Monday, to Chiang Rai...

I'd heard that the trip to Chiang Rai was lovely, and I tried to book an overnight trip, but because I was on my own, it was just going to be too expensive. So finally I booked a one-day tour to Chiang Rai, going to the Golden Triangle, Laos and the Burma border.

A van came and picked me up and I joined a group of 7 others, with a guide named Oud. He was very sweet, but not very talkative, and soon after getting in the van, I was feeling a bit like a hostage. The first stop at a hot springs was an hour and a half away.

Then we went to the most bizarre wat I've seen on this trip - and I've seen a lotta wats!

This one is still being built and it's designed by a famous Thai artist, who's making a bunch of statements with this temple... although I'm not sure I got some of his points.

One of the most eerie things about it is the moat that surrounds it, which you cross over to get into the wat.

The moat is filled with hands reaching up from below, representing death. We are in life and are meant to help them get to heaven or the next life - or whatever (that was the part I wasn't sure of). Some of the hands were holding bowls to collect donations.


The paintings inside were equally bizarre, showing the attack on the twin towers and ... Spiderman (honest!). I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside so you'll just have to take my word for it.

And one of the other features, which I didn't get a chance to investigate was the "golden toilet." Unfortunately, we had to get back on the bus for another hourlong ride to the Mekong River.



The ride along the river was nice, and then we ended up in Laos which was kind of sad. Just another market, with tired dusty stuff and kids who were being encouraged by their parents to ask for money.



Then back in the bus, a quick stop for lunch, back in the bus until we got to the border with Burma, where one of our party wanted to cross the border, leaving Thailand, getting his visa stamped in Burma, and re-entering Thailand which would allow him to stay in Thailand for three more months.

The rest of us got to check out ... the market.

We made a stop for lunch and a couple of other stops, and then the guide told us that we were heading back to Chiang Mai - which would take about four and a half hours! The full day tour tok about 13 hours and about 8 of them were spent sitting in the van watching the scenery whiz by.

I was one unhappy camper - it seemed like a waste of a day. As I peered out the window watching the sun go down, I thought, "I could've spent this day putting in a whole lot of windows in those houses."

The next day had to be better...

After the build...

Okay, this is way overdue, but I've been busy and then the internet wasn't accessible, so I'll try to squeeze as much interesting stuff in as quickly as possible....

So, by the end of the build, I had been in Chiang Mai for a week and all I'd seen was my hotel, the bus and the build site, with a few visits to some restaurants and the night market.

Despite my attempts to find someone or a group to travel with after the build, I had come up dry, except for a few people who were going to hang around Chiang Mai for a couple of days.

I met one woman - Sonya - who wanted to go to Cambodia, but because I had booked the elephant camp for the end of the week, I would've had to fly to Cambodia via Bangkok and then fly back here via Bangkok - 5 hours of flying both ways, plus travel time to and from the airports. It would mean spending two days travelling, and that didn't seem worth it.

So I decided I'd stay here and do day trips.

On Saturday, I walked around the old city with Vikki from San Diego. It was good just to get a sense of where I was. The Park Hotel where we were staying was fine, but it's kind of on the outskirts of town, so I didn't really have a sense of what Chiang Mai was all about.


In the afternoon a group of us went on Handicrafts Tour - first to a silk place, then to a silver place and finally to a place where they make rugs (there are members of my family who are beginning to chortle now - and with good reason.)

The silk place was interesting - there was a woman who spent the day drawing the silk off the silk worms that were bobbing in a pot.

Then other women wove the silk. And then of course there was a store where we could buy silk products if we wanted.


In the silver place, we saw how they melted and stamped and shaped the silver, and then of course there was a store where we could buy jewelry if we wanted.



And in the rug place, or salesguy, Ajaz, showed us how silk rugs are made and why they're so much better than wool rugs ... and then he started rolling them out to prove his point. They are indeed beautiful, and having been to two previous rug tours - one in Istanbul and one in Morocco, I have to say, this was the most pleasant experience, as Ajaz and his "brother" Ayoub were very polite and not pushy. So of course I bought a rug. After the deal was done (and this is the part my family is really going to love) Ajaz gave me his card and said if I needed anything, or even just wanted to have a cup of tea I could call him. Apparently I'm just the kind of woman rug sellers like ... or maybe it's just that I buy the rugs?

Anyway, I've resisted calling him.

In the evening, a whole group of us went on a dinner cruise on the Ping River. It was very pleasant and a nice way to say goodbye to some of them.

Here's the group of us - left to right Steve & Barbara from California (they're 76 & 77 and have done many Habitat builds), Jan fro Connecticut (she's done 10 builds), Georgina from Calgary (first build) Kris and Mike from California (several builds) and Vikki (this was her first international JImmy Carter build).

The next day, Barbara wanted to go to the Celadon ceramic factory, so four of us went - Steve quite reluctantly (if he had his way, he'd be fishing in the Ping River). It turned out to be quite interesting - especially since it was a Sunday and there were very few people there, so we could see what was going on and spend a little time. It's a huge factory and they do it all by hand.

Then Steve and Barbara left and it was just Jan and me. What are two girls to do ... except go next door to the massage palace and have a two hour oil massage. For 800 Baht - or about $25 we got oiled and rubbed ALL over!

I'm going to end this one here and move on to Monday in a new blog.

See you there!

Having trouble reading my last blog?

If you're using Safari, try using Firefox. I think it might be because I wrote th eblog in Word and pasted it in. I won't do that again! Hope you can read it - it's the grand finale!

More to come soon of my post-build adventures touring Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas.

Last day of the build - and Jimmy!

Sorry about the delay in writing about the final day of the build. Once it was over, I started acting like a tourist and online time has been limited.

So … I woke up on Friday morning and had a feeling of panic and sadness. This was the last day of the build. Clearly, the house was not going to be finished, and so I felt panic that we had to get as much done as possible, and sadness that I wouldn’t be there to see the completed home.

Kris took this picture of me at the entrance o

f the build site – the last time we’d take that long walk from the buses to the site.

Iwalked through the neighbourhood – noting that it was now looking like a neighbourhood. When we first arrived, there were only foundations and a few rows of blocks. It was a construction site and could have been anything. Now, you could look down a street and see homes where people would soon be living. It was the first of many warm feelings I felt that day.

The next came when we arrived at our home and discovered that Sriwilai and Manop were not the only members of the family on the site – they’d brought their two b

oys - Peerawit 12 and Yochuwa, 8. Seeing

them work on the

home was truly heartwarming sight. And knowing that soon they’d be living in this home in this community made me feel that we’d really accomplished something worthwhile, It was great to see them pitching in. Clearly they knew how important this was.

The big buzz first thing in the morning was that we had to get the front of the houses cleaned up because JC was coming. We’d been told that Jimmy and Rosalynn would be going to each house to have a photo taken with the crew and homeowners, and we had to be ready for that.

But we still had lots of work to do, and we didn’t want to just hang around doing nothing. So we continued working away until we got the word that they were moments away. There was lots of scurrying and preparation so that Jimmy and Rosalynn wouldn’t have to waste any time. We were set up in a group, with a gap where the two of them would stand, and we sat until the dynamic duo arrived along with the photographer.

We’d been told that we weren’t supposed to take pictures, but I

managed to get this shot surreptitiously. Eventually, I’ll get a copy of the picture with Jimmy, but this is as good as it gets now.

When they arrived, they devoted all their attention to the homeowners – which is as it should be. Jimmy’s all about the end result – we’re not there for any glory, we’re there to get the job done.

Unfortunately, he and Rosalynn are getting on so they weren’t able to work as much on the houses as they normally would, but when they’re working they’re working, not posing for photos or playing celebrity. Jimmy gets it.

The photographer snapped one photo and they

were on to the next house. I hope I didn’t blink!

Then we got back to work, trying to get the house as close to finished as we could. Only the shell would be completed. After we leave,

more volunteers will come and finish up – painting, putting up a wall inside that partitions off part of the house, installing the plumbing and setting up the electrical. They’ll be compact but efficient little homes, complete with Air Conditioning, which we all know they’re going to need!

So we got done what we could. The

fascia had to be put up – that’s me up there with Abby and a friend or relative of Sriwilai’s.

The stuff was very hard, so we had to drill holes in

to it before we could get the screws in. This is not my forte.

Eventually I let others take that job over and after learning the process from Amy and Liz, Victoria and I started putting in windows. What a great feeling that was – to install a finishing touch like windows, which we knew they’d use every day. The design of them was quite simple and together with Jackie and Abby, we were able to install all the windows by the end of the day. That was so cool!

The work continued until we heard music approaching, and suddenly there was a parade winding through the streets. It was

so beautiful, it brought another lump to my throat – once again, they were so appreciative of what we were all doing. There was such a sense of joy bubbling up in the whole community.

As the afternoon drew on, Vajra kept letting us know how much time we had

until the “dedication”. I wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but finally, when we’d done as much as we could before going to the closing ceremonies, we all gathered in front of the house and we formally presented the house to Sriwilai and Manop and their sons.

It was incredibly emotional for everyone as we realized that from this point on, this home was theirs. Those boys were going

to grow up here, knowing that it had been built by people who, earlier that week had been total strangers. What a meaningful message about

the power of people to help each other.

Sriwilai talked about what the week and the house meant to her and their family. And then she presented each of us with a gift of a fabric bag made in the traditional way of her people – there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.

We hung around talking about how wonderful it was and how much we’d enjoyed working together as a team. I think we didn’t really want to leave the house. Chances are we’ll never see it – or that family - again.

We took pictures of each other and hugged and finally left our little house and went to the big tent where the closing ceremonies were happening.

We were pretty sure that Jimmy wouldn’t be there, since he’d made his big appearance in the morning. But we were wrong. And as we approached the tent, it was clear we were hearing the last part of his speech. Vajra apologized for keeping us so late that we missed Jimmy and I said, “What we were just doing at the house was way more important.” And it was. And Jimmy would’ve been the first to say so.

The closing ceremonies were fun. After Jimmy’s speech, a dignitary from Chiang Mai introduced the entertainment, which started with

another Thai tradition. Throughout the tent, Thai men stood up and pointed golden cylinders into the air. On cue,

they set them off, blasting thousands

of curly, colourful papers into the air. It was another memorable sight as the brightly coloured papers showered down onto us.

More Thai dancers and entertainment continued as we ate our final meal in the big tent and finally said our goodbyes to our team members.

When we got back to the hotel, I met up with a few people who were sitting in the bar. A couple of women said they were going to get a foot massage. That sounded like an awfully fine idea, and before long there were six of us trooping next door

and getting mass foot massages. Yet another great Thai tradition! It was much more than a foot massage and lasted for over an hour - all for about $12!!!

And from this point on, this was the kind of Thai lifestyle we were going to engage in.

Stay tuned for more traveling adventures.

Nearing the end of the build...

First off, I want to start with something I forgot to write about in the last posting.

After our build day on Wednesday, we were treated to a dinner at a huge outdoor facility, where along with the food there was a show, featuring Thai dancers and performers from different regions of the country. Which was beautiful and fun to see.

But the highlight of the evening (and one of the highlights of the week) was the finale, during which they asked people to gather near the parking lots for the traditional lighting of the Thai lanterns.

These large cylindrical lanterns were built of lightweight flammable materials and had to be held by several people as the lamp was lit.

The heat would cause the lanterns to rise and when the pull was strong enough, they would let them go. Up they floated, until the night sky was filled with these lanterns drifting off in the breeze. It was magical to watch them float away, getting smaller and smaller, until they looked like groupings of constellations.

When I viewed this shot, I realized just how dusty my camera lens was. Gee I wonder how that happened...

I cleaned off the lens and tested it with a shot of one of the guides who was helping to ensure that we got on the right bus.
His smile and enthusiasm is typical of all the Thai volunteers who have been helping us all week.


The next morning we were back on the job bright and early.

Now that the trusses were in place, it was time to start attaching the green roof tiles. As we began this process, I noticed an interesting thing. For the first three days, the work site had been relatively quiet. People laying blocks, filling the holes with rebar and concrete and pointing the cracks with mortar don't make much noise.

Getting the trusses onto the rooves was a noisier process, as people had to call to each other to give orders, (especially our Thai team) and there was great excitement in accomplishing such a significant step. The next step in the process was that holes had to be punched in the roof tiles, so once you go to the stage where you were hammering, it was a sign that your trusses were up and you were starting to attach your roof tiles. Without anyone saying anything, you could sense the feeling of competition rising. You didn't want to be left behind, and if the crews around you were getting those tiles on their houses, you felt the pressure to be doing it too. (Some crews had had difficulty getting the trusses on because their walls weren't square - which could have been because they hadn't measured and levelled rows accurately along the way, or because the floor slab wasn't level to begin with)

As you can see, the roof tiles are about four feet long and a couple of feet wide, and made of some combination of concrete and fibre, so they're quite heavy, especially when you try picking up two at a time, which I generally did, in an effort to speed up the process.

The tiles needed to have two holes punched into them to accommodate J-hooks that held them to the trusses. (No pre-drilled Ikea-style tiles for us!)



So my job was to measure and punch the holes with a hammer and nail set, a certain distance from the edge, depending on which side of the house they would be on.

I was quite proud of myself for developing a template system that allowed me to punch holes for whichever tile a crew member needed, without stopping to measure each time. It worked quite well, and by the end of the day, we had nearly all our tiles up, and I had hammered every hole - over 200 by my count!

Meanwhile the rest of the crew was up on scaffolding and ladders, hauling the tiles up, setting them in place and fastening them with the J-hooks. As tired as my back, hands, and arms were, I was kind of glad not to be up there. It was still pretty hot and sunny. Abby, Jackie, Moo Yee, Carla and Aaron were troopers up there. And of course, our fearless leader Vajra was there the whole time, offering guidance, support and water whenever it was needed.

And while we did that, Victoria, Liz and Amy as well as Sriwilai, the homeowner, continued pointing with mortar - a tiresome job that was really tough on your hands, even when you're wearing gloves.

By the end of the day, our little house was looking much closer to being finished. And a good thing too - because Vajra announced that the next morning, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter would be coming by for our group shot, and we had to get the front of the house looking as good as possible for the photo op!

In the evening, we had a choice of restaurants to go to, and you had to arrange beforehand and make reservations. It was supposed to be an opportunity for the crew to dine together, but in my case, the crew seemed to be going in different directions. Which was okay by me, because throughout the week, I'd actually become part of two "families" - my work crew and my hotel friends, whom I met during the opening ceremonies. So we had dinner together at The Good View restaurant, where we didn't get much of a view, but had a good time anyway. Here they are from left to right, Debbie from New Jersey, Chris and Mike from California, Lisa also from California, and Corinth from Atlanta.

Tomorrow, I'll post the dramatic conclusion of the building of Sweet 16 (and yes Jimmy Carter does make an appearance).

Thais to the rescue

Wednesday was a big day on the build. We had to get the tops of the walls set with braces in each corner by lunch time so they'd be ready to hold up the trusses - three huge triangular pieces that weight four hundred p0unds each.

We knew we'd need help. We've got some tough women on our crew, but getting four hundred pounds of steel up on the roof and in place three times just wasn't going to happen.

Our House Leader Vaj (who's been great by the way) kept nosing around and advocating for us and finally she struck gold. You could practically hear the Thai Cavalry sound as a group of young Thai men appeared on the scene and just took over.

They reminded me of the car full of clowns that roars in at the circus and tumbles out of the tiny car, calling and squawking in their own language as they run amok. But in this case, they had a very real mission.

They hauled in the first truss, which is a challenge not just because of the weight, but also because of the obstacles in and around the house - like scaffolding that had to be there so we could be at the top ready to receive the truss.

It was just a riot to watch them - and hear them work. They were all yelling at each other at once, apparently giving each other directions like "move left" or "stop", but because they were all constantly calling, it sounded like the were arguing - and I'm sure sometimes they were, as they maneuvered the huge piece in, around and above things.

Vaj was getting quite frustrated because she had a clear idea of how this process should be done, but they had their own way, and with the language barrier, and the fact that she was heavily outnumbered, she had little impact. You can see her in the foreground here.






It was a big challenge, but eventually we got all three trussed up and in place. If you look closely, you can see me up in this shot, helping to hold the piece in place while the guys put the bolts in.


Eventually, and after much stress and noise, we got the three trusses up. Then the crossbars had to go in place. Vaj originally thought we'd just get the guys to do the initial pieces and then let us take over - communication was too tough with them, even though we had an interpeter there. These guys didn't really want to listen to anyone.

But finally Vaj gave in and let them just keep on going. It was incredible to see them scurry up and down the scaffolds, leaping from one to the other and standing in precarious positions to get the job done.



And then when , the trusses and crossbars were all in place, our team of Thai heroes posed for a quick picture with Vaj. And with as much noise and mayhem, the left, ready to take on their next challenge, but leaving us with a roof, ready to be tiled!





One other quick story before I finish for now. I met a woman called Sonia Street from Baltimore. She's been on 17 Jimmy Carter builds. But that's notg the thing that makes her memorable. Just over 17 years ago, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter came to Baltimore and helped her build her own home. Ever since, she's been going on builds, mostly in the US. She went to Korea a few years ago and she's in Thailand now.

And next year, she's hoping Jimmy and Rosalynn will come back to her house - so they can be there when she makes her last mortgage payment. Okay, what else is there to say?