thai food

we are in the l1ttle hippie mountain village of pai, northern thailand. it reminds me a lot of what boulder used to be like maybe 15 years ago or so. it's entirely slow and mellow and over half the local expats are stoned all the time. i'm really loving it because there are about a hundred dogs who roam around and are all very well taken care of and friendly. we've gotten to know a good number of them as we see them on the street every morning and then lying around in the hot sun all afternoon. they all have their own various special turfs, for instance; down the short road from our guest house there's a little soft black and white mini collie type of dog named limpy jr. he's still a bit of a puppy and his fur is curly and luxurious albeit very dirty. he's got a buddy/protector named simply limpy who likes to make sure that his little buddy is doing alright all the time, he's a little more mangy and larger with yellow fur and an unfortunate skin condition on his belly. they are often joined in the evenings by a dog named wrinklehead who is brown and black and who curls into a ball and wrinkles his forehead til you come up and pet him then he jumps up and tried to lick the features off your face. these are the only three dogs who have told us their names, but there are many more who we recognize and greet. there is also a strange breed of bear-dog that seems to exist only here in pai. you can clearly see the bear in about 35% of the dog population. it's not that they're big, all thai dogs are relatively small, they just have this very special whispy wisker face that has "bear" written all over it.
there are also a ton of friendly cats. this morning i had a yoga class with this totally wacked out thai lady who has a huge cat and a big black dog. she kept on manhandling the two of them and squealing. "my son! my other son!" the animals are well off here.
today we are having a cooking class. it is so awesome, we made lunch and now we're breaking. already we know how to make red, green, masaman, yellow, panang, and tumeric curry! we made all the curry paste from scratch--carefully picking ingredients from the market, chopping, dicing, toasting, pounding with a pestle and mortar for about a half hour and then simmering with coconut milk. it was the best thai food i've ever had, fresh curries over rice. tonight we learn to make pad thai and about 10 other thai delights. this means that next summer no one need travel all the way out to hyannis for overpriced greasy thai food--just bring emerson and i gifts and we will cook you a feast.
we are getting super excited about india! it's nice to be in this mellow easy-going town for a few days because it is going to be non-stop chaos and scams from the moment we get off the airplane in delhi. if anyone knows anything about india, any special places to go or stay let us know. we're only going to be in the north, rajastan, agra, uttar pradesh--we're pretty open about it right now. we have a lonely planet, but sometimes the lonely planet lies about the good places to visit, or underemphasizes certain important aspects--like garbage beach in mui ne vietnam.
love to everyone, i hope you are all filled with wonder and a happy belly feeling today! we are.