Payap University

Ken and Heidi here to tell you about our day!
Last night we had dinner at a Thai Curry bar in Chiang Mai. We had lots of delicious food with home made ice cream for dessert- very yummy. Then we took a long walk to the Can Do bar run by sex workers but not a brothel. It turned out to be nearly impossible to find, and after walking for almost an hour and then taking a taxi truck to the bar, it was closed. It was, however, still a good visit to the Night Bazar with lots of shopping and a few good purchases. We spent our last night at the hotel and early Tuesday morning we left for the international house at Payap University. It was about a half an hour ride in a "red truck", which is basically a truck taxi that fits everyone in the back of the truck with bench seating. Payap Universtiy has a beautiful campus out from the city. We'll be staying here for the next five days, so it's nice to unpack and do some laundry here. We settled in and had our first Thai class at 10 am. Our teacher, a very comical Thai man, told us about the history of the country, both political and historical. We then proceeded to learn to count to 20 in Thai, and learned very basic communication skills. After class we all were practicing saying these new phrases to each other as we ate lunch in the cafeteria. A few Thai students from the University then came and taught us a few new words as we practiced introducing ourselves and playing a game in Thai. The afternoon concluded with lots of singing, dancing, and clapping. See the video to be posted soon :) It's much easier to feel like a part of the Thai culture when you konw a bit more of the language. Tonight we have a lecture from a Philipino woman who is a religion professor here at the University. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow!