CM Internship: Day 17 (Monday 3 March 2014) by Kara

Mondays are our rest days. For a rest day, it was quite eventful. Wi, Shuen, Gilian, and Vern decided to utilized\ the cheap and wonderful Thai massages. They came back feeling relaxed and rejuvenated. Wi has lived in Thailand her whole life, and today was her first day to have a Thai massage. She came out of the massage and said she should have asked for two hours. Ha! I think she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thai Massage Outfit

At 4:30 we left to go to Robert’s house. We arrived and helped prepare the chicken and salad. While we were waiting for the chicken to come off of the grill, we played two truths and a lie. We ate a delicious meal of bar-b-q chicken, salad, mashed potatoes, fresh mangoes, and brownies. It was so delicious.

After eating a delicious meal, Lin Fei (Robert’s neighbor’s friend) told us she would make tea for us using traditional Chinese methods. We had no idea what a treat she had in store for us. Lin Fei previously owned a hotel in China and would charge lots of money for people to observe the process she goes through to make her tea. She brought over all her stuff and began. First, she starts by using only water from a mountain stream. She travels up the mountain and collect large amounts of water from Doi Sutep (a nearby mountain). Today she used special leaves called Boasting Tea leaves. They are special because they turn a certain color only after being bitten by a certain kind of worm. A kilo costs about $4,000 US Dollars! She was so sweet to use some of it on us. There are many rules of this tea ceremony. First of all, she must wear certain garments and not use any kind of perfume. The first pot of tea must be thrown out, and she must never show the bottom of the pot. While pouring tea, she must pour from right to left. After we received our tea, we learned it was polite to tap once on the table to say thank you. She made us several cups of tea. The tea helped settle our full stomachs. With quenched thirst and full stomachs we headed home.