Update #2

This second e-mail comes from Nate Tiller, sophomore social work student from Gordon College in Wenham, MA. Nate is from Sharon, MA.
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Sa wat dii khrap!

It's about 10 am on Tuesday morning. We've been in Thailand for 17 days now, but still each day is a new experience filled with bright colors, strange places, beautiful people, and of course, delicious Thai food.
You last heard from our band of adventurers right after we had come back from the Lahu village. We spent Wednesday through Friday continuing our intensive Thai language classes. We made it through page 122 in our 219 page text book. We have really learned a lot of Thai (how much we actually remember, that's another story...).

On Saturday we hiked up Doi Suthep mountain, which overlooks Chiang Mai and is the home of one of Thailand most famous temples. The hike was beautiful--exotic plants, serene brooks, and a pair of cats that followed us for awhile. At the temple, we saw a huge golden cheddi surrounded by hundreds of small bells at its base. People walk around it ringing bells to gain merit. It was an intriguing sight, one that challenged us to consider the concepts of merit and luck and how they pervade not only Thai society, but our own as well.

After the hike, we were treated to a 2-hour Thai full-body therapeudic massage (don't worry mom- we were fully clothed). The massage was truly amazing.

On Sunday, all of the students gathered in the lobby of our hostel. The air was full of excitement and nervousness as we prepared to meet our host families. We left sad that we would not be living together until next April. However, after our first night, we were all excited to spend more time with our host families and get to know them better.

On Monday, we began our internships. Internships varried in so many ways--working with Buddhist monks who are English majors at a Buddhist University, studying and translating Thai language, interning in a Thai hospital with Thai physicians, working with silver and creating works of art, and teaching English in a bilingual Thai government school. We have found that our internships will be exciting opportunities to interact with Thai culture, learn from local professionals, and offer some small service to our Chiang Mai community. We go to these internships every weekday after our morning classes of Thai language and Thai society.

We miss you, our friends and family back home, and we appreciate your prayers, communication, and support.

Nate Tiller