News as of Late

Exciting things from the past week:

1. Host family farewell party.
Everyone was all dressed up in their traditional Lanna (Northern Thai) outfits.  It was really entertaining and there was the whole spectrum of dressiness.  For example, a few girls' families took them to get their hair and make up done and their clothes were super shiny and metalic.  Loved it.  Then there were people like me, who came straight from school and had a pretty basic outfits on.  Definitely the ugly step sisters of the night.  Also, to make matters even better, I had a Lanna headwrap of sorts on which made me look like I had a serious head injury. But I just let Mae do her thing.  So we both looked like we had just been in a serious accident.  We had a talent show with lots of dancing by ISDSI students with their little host siblings, and a few song performances.  Overall, a very fun night.

2. Moved into the dorms!
I have three roommates: Jamie (from Kalamazoo), Mckenzie, and Kelsey (both from CC) and we have been having a wonderful time.  After gathering some supplies this weekend (specifically a lot of fruit), our home is complete.  Saturday night we wandered around the city for a while and ended up at a funny club/bar.  Naturally, we proceeded to dance wildly and scare off all the thais.  Oops. But very worth it.

The week has been fun but super busy.  I'm so conflicted- there's a whole city to explore, errands to run, and tons o' reading, and an essay to write.  But I'm attempting to fit it all in.  The other night we found a market near by, got dinner for 15 baht (50 cents), super sweet and delicious rotee, and took a tuk tuk home.  It was great fun.  And on the way, we passed the Chiang Mai University Alumni Center which hosts aerobic dance every night! So we are definitely checking it out tonight.  Last night, a few of us hit up some karaoke, which proved very entertaining.  The eight of us had our own room- different than an American karaoke bar, but still a great time.

Now, it's time for some post-class yoga, and then off to the market!