Freshman Stephanie Taylor writes about the team's final full day in Thailand.

Thanks to the Perelman's, the last full day in Thailand was a complete success. The day began with a 6:40 am wakeup call but instead of tired eyes, everybody was wide awake and excited for the morning which would be spent at the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai!! After spending an hour drive in the back of a red truck, we rolled up to a beautiful resort overlooking mowed grounds with flowers, rice fields and mountains in the distance. A golf cart ride to the tennis courts was next, followed by a heart stopping scare when all the freshmen realized that the balls had been left at Cinda's home. But not to worry, balls and tennis rackets were brought out on a silver platter for us along with towels and cold water. One of the most missed luxuries from home were clean public bathrooms, everybody remarked how they finally felt as clean coming out as they did going in. After tennis practice ended, we were split into two groups, one group going to plant rice and the other to walk the grounds and learn about nature.

The rice planting was very educational, not to mention loads of fun, and made all of us realize how much we take rice for granted. Sticky Rice takes three months to grow while jasmine rice takes four months, which is why it is a little more expensive. Typically, Thailand farmers will choose to plant sticky rice because of the month time difference. To begin the rice planting, the group was given straw sombreros, blue overalls and brown boots to keep the mud out. The rice process begins with the farmer, in this case us, stepping knee deep into muddy water to pick a bunch of young rice plants. Untold to us, if you stand still long enough in the water, your boots will become stuck and it becomes almost impossible to break free. Unfortunately, Coach Amy became aware of this too late and took a fall, but she remarked the shower afterward "had the best water pressure she has ever felt". To rinse the young plants of the mud, you slap the plant roots on top of your hand, but if you stand to close to someone you will get splashed. Sorry to Sasha, as she ended up with a face splattered with mud because of me. Planting the rice was the trickiest part because it felt that you either grabbed too much or too little. Goldie lox was not on our side, for that one. After the rice plants mature, the farmers smash the rice seeds using a wooden beam that you step on. From there, the rice is separated from the shells using a bamboo oval shaker and the flipping technique you would use on a pancake. Bridget and Bora had it down but my try led to a bunch of rice ending up on the ground. The rice made by the hotel is donated to the hill tribe people, most likely a tribe similar to that of what we just visited, and the full circle became complete.

The other part of the trip consisted of a nature walk of the grounds. We started the tour at a Hindu shrine in the middle of the grounds where we learned about the Hindu god Ganesha, the god of prosperity, success and remover of obstacles. He has the head of the elephant, the animal of Thailand, and a snake for a belt. The story is that, after eating too many coconut modacks, his favorite treat, his stomach burst. A snake, who witnessed this occurrence, laughed at him and so in retaliation he made the snake the belt to keep his tummy in.  From there, every tree and flower we witnessed we learned the purpose and beauty of it, even learning that cinnamon comes from the bark of a tree and a flower seedling from a red ginger plant is edible and tastes like lime, known through experience. Lunch, at the four seasons was spectacular, starting with the spring rolls and ending with mango sticky rice.

Once lunch ended, our time at the Four Season's did too. Everybody was sad to leave but it was time to spend time with tigers at Tiger Kingdom! Four Eagles decided to take on the big tigers while the rest went with the cute tiger cubs. Being in the cage with the giant tiger was indescribable. Two giant tigers were in the cage, walking around, roaring, and to keep Bora, Elaine, Dolo and I safe, the trainers were equipped with sticks! The tigers were docile though and we all ended up getting to lie with them. The cubs, were adorable. The rest of the team went in with them and observed the cubs being playful with each other. From a far, they looked like small house cats only not as harmless.

To end the day, the team went to the Night Market for five hours and the shopping began. The vendors lined the never-ending two-mile span on both sides and in the middle. The market even spread left and right down side streets. There were spices, clothing, trinkets, rings and much more at the market and by the end the street was so filled that walking was almost impossible. The best game at the Market was bargaining. Ysa won the bargaining game, getting 200 baht less than the starting price of her item and everybody wanted Defne on their team as she has had the best bargaining success on this trip. Overall, today was a perfect day. We will keep you updated on our match and progress home tomorrow.

Be sure to continue following the team's trip on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as with daily journal entries on emoryathletics.com.