(Sorry, purchase the photos are probably out of order because I still don’t know how to order them with the gallery function…)

I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from northern Thailand :)  Kor hai mii kwaam sook wan Christmas gap sawat dee bee mai!!

 

Last week, more about I celebrated Christmas with my UHDP friends with an all day party that included killing a pig and preparing a very very yummy northern Thai lunch and dinner.  We had a gift exchange where you could steal someone else’s gift instead of choosing one from a pile – I actually ended up stealing a set of coffee cups from Nong Boh, patient an 18 month old boy (hehe)!

 

Today, on Christmas Eve, I made a western breakfast (french toast, real maple syrup, bacon!) with my housemates, Kimberly and Brandon and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside our house at UHDP.  We’ve been working our way through Parts 2 and 3 of the Lord of the Rings movies all day…now is a break in between to make roast chicken, mashed potatoes, nachos and salsa, email loved ones, and then back to our movie/eating fest!!

 

For Christmas day I’ll be going to Ajan Tui and Pi Da’s house…I think I’ll introduce them to poutine (oh YES!!!).  We’ll have dinner there overlooking their beautiful rice fields and then head to Pi Da’s Lahu church up the road, to celebrate with singing – the Lahu choir has amazing talent for four part harmony a capella…reminds me of being in Africa.  Then, I’m headed to Mae Chaem district to visit Wah’s family in a Karen village, and then visit my friend Beth, a Canadian who lives in Mae Hong Son province, for New Years…hopefully we’ll be able to stay up and watch either Anne of Green Gables or BBC’s Pride and Prejudice.  Oooooh yeah!

 

God’s peace bless you deeply.