almost famous.

This week left me feeling almost famous.

First, I revisited my favorite local photo-printing shop and found they had remodeled. They put up new doors, new walls, and printed new photos and signs. One is a sign advertising for visa photos of all sizes and colors, where I found myself!

I’m the third German from the left. Hmm.

The second almost-famous opportunity was really much more fun. Our favorite restaurant in town–and probably most everyone’s–is called Casa Mia. They serve Burmese, Thai, and Western food. They make their own Italian dishes, and just generally are lovely.  They learned Italian from an Italian doctor and friend of ours, Elisabetta, who has lived in Mae Sot for over a decade. She still helps them with the restaurant and asked if I’d be willing to teach Ta, the Karen owner and head chef, how to make some Mexican dishes.

Would I!?! Of course! I love cooking, I love the Karen, and I love Casa Mia.

And for us, Casa Mia goes way back to 2009, when we volunteered for three months. Whenever we’d be back in Mae Sot for the weekends from Noh Bo village, we’d find our way to Casa Mia. We had many a date night there while we were engaged.

This entire event was made even more special because the original Casa Mia location that we’ve known and loved and visited for over five years is closing this week. The landlords sold the land, and they are having to relocated just a kilometer or so down the street. This is not all bad, but we were kind of sentimentally sad, since we do love this place and the people. It holds quite a number of memories for us.

Alas, I got to spend my Thursday morning in the kitchen, introducing some Mexican food to Ta, in the black and white checked shirt. We made salsa, tortillas, chicken tortilla soup, chips, nachos, quesadillas, and fajitas. I felt famous, even though I’m sure everyone else who’s been here too long has spent time in the kitchen and taught many a dish. However ridiculous it may be, I was pretty excited just for the opportunity!

We also stopped by Friday to be there for the closing night of the original restaurant and snap a few pictures. It was the end of an era.

Ta treated us to a free dinner and made us feel almost famous!