New Garden, New Students

Of course, we've had the new garden and the new students for awhile now. The new garden was started last school year but is really getting off the ground this year. The students are a little more than half-way through the first semester. And the personalities of the "new" students are coming through more and more.
Last week I sent my camera around with one of my students who took the following pictures.

The new garden
Putting up some shade.
Banana trees around the garden.
The students working in the garden. The poles are for the long beans.
Bancha putting organic insect repellent on the pumpkin plants.
The girls weeding in the old garden.
The new garden has rice, yard long bean, corn, cucumber, flowering phak choy, eggplant, chillies, pumpkin and banana. In the old garden there is morning glory eggplant, chillies, long bean, bitter gourd, okra, roselle, green bean, sweet peas, and winged beans. Hopefully we will get to eat some of these things in our meals soon!

Posted by: Aj. Erika

A Peek At Lunch

This is what I ate for lunch at the school one day last week. Looks good huh? It was! Now I suppose you want a name. I would call it khao soy-esque. Khao soy is a popular dish in Northern Thailand and this is very similar to it. You add some "soup" (broth) and that's lunch!

Mmmm mmmmm!

Admittedly, lunches at the school are not usually noodle based. We eat lots of rice as is the norm in Thailand. Here is a more typical lunch at the school.

Soup, rice, vegetable and meat dish.

Either way, I am really appreciative that every day I sit down to such delicious food!

Posted by: Aj. Erika

Garden Fresh Pickles

About a year ago I decided to look up a pickle recipe because we had cucumers and dill in the school garden. After a bit of looking I found a great recipe on eHow that looked quick and easy.

At one point I used garden grown chilies in my pickles, but this time they're from the market. In addition, I had hoped at some point to use garden grown garlic, but that experiment didn't work.

I was lamenting the fact that we didn't have the ingredients before 4th of July. Just imagine these pickles with our hamburgers and fries - perfect American meal in the heart of Thailand!

24 Hour Pickles*

What you need:
White vinegar
Water
Salt
Cucumbers
Fresh garlic
Fresh dill heads
Chilies (optional)


Step one: Combine the following ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil:
1 cup vinegar
5 cups water
1/3rd cup salt
Once the vinegar/salt/water (brine) has boiled, set aside and let cool completely.


Step 2: Cut 5-6 fresh pickle-sized cucumbers lengthwise into wedges (or slices for hamburgers!).


Step 3: Peel about ten cloves of garlic and slice finely.

Step 4: Put the cucumbers, garlic, 5 or 6 fresh heads of dill, and 2-3 chillies in a 1/2 gallon air-tight glass container (or equivalent).

Step 5: Pour the (cooled) brine into the jar(s). Secure the cover and place in the refrigerator.



Pickles are ready in 24 hours!

*This recipe was from eHow.com, which has since been revamped, and I can no longer find it online to reference.

Posted by: Aj. Erika

July 4th Has Come and Gone Again!

Every year I look forward to July 4th. The food, the fun, the fireworks! Even in Thailand it is possible to have a great 4th! There was one a couple years ago that just didn't feel like it should've. It rained for several days straight and our time was spent huddled out of the rain and trying to start a fire. To me that year just didn't compare to the year before. But this year was great! It included all the necessary ingredients. We had amazing hamburgers, french fries, watermelon, soda, cookies, and ice cream! The evening was capped off with fireworks and impromptu music making.

Everyone chipped in to make the meal and we really had a great time. July 4th is also one of the first "events" of the year and a fun chance to hang out with new students and get to know them better. This year, the 2nd year students gave their first speech, which was about their life, that night so it was fun hearing those too!

The spread before we all dug in (minus the best stuff like the hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream).
The baby!
Samuey cooking up the hamburgers (the grill had some issues).
Uaorawet and I frying the french fries.
A meal infinitely better than McDonalds!
The three teachers chowing down.
Making music.
Attima, Wanlee, Haechi, and Chanpang in front of the ice cream.

I feel so thankful that even so far away we were able to experience the fun of the day. And the Friday before one of the students asked to pray that Americans would understand the day coming up. Kind of interesting that he thought about it. Hopefully I understand just a little of what the day means!

Posted by: Erika

1st Annual Legacy Cup

The boys decided a few weeks ago that since we had been having difficulties finding a league or tournament to join, that we should create our own - thus the 1st Annual Legacy Cup was born. It was a bit of work and I won't say the first day went off without a hitch, but it has been worth it.

Organizing anything in Thailand has its challenges, and trying to encourage students to take control, while also making sure it is up to standards, makes it even more interesting.

The boys (young men!) found the things we would need, determined the budget, contacted teams, made the schedules, wrote letters, and set-up on game day. Some of them, the second and third year students especially, were really involved and I was very proud of them.

Here are a few of the students making the scoreboard. Rather ingenious I thought, with the use of rubber bands to allow one to turn each piece and create the numbers.

The banner that we had made for this year's tournament -
hopefully there will be more to follow!

The 1st and 2nd place trophies the 8 teams are playing for - along with small cash prizes!

Me at the Opening Ceremony welcoming the teams.

Here are 5 of the eight teams - this is where it was difficult to be organized.
Lots of teams came late!

An action shot of Atiwat - one of the Legacy team members.

The team rehydrating over the 10 minute break.

The Legacy team on the field.

Some of the spectators.

This year we are playing 7-7 since we don't have enough players for a full football team. We play 25 minute halves with a ten minute break. The tournament is five Sundays (four more to go!) and hopefully all the teams will have a really good time! Hopefully we will continue this in the future as a service to others.

Feast Recap

We are already starting the third week of second semester. Since my last entry we had a three week "break" for the Feast. The Feast is always a busy time of year, and this year was no exception. We had families that came from the camps to stay at the school and it was definitely booked here!

This year we have a big first year class so it adds when students come for the first time. As usual I really enjoyed keeping the Feast with the students. The activities are more fun if we are all together.

Big FOT highlights are the following:

- FOOD - Lots and lots of Empress hotel buffets, where the students stock up on the assortment of desserts and load their plates with white rice.
- MUSIC - The students' performances and all of those who participated in the music at the Feast, it was wonderful to hear. This year I directed the choir and am mightily thankful that I started out with a talented bunch!
- Chiang Mai Zoo and SNOW DOME - Not only did we get to see many animals, but some of the students got a taste of a Minnesota winter when we went in the Snow Dome.
- Bowling - Every year the student activity is bowling and every year I think it is fun - however, my score gets lower with time!
- Swimming - The last night we all get to enjoy the pool under the big, beautiful sky. And during the Feast I get to enjoy it and soak up the sun! It never fails to relax me!
- Talent Night - This year I laughed so hard! These students can be total hams! I'm not surprised, I've seen it around school too, but still, they were very funny in their skit!

Here are some pics so you get an idea of what it was like:

Students at the zoo.
My favorite fella at the zoo - he was very entertaining!
Quick mid-Feast trip to Minnesota!
Good times bowling!
Special music
Our version of the Beatles (at Talent Night)
Beautiful girls
Handsome boys
See my swimming gear underneath? Yup, about to hop in the pool!
The crew minus three students.

The Feast was really enjoyable not just because of the things above, but also the fellowship and chance to hear so many messages! It was a very positive time.

(Posted by Aj Erika)