no one stops for pedestrians in Chiang Mai, so it is a bit like human frogger

Q: Why did the farang (foreigner, Thai equivalent of gringo) cross the road? 
A: The farang never made it across, there was way too much traffic…

I spent my last day in Thailand cruising around Chiang Mai–and a good amount of time just waiting for the tiniest break in traffic, to cross the road. 

Chiang Mai has a moat around it, and my guest house is just on the other side of the moat, which is lined with roads on either side. 

I spent the day catching up on a bit of writing, had one last Thai meal (cost me about $2 for lunch and a mango shake) and then a Thai foot massage (cost about $3, with tip).

Tonight I fly to Cairo, where I will spend the next two days being hosted by the Evangelical Seminary in Cairo.

sunset in chiang mai

About two years ago I interviewed a couple from St. Andrew’s Church, Brett and Shelly Faucett, for a newsletter article. They were about to be moving to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to do AIDS related work through the Presbyterian Church, USA.

When I realized that I’d have a day or two after the conference in Bangkok, I emailed Brett and Shelly to see if I could come visit them in Chiang Mai.

So, almost two years after our initial meeting, there they were at the Chiang Mai airport, with their two daughters Acacia and Ana, to pick me up and show me the sights.

We began with an iced coffee at the Wawee Coffee Shop, the local Starbucks (although there is also a Starbucks next door…I’m interested to know which came first). I have to say, I think I might be addicted!

They took my by the Mandala House to drop off my stuff,  and then we headed to pick up lunch. I’ve never had “Cow Soy” (I’m not sure how to spell it, but that’s how it sounds) before, but it is apparently a specialty of Northern Thailand. There are pickled veggies, a mix of crunchy and soft noodles, chicken, and a delicious savory but sour and a bit spicy sauce. Yum.

After lunch we went to get Thai massages—incredible! Then Shelly and I went to the Hope Home where she works with disabled children who are often shunned in Thai society. We played with the kids (adorable) and did some play therapy with music as well.

From there we went to the Sunday afternoon market—block after block after block of streets closed and everything you can imagine for sale.

To cap off the evening we stopped by Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant for some take out and went back to the house to eat surprisingly good Mexican food, considering we are half a world away.

What a fun day. I had a great time reconnecting with the Faucetts. If you’d like to see more of what they are doing here in Chiang Mai, you can read their blog or see their official PCUSA mission coworker website.

We took this picture and then realized that it costs 40 Bat to 'use' the cut outs. The woman waits for you to either delete the picture, or pay.

The conference ended officially last night, but I had a few meetings with people before I could head out to Chiang Mai on Sunday. So, in between, I decided to do a bit of the tourist thing before leaving.

With friends from Australia, the Philippines and the Middle East, we headed on the sky train (metro/subway) to the river to get a ‘water taxi’ that would take us up river. Initially, we were headed for the Grand Palace, but we actually never ended up making it there. More on that.

The river is full of boats, from tourists, to people simply getting from one place to another, and little tugboats pulling HUGE loads of cargo on barges. It’s also not the cleanest water you’ve seen, so best to keep your mouth shut if you are near the edge of the boat.

As we were headed to the Grand Palace, Wat Arun caught our attention, so we decided to stop there along the way. The amount of work and detail in just this one Wat (Temple) is incredible—then you multiply that by the hundreds (maybe thousands) that are in Bangkok…it’s pretty amazing.

We stopped for some coconut water before heading back across the river toward the Grand Palace.

As we were walking toward the Palace, I stopped and asked a policeman how to get to the entrance. He looked at us—some in tank tops, some in capris—and said, “no Grand Palace,” pointing to the lack of appropriate clothing, as well as his watch, which told us we had less than an hour before it closed. “350 Bat, you need all day,” he continued. That’s about $10, which is about 3x what the average dinner costs in Thailand…

He proceeded to take my map and draw on it, telling us to go to the Giant Swing—it’s free!—and then on to a temple with a large Buddha. We figured, why not, so we let him arrange a ride in two tuk tuks, negotiate the price of 60Bat (less than $2) for them to take us to the Giant Swing, wait for us, and then take us to the Buddha temple.

Let’s just say, when we got to the Giant Swing we found out why it was free. But, when we got to the temple, which turned out to be a royal temple, for King Rama IV, and only open on Saturdays, and a knowledgeable guide who took us around and gave us a free tour—that was definitely worth the detoured plan. The guide asked us how we came to find the temple and we explained that it was the policeman who had told us. “You are very lucky, not many people get to see this temple,” he explained.

Our plan had been to go back to the hotel from there, but, as it happened, the ‘jewelry street’ was on the way. “You must just stop there,” said the guide. “It’s on your way. Why not stop there?”

So, we got back in one tuk tuk this time (a bit crowded, for the four of us) and headed to the jewelry street. I was with Stephanie and her daughter Mona.

I had met Stephanie and her husband Greg the last time I was in Thailand, and really enjoyed hanging out with them.  Greg passed away last June, from cancer. They had a tradition of buying each of their children a nice piece of jewelry from Bangkok, for their high school graduation. Mona is graduating this year, so it seemed fitting that we go.  They also had a tradition that Greg would buy a piece of jewelry for Stephanie each year in Bangkok—an investment, of course—and so it was a poignant time, to be continuing those traditions, and missing the husband/father that had been a part of them. Not wanting them to be lonely, I decided to buy a ring for myself as well.

It’s kind of amazing how you can connect with people in such a short amount of time, but so significantly. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to attend this conference again, and to reconnect with old and new friends. 

what a manuscript can end up looking like

Today was the final day of our conference. There are many elements to it, but the central one is surround manuscript study.

Basically, manuscript study takes a book of the Bible, printing it out with no chapters, verses, or paragraphs, adding line numbers and page numbers. I was in a group studying the second half of the book of Mark.

Each day we would meet together, about five smaller groups of 4-5 people each, around tables. The day would begin with individual study of a particular section (page 15, line 5 to page 16, line 24, for instance) asking two questions: what do you see and where do you see it. We used colored pencils to circle, underline, scribble, write or draw whatever seemed significant. Then, after a time, we would discuss in the smaller groups, again asking, what did you see and where did you see it. Finally, the larger group as a whole then discusses, what did you see, where did you see it.

The attempt, in limiting discussion to those two questions, is to keep it from turning into either sweeping generalizations (God says we must say the sinner’s prayer to go to heaven when we die—where do you find that, actually?) as well as preventing us from saying, ‘Well, the book of John says…’ We are in Mark. What does Mark say? How do we understand that, taken for what it is, not what we have turned it into?

When I came to the conference four years ago one of the highlights, other than meeting people from all over the world, was this method of study. I had never before so loved studying the Bible as I did for that week. All day, everyday, for five days straight, and it never got old. I wrote an article about it, Wonder Bread, if you are interested.

Part of what was so interesting about it in this context is that we had people from very different backgrounds—culturally, religiously, nationally—all reflecting together. The diversity of the group made it much, much richer than it would have been otherwise. Part of it was that we were all involved, looking at the text and contemplating it, rather than having it ‘told to us.’ 

I’m not sure how to replicate this kind of study in a regular, ongoing basis, but I’d love to try and figure it out.