Protests and Pandas and Hippos, Oh My

So, my current country of residence has been in the news quite a bit lately. DON’T WORRY. I’m fine, I promise. Most of the protests are in isolated areas of Bangkok, and Chiang Mai is fairly politically unified. So far, my daily life has remained unchanged. The few notable exceptions are that I can’t wear red or yellow, I can’t visit certain areas of Chiang Mai, and when I was walking around yesterday, I saw a group of pro-government supporters driving around with megaphones. Luckily, I don’t look good in either red or yellow, I wouldn’t go to those areas of Chiang Mai normally anyway, and the protesters were loud but peaceful. Please know that I am being careful and keeping on top of the news and that I, PiA, and my organization are all looking out for my best interests. So really, you should not be worried about me. Also, worst case scenario, the Chiang Mai airport is still open and operational.

In more exciting news, I went to the Chiang Mai Zoo last weekend. I was a little worried about what kind of condition the animals would be in, but apart from some inexplicably hairless ostriches, it was really a great zoo. There were signs in English and I'm pretty sure most everything was correctly labeled, though I still would like to know exactly what a "jungle cat" is. There were white tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, camels, monkeys, penguins, and baby koalas. We paid the $3 extra to see the pandas and it was well worth it.



But the best part was THIS:



Yes, those are hippos. Yes, they're resting their chins on the edge of their cage. Yes, those are small children approximately 2 feet away from them. There's a lady who sells bananas right outside the hippo exhibit and YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FEED THE HIPPOS. Apparently, this now has them trained to wait around right where all the people stand so that you can throw bananas into their gaping mouths.

Manvale, what time should I meet you there?