Well it's been quite a hectic week. It was the first week of my Agroecology course, so we spent it in Chiang Mai, going to school. Except unlike the previous weeks, I had a hefty amount of reading to do each night, with a paper and reflections thrown in to boot. So, of course, I spent my time doing homework in my room rather than spending time with my host family or exploring the city. "Why are you drinking coffee at 8 o'clock at night?" my host mom would ask, and I'd try to explain, to her disbelief, how I was actually required to read for hours. The thing is, Thai students don't really do homework. The most they might be assigned is to memorize a chapter or do some review sheets, which, I get the impression, many don't even do. So the possibility of someone staying up late to read academic articles is fairly unusual. I'm pretty burnt out now, but I have the weekend to regroup before I head off to Fang on monday.

One of the most high stress situations in Thailand is eating with the host family, which for better or worse, happens every single day. Often twice. Thai meals are set up so that each person has a plate of rice, and then there are three or four dishes on the table, from which everyone just scoops a little bit at a time until they are done. Some of the dishes I've had have been incredible, and I'd eat a ton, maybe even getting a second helping of rice. Others have been, well, really really un-stomach-able. Usually there will be a couple of each, but many nights I'll be faced with only the latter. On these nights, therefore, rather than eating until I have had my healthy fill I simply make a hardnosed effort to somehow erase the rice on my plate as efficiently as possible, taking as small an amount as is polite of curry or animal with as much rice as can fit on a spoon. As if this delicate pallette negotiation weren't difficult enough, there's the added pressure of being with my family, who, at every meal and for every dish, forcibly question "Arroy mai [is it delicious]?" to which there is only one possible answer: "Arroy mak mak [it is very delicious]!" Depending on the way this is said, it may arouse scepticism, which then necessitates eating even more in order to prove that I looooove it. Usually, if there is a couple dishes I like and a couple I don't, I can focus on the ones that I do like, that is, until they notice my lopsided eating patterns and push the other dishes in front of my, demanding (very very nicely) that I try. I'm often asked to try a dish just seconds after starting my first, before I have even had a chance to get there on my own. I know this sounds pretty harsh, but bare in mind (as I tell myself every night as I buckle down at the dinner table) that this is all done out of love and concern. Nonetheless, it is an incredibly high pressure and stressful situation, even on the nights when I am eating something that is actually "arroy mak mak". When I am feeling my most overwrought at my eating situation, I think about the sadistic pleasure I would get, subtly forcing a Thai person in America to choke down a cold bowl of Frosted Flakes for breakfast rather than freshly grilled pork, boiled vegetables and rice (which they usually eat, and which is, actually very tasty, even for breakfast). Oh, I just remembered: tonight we had boiled chicken. The pivotal moment came when I noticed there in the bowl with all other shreds of meat were two feet (okay, I've eaten before) and a shrivelled little head that looked unusually human. It was kind of tough to eat the rest of the meal, and now I'm a little hungry.

All in all though, frustrations with the program and the difficulty of living in a foreign country aside, I'm doing fairly well. My language continues to progress and I can have basic conversations in Thai. I'm going to spend tomorrow bumming around with friends and shopping for the expedition. I will return October 19 (I believe), which will hopefully bring me in before the playoffs are over, so I can at least read about the games. If not, cheer the Tigers on for me, and pleeeease tape the games for me (I'll be sure to remind the necessary people later).