pee on me. maybe it will be back tonight and i'll be ready with my camera!
i also saw a wierd beetle and a bumblebee-type thing yesterday. the bumblebee was as big as the toad. no pictures of those either. i should just strap my camera to my body...
there is a special market at mahidol university on fridays (tomorrow) that i'm hoping to go to again. i might have to go by myself, the teachers all have to proctor midterm exams tomorrow. it is huge and they have everything. the food section is huge, and last week we got some that was really delicious! i'd like to try some other things... and i can buy more mangosteens!
i also saw a wierd beetle and a bumblebee-type thing yesterday. the bumblebee was as big as the toad. no pictures of those either. i should just strap my camera to my body...
there is a special market at mahidol university on fridays (tomorrow) that i'm hoping to go to again. i might have to go by myself, the teachers all have to proctor midterm exams tomorrow. it is huge and they have everything. the food section is huge, and last week we got some that was really delicious! i'd like to try some other things... and i can buy more mangosteens!
Monday, July 16, 2007
fruit
current favorite tropical fruit: mangosteen. i could eat about a dozen of them at once if i weren't afraid it would make me sick from too much sugar or something. they are so delicious!
i haven't tried durian yet. i don't know if i can do it, it will depend on the smell. i don't want to barf. (which reminds me that when i was flying over here i heard someone use the word "up-chuck" and i thought it was funny because i hadn't heard anyone say that in a long time.)
i haven't tried durian yet. i don't know if i can do it, it will depend on the smell. i don't want to barf. (which reminds me that when i was flying over here i heard someone use the word "up-chuck" and i thought it was funny because i hadn't heard anyone say that in a long time.)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
finally, some pictures!
geez, who goes to an exciting tropical country and doesn't post pictures for like 2 weeks? me...
anyway, here are some pictures of the school i'm at and the beach i went to this weekend. there are a lot of beach pictures, beware! actually, at the end are pictures of the summer palace of king rama IV in petchaburi (right now its rama IX, so this place is pretty old). its on top of a big limestone (i think) hill and you take a cable car to get up there. it's mostly pictures of monkeys (i think macaques, but no one yesterday could tell me and none of the biology teachers are in the office this morning) because it was hard to get good views of the buildings, there were too many trees. there are 2 monkey videos, also.
we stayed at a fancy resort hotel this weekend. it was for some sort of annual school meeting, but mostly i didn't have to go to the meetings since they were all in thai. on saturday afternoon we went into hua hin. (our hotel was between hua hin and cha-am.) it was raining so we went to the mall, shopping being the national pastime. then we went to the beach, which was quite nice. but i didn't have a swimsuits so we just waded in a little. i am with my friend kook, who is also a biology teacher. she got to go on this trip with me instead of sit in the meetings because she was my buddy for the weekend, lucky her! then we went to the night market (even though it was only like 4:30) and looked around. they have all sorts of things at these markets. this one was especially rich in fresh and dried seafood. i got some fruit, kook got some shorts, and these teachers visiting from china got a lot of dried seafood. i'm sorry, but it is just gross. especially because the shrimp they leave in the shell.
on sunday morning i spent most of the time walking along the beach. i was by myself so i didn't go swimming, just in case. there are a lot of pictures of the animals i found along the way, and of the fishing boats. the tide was out, so i could see lots of things. meg, there are pictures of echinoderm tests just for you! there were a lot of dead sand dollars washed up, most small, but a few as big as my palm. i also saw some jellyfish washed up, and one trapped in a pool between two sandbars, so maybe i'm glad i didn't go swimming. the washed up on in the picture was about a foot across.
we also had some good seafood dishes. after we went to the palace, we had dinner with some guy who is a vice principal of some school. there was some good seafood! a delicious fish (called 3 flavors) and yummy fresh crab and a very spicy fish dish (i think a green curry) and a stir-fry noodle thing called 8 gods. i am getting really tired of people asking me if i can eat spicy food...i guess its good, so they don't try to feed me something i can't handle, but then i do surprise them with what i can eat sometimes. and some of the thais don't like spicy food, so they will pick out non-spicy dishes that they like so i can try new things that way. but i'm not retarded, i can identify chili peppers and seeds from 5 feet away! i just don't eat them. and i eat small bites of hot things in between non-spicy things, and i do ok.
anyway, i'm going to the library now to see if i can find a wildlife book in english. i'll update this if i find out any of the species names.
anyway, here are some pictures of the school i'm at and the beach i went to this weekend. there are a lot of beach pictures, beware! actually, at the end are pictures of the summer palace of king rama IV in petchaburi (right now its rama IX, so this place is pretty old). its on top of a big limestone (i think) hill and you take a cable car to get up there. it's mostly pictures of monkeys (i think macaques, but no one yesterday could tell me and none of the biology teachers are in the office this morning) because it was hard to get good views of the buildings, there were too many trees. there are 2 monkey videos, also.
we stayed at a fancy resort hotel this weekend. it was for some sort of annual school meeting, but mostly i didn't have to go to the meetings since they were all in thai. on saturday afternoon we went into hua hin. (our hotel was between hua hin and cha-am.) it was raining so we went to the mall, shopping being the national pastime. then we went to the beach, which was quite nice. but i didn't have a swimsuits so we just waded in a little. i am with my friend kook, who is also a biology teacher. she got to go on this trip with me instead of sit in the meetings because she was my buddy for the weekend, lucky her! then we went to the night market (even though it was only like 4:30) and looked around. they have all sorts of things at these markets. this one was especially rich in fresh and dried seafood. i got some fruit, kook got some shorts, and these teachers visiting from china got a lot of dried seafood. i'm sorry, but it is just gross. especially because the shrimp they leave in the shell.
on sunday morning i spent most of the time walking along the beach. i was by myself so i didn't go swimming, just in case. there are a lot of pictures of the animals i found along the way, and of the fishing boats. the tide was out, so i could see lots of things. meg, there are pictures of echinoderm tests just for you! there were a lot of dead sand dollars washed up, most small, but a few as big as my palm. i also saw some jellyfish washed up, and one trapped in a pool between two sandbars, so maybe i'm glad i didn't go swimming. the washed up on in the picture was about a foot across.
we also had some good seafood dishes. after we went to the palace, we had dinner with some guy who is a vice principal of some school. there was some good seafood! a delicious fish (called 3 flavors) and yummy fresh crab and a very spicy fish dish (i think a green curry) and a stir-fry noodle thing called 8 gods. i am getting really tired of people asking me if i can eat spicy food...i guess its good, so they don't try to feed me something i can't handle, but then i do surprise them with what i can eat sometimes. and some of the thais don't like spicy food, so they will pick out non-spicy dishes that they like so i can try new things that way. but i'm not retarded, i can identify chili peppers and seeds from 5 feet away! i just don't eat them. and i eat small bites of hot things in between non-spicy things, and i do ok.
anyway, i'm going to the library now to see if i can find a wildlife book in english. i'll update this if i find out any of the species names.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
gym class
this evening i decided to go to the gym and get some exercise since i haven't done much of anything since i got here. not even much walking because the school compound is pretty small and most of the restaurants and stores are right across the street. i was good for about 15 minutes before i thought i might pass out from the heat, since the building isn't air conditioned. on my way out i saw the head gym teacher. he asked me if i play badminton (thais are somewhat obsessed with badminton). when i told him i didn't really know how, he insisted on giving me a private lesson right then. so we played for about 45 minutes. basically, i can do ok but i can't serve to save my life. he showed me a way to serve that i can do, but i think it must be cheating or something. he was making me run all over and totally wore me out! now i think i will have to practice every time i want to go to the gym or he will give me a hard time. after the gym closed he invited me to the gym office for some water, probably because i was sweating like a pig! there was another gym teacher there and we all did our best to chat. well, it came out that the head gym teacher used to be a professional thai boxer. (someone else used to be a professional badminton player, but that is not so impressive.) and then, he offered to teach me thai boxing!! and tried to show me some right there, but it didn't work out so well in the small office and me being about to fall over. i didn't know they would teach girls thai boxing, but then i don't know anything about it. i told him first i would watch some and see what i thought, since i have never really seen it. but maybe i will take him up on the offer. i think thai boxing skills could get me far....
the other thing that happened today is i found out i am getting a paid school trip to a beach resort this weekend. there is some sort of meeting with teachers and alumni and parents and the school board, i don't really know what about, but they invited me and i think don't expect me to do much since i don't know thai and all. i'm all about beach resorts!
the other thing that happened today is i found out i am getting a paid school trip to a beach resort this weekend. there is some sort of meeting with teachers and alumni and parents and the school board, i don't really know what about, but they invited me and i think don't expect me to do much since i don't know thai and all. i'm all about beach resorts!
Monday, July 09, 2007
new experiences in the last 5 days:
1. seeing buddhist monks close up (but not too close since i'm a woman)
2. eating food so hot i thought i would get a hole in my tongue (really not exaggerating)
3. eating a salad so hot my mouth burned and my nose ran
4. eating spaghetti with a spoon. i had a fork, but in thailand you don't put the fork in your mouth, you just move food around with it.
5. corn-flavored yogurt. i didn't actually try this, but i'm sure that the picture on the container was of corn! maybe next time i'll feel more adventerous.
6. some new tropical fruits-sala and longan. they are tasty, if some work for a little bit of flesh.
7. being woken up 5 times in the night by some sort of dog turf war. i'm pretty sure the alpha male of the winning pack was wearing a collar, but not the others.
8. about 12 different kinds of banana snacks, including bbq flavored banana chips. most didn't actually taste like banana.
9. about 500 high school students doing aerobics at the same time. and the principal. apparently there was going to be a "marathon" (i think pretty short), but it got canceled because it started pouring.
i still didn't take any pictures, although i will. soon. then you can see. its actually quite similar to central america in terms of climate and lushness. and random dogs all around (i saw 2 cats yesterday). not too many mosquitoes yet, thank god. it rains pretty much every afternoon or early evening. heavy, heavy downpours with lightening and all. yesterday it had that sort of yellowish look you sometimes see in tornado weather but i think it was just because it was clearing up in the west and the sun was setting.
next week is midterms, then a midterm break. a little vacation i guess. maybe i will go for a little trip, i'm not sure if i will have any responsibilities or not (i think not). there are a few other americans here, and i made friends with a korean guy who knows english and thai pretty well. so i won't be by myself! and kim knows where we can go to see the harry potter movie in english! i think it opens here on thursday.
now, i am apparently going to play badminton. or watch. i said i would watch, i hope they don't expect me to play since i have no idea what the rules are or really how to hit the thing. they don't understand this is a game you only play at picnics and don't take seriously.
1. seeing buddhist monks close up (but not too close since i'm a woman)
2. eating food so hot i thought i would get a hole in my tongue (really not exaggerating)
3. eating a salad so hot my mouth burned and my nose ran
4. eating spaghetti with a spoon. i had a fork, but in thailand you don't put the fork in your mouth, you just move food around with it.
5. corn-flavored yogurt. i didn't actually try this, but i'm sure that the picture on the container was of corn! maybe next time i'll feel more adventerous.
6. some new tropical fruits-sala and longan. they are tasty, if some work for a little bit of flesh.
7. being woken up 5 times in the night by some sort of dog turf war. i'm pretty sure the alpha male of the winning pack was wearing a collar, but not the others.
8. about 12 different kinds of banana snacks, including bbq flavored banana chips. most didn't actually taste like banana.
9. about 500 high school students doing aerobics at the same time. and the principal. apparently there was going to be a "marathon" (i think pretty short), but it got canceled because it started pouring.
i still didn't take any pictures, although i will. soon. then you can see. its actually quite similar to central america in terms of climate and lushness. and random dogs all around (i saw 2 cats yesterday). not too many mosquitoes yet, thank god. it rains pretty much every afternoon or early evening. heavy, heavy downpours with lightening and all. yesterday it had that sort of yellowish look you sometimes see in tornado weather but i think it was just because it was clearing up in the west and the sun was setting.
next week is midterms, then a midterm break. a little vacation i guess. maybe i will go for a little trip, i'm not sure if i will have any responsibilities or not (i think not). there are a few other americans here, and i made friends with a korean guy who knows english and thai pretty well. so i won't be by myself! and kim knows where we can go to see the harry potter movie in english! i think it opens here on thursday.
now, i am apparently going to play badminton. or watch. i said i would watch, i hope they don't expect me to play since i have no idea what the rules are or really how to hit the thing. they don't understand this is a game you only play at picnics and don't take seriously.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
well, i made it to thailand. today is my third full day. i'm still not adjusted to the time. so far the food is not TOO spicy, not that its totally calm either. instead of all the things being written in danish on the computer, its all in thai. thai is worse because at least i could guess what the danish was. oh well. i need a nap. more later, just wanted to let you know i made it.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
pics from denmark
ok, i put some of the pictures we took in denmark here. the files are large, so be warned they might take awhile to load but the thumbnails should be ok for a quick view.
it was a pretty fun place. the weather was not great but it was ok. we saw some castles, with moats and all. we even went to the castle where hamlet is set. not many vikings, unfortunately. we even went to a viking festival, but it was pretty disappointing. i was looking forward to that.
an interesting thing is that people kept speaking to us in danish, and then we would sort of stare at them and say "we don't speak danish" and they would seem genuinely surprised. its not like we were the only tourists around or anything. so i guess we can pass for danish, if that is a good thing i don't know....
things danes like: ice cream (cones, bars whatever), bicycles, sandals with socks, baby strollers (there were about a million kids, all over, and we only witnessed one tantrum), walking.
things danes don't like: sunglasses (most of the sunglasses-wearers were tourists, no idea why)
the natives didn't seem to think that a high of 60F was cold, but i did. especially because it was also windy. not natural for late june, if you ask me. especially when its daylight for like 20 hours a day. actually, i'm not sure how many hours of daylight there were, except that if i was awake it was daylight. i didn't manage to stay awake past 10 pm any night, i just lost all control of my eyelids and fell asleep. didn't matter where i was, in the bathtub, a chair, the bed, i was out like a light. the jetlag wasn't awful, but then i/we spent hours every day walking around so it was pretty exhausting.
and now, i have to go pack for thailand. next post will be from the tropics!
email me your address if you want a postcard.
it was a pretty fun place. the weather was not great but it was ok. we saw some castles, with moats and all. we even went to the castle where hamlet is set. not many vikings, unfortunately. we even went to a viking festival, but it was pretty disappointing. i was looking forward to that.
an interesting thing is that people kept speaking to us in danish, and then we would sort of stare at them and say "we don't speak danish" and they would seem genuinely surprised. its not like we were the only tourists around or anything. so i guess we can pass for danish, if that is a good thing i don't know....
things danes like: ice cream (cones, bars whatever), bicycles, sandals with socks, baby strollers (there were about a million kids, all over, and we only witnessed one tantrum), walking.
things danes don't like: sunglasses (most of the sunglasses-wearers were tourists, no idea why)
the natives didn't seem to think that a high of 60F was cold, but i did. especially because it was also windy. not natural for late june, if you ask me. especially when its daylight for like 20 hours a day. actually, i'm not sure how many hours of daylight there were, except that if i was awake it was daylight. i didn't manage to stay awake past 10 pm any night, i just lost all control of my eyelids and fell asleep. didn't matter where i was, in the bathtub, a chair, the bed, i was out like a light. the jetlag wasn't awful, but then i/we spent hours every day walking around so it was pretty exhausting.
and now, i have to go pack for thailand. next post will be from the tropics!
email me your address if you want a postcard.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
hello from denmark
we are in copenhagen right now, i'm using tim's laptop that is on the copenhagen university ethernet. i guess because of the IP address, everything is showing up in danish. it is weird.
anyway, it is pretty nice here. the weather has been nasty, cold and rainy, but the city seems nice. generally pretty clean. lots of bikes and people walking, etc. still a lot of cars, but not that many given how many people live here. it seems to be a pretty relaxed place, which is nice. there are lots of parks, also. they are strange to walk through because so many of the plants are similar to the eastern US. lots of oaks, linden, birch trees. and then there are plants and animals i'm used to considering "out of place" but that are native here. garlic mustard, starlings, pigeons.
yesterday i went to the botanisk have (botanical garden) and walked around until i was too wet to stay out any longer. they had a section of danish wild plants, a lot of which are ornamentals in the US. they had plants from all over, including one redwood tree and some poison ivy! why deliberately grow poison ivy? what botanical or education purpose does that serve??? it did get three skulls & crossbones on the sign, whereas some plants only got one... they had two pamphlets when you entered the garden (1) where to find the poisonous plants and (2) where to find the "plants of the bible". interesting place.
i am still waiting to see some vikings.
pictures, etc. later.
anyway, it is pretty nice here. the weather has been nasty, cold and rainy, but the city seems nice. generally pretty clean. lots of bikes and people walking, etc. still a lot of cars, but not that many given how many people live here. it seems to be a pretty relaxed place, which is nice. there are lots of parks, also. they are strange to walk through because so many of the plants are similar to the eastern US. lots of oaks, linden, birch trees. and then there are plants and animals i'm used to considering "out of place" but that are native here. garlic mustard, starlings, pigeons.
yesterday i went to the botanisk have (botanical garden) and walked around until i was too wet to stay out any longer. they had a section of danish wild plants, a lot of which are ornamentals in the US. they had plants from all over, including one redwood tree and some poison ivy! why deliberately grow poison ivy? what botanical or education purpose does that serve??? it did get three skulls & crossbones on the sign, whereas some plants only got one... they had two pamphlets when you entered the garden (1) where to find the poisonous plants and (2) where to find the "plants of the bible". interesting place.
i am still waiting to see some vikings.
pictures, etc. later.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
my big backyard
sorry, been awhile since a post... been busy getting ready for thailand, etc. pretty much ready to go. also, going to denmark tomorrow. it will be a whirlwind of laundry, unpacking and repacking in the 36 hours i'm here before going to thailand....
anyway, seen some interesting things lately. we have a gecko that lives on the back balcony. i've seen a great horned owl, western screech owl, banded gecko and desert tortoise at the evening tours i volunteered at, at the desert botanical garden. also lots of nighthawks and a few cicadas and toads. its pretty nice there in the evening. i recommend it if you're in town.
alright, back to packing... i plan to put up a denmark post before i head to thailand, but no promises!
also, check out this inspirational article in the new york times...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/weekinreview/24basics.html?ref=us
i love it! too bad i'm missing fair season (although i think i'll be back in time for the AZ state fair, rodeo and all!)
anyway, seen some interesting things lately. we have a gecko that lives on the back balcony. i've seen a great horned owl, western screech owl, banded gecko and desert tortoise at the evening tours i volunteered at, at the desert botanical garden. also lots of nighthawks and a few cicadas and toads. its pretty nice there in the evening. i recommend it if you're in town.
alright, back to packing... i plan to put up a denmark post before i head to thailand, but no promises!
also, check out this inspirational article in the new york times...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/weekinreview/24basics.html?ref=us
i love it! too bad i'm missing fair season (although i think i'll be back in time for the AZ state fair, rodeo and all!)
Sunday, May 13, 2007
may i have your attention please...
i have an announcement to make.
i am going to thailand for 3 months. july, august and september. i'll be a biology teacher at a high school for gifted kids.
i'm very excited! a free trip to thailand! it will be an interesting trip no matter what, even though i have to work. i'm totally looking forward to the food and i'm hoping i'll learn some thai cooking skills. figuring out the culture will be interesting, and i can only imagine the scenery (although i'll be in bangkok for school).
i hope i'll still have email access, etc. i'm planning to still post things here, so you can learn all about thailand with me.
i am going to thailand for 3 months. july, august and september. i'll be a biology teacher at a high school for gifted kids.
i'm very excited! a free trip to thailand! it will be an interesting trip no matter what, even though i have to work. i'm totally looking forward to the food and i'm hoping i'll learn some thai cooking skills. figuring out the culture will be interesting, and i can only imagine the scenery (although i'll be in bangkok for school).
i hope i'll still have email access, etc. i'm planning to still post things here, so you can learn all about thailand with me.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
vindication is mine!
perhaps you recall an incident i had at the library a few months back involving a woman who apparently thought the library was the receptionist's desk at a doctor's office?
well, this week i noticed some new signs at the library. signs to the effects of "no cell phone talking in the library!" they could have been there for a couple weeks, but they were new to me (my books were not overdue yet, but it was close!)
anyway, what i thought when i saw those signs was, "HA!! take THAT, stupid receptionist woman!" and i smirked to myself.
for a laugh, or perhaps a look of confusion, visit http://icanhascheezburger.com/
well, this week i noticed some new signs at the library. signs to the effects of "no cell phone talking in the library!" they could have been there for a couple weeks, but they were new to me (my books were not overdue yet, but it was close!)
anyway, what i thought when i saw those signs was, "HA!! take THAT, stupid receptionist woman!" and i smirked to myself.
for a laugh, or perhaps a look of confusion, visit http://icanhascheezburger.com/
Sunday, April 29, 2007
cave creek
it was 101 degrees Fahrenheit here in tempe yesterday (at 9pm on sunday, its 87). please note, its still april. that is damn hot. to escape the heat, we went camping in the seven springs area of the tonto national forest. its not far from here, but its a couple thousand feet higher (=cooler!) and a different type of desert (semidesert grassland and montane scrubland) that i haven't visited before.
it was really pretty neat, more rolling hills than the rugged mountains you generally see around here. and, there was a permanent stream! water! trees, trees with real leaves!!
and there were tons of wildflowers blooming, which were nice to see.
tim's favorite part was the ants. there were ants everywhere. lots of different kinds. he spent a lot of time like this, looking at the ants.
it was a good trip, even though it started out not so well. with a 10% chance of rain, we decided not to take the rain fly for the tent. then as we're leaving, they sky looked really black and stormy. then we took the wrong exit and got a little confused where we were (why are there 2 exits for the same road, separated by 5 miles?). then there was a huge dust storm and it was extremely windy and it sprinkled a little. we stopped by the ranger station and the ranger told us there was some big weather system coming up from mexico and it was probably going to be really windy all night, and it might rain. a lot. and if it rained a lot, the campsites might flood because there was a fire a couple years ago. (umm, why did this not show up on weather.com a few hours before? but you can see some burned trees on the far hill in the top picture) but then we visited some indian ruins a few miles down the road and it cleared up and the wind died down some, and the huge black clouds weren't coming any nearer, so we all decided to stay.
then when we got to the campground, there were no open sites. so we picked a site that was maybe a site, maybe not, right on the parking lot of the trailhead. worked for us, but it was right by the road. which you would think, not so much traffic 12 miles down a gravel road in the middle of the night, but apparently people like that road at night. no more troubles after that. no wind. no rain. lots of moonlight. and, there were a bunch of toads hopping around, trying to get to the creek. fun for all!
its supposed to be 98 tomorrow, don't you want to come visit?
it was really pretty neat, more rolling hills than the rugged mountains you generally see around here. and, there was a permanent stream! water! trees, trees with real leaves!!
and there were tons of wildflowers blooming, which were nice to see.
tim's favorite part was the ants. there were ants everywhere. lots of different kinds. he spent a lot of time like this, looking at the ants.
it was a good trip, even though it started out not so well. with a 10% chance of rain, we decided not to take the rain fly for the tent. then as we're leaving, they sky looked really black and stormy. then we took the wrong exit and got a little confused where we were (why are there 2 exits for the same road, separated by 5 miles?). then there was a huge dust storm and it was extremely windy and it sprinkled a little. we stopped by the ranger station and the ranger told us there was some big weather system coming up from mexico and it was probably going to be really windy all night, and it might rain. a lot. and if it rained a lot, the campsites might flood because there was a fire a couple years ago. (umm, why did this not show up on weather.com a few hours before? but you can see some burned trees on the far hill in the top picture) but then we visited some indian ruins a few miles down the road and it cleared up and the wind died down some, and the huge black clouds weren't coming any nearer, so we all decided to stay.
then when we got to the campground, there were no open sites. so we picked a site that was maybe a site, maybe not, right on the parking lot of the trailhead. worked for us, but it was right by the road. which you would think, not so much traffic 12 miles down a gravel road in the middle of the night, but apparently people like that road at night. no more troubles after that. no wind. no rain. lots of moonlight. and, there were a bunch of toads hopping around, trying to get to the creek. fun for all!
its supposed to be 98 tomorrow, don't you want to come visit?
Monday, April 23, 2007
wild kingdom
today i saw a roadrunner kill an inca dove. it was awesome, but a little sad too because inca doves are pretty cute.
first i saw a mourning dove kind of freaking out on the ground, then i saw there was a roadrunner checking it out. the roadrunner charged and the mourning dove flew off. then the roadrunner was super quick and snatched the inca dove out of a creosote bush! just grabbed it in its beak and whacked it on the ground a bunch of times. then it started pecking at it and eating it. it saw me watching and dragged it under another creosote bush, then i couldn't see much so i left. it was pretty cool, i didn't know roadrunners ate birds but i guess they eat pretty much anything.
other than that, i'm still waiting to hear about a really interesting job i applied for. its now been 8 weeks since the application deadline. never mind they originally said they expected to hire someone in 30-45 days. every 2 or 3 weeks i've checked in with them, and they just keep telling me, "maybe another couple weeks." argh!!
i also made a scrumptious strawberry pie this weekend.
first i saw a mourning dove kind of freaking out on the ground, then i saw there was a roadrunner checking it out. the roadrunner charged and the mourning dove flew off. then the roadrunner was super quick and snatched the inca dove out of a creosote bush! just grabbed it in its beak and whacked it on the ground a bunch of times. then it started pecking at it and eating it. it saw me watching and dragged it under another creosote bush, then i couldn't see much so i left. it was pretty cool, i didn't know roadrunners ate birds but i guess they eat pretty much anything.
other than that, i'm still waiting to hear about a really interesting job i applied for. its now been 8 weeks since the application deadline. never mind they originally said they expected to hire someone in 30-45 days. every 2 or 3 weeks i've checked in with them, and they just keep telling me, "maybe another couple weeks." argh!!
i also made a scrumptious strawberry pie this weekend.
Monday, April 09, 2007
spring eye candy
some springtime cheer for those of you who are in the cold. plants (mostly cacti) from the desert botanical garden. i don't know all their names, any help from out there? (ma arntz?)
no idea on this one.
mammallaria
prickly pear
some kind of wildflower
baja fairy duster
cholla flower
a desert scene
hummingbird (probably anna's or costa's) on ocotillo blossoms
hedgehog cactus.
no idea on this one.
mammallaria
prickly pear
some kind of wildflower
baja fairy duster
cholla flower
a desert scene
hummingbird (probably anna's or costa's) on ocotillo blossoms
hedgehog cactus.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
easter vacation
for our easter vacation, we went down to picacho peak state park. its about 70 miles south of phoenix, right off I-10. its some kind of volcano flow mixed with sedimentary rocks.... who knows. the campground was pretty nice, even though you can see it from the highway. it was super windy, i thought that our tent was going to blow away. with us in it! so it was a little hard to sleep, but otherwise nice. i was on a quest to see an elf owl, but i was again disappointed! but the bird book says they're here in the summer so maybe its too early. we did hear a great horned owl.some views from up the peak.
some scenery
we also saw some birds, ants and lizards. and i saw the eye shine of what may have been a ringtail or a kit fox. some medium-sized, agile mammal.we took the scenic route home today, and it really was more scenic. part of the drive was through the gila river indian reservation, which was much nicer to look at than the fields of who knows what (wheat? we couldn't tell) that shouldn't be growing there. at some point, i thought if you ignored the mountains in the distance and the sorry appearance of the soil (it does not look like what i would call "fertile"), you could pretend you were in the midwest. the road was straight and flat, and there were fields on both sides of the road.
anyway, then we stopped at the casa grande ruins national monument. there are ruins of a huge house and smaller houses and a ball court, etc., from the hohokam tribe. you actually can't even go see most of the smaller structures, it looked like they were doing some new excavation. this is the casa grande, protected by that big roof (which a sign said was built in the 1930s i think).
it is impressive they built this huge community in the middle of the dessert. the walls are basically primitive concrete made out of busted up rocks they dug out of the ground.
the two holes in the wall below are for a celestial calender sort of thing, one lines up with the setting sun on the equinox (or maybe solstice? i forgot) and the other with the moon on certain days.
the doors in the smaller buildings are smaller.
these little guys (round-tailed ground squirrels) were all over.
and, we drove through a small town called coolidge. i kid you not, there were people there selling "baby easter turtles". what turtles have to do with easter, i don't know. but i guess baby things are always good for easter since its springtime.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
if i were you, i'd totally date me
sometimes i wish i could date myself because i have so many great skills. well, mostly i wish this when i bake something really tasty. then i could eat the tasty thing but just sit around while other-liz made it. but i would probably get fat.
anyway, yesterday would have been a great day to be dating me because i made chocolate croissants (en francais, pain au chocolate). oh, they are good. because tim doesn't each chocolate much, i froze half of them for my later enjoyment. that still leaves six for now! mmmmm, thinking of them makes me drool.
i've never made croissants before, and it was somewhat time consuming but not that much work overall. it was like mix, wait, roll and fold, wait, roll and fold, wait, etc. then i got a little impatient when it came to the rising, so they could be higher but i'm not complaining. here is a picture.
are you impressed? how about this one, can you see the flaky layers?
if you lived here, i'd give you one. too bad for you.
anyway, yesterday would have been a great day to be dating me because i made chocolate croissants (en francais, pain au chocolate). oh, they are good. because tim doesn't each chocolate much, i froze half of them for my later enjoyment. that still leaves six for now! mmmmm, thinking of them makes me drool.
i've never made croissants before, and it was somewhat time consuming but not that much work overall. it was like mix, wait, roll and fold, wait, roll and fold, wait, etc. then i got a little impatient when it came to the rising, so they could be higher but i'm not complaining. here is a picture.
are you impressed? how about this one, can you see the flaky layers?
if you lived here, i'd give you one. too bad for you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
