Slices of Life in Paradise: May

May in Thailand is hot. Seriously, sweat-drenching, energy-sapping hot. It's hot when you wake up, it's hot when you go to bed, it's hot at midnight, and it's excruciating in the sun. Thank goodness for air conditioning!  Still, we managed to do a few things. Here are the highlights.

The first Saturday in May, My Man and I went to the Chiang Mai Saturday Walking Street Market. On the way there, we walked past a great little park where there were several games going on that we'd never seen before. This one was pretty cool, with a circle of guys playing something kind of like hacky sac but they kept shooting the ball through the high hoop. They were really good.

The market was great (though even at 7:30pm, it was so hot--I think it was still 99 degrees and very humid, and that was after the sun went down!) and we can't wait to take the kids back. There were lots of street foods, crafts, arts, and other local goods.

Many of the venders were busy creating their wares right there at the booth!  By 8:30 it was so crowded we could barely walk down the street, so we left to get massages.

Monday night My Man proposed a trip to the nearby soccer field at Payap University to take advantage of the rare breeze for some kiting, which he hadn't had a chance to do yet since we moved here. Conditions weren't ideal, but it was great to get a chance to check out his wing and practice some ground handling. 

The next evening had a bit of a breeze again, so we headed out to the local paragliding launch to see if it would work out. There wasn't much of a breeze, but the views were great and My Man got two short flights in. They were his first in about a year, so it was good that everything went well.  There was a Thai couple up at the launch, enjoying the afternoon, so they were very excited to see his flights.

Afterward, we went out to dinner at one of the nicest places in town, the Dhara Dhevi Resort. While we were there, a fantastic storm swept through, with dramatic lightning and thunder, wind, and torrential down pours. The restaurant lost electricity so it turned into a romantic candle-lit dinner.

We moved in from the patio to the covered area just before the rain but it was still an open air seating area, swirling with wind and energy. We loved it. And the food was incredible. I got the pineapple fried rice and it was delicious, served in an actual grilled pineapple. Amazing. Unfortunately, the electricity in our neighborhood wasn't so quick about turning back on and most of the night it was off. Our house quickly heated to almost a hundred degrees. Try sleeping in that!  Made us very grateful for the AC we normally enjoy!

 

Even with the heat, we still do try to get out and enjoy this beautiful place we live. There is a fish pond in the middle of our neighborhood with gigantic fish and we love to go feed them. 



One day we took a family drive to a lake not far away and were completely blown away by how beautiful it was.

 The view from the dam was stunning, with the lake on one side and forest on the other.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to spend there (we had company coming over for dinner that evening), but just getting out and drinking in the view was enough. We all agreed we would definitely need to plan a return trip soon!

On our way home we stopped to check out the lake, 4-wheeling a bit to get down to the water. We have heard of boats that take people from here further up the lake to some houseboats where you can rent a floating bamboo house for a day or even stay over night. We can't wait to plan it.

During May I also got to attend two of Young Man's end-of-year performances.  One was a dance show where he and his classmates danced to "Oh Cecelia" with a routine they choreographed themselves.

It was great. I absolutely loved it and was so glad to be able to see it and watch everyone perform with varrying degrees of enthusiasm.

For the next show, "Act Naturally," put on by his drama class, Young Man performed a monologue (that he wrote himself) and a skit where he was a News Broadcaster. They were both great, but I don't think I've ever seen Young Man happier than when that show was over!

During May, My Man had two work trips up to Chiang Rai and Mai Sai. Although we got to accompany him on the first trip, he went back up without us the next week and hit a few attractions we hadn't had time for, including the White Temple (an art exhibit that is an interesting mix of art forms and modern sculpture and not really a temple).

He made friends with some interesting characters there.

But it wasn't all fun and sight seeing. My Man went as the U.S. Consulate representative from Chiang Mai to participate in a joint U.S.-Thai fraud training at the Mai Sai border, which included instruction and meetings with the border guards.

It sounded interesting.

When it was too hot to enjoy going out, we tried to find other family activities. We finished another Harry Potter book (Goblet of Fire) and watched the movie.

We went out and saw Tomorrowland and loved it. The first showing we turned up for turned out to be Thai only, but a quick Internet search saved the day as we found another showing at another theater across town.

Another time we went out to icecream and bowling with friends. 

We did a few more pool parties. Young Man had his end-of-year scouting advancement ceremony where he received a ton of badges he'd earned this year. 

Funny Guy decided he needed a beanbag toss game, so he made the target and then proceeded to make five colorful beanbags (with a little help from mom). 

My Man and I celebrated our anniversary with a wonderful weekend in Railay. And I received my formal offer to start work at the U.S. Consulate in mid-June! And we adopted a dog for the summer (The kids are overjoyed about petsitting Mochi all summer).

The last night of May, we decided to check out the big celebration for Buddha's birthday, Visakah Bucha. Traditionally, people gather at a temple on the edge of Chiang Mai and then walk up the mountain to another temple where they await the dawn and walk around the temple holding candles.

I knew we wouldn't be able to do the full pilgrimage since My Man had to work the next morning (although the kids got the day off school) and since 22 kilometers is way too many for Funny Guy. Still, we thought we could join in for a few kilometers at least.

Traffic was amazing and we ended up having to park several kilometers from the gathering point. We weren't the only ones, so we joined the throngs of people and walked up, not really knowing what to expect.

As we neared the gathering spot, the crowds swelled and fireworks started exploding all around us.

It was hot and past Funny Guy's bedtime and we decided this might be a good destination, so we found a good vantage point and stopped to watch.

We listened to some of the ceremony, saw more fireworks, and then headed back down.

Even though we only made it to the starting point, it was fun and I'm glad we went. Maybe next year, we will get a babysitter and join in the actual pilgrimage instead of just going up to the starting point!  As it was, Funny Guy barely made it back to the car before collapsing.

Looking back on it, we crammed in quite a lot of fun into the month of May and can't wait for all we will do this summer.