This past week has been a lot of fun hanging out in Chiang Mai. I am still getting used to the weather but this week has been different. It has been getting really foggy all day and night and it seemed off. Maybe it was smog? So a group of us asked our teacher about why the smog had gotten so bad lately. He told us the air wasn’t polluted with smog, but with smoke. There is a thick layer of smoke in the air caused by the farmers outside Chiang Mai, who still practice slash and burn farming. And apparently it is going to get worse. Sometimes it’s not so bad, but other times you can see it and smell it!

smokey morning in Chiang Mai

I also went to see a Thai movie this week called It Get’s Better. It had English subtitles and was really good, and sad. Before the movie we had to stand while they played a song and slideshow about the Thai King. They also do this at the market at 6pm. They play the song over the loud speakers and everyone just stops what they are doing and stands during the song. The first time we were at the market and this happened we had no idea why everyone had stopped moving but figured it out.

I also went to the “big” mall in Chiang Mai. It is really nice and has a lot of stores. We went shopping there because we thought we were more likely to find clothes that fit us there than at the markets. The clothes at the markets are for Thai girls. For that reason nothing could ever fit me. It is all too small and too short!

On Saturday we had a field trip to a Hmong Hill tribe village. We toured where they live and how they farm. It was interesting to see their houses and farms in the mountains. 

Hmong Village

Flower garden at the Hmong Village