"Cabin crew prepare for landing" were some of the best words I heard after a long day of traveling. It was finally time to see Mary after I almost missed my connecting flight and lost my luggage. It was such an anxious feeling walking into baggage claim and then I saw her.....and the tears started! It was the best feeling in the world.
The first day in Chiang Mai was a little chaotic because I was so tired and kept getting sick but I did manage to get in an hour massage which only cost about $5. Mary had to go to a special school dinner so we had a plan for me to meet my cousin Mike in a coffee shop because his flight landed a few hours later. Unfortunately, it was delayed so we messaged him a new plan. What we did not know was that his tablet wasn't working so he wasn't receiving any of our messages. Almost 4 hours after he landed, he found us and showed up at Mary's. (Poor Mike)
We woke up the next morning and got ready for the Christmas Parade at Mary's school. In the beginning there was an hour assembly which made me laugh because it was all in Thai. We just hungout with all her teacher friends and literally had no idea what was going on. Another funny observation was at 8:00 every morning, the whole town stops what they are doing (walking, talking, etc) because the King's song plays. Did you know there is 7/11 on about every corner here? So random.
Rose as Santa in the parade!
Outside of Mary's classroom!
I was very impressed with her school. It was beautiful and has about 7000 students who attend. We marched around the school in the parade and threw candy to all the students. After, her class threw a party and it was so cute to meet her students and see her with them because they just adore her. They call her "Teacher Mary". For lunch we had waffles with hot dogs inside and quail eggs because that is what her teacher aids brought. (Surprisingly good) The students have their Thai names but their parents also choose English names for them. They are hilarious because they don't really know what they translate to....some of my favorite names were Santa, Ferby, Printer and Data.
In the afternoon we just relaxed. For dinner we finally had our first Thai meal and it was delicious! We ordered Mango Curry, Cow Soi, Pad Thai and a yummy sausage dish. For dessert they brought us out dragon fruit, mango, bananas and pineapple in warm coconut milk. SO GOOD! We also ordered some beers and they brought them out with a cup of ice haha Mary said it is very popular to drink beers on ice here. They drive around these Moto bikes and there aren't really any traffic rules. Mary is such a good driver and I realized I would rather be passenger than try to get around town, it is scary!
Tuesday night we met some of her friends at one of their favorite bars on the river after dinner. We then went to a "lady boy" show which was quite comical and fun! When we got home, I looked at my ankle and had over 30 bites on my feet. My left foot was also very very swollen! I am happy to say it has gone down but the bugs are loving me here because I have bites all over my body.
Christmas Eve we woke up and met my mom's college roommate, Mary and her family, for breakfast at a restaurant her son works at. We chatted and caught up and then decided to all Moto up the mountain to the most famous temple in Chiang Mai. It was so pretty and overlooked the whole city! After we got some lunch with their family, packed up and got on our plane to Bangkok. Tomorrow we are headed to the islands and have an early flight to catch! I cannot believe it is almost Christmas!!
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