Weekends in Chiang Mai

I really love weekends in Chiang Mai. There are always so many adventures! On Saturday, my friend Sam and I woke up early for a really intense hike to the top of Doi Suthep mountain here in Chiang Mai. I almost bailed because it was raining when I made it to the steps of PIH but it turned out that rain was the perfect weather for such a sweat-producing activity! I thank my very fit and impressive friend Claire for leading the hike and speaking words of encouragement along the way. Today, was a little different. Sam, Jayje and I went to a lake about 30 minutes away from campus and had a very lazy day under the sun. We lounged, swam, played marco polo, saw who could hold their breath the longest. We were children today. And it was so much fun.

Pictures of the Lake!

Last Saturday

Last Saturday morning, I joined other Grandma Cares volunteers at the Chalermprakiat School, an orphanage/school for young girls where we led a few ice breakers for 120 girls before a vocational training session. As a human services student, I had so much fun doing this. In New Paltz, creating a welcoming and comfortable environment for interaction has been emphasized in many of my sociology classes. It was early in the morning. 120 girls sat in the school’s gymnasium. It was hot, we were strangers but after an hour of making it rain with our bodies, keeping the earth ball up in the air, making shapes and undoing a human knot, the energy shifted. There was a lot of laughter, smiles and happiness. I am happy to say to my human services cohort and professors that ice breakers have been coming in handy here in Thailand especially with the language barrier!

Human Knot

Keeping the Earth ball up

My friend Sam joined on Saturday and took the pictures that I posted above. He doesn't look very happy here but he was!

Last Sunday

Last Sunday, I took a free “song tau” ride to Chiang Mai’s second annual Yoga Mala Festival. The day offered inspirational events, yoga classes, meditations, lectures on sustainable practices and agricultural ways. All proceeds of the event went to the Children Shelter Foundation in Thailand. The Children Shelter Foundation has a farm near Chiang Mai and provides homes for orphans, and children from underprivileged families, seven of whom are deaf. What I thought was pretty neat about this organization was that they all communicate through sign language, including volunteers, staff and hearing children. I hope to visit them later in the semester!

At the end of the day, the kids performed Michael Jackson's Heal the World using a mixture of Thai and American Sign Language. I loved it and it was the perfect way to end the day! Below is a video. Unfortunately, the quality of the video isn't too great when I upload it to blogger but I will try to fix that up as soon as I figure it out!