Sawasadee-Kah (Or Something Like That)

Sawasadee-Kah from Chiang Rai, Thailand!

So I'm here. And that's the only thing I've learned in Thai so far. Oh well, it's a start!

And when I say "here", I really mean at the Chiang Rai YMCA. It's close to the airport, and they have some other people that they need to pick up later today, so we're just making a day out of chilling here. Apparently, our house is an hour or so away from the airport in a very rural town, so it's easier to stay in the city for the day. The YMCA has a lot of ceiling fans and WiFi, so I'm totally okay with that at the moment!

Everything worked out very well this morning. I got to my gate at the airport, and literally 5 minutes later, I hear two girls talking about HELP International, so I picked up my stuff, walked over to them, and introduced myself. We hung out for the next hour or so, took a short flight to Chiang Rai, got our baggage, and then waited outside for our country directors to pick us up.

... And we kept waiting.

After an hour and a half (of trying to learn Thai, photoshoots, videos of "first impressions of Thailand", etc.), we decided that maybe it was time to call. After we figured out how the Thai phone system works, we got a hold of one of the country directors. Turns out, they were waiting for 45 minutes at the other door. Who knew?! Anyway, I'm here and I made it in one piece!

In case you were wondering, my first impressions of Thailand:

• It's very green here. Like VERY green.
• There are mountains, but when I asked which mountain range they were, nobody seemed to know (both people with the organization and locals!). If you happen to find out what mysterious mountain range I'm looking at, please let me know!
• It's hot. Picture a hot July day with a lot of humidity, but a slight breeze. Apparently, because it's the rainy season now, it's much cooler than it was a few weeks ago. I can't even imagine!
• There are massage places EVERYWHERE. It's like nail salons in New York City, but you can get an hour massage for the equivalent of $10!
• Magnum ice cream bars are sold for a little over $1 here. I really just put that in there for my mom.

Word on the street is that there's an internet cafe across the street from our house, a warm river that everyone's made a hobby out of tubing on, and a sand volleyball court nearby. I think I'm going to like it here. I think I'm going to like it here a lot!