This morning I walked to the Chinese market and got myself utterly lost in the maze of fish and flowers, fruits and frocks; the first two photos are dried fish, but I LOVE the heart shaped ones. Then, the following are flowers with the most delicious color combinations ever!
I am not quite sure what is going on here, but they seem to be growing moss of some sort up on a balcony in Chinatown. Any ideas?
This is the top of a stupa or chedi, as we call it in Thailand, and I photographed it because it has a party hat on; see the bands of pink around the bottom two bands? Pretty festive, eh?
Inside the Wat Bupparam, this is the library, and I couldn't help but notice the magazine out on the table - Decor. Someone hasn't been studying...
On our way to Chiang Mai University, we passed these young fellows, the one on the back wearing a little gold crown, obviously for fun, but we all grabbed our cameras...
We had an excellent presentation by a Chinese Thai scholar and got into the issue of sex trade and women who leave their families because it is the daughter's "mission" to make money for the family; some leave at very young ages, and they are very beautiful. Many become brokers themselves, but often the women return to their poor villages and built monasteries or schools with the money they have earned; men even want to marry them as good catches. Some end up marrying western men who treat them better than Thai men who drink and boss them around. He DID stipulate that this sex trade was all maffia run and NO Chinese are ever involved. We chortled after the lecture.
I have had two peculiar encounters with bathrooms today, and one was at the university when I asked where the bathroom was; the dean pointed me across the hall where I saw a door and went right on in, wondering why there was no toilet paper and three urinals. This morning I asked in the Information Center if I could use the bathroom, and the woman spoke no English; she thought I wanted to take a shower and was having difficulty responding to me without laughing...
Durians all ready for cutting and packaging into little styrofoam bottomed packs with clear plastic on top.
I was thinking a great deal about human trafficking today but couldn't stop ruminating over the way Thailand invites ALL women to "traffic" our bodies here. There are surgery places, botox, whitening, etc...
This is an indication of the kinds of men who are sitting around and leering. It's really, really creepy.
And who wouldn't want body shaping by the Thailand Number One Beauty Professionals?
One of my door pictures that I will try to pull into a painting someday...
We ate at a vegetarian restaurant where a whole roll of toilet paper served as napkins. I knew you'd like to know.
Even monks have to wash and dry their clothes.
This is the top floor of a beautiful but decrepit building outside the old city, and it makes me sad to think that something that had been so elegant will be a tumble down, tear down only too soon.
Here is a prime example of some of the men here; this lunatic was on the side of the road clapping rather steadily, and as I took his photo, he raised his arms as though he were proud of his notoriety. And he probably is.
Tomorrow we drive 3 hours in a very small van with all our luggage (academics need MANY suitcases) to Chiang Rai where God only knows what we will encounter.
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