Dokhina sees her first guests

So, who honestly thought that Mama and Papa West could go a whole year without seeing Baby Di?

Yeah. Exactly! I am so lucky that my mom and dad were able to come all the way to the other side of the world! It worked out perfectly- Mom flew from London and arrived in Dhaka on a Thursday afternoon (halfway through the last day of my school week).  I had everything arranged for her to arrive at the airport, get ushered through the visa application process, and into a car with a driver to bring her home.  There, Misti showed her to my room and she was able to freshen up before Wahid drove her to school and Sav and I were waiting with open arms to greet her at the main gate! I gave her a tour of the school, and we went home for a power nap. Unfortunately, 15 minutes in- the call to prayer jolted her awake and we decided to go for some Starbucks brew at the new cafe in Baridhara- The Mermaid Cafe.  After an energy boost, we went to the BAGHA for a rooftop BBQ and some live tunes with a bunch of the other lady teachers.

The rest of the week's events in Dhaka and Chiang Mai are beautifully articulated in my Dad's post below... so I'll just give you my side notes...

Having my parents here was more than incredible.  At times I thought I was going to have one of my "I'm-so-stressed-out-I-am-going-to-faint" moments, but everything always seemed to work itself out.  Traffic jams, hartals, mosquitos, and accidental ingestions of tap water aside- the Dhaka journey was smooth.  I love that now my parents know who I am talking about when I tell stories, that they can picture me at school or driving around the Diplomatic Zone dodging rickshaws and flashing my lights (why? I still don't know what it means, but everyone else does it- so I just join in) and honking my horn. They see the kinds of things I experience everyday and can better understand why sometimes I am just too exhausted to tell them about my day... or why I suck at keeping up with my blog;) It is so hard to fully explain what Dhaka is like.  As my dad said, you really have to experience it to understand it.

Seeing Dhaka through my parents fresh eyes reopened my mind to what my life is like here.  It is pretty ridiculous at times.  I mean- livestock chilling in the street on my corner, eating to their hearts' desire without knowing it is only to fatten them up for the sacrifices on Eid- that is a unique environment.

The escape to Chiang Mai, Thailand couldn't have come at a better time. First of all, can you imagine me over this holiday? The girl who doesn't like to look at raw meet in Harris Teeter? I get the shivers just thinking about it. I think the talk and description of Eid from my students is enough of a cultural experience for me at this point in my life.

The trip to Chiang Mai was the best traveling I've had in my entire life.  I don't know if it is because I got to be the daughter again (didn't have to worry about carrying my plane ticket or organizing adventures) or if it was the peaceful aura the Thais exude: but something made this trip stand out among the rest.

Perhaps it was my life dream coming true: becoming BFFs with an elephant.  Since I don't know when, these massive beasts have been the subject of my investigation and devotion.  I love them! I have always been fascinated by them and jealous of the elephant trainers at zoos and frustrated that they got to feed them and pet them when I was so close and stuck on the other side of a fence.  At Baanchang there were no fences :) Just us with our hands feeding bushels of bananas right into elephants mouths! Big, pink, slobbery tongues sucking banana bunches from our hands and long sneaky trunks cleverly maneuvering themselves to stop us in our tracks to snatch bananas out of our grip! A whole morning with these massive but gentle beasts has only amplified my love for them.  Everything that dad explained about our experience there I second.  It was the total high of Chiang Mai- and probably the most memorable thing I've done in my life so far.

Pad thai will never be as good as it was at the Gecko Cafe we stumbled upon, but every time I eat it my mind will drift back to Thailand, and I will be happy :).

I miss my parents so much already! I hope they are sitting down for Thanksgiving tomorrow with all the O'Briens and are able to send my love to everyone and share with them some of the things they experienced here with us <3

Now some photos to further detail the best 10 days I've had on this side of the world!

My room :) Painted walls, decorations from around South Asia!

Mom looking fabulous even though she just flew for 20 hours!  Here we are standing just inside the main gate to school. 

Me and Bree in her awesome OT classroom! 

Our beautiful pink palace of an apartment building! Wahid explained that Dohkina means "West Winds" in Bangla! Same name as our sailboat! 

At Mermaid Cafe getting some coffee to wake mama up! It is such a nice escape- pretty decorations, swiss ice cream, coffee, fresh juice bar, and even an attached organic foods store! Also, check out my henna! It only costs about $2 to get done- so I'm going to make it a regular thing.

Mom and Dad treated me to brunch at the Westin. It was SO incredible! I am so lucky!

Walking home from school and into a large cow zone. 

Largest cow to ever exist. 

Mom cruising on the travelator in the Bangkok airport! Chiang Mai, here we come! 

Me and Daddy enjoying our first Chang (which means elephant in Thai) beer an hour after arriving in Chiang Mai.

Enjoying our first Thai food at Gecko Garden and Cafe.  We walked around 'til we found somewhere that smelled delicious.  The pad thai was 59 baht ($2) and the yummiest food I had the whole trip! 

Posing in front of Le Meridian- the most heavenly hotel experience! Everything was top notch- the lobby smelled incredible, there was a menu for the kind of pillows we wanted, our room overlooked the Night Market and the pool that overlooked the mountains got full sunshine in the afternoon!

Poolside treat for today: mini smoothies! 

We explored t the Golden Temple on the top of a nearby mountain.  We were even randomly called upon by a monk to be blessed and given a bracelet of good luck! 

Family photo in front of one of the many massive golden displays at the temple.

Sawaadee kaaaaaaa

One of my favorite moments of the trip: the naughty baby elephant wraps his trunk around my neck and sucks in! Which results in a huge suction effect on my neck! It tickled and felt so cool! It is his little trick that he does for all the people who come to experience the elephants. 

Mom and Dad on their elephant.  We ventured off for an almost 2 hour hike up and down the mountain after having a lot of training in the elephant camp.

Whenever the elephants got hungry they paused and wrangled a bamboo tree to nibble on.

For the trip up the mountain, Savanna and Dad were the drivers and Mom and I were the passengers.  We stopped at the top of the mountain, let the elephants play and explore, and then switched drivers for the way down.

Peek-a-boo! 

Mom and I may have been sitting in the place of the person in charge of the elephant- but the Mahouts (elephant caretakers) who walked along with us really had all the control.  

We plunked right into the river and bathed these massive animals with little scrubby brushes.  It was a cool feeling being in the water with them- but MAN it smelled bad! 

Goochie goochie goo!

Photo op in front of the Airport Center Plaza! The elephant fountain was dressed up in Santa hats!

We got tickets for Harry Potter on opening night! Loved every minute of it! I had forgotten how nice it was to go to a movie. There were plenty of times I completely forgot I was in Asia.

Standing amongst a sea of lanterns that decorated the moat and ancient wall that surrounded the original city of Chiang Mai. 

The day we left was a Thai holiday: Loy Krathong.  It is a time to give thanks to the water and rivers.  People send lanterns up in to the air by lighting them like a hot air balloon. 

On our last night, we enjoyed a truly authentic Thai dining experience.  Our waitress couldn't speak English and the performances ranged from a 3 person band, to a large group of people playing drums to men breathing fire and dancing with fire batons! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for coming all the way to Dhaka and then exploring Thailand for me. It means more than you'll ever know that you understand this experience I'm having! Love you <3