Happy New Year!

Since I last wrote, we went to Chiang Mai for several days (which was totally amazing - see facebook for photos) and Songkran festival has begun. Chiang Mai... I can't even begin. It was so nice to be in a place where I could walk around to explore, instead of relying on taxis to get anywhere, and to have a tourguide who was so friendly and outgoing to show us around, translate things, and take us to all the coolest places. There was some social tension building between one of the girls on the program and the other two of us, starting with a heated discussion in the taxi on the way to the airport, and building to an argument that led to Nicky and I leaving the room because we couldn't handle her. However, since returning I haven't seen much of Alyssa, and Nicky has been hanging out with me (they're roommates) most of the time. Hopefully we can just stay out of each others' way. It's just frustrating. The city however, and the trip, were great. I wish our program were based in Chiang Mai actually, instead of in Bangkok - it felt so much more like a place that I could actually live. And I got to see Lisa! We were only both there for a couple overlapping hours, but it was still sooo great to see a familiar face from Mac. And if you're reading this Lisa, I can't wait to see you again!

We left Chiang Mai with a little bit of drama. The red shirts (protesters loyal to the PM who was ousted in 2006 on corruption charges) had brought Bangkok to a stand-still on Thursday, blocking off a major traffic circle and bus hub. From there they spread out to protest in several other places, and the ones who were still in Chiang Mai decided (apparently) to protest at our hotel, which is owned by a supporter of the current government. We got hurried out of the hotel an hour earlier than we were supposed to, and taken to the airport in an unmarked car instead of one of the vans with the hotel logo. The driver said he was afriad the red shirts would damage the car if he tried to drive it past them. However, we didn't see any red shirts, just a lot of policemen, so I'm not sure if anything happened after we left or not.

Anyway, now it's Songkran - Buddhist New Year! Thai people celebrate by splashing water on each other and smearing goop or baby powder on each other's faces. Nicki and I went to a place nearby where they were celebrating, and it was totally insane. The whole road (6 lanes) was filled with barely-moving cars, most of which were pickup trucks with people in the back. They also had large barrels of water, so the people could scoop it out in buckets and throw it at people in the backs of other trucks, or people walking by on the street. There were also tons of street vendors, selling food and stuff to make the goop out of (I have no idea what it was, but some of it smelled and felt like it had menthol in it. Totally weird.) There was loud music, and people dancing in the streets with hoses and tons and tons of people with that goop stuff, all of whom wanted to put it on me and Nicki. The goop ritual was actually really interesting. There seemed to be 3 types: the respectful smearing on the cheeks, the rough-fun smearing all over the face, and the creepy caress. We got about an equal amount of each type, and mostly from groups of young men. For people who are usually very reserved and well-mannered, it was extremely odd. However, we had fun dancing and getting soaking wet and smearing stuff back on the people who smeared us. I also got sunburned (again) even though we weren't out that long. I really need to start putting sunscreen on all the time.