No Thai-me Like the Present: Life is Good in Thailand

One of Liam's sons, William.

Hey folks! I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd drop in and let everyone know what's been going on. A couple of weekends ago, the younger American teachers and Liam (an Irish teacher) and his adorable family gathered at Orlando's house for a Thanksgiving feast. I had been a bit anxious about Thanksgiving this year-it's the first time I have ever NOT been at home for the holiday with my family and friends. Being so far away from home certainly makes you realize how much more you appreciate those you love and who love you back home; it gives me the comforting sense that I'll never really be saying goodbye, but "See you later." Anyways, back to Thai Thanksgiving.

I had been panicking about what delectable dish I would make as a contribution to this potluck-style meal. I had volunteered to make dessert, always a fan favorite and (hopefully) not easy to ruin. The I thought about the fact that I don't have an oven...or a stove...or a hot plate...or a microwave...or anything required to do baking. But alas! The beautiful invention that is the "no-bake dessert" found it's way onto my Google search...thank the Lawd. Thanks to Google and foodgawker, I was able to create not one but TWO no-bake desserts that flew off the shelves, so to speak. Though they didn't look exactly like the pictures (do they ever?) both the Chocolate-Peanut Butter dessert and my No-Bake Peanut Butter Nutella cookies were a hit.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Dessert

Nutella No-Bake Cookies

Eliza and Orlando were in charge of the meat contribution, and dang, what a contribution. We had grilled chicken, which was of course delicious, and (drum roll, please) CROCODILE! Yes, crocodile.

For those of you who haven't cooked or grilled crocodile, it looks like chicken (whitish-pinkish) but has the texture of a light sandpaper. It's definitely tougher than chicken, but I have to say, I liked it better. Maybe it was the marinade, but the thin filet of croc was delectable, and I feel pretty cultured to now say that I ate crocodile for Thanksgiving on a mat in Ubonratchathani, Thailand.

Lyle, Lyle crocodile.

Liam contributed his homemade chili con carne, while Sam and Alicia brought a bevy of fresh vegetables which were pan-cooked and just the right amount of crispiness. Patty and Dave brought Patty's homemade macaroni and cheese (they're smart...they have a hotplate) which was amazing! It's safe to say that we all left with the slightly uncomfortable, post-Thanksgiving full tummy.

Veggies.

Happy cooking!

In other news, watch out folks: I have rented a Yamaha motorbike. It's automatic and more of a large scooter than motorbike, but I still feel pretty badass zipping around Ubon. After witnessing that pretty horrific accident in Laos, I was not going to rent/buy any motorbike. However, it is the best purchase and/or decision I have made since arriving here. While Ubon is not huge, there is a lot to explore and see, and one can get tired easily by travelling by song-taew then having to walk everywhere else. The bike is 900THB per month and the bright blue helmet I purchased was 350THB. I don't think the Murray parents were super psyched about the idea of their daughter on a motorbike in Thailand, but let me explain. The roads here are built for motorbikes/bicycles. They are very narrow, with little room for passing if you are in a car. The people of Ubon have also been riding on the back (or front) of a motorbike since infancy, so while the traffic can be speedy, everyone seems to respect the road and other drivers. There are also police checkpoints at night all the time, so while drunk driving happens, it rarely goes unchecked; drunk driving happens all of the time in the United States, so it's not the terrifying driving situation everyone pictures it to be over here. I do not have any pictures of myself on the bike right now, but I will be sure to get a real good one for you all soon.