Finding Community in Chiang Mai

It has definitely been harder to find and forge a community in Chiang Mai, but we did our best. We had many interactions and times to share stories with people in Chiang Mai, like while climbing at Crazy Horse, or while doing our cooking class, or meeting a stranger at a street food place who paid for our meal, or selling our rope to a fellow climber. These were enjoyable but were all just brief bits of community. 

We have been able to spend some time with our host, Alana. She has been pretty busy living and working in Chiang Mai, running her blog and doing freelance work. But, we have been able to have some memorable times, like chatting over wine, making Mexican dinner, and meeting some of her friends. It is nice to have an English oasis to return to after wandering about Chiang Mai all day. Swapping stories and hearing about her experiences in Chiang Mai have provided wonderful community for us. 

We have also had the pleasure of meeting, Pam and Larin, friends of Brandon's aunt. They have been living in Chiang Mai for around ten years, raising four boys and working in a Chiang Mai school library and at Chiang Mai University. They have kindly taken us out to dinner and welcomed us into their house to play cards and hang out. It has been interesting to hear about their cultural experiences in both China and Thailand. They have introduced us to new foods and informed us about things to do in the area. We feel like we have gotten a unique view of Chiang Mai from them. It has been wonderful to spend time with such real, warm, and welcoming people. We hope we will be able to connect with them again. 

I suppose when you are only in a city for two to three weeks, you cannot expect deeper community. However, we feel very thankful to have had longer, more meaningful stretches of time with Alana, Pam, and Larin.