Today we all took a Thai cooking
lesson, went to an elephant safari, and saw the Big Buddha. The cooking lesson
began with a trip to the market where we bought and learned about the
ingredients used in popular Thai dishes.
We made green curry with chicken, Tom
Yum Goong soup, pad thai, and a dessert called khanom lot chong (coconut cream
and jack fruit). My favorite was definitely the pad thai, although all of the
dishes were delicious. I am anxious to try to make some of the dishes for
friends and family when I get back to the U.S.
After the cooking lesson, we went
to an elephant safari where most of us took a ride on elephants. It was amazing
to be sitting on top of such a powerful animal. The height alone was enough to
scare me a little bit, but it was a memorable experience. I have come a long
way from when I was a child watching animal planet and dreaming about being
around such a peaceful animal. The experience of riding an elephant is one that
will never be forgotten.
The Big Buddha, which is actually a
large statue of a monk on top of a temple, was next on the agenda for the day.
The size of the monk statue was slightly overwhelming at first. We were lucky
enough to see some monks at the temple while we were there. We learned that
there are two types of Buddhist monks: those who are monks for life and those
who are temporarily monks. All Buddhist men are expected to be a monk for some
period of time during their lifetime, especially right before they get married.
Our day was filled with a good amount of cultural, as well as culinary, education along with some adventure. The experiences we have had so far will be among the days that will always be looked upon and reminisced about by all of us for the rest of our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment