I'm so in love :)

sorry that i have not posted in a while!!! so what happeneds in chang mai? I got to know the people in my group more and we get along great. chang mai in my favorite place so far. i have fallen in love with this city, and as it turns out, i'm in love with a monk. hahaha! last night a few of us sat and talked to a couple of monks for two hours, and the one we talked to the most had a habbit of not answering any questions, but joking around a lot. buddhist humor in action. tonight, i had to come back, and kelsey and i sat and talked to them for 3 hours! I played chess with the same monk as the night before. he likes to take pictures of people in front of the giant 600 year old pagoda with candles. as usual, i couldn't get him to talk straight about anything, but i talked to a nice thai woman about what anthropology students study. when we left, my favorite monk started to draw me a picture, but kelsey wanted one too, so he gave her the picture instead, and gave me a ring ^_^ we are equally jelous of each other. and both in love with the monks.

the chang mai night market was one of our anthropological study assignments, and also a place to spend tooo much money, but i bought some really cute clothes and some jewelry from the akha hill tribe women. one of the cool guys helping our group out, a guy named alex, helped my with a part of my interest--- prostitutes. he helped me find a bar, tought me how to approach and talk to them without being offensive. the girl we talked to we a really sweet woman and and told me a little about her life, family, and her job. it was a great experience for me. wish we have 5 more alexes so i could talk to more women.

tomorrow morning we are going to pai (sp?), then to chang dao to visit an orphanage and perma culture farm.

love you all!

Lacey

the letter i sent to my mom says it all.

Mom, i love thailand and i don't want to go home, hahaha. can youbelieve that? the village was wonderful, and near a huge cave system with sparkling rocks, and we sang and did OM chants inside it and ifelt so peaceful. then we went and swam in waterfalls. it wasbeautiful. today we stayed at a nice hotel with a pool and washed ourclothes in the sink. i got a thai massage and i'm eating tons ofawesome thai food. cn i just not come back? i've never been so worryfree in my life, its bliss. tonight we are taking an overnight trainto chang mai. please forward this to everyone! I love you!

Thailand begining

This place is the most beautiful place i have ever seen. the Royal temples sparkled and were the most glorious things i have ever seen. The market smells are a little alarming, dogs wander everywhere, monks and mae chiis you might encounter at the bank. I love the toilets- you don't use toilet paper, you just wash with a water spray guy, washing away all the sweat and feet at the same time and feel refreshed. the people really are kind, and genuinly so. I'm in bliss, and happy as can be. even after the 24+ hour plane trip - chasing the sun into another day - I was sleep deprived like i've never been before, yet fully awake and aware of the wonders around me. It felt like hawaii when i landed, but even more stifling, like inhailing a glass of water. I'm like a little kid who learned to talk, pointing and naming everything i see that interests me: "look, mae chiis!" "wow, eels" "cat!" "school kids!" (the little kids are sooo cute!) and buddha's everywhere. We saw the biggest laying buddha in asia, and he was truly giant!!! I was just in awe. And the jade buddha that signifies the kings great power. It was all just amazing. so much beauty in one place, almost overwhelming, but in the way that gives you energy. And everyone in the group is really great and supportive. Its only day 1, but i think we are off to a great start. i'm hungery now, so talk to you later!!

Off to Thailand!!

Kay, so quick explanation of the whats and whys. I'm going to Thailand and India for about 2 months. It is a 12 credit class that I am doing through WWU with the Institute for Village Studies. How can i afford it? I can't. *_* It is just another school lone, with hope that it will help me build a prosperous future with enough money to pay this stuff back. My research project will be focused on womens empowerment within the context of religion, specificly Buddhism.

More info on Village studies-

http://www.villagestudies.org/


A few places i will be visiting-

Bangkok
Chang Mai
Kolkata
Varanasi (Ganges River and Site of Buddhas first teaching)
Agra (Taj Mahal)
Delhi
Amritsar
Rajasthan
Dharamsala (Dalai Lama)


See you soon!