I've made the switch

Well guys, as you may have seen on facebook, I’ve made the switch from blogger to wordpress. There are many reasons for the move, photo captions for one, but basically it’s just a better blog host. The new address is www.chelseadifran.wordpress.com. Please bear with me as I figure this thing out. I’m sure there will be many formatting problems and such.

I didn't know it was possible to get kicked out of a bar in Thailand...!

Today the entire Mirror Foundation flooded. It poured all morning, and within a few hours, this is what the walking path looked like. There are 3 steps to the bridge that are under water.



Last Saturday we did karaoke at a bar in town. Unfortunately, the fun didn't last long because we got kicked out of the bar. A volunteer had bought a few bottles of whiskey for everyone, and by about 11:00 everyone was pretty smashed.

Alex singing Radiohead's Creep with Mike on the drums.

Steph and Britt

Sam, Britt, Kaitlyn, Aaron, and Adrienne

Mike rocking out on the drums.

Dancing at R&B bar.

Party at P'Noi's. Everyone usually shows up there on Saturday nights for a barbeque, but this week it seemed like an especially large crowd because of all the new volunteers.

The clock tower in Chiang Rai changes color every night at 8:00. This isn't a great picture, but it's really beautiful.

All of us crammed into a songtow on our way to Big C.

Riding on top of the songtow. You can't tell, but we're actually sitting on the roof of the truck. It was really fun, but we had to dodge branches the whole time.

25 Things I LOVE About Thailand/Mirror Foundation

1. Fisherman pants. Greatest invention ever.
2. You can get your laundry done for 40 Baht and it comes back neatly folded and smelling fresh.
3. It has forced me to overcome my fear of animals. I have embraced the natural world and all it's critters.
   
4. Waterfalls abound.
5. Movie nights in the orientation room.
   
6. Knowing the words and actions to every children song known to man is considered a valuable skill.
7. Discovering the healing powers of Tiger Balm.
8. Working with little kids and watching them actually get what you're teaching.
9. Craftiness is next to godliness.
10. Mangosteens = heaven.
11. Playing charades is mandatory.
12. Thai massages. Enough said.
13. Barbeques at P'Noi's tattoo shop.
14. Modest is hottest.
15. Even the boring parts of the country are some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
16. The kindness and generosity of the Thai people.
17. No makeup is required.
18. I get to teach monks. Who else can say that?
19. Sweet sticky rice with custard.
20. Baby Buddha aka Ouan (meaning fat in Thai) aka the cutest kid ever at Mirror. No one knows what his real name is.
21. Shaved ice at Baan Jalae hilltribe village. Amazing.
22. The pancakes at the shop next to P'Noi's.
23. Riding on top of a sontow.
24. The ice cream man who rides up on a motor bike with the freezer attached to the back.
25. Everyone LOVES the banana song.
    

Malaysia Madness

This weekend I went to Malaysia with two other volunteers to apply for a 60 day visa at the Thai consulate in Kuala Lumpur. After a 3 hour bus ride from Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai ($6.00 including a bottle of water and cookies) we took a flight to KL. I went through some hassle leaving Chiang Mai because I had overstayed my Thai visa by 2 days. The immigration officer took me to another desk and left me there alone, saying "One moment, mai pen rai (no problems)." However, that one moment turned out to be about 25 minutes. Finally, worried that I was going to miss my flight to KL, I asked someone else if they could help me. Officer #2 then went to try and find officer #1. Again I waited alone for 10 minutes. Fortunately officer #3 came to my rescue and filled out the necessary paperwork for me to get out of the country. I arrived at my gate in the midst of boarding, just in the nick of time.
I had no idea what to expect from KL. Zoe wouldn't tell us anything and I didn't do any research before we left. Mostly I thought it would be similar to Thailand (mostly poor and kind of dirty), but boy was I wrong. It's one of the wealthiest countries in Asia and you can certainly tell. KL is a beautiful city full of amazingly expensive cars, rich Arab tourists and very high end shopping malls.

Twin towers: tallest buildings in Malaysia

Boy Zoe (there are two Zoes here at Mirror, boy Zoe and girl Zoe) lives there, so we stayed at his house. The house is split into several different apartments. Zoe's is on the bottom floor and his sister lives on the upper level. Julian stayed in a back building (the old maid's room and his father's prayer room) and I stayed upstairs with Zoe's sister, brother in law and nephew. The family were amazing hosts. Imagine the nicest, most warm people you have ever met. Multiply that by 3 and then you're somewhere close to describing them. I felt right at home there.

Zoe's house in Kuala Lumpur

We got our visas without too much trouble. Just a long wait at the Thai embassy. The rest of the time we spent hanging out with Zoe's friends and family. Again, his friends are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Zoe drove us around and showed us around the city. Most importantly, it's filled with DELICIOUS food. Zoe took us to all the best restaurants. I must say, Thailand has got nothing on Malaysia when it comes to food. Thai food is really good, but it gets a little monotonous day after day. There's so much more variety available in KL. I was really grateful I didn't have to eat rice 3 times a day. Julian is a vegetarian, so we ate at a lot of Indian restaurants because they always have good veggie options. I didn't mind at all though since Indian is my favorite kind of food.

Tosai and Dahl: a really thin rice flour crepe with lentil curry dipping sauce (sort of like Indian hummus) = PARADISE

Italian and Mexican food makes an interesting combo, no?

The toilets are much nicer in Malaysia (not to mention you can flush the toilet paper) but some people still don't get it.

Imagine you're in the center of a shopping mall filled with designer stores. Wall to wall Gucci, Prada, Lious Vitton. Food court with $50 per plate restaurants. Then you go to the top level, exit into a hidden hallway and emerge into this crazy Asian food court. THIS is where the locals eat.

If you couldn't tell, I had a great time. I met a lot of great people and ate a lot of good food. However, I don't think it would have been as fun without a local to show me around. I wish we could have stayed longer. We only had 2 days to spend there, half of which was taken up with visa stuff. On Wednesday morning we woke up at 4:00 am in order to get to the airport in time for our flight at 7:00. After a very long day of traveling we made it back to Mirror. Although I had so much fun, I was happy to be back. Mirror has really begun to feel like home.