Been a while...

Graham kindly reminded me it was probably time to update the old blog! It's been a while, but not much eventful has happened.

Mae Sot is growing on me more and more. I am learning to enjoy things other than the amazing food. Today I got a manicure, pedicure, and Thai massage for under 10 dollars. Thai massage is absolutely fantastic. Not like any other massage I have ever had- they use hand, fists, elbows, forearms and feet and it can hurt a bit at times, but at the end it is maybe the most relaxing thing ever.

I still need to visit some of the wats (temples) around Mae Sot, because their are some beautiful ones.There is a huge market in Mae Sot that sells, well, everything. Here are some pictures of the delicious fruits you can find there!

Delicious Thai Fruits (mini bananas, at least thats what I call them, Rambutans, and Mangosteens!

In addition, you can buy live eels, live and dead frogs, and meat covered in flies. I tend to stick to the fruits (and Karen crafts!)

I did get to take a trip to Chiang Mai and Mae Sai (towns in North Western Thailand), although it was an extremely quick trip mostly filled with me being on a bus for 21 hours in 2 and 1/2 days, seeing the only English movie playing at the mall in Chiang Mai (resident evil 4, not going to be an oscar winner as you might imagine), and eating an entire pepperoni pizza in one sitting (mmmmmm pizza). I managed to buy 3 bottles of wine at a duty free shop in the zone between Thailand and Burma. I was shocked! They actually had a whole REFRIGERATED room of french wine. The whole point of the trip was to use the second entry on my visa (had to leave Thailand) so I spent an hour at a market border town in Burma, where I bought a beautiful longyi (sarong), and was asked to buy cartoons of Marlboro cigarettes for 2 dollars and viagara, but did not.

I did a bit of shopping in Chiang Mai's famous Sunday walking market which was also a blast. All in all, it was not a bad trip, and I really look forward to getting back to Chiang Mai with time to actually explore it!

A few more pictures for you of things around Mae Sot-

My neighbor's dog, Tah Loe. He is a poor substitute for Hobbes, and he is neurotic. However, we are working on  having him not bite onto my pant leg whenever I stop petting him, and we seem to be making progress.

A side ways picture of my very very pink house that I can not figure out how to rotate. Most houses here have this open downstairs/patio part that is gated. My room is right inside the balcony on the second floor.

My beloved bicycle, complete with bright blue plastic poncho. Gotta love the rainy season!

Not exactly a flattering picture, but we are definitely singing some serious karaoke. Probably Mariah Carey or Celine Dione circa 1995. The best thing about Karaoke is the random videos they play that seemed to have been filmed in the Netherlands in 1988 with models who wear mom jeans.

Otherwise, my fellowship is keeping me very busy, but I really really love it. I am trying to find time to study Thai and Karen, but its hard! Soon I will be starting grad school applications (again) and a paper for school to finish out my masters degree, so it won't get any easier. But busy is good, and I always have Thai massages to help me destress.

Hope you all are well! Miss you all!