Chiang Mai Adventure

Students from Explorations Academy explore beautiful Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Day three and they were learning how to cook Thai style. Each pair of students picked out a main course, a snack and a dessert to prepare.  After choosing dishes the group headed to the market to purchase the meal's ingredients needed.  It was a small, clean and orderly market.  Each stall sold an array of things in any given category: one stall for curries, one for different kinds of rice, one for vegetables and one for seafood, another for coconut, still another for fruit. Lisa Beck, team leader on the trip, noted, "It was very much a 'one stop shopping experience.' I was struck by the artistry, finesse and nuance that is inherent in Thai cooking.  We were so full by 4:30 that we opted out of dinner!”

Students commented, "We took our ingredients home and started by learning how to chop them. Mr. Visutt would demonstrate and we would do our best.  Despite his speed and accuracy — and the fact that he did not look at what he was doing while chopping — he still has all his digits.  So do we, for that matter, but we were far slower and less precise.  The teacher was amazing in keeping the meals organized and tracked. After each course was completed we would gear up to cook the next. It was really fun, and the flavors were amazing.

The final meal featured steamed whole tilapia, panang chicken, pad Thai, sweet & sour soup, green papaya salad, spring rolls! Sweet corn and chicken patties, golden delights, sticky rice and mangoes… Is anyone hungry yet?

The meal concluded and the group walked for about a mile to an evening market.  If it was busy at 5:30, it was absolutely nuts at 7 pm. We were all struck by the presence of so many young Thai at the market.  This was not a tourist event and here the pressure to buy was quite relaxed.

National Children’s Day brought out  many celebratory activities such as a band parade, jets overhead, and free entry into the museum.  Explorations students joined right in with a rhythm/hopping game similar to jump rope, which involves two long bamboo poles beat against the ground in a specific rhythm while the jumper jumps in between them and out. The senses while traveling are the most vivid. This day involved every one of them.

For future information about the Thailand Expedition, check out their blog of their trip - the 10th such international expedition that Explorations Academy has taken. http://explorationsacademy.wordpress.com/