Survey Says... Appe-THAI-zing!

This morning was our first day of conducting surveys at Patara Elephant Farm. The surveys evaluate tourists' knowledge of safe travel practices and environmental awareness while engaging in ecotourism activities. We learned more about these topics in our guest lecture on Monday with Dr. Watcharapong and Dr. Parichat Salee. They explained some prominent health issues in Chiang Mai related to travel medicine, which provided a deeper understanding of the purpose of the survey.

To distribute the surveys, we split up and met up with different groups on tour across the elephant farm. We had several volunteers from all over the world, including the US, Belgium, and China. During breaks at our “ground base” we got to play with the mama and baby elephants that congregate and eat there during the day, which, of course, are adorable :)

In exchange for permission to conduct the surveys at Patara, the group was asked to teach some of the Mahouts (elephant trainers) some useful English phrases and vocabulary. Lesson planning compromised of gathering vocabulary and questions that we thought, through our recent experience as an elephant trainer for a day, a Mahout who knew little English would need to learn to interact effectively with English-speaking tourists. We took our body of words, categorized them, and designated a pair of us to each category. We are excited to teach them tomorrow!

Tonight we went to the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center, where dinner was served prior to the show. The meal consisted of red and green chili sauces, pork stew, Thai fried chicken, and sweet fried banana. It was fantastic!

The female dancers were beautiful and graceful, and the music was entrancing to watch and hear. The women performed delicate moves with intricately coordinated hand twirls and dips. The men's dances were fast-paced and exciting. We sat at the edge of our mats while watching one male performer balance and spin knives around his body. During one dance, members of the audience were invited to dance on stage, and a few of us got the courage to go up and do it. It was an awesome time after a long day of work.

Catherine and John