Our parents are FINALLY finished with their yoga retreat and they can FINALLY hang out with us.
Here's what we've been doing. We're living on 40 acres of land in Northern Thailand. It's very green here and there's lots of ba teung, a nice plant with a pretty yellow flower. The land is very beautiful with good views.
We live in a hut made of bamboo. There are 20 and some have thatch sides and some have straw sides. The thatch ones have lots of carpenter ants that eat the bamboo and make lots of dust. So we're moving to a straw one.
There's no electricity on the land. We shower in circles of banana trees, and you have a big bucket filled with water and a dipper, and you just pour water over yourself. That's your shower. We helped build the banana circles when we first got here.
Our parents work in the garden and make compost from left over food and other stuff (including everyone's poop!) There are also 2 hens and 10 chicks that roam the garden during the day and at night live in the chicken coop we built.
We have bikes, and ride around the land, and hang out with the babies of our other friends on the retreat - there are 3 two-yr olds and a 1 yr old. They have Thai nannies, but we help play with the babies and help them and the nannies get used to each other.
We also have a motorbike. We fit all four of us on it to go to town, where there's a market that sells chicken, fruit, like rambutan, mangosteen, jack fruit, and dragon-eye fruit, Betegen (which is a sweet fermented milk drink), corn waffles, fried bananas and fried taro, and good (but bad) pastries. There's also an internet place, a stationary store, something like a hardware store, and a 7-11. This is our favorite place to get snacks! They have seaweed crackers, sweet rice cakes, tamarind candy, and other good stuff.
A few days ago we went to a cool waterfall place where we could swim. There ws a crazy bridge made of bamboo. It was VERY rickety. We were scared, but we crossed it.
Here's a picture of our dad. He hasn't shaved for a while. He's looking a little raggedy. Someone said he looks very Deadwood. (Your parents will know what that means).
OK. That's all for now. Now that our parents have more time, we'll try to write more often. We miss all our friends. Don't forget about us!
Yesterday I learned how to drive a tractor. The tractor is orange and boxy. It has big tires in the back and small ones in the front. It also has a hood over it so you don’t get too hot or too wet. The tractor is a Kaboda Diesel. It has a lot of knobs. One knob makes the bulldozer attacment fo up and down, one engages the mower, and another raisses and lowers the mower. There is a knob to put it in gear – rabbit, neutral, or turtle. When I drive the tractor, the sound is like really loud classical music. The seat feels soft against my back. My feet and hands feel the vibrations of the motor. I smell the smell of deisel, exhaust, and the grass I cut. The tractor is very powerful. When I drive it, I feel like I can do anything.
