#21 Night Market

Night markets are definitely in the top ten things I love most about Thailand. Watching a mile long market unfold within a few hours slowly covering the street is quite amazing to witness. Then after a few hours open the vendors again slowly pack up their merchandise and the market vanishes again. The people do this EVERYDAY. If it is a food stand you can see them wheeling their cart over to the designated street or a clothes outlet where they first construct a wire rack then perfectly assemble the clothes. All to be taken down that same evening.

Night market food can be some of the cheapest and best options for a quick dinner. The variety of food is endless and you can pick up a dinner for about $1. In my village we have a small night market every wednesday night that brings everybody together as that nights dinner is picked up, peruse the clothes, or just to grab a bobo tea and socialize.

One of my favorite night markets is the Chaing Mai Sunday walking street market (pictures left). The hippi- style city produces a market filled with it's famous handi-crafts, art, and endless souvenirs for backpackers. I went there when my parents where visiting me in Thailand and if anyone knows my mom you can imagine the endless hours we spent at the markets driving my dad to retreat to the hotel room with a beer.

Pla Pak Wednesday Night market (below)

**Pictures by Jackie :)

Tid bits of Orientation

Most of our time in orientation this first month is spent learning Thai and completing the necessary lessons and coursework to receive our TEFL certification. However, we do get some breaks to do some fun activities and start to explore our surroundings.

On Sunday we had the chance to take our first big trip into the city, Nakhon Phanom. We all squeezed on to a Sang Tao. which translates as Two benchs, consisting of a pick-up truck with two benches in the back for passangers (pictured above with the boys hanging on the back!). In the city we got to visit the Fresh Market, Indo-China Market, a Temple, see the Mekong river and its view of the Lao Mtns in the background. Here are pictures from the fresh market:

On Tuesday we receive our first Thai dance lesson. We were first exposed to Thai dance at our welcome dinner party and it looked fairly simple to the untrained Westerner. We quickly learned that it is nearly impossible to look half as graceful. The class consisted of many laughs and a few simple moves learned.

One evening after class was over, I got a chance to play in a pick-up soccer game with a bunch of Thai high school boys and 3 of the male volunteers (Ben, Peter, and Zach). Since girls in Thailand never play soccer, I think it was quite a surprise to them to have a female player. Since it has been a few YEARS since I have even touch a soccer ball, I had to jump right back in to attempt to keep up. However it felt so good to play again and I was very impressed that they included and welcomed me into the game. Here is a group shot of us after the game!

Last night, we had the chance to walk down to the night market which I know I will be visiting frequently this next year. The market consisted of very yummy food and I tried an empanada type thing, waffle with something on it, and my favorite bubble tea! I'm slowly going to work myself up to the fried crickets. I also got lured into buying some Thai clothing, $1 shoes, and head wraps!