First day in a Foreign city

Sleeping on a bed suitable for Fred Flinstone is not as comfortable as you might imagine it to be. When I wasn't waking up from alternating one raw hip digging into wood to the other, I was waking up from feverish sweats to feeling chilled to the bone. I'm not sure how, but I woke up around 8am feeling fairly refreshed. By 9:30am I was out and about the city! Damn was it hot and steamy! Every time I had previously looked up the weather in Chiang Mai the forecast delclared storms all day everyday. I was surprised to go the entire day during the wet monsoon season without rain.

I found the school I was going to attend and in indoor grocery store that shares a building with clothe stalls set up like a flea market, a really good coffee shop, a deep fried fast food place, and a few woman with their little carts selling meat on a stick. The grocery store was amazingly refreshing with its air conditioning and I was astonished to see products from home like Barbaras cereals, some high end granolas, Terra chips, and more.
While walking around I discovered that this city is unlike any other "major" city I have been to before, and I am able to say that because no matter which direction I went, I some how always ended up back in the same spot or area! I usually have a great sense of direction, however with the streets layed out in a very organic way - everywhich way with no rhyme or reason (similar to those in Hanoi, Vietnam), and they are each called the same name in English, "Soi 1," "Soi 2," "Soi3," etc and then the other name is written in Thai, a messy looking squigley currsive to the Western Eye. Here is a map of the city below. Another funny thing about this city is the Old City, that large square in the middle of the map. There is a moat that surrounds the city with 4 main gates, one on each side. I live outside the Old City, north west of the North gate.

The moat divides the road traffic

My goal for the day was to walk into the Old City, yet I never made it. All the streets where I live are narrow, some with a shallow ditch to walk along, others with a raised and unleveled walking area, then others which are just road. I have seen few pedestrians as everyone rides around on a bicycle, in a Tuk-Tuk, on a scooter or motorcycle, in a Red Car Taxi, or a car, yet where I live, they all drive at the speed of a bicycle so I never feel very unsafe walking around.   

Some shops are set up right on top of the road. No room for walking

I took this photo of the Red Truck from someone elses google image

I took this Tuk Tuk photo from google images

  

Bike shops like these are everywhere near where I live

Near where I live everything is "Same Same But Different," meaning there are maybe 4 types of shops: motor service shops, laundry service huts where woman listen to music while ironing, hair salons, and places to eat. The places to eat at often appear as an open garage with some plastic tables and chairs with a single burner holding a pot of water and wok to cook all the meals. Often times, there will be a little old man or woman in the back area laying down on a bed watching tv in front of the family prayer alter. Dont mind them while you enjoy your Pad Thai!

I have been so fortunate to be in the city for 1 week without rain! I was shocked to see blue skies even!

 I can not beleive how many hair salons there are, and people are in them all day long. This shop advertises all the colors of hair dye with samples hanging in the front window.

Like many others, this cafe sets up outside in the late afternoon and stay open until late at night. I pass this one everyday walking home from school but have yet to eat there.

Another major difference is the lack of white westerners. Other than Phnom Penh, Cambodia, this is again the "largest" city I have been to that lacks tourists. I walked around all day my first day and maybe saw 12 other white people. I later found out that this is because I am staying outside the Old City and most tourists stay within.

 Back to English, there is virtualy none. Even Pepsi and Coke signs are written in Thai. I walked for 5 minutes and the only script I could recognize were numbers. Pictures are tricky to go by as well. I remember South Korea was difficult for me to find a meal, however I could always find a restaurant with a picture menu to order from. I have no idea what I ate for lunch, but trust that I ate minced tofu and not chicken because there was a banner above the place that said, "Vegetarian Food, good for health." The food was prepared with lots of lemongrass with a bit of a sour, yet refreshing taste. The woman was really cute because when I pointed to what I wanted to eat, she looked at me oddly, put some on a spoon for me to taste, and then looked pleased when I smiled with joy. I think she was nervous that it would be too spicy for me. The next day I learned the term, "Thai spicy or tourist spicy?"

 Dinner was also awesome. I am not sure why I can not get this picture to go the correct direction, but I sat at a table with an electric burner on it, was delivered  a menu with pictures of food and a large metal cooking bowl with broth. I chose my veggies with a point and smile, then presented with my meal in trays to add to the boiling broth! I chose cabbage, and green veggie stalks of something, maybe morning glory?, baby corn, "tofu egg" vermicelli noodles and a dish of brown and green sauce. 
The Brown sauce was sweet spicy!!! I am guessing it was prepared with Tamirand,
dried chillies which are a bit sweet with their spicy, sugar because Thai's put extra sugar in EVERYTHING, and more goodness! At first I thought the green sauce was cilantro based, but then after I took a cooking class the following day, I discovered that the taste is similar but different. With my dinner I ordered a beer,
and between the two, my whole meal cost about $4! What a great first day!