Fourth Weekend – September 11, 2011

 Well this weekend definitely went through its’ ups and downs! But, in the end I think it was a good weekend! Saturday we did, in fact, go to hot springs AND a Wat (temple). The Wat was beautiful and a great experience. The hot springs weren’t like any hot springs I have been to. People don’t really swim in these. Little kids swim in this fountain man-made river thing but adults don’t. And it was more of a spa. The first area we went to had food stands that sold eggs. I wasn’t sure why until Meh and Nong Not took me back to this big fountain that was meant to boil the eggs we bought! It was 105 degrees! After we boiled the eggs we went back and ate them. Delicious. We also had papaya salad which I love but is always spicy…I’m getting used to it.

Then it started to pour so we took cover until the rain stopped. I then thought we were leaving but Paw asked if I wanted to take a mineral bath. This was the spa part. So, Meh, Nong Not, and I went and took mineral baths. We all had our own little rooms and bathtubs. I just sat in the tub for about 15 minutes. It was very relaxing. Then we headed home. The ride took FOREVER because the roads have tons of potholes and it’s a very rundown car so we had to swerve around them all. I fell asleep. The rest of the day was pretty boring and I tend to get homesick when I’m bored so that was definitely the negative of the weekend. I really wanted to go to this Sunday market called the Walking Street Market so I decided to ask Paw. He said we would have to talk to Meh. I had figured out a way to go with a friend or to take the taxis because I assumed they wouldn’t take me all the way into the city but after a lot of Thai and confusion, I finally communicated what I wanted with Meh and she said we would all go! Paw didn’t feel like translating I guess…

So, today is Sunday and I actually had a really great day. I was nervous because I didn’t know if we were for sure going to the market and what we were going to do all day before (because the market doesn’t start til 4pm). By the way, days are LONG because sleeping in is 8am at the latest. So, I woke up and had breakfast, studied for a while, and headed to Meh’s house. At Meh’s all the women (including me, Nong Not, Meh, and my three aunts) made a HUGE batch of wonderful dessert. It was basically sticky rice mix with flour and tropical fanta wrapped around this brown sugary mix and folded into palm leaves and the baked. Then you open the palm leave and the dessert had turned into wonderful tasting gelatin with the sugar in the middle. But the process of making this is LONG and interesting. I learned to very precisely fold palm leaves around the dessert. It was fun!!

After leaving Meh’s, we headed to Walking Street Market. I am obsessed with this market and can’t wait to go back. Everything is so cheap here. Really nice pants/shirts/etc. cost like $2-$10max. Jewelry, scarves, decorations, etc are also insanely cheap. So, obviously I went for it. The food is also delicious! If anyone has anything in mind that they want, let me know! I’ll definitely be going back.

So, that was the gist of my weekend. The downs were really just homesickness during downtime but could be much worse! The rest of the time was great. I guess I didn’t have too much to be nervous about and I underestimated my host parents!