This week has been pretty uneventful. There’s only one week left for the semester at school, so we didn’t have very much class this week. It was fun though, because I got to hang out with my school friends during the day! They taught me a Thai game called Mak Kep. It’s difficult to get the hang of, but I was able to figure it out eventually! Here’s a video of how to play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yxqeEr1qpU
In my craft class, I embroidered my Thai name onto the bag I made last week! Even though I already know how to embroider, I learned some new tricks that made it easier!
I also made a vlog this week to share my daily life.
I also got to go to a big store called Makro. It’s basically the Costco of Thailand, but without the free samples 😉 They have lots of new snacks and fruits for me to try. They even have lots of Western foods (tortillas, pasta, avocados, strawberries) that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.
On Saturday, I had a fun adventure through the mountains of Phrae. We started our journey by stopping at a restaurant to try northern Thailand’s most well-known foods, Som Tam (Papaya Salad) and Khanom Sen. I really didn’t like the Papaya Salad. It’s a spicy dish with raw crab, Thai chili peppers, green papaya, and fermented fish sauce. Pretty much it has a lot of my least favorite flavors 🙃 The Khanom Sen, on the other hand, was delicious! It’s a rice noodle base, that gets different soups or curries added on top. We ate it with green curry.
Then, we went to a dam that was just built this past year. It helps prevent bad flooding from Phrae’s monsoon season. We were able to snap a photo just before a giant rainstorm started.
The next stop was Wat Na Khu Ha, a beautiful temple set in the middle of a rice paddy. There was a large statue of Buddha, overlooking the fields. A bridge made of bamboo allowed us to walk across the rice fields to a treehouse covered in people’s wishes on pieces of wood.
Afterwards, we went to another temple, called Golden Rock Temple. It had 5 large statues overlooking the vast Thai mountains. It was crazy how high up we were.
We finished the day by visiting a durian farm. Durian is considered the “King of Thai fruits”. It smells bad, but tastes good. However, a lot of people don’t like the taste. Because of the smell, durian is banned from public transportation, hotels, and is considered a dangerous item at the airports haha.
Looking back, I’m glad this week wasn’t so busy. It gave me space to enjoy the smaller things and notice how much I’ve already grown here. Six weeks down, and I’m excited for what’s still ahead.
Hugs from Thailand,
Emma Kate
EK Explores 
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