a lot can happen in three months

when I last posted, I was getting ready to leave my thai family and hit the road for a week of traveling around thailand before settling down in a village for the month of april. tons has happened since then, so I'll try to cover the highlights:

I remember travel week (which was really only 5 days long, not 7) as a series of snapshot memories: riding for hours at a time on a huge charter bus with the 30 other SSTers - fern refusing to speak to caleb for feeding a monkey fish oil pills until it threw up - staying at a different 5-star hotel each night, complete with swimming pool - the boys cutting their hair in absurd (doesn't even begin to describe it) ways - going to the train station to buy tickets for spring break and finally making back to our bangkok hotel, traumatized after spending an hour in a taxi driven by a man who was in no way the man in his license picture. it was a whirlwind, but it was good.

spring break was excellent, absolutely everything most people would want a vacation in thailand to be: beautiful beaches, fresh juices, inexpensive accommodations and friendly service. we did, of course, experience our fair share of the unexpected: last-minute changes of plans, vicodin-worthy sunburns, rastafarian bars, way-too-friendly canadian tourists, and a middle-of-the-night cabin ambush by what I still maintain was an overly playful monkey. throw in a snorkeling trip around four of the most beautiful islands off the coast of southern thailand and a sunrise easter service with 10 great friends and you've got yourself a good picture of my little vacation.

this brings us to our month in the village. the first two weeks were full of 'classes' and mini field trips, and just general getting-adjusted lounging time. then came songkran. let me take a paragraph to explain the absurdity:

some things in thailand would be impossible to recreate in the states. the driving habits, for example. they're crazy, the thais, and they drive ridiculously, but it works for them. there's no sign of road rage whatsoever. similarly, there is nothing like songkran in the states, nor could there ever be without huge amounts of violence breaking out. songkran is the thai new year. this festive occasion is marked with water-throwing. it has religious roots - water is often used as a blessing in buddhism, not unlike baptism in christianity. the religious benefits are entirely secondary now, as the one and only motive seems to be soaking everyone else from head to toe. all of thailand celebrates it, but nowhere as avidly as in chiang mai. do not go to chiang mai for at least a week before OR after the thai new year unless you want to be completely drenched in water the entire time, which is a thing most westerners do not enjoy. we spent four days in chiang mai during songkran. it was wet, and marvelous. [for a tiny glimpse of the madness, click here. this is the street that surrounds the moat in chiang mai. the truck in the foreground is full of thai people throwing what is most likely ice-cold water. the toyota to the right is one of our trucks. and beyond that is people packing the street for miles and miles.]

after songkran we were back in the village for two weeks, conducting interviews and writing ethnographic research papers like the anthropologists we are. it was good, tiring, boring and exciting, all at once.. hard to explain, but that's the best I can do. then there was some issue between me, rachel and china airlines about return flights back to the states, but God is faithful, and it worked out as we were both hoping it would.

on may 3rd I landed in LA, spent a couple days with friends, and then finally made it home to maine. I spent two weeks catching up with friends and family, playing card games, unpacking, repacking, and then flew off to ecuador for two weeks with my dad and sister. we visited my dad's side of the family, who basically all live down there. I met cousins for the first time, and caught up with uncles and aunts I haven't seen in years. it was awesome. it probably deserves a post of its own, but I'm anxious to start concentrating on my summer in philly, so I'll just leave it at that.

before I do, there's one more thing that needs saying: my best friend in all the world, lila janeen duke (of america III) is MARRIED! on june 14 lila and cobey had a beautiful ceremony and are now officially mr. and mrs. stephen cobey monden. absolutely wonderful for her, but to my great disappointment, lila dropped her last name completely and is now in no way a duke. perhaps I'll pick it up if I ever make it over to city hall for a name-changing. (for pics of the blessed event, click here.)

so here I am! in north philly once again. it feels like home, and I love it. I get to live with laura all summer, a rooming situation which is fantastic and long overdue. if you're ever in the area and want to stop in, please do! I'd love to have you. :)

also, an announcement: I'm changing the URL address for this blog. the new address is now kaitlinmbwheeler.blogspot.com.