Yes, Sports Fans, this remarkable, amazing trip ends early tomorrow morning with a 12:15 a.m. Sunday flight from Chiang Mai to Seoul, where we arrive at 5 a.m., then leave Seoul for Minneapolis at 7:45 p.m. Sunday only to arrive in Minneapolis at 4:45 p.m. Sunday. Mind boggling. Fortunately international flights are not impacted by the flight reduction mandate so one less thing to be concerned about.
Yesterday Wanlaya was working. Here I thought she was retired and yes, she is, retired from her position as a hospital nurse. but she runs a small clinic from in front of her home where she will see usually 20 or more patients with 'normal' medical concerns from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. The medical system here in Thailand is interesting, according to a conversation I had with Art. The government pays for your healthcare if you go to a hospital otherwise it is up to you to pay for it out of pocket or by purchasing private health insurance which, like most everything in Thailand, is affordable with affordable the operative term relevant, IMO, for those with means to purchase same.
Anyway, two of her three sons--Art and Ice--picked us up and out to breakfast we went. I have deferred to all of them as to what I should eat and, as previously noted, have not been disappointed. Here was yesterday's breakfast, seafood and rice:
This was maybe the biggest Thai food leap for me because other than the shrimp and octopus (which I have never eaten), the other pieces of seafood were unidentifiable, even after I asked Ice what I was eating. I was a member of the clean plate club.
We stopped at Chiang Mai University to walk around the campus a bit. There is a temple there for students to pray--to get into the University when they come to apply, before tests and exams, for good grades.
Elephant topiary and Ice praying for good grades, having recently completed first semester of his sophomore year. I learned that when people bow three times, they are signifying the end of their prayer, to send the prayer heavenward and to clear their minds.
Then on to this marvelous coffee shop peppered with dogs of all breeds and, much to my delight and surprise, elephants we could feed! What a genius idea! I asked Art if he had been there before and he said he hadn't, found it online :) He noted that there were few Thai people there, mostly Koreans and Westerners.
Most remarkable
Art and Ice then took us to their home, where we met their dad, Sak. He is a retired radiologist--we later stopped briefly at the hospital where he had worked. He occasionally helps Wanlaya out at her clinic.
Their dog, Johnny, who is 20! Must be the climate
When your mom pulls out your baby pictures to show to the
visiting host parents
Papaya and pomelo trees in the yard
Family
Thanks for reading--I hope you learned something about the countries we visited and perhaps enjoyed what truly was just my perspective of what we heard and saw. I will endeavor a wrap up...let's see how long it takes to get settled into the time space continuum in Minnesota!
Comments
Post a Comment