Now, we just need chillies and sugar....

Last week we had an incredibly strong storm at the school. I made my way to the middle of the house (which happens to be the bathroom) and far away from windows. I highly doubt that this precaution was necessary, but I think that's the Minnesotan coming out in me. Springtime, tornadoes, high winds - so it was a more natural instinct than something I thought about. I haven't seen a storm like this here before, though - we got hail!

Can you see the little pieces of hail?

The storm passed quickly enough and when I went outside there were branches, leaves, and fruit everywhere! (I know this pales in comparison to the earthquakes happening around the world, but when your student just took a long time that morning to sweep all around the school, you feel a little bad!) I was also a little worried about our garden because of the hail.

When he walked out of the house it looked more chaotic than this picture made it seem. A huge branch from one of the trees fell on the neighbors house.

When people walked by the school they looked a little surprised at all the debris. And we had to sweep the road so cars wouldn't drive over the fruit making it slippery and dangerous for motorbikes.

When I saw two of my students, Uaorawet and Atiwat, we took stock, and in typical fashion, their brains hadn't automatically gone to what may or may not have happened at the farm - there were more important things to consider. Atiwat announced that, "Now, we need chillies and sugar." So we gathered up all of the fallen fruit, mangoes and star apples.





They washed them and cut them up and...
...we had a snack. Good idea! Is this kind of like making lemons into lemonade...?

Graduation Day

Is old news still news? I think so! One month ago (oh so long already!) Legacy school had it's graduation. Usually we have a very fancy graduation at the Empress Hotel in Chiang Mai. We have a buffet dinner, and an awards ceremony. Students perform and it is a good time. Well, this year we did things a little differently. We had one graduate who will continue his education nearby and will therefore stay here at the school. All things considered, we decided to have graduation at the farm.

The students spent much of the day getting the sala at the farm ready. They created the backdrop, set up equipment and practiced songs. Our ceremony began in the early evening in the sala which overlooks the river near the farm. The very hot day had begun to cool down and all the students were assembled and ready!

Photo credit: Nathan Kimmons

Our program was short. We honored a couple of our students for excellent work this year - Uaorawet received the Spirit of Excellence award, and Samuey, a first year student, received Most Improved. Uaorawet is the student who was in the really bad motorbike accident and despite that huge setback he came to class, finished his work, and had a great attitude. We really learned a lot from him. Samuey had his breakthrough with the phrase "what happened?". Of course, when he first started saying that, he actually meant. "What's happening?" or "What's going on?" but he was starting to talk. And from there he quickly started to talk a lot! I love seeing students get to that point.

We also, of course, honored our graduate LaNuNan for finishing his full three years and really making the most of them. He is an incredibly motivated individual who is always ready to learn and do more.

LaNuNan gave a short speech about his time here and encouraged his fellow classmates to work hard. The awards were handed out and some music was performed.

Photo credit: Nathan Kimmons

Photo credit: Elainea Spivey

After the ceremony it was time for food! LaNuNan (along with everyone else!) loves pizza so that's what we had. Also, Aj. Elainea put her baking talents to work and produced an amazing array of desserts.

Photo credit: Elainea Spivey

The night went on for awhile as the students took advantage of the sound equipment and the fact that the farm is far from other inhabitants! They put karaoke places to shame!



As we all left, the farm seemed a little sad and empty - that's usually a sign that a good time was had!

Chiang Mai Flower Festival

Thailand, and I think especially Northern Thailand, is known for its beautiful flowers. In just the past week we have seen so many blooming here at school. One day it looks like an ordinary bush, and the next there are gorgeous flowers pouring off it. What better time, then, to have a flower festival! I was looking in the Bangkok Post one day and saw the Flower Festival advertised. I thought it would be fun to go check it out, so I asked my girls here to come along. AhJar couldn't come, so that left Fon and Maliwan (lots of girls I know!). We took a sawng-tao in and walked to the park where the festival was held. It was so hot and I was impressed that they didn't seem annoyed at walking. Usually there is great resistance to heat and walking in it here. I guess they really must have been into the idea of seeing flowers!


Maliwan and Fon
One of the many flower arrangements.
There is a parade that is part of the festival. I think it was in the evening. We walked along and looked at the many floats that were made with flowers. It was really beautiful and creative!






The many floats looking like they are all lined up for the parade.
A beautiful lady made of flowers.

We also wandered through the park and saw the many food stalls and the people out enjoying the day. I'm not sure if we saw all of it, but it was a nice taste, and perhaps next year I will go again!