Dogs, cats and chickens all live together here without conflict. Most of these animals are expected to stay out of the way and entertain themselves. Some of them don't receive any care. They wander around, free to roam wherever they please. They are so accustomed to being ignored that they don't really know how to respond to human attention. I pet one at the monastery in Chaiya, and for the rest of visit he did annoying things like chewing on someone's backpack and digging holes - making sure to always stay where I could see him misbehaving. The monks don't believe in chastising animals because they are only behaving naturally. Mmhmm. I found myself having a conversation with a dog outside one of the temples here in Chiang Mai. He seemed to understand me better than any of the people I spoke to that day. He sat there paying close attention while I talked - looking at me with his head cocked to the side when I started to mumble and wagging his tail whenever I glanced at him.
The way people ride motorcycles and scooters here is just plain crazy. You can see 3 people and their groceries all on one bike. They dip between cars, through oncoming traffic and on the sidewalks. They sometimes ride the wrong way on one way streets. At least 90 percent of them wear helmets, and there are surprisingly few accidents. I don't think I could ride here because it's just too dangerous, but I've felt relatively safe as a passenger.
I've got a blood smear and the remains of a large insect on my sock and inside my shoe. Was it feasting on me or just taking refuge in my shoe when it met its end? Is this my blood? Did I take my malaria pill today?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
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