They tell me that the Year of the Rabbit will be much calmer, more peaceful than our 2010 Year of the Tiger was. Let's hope so - even as the news, newly available to us here at our little guesthouse in Chiang Mai, tells us of the troubles in Egypt. Such a powerful surrounding global context, impinging though rather distantly, on our current surrounding Thai/travel context. At least I can report that all is well with our group. Our students are thriving, exploring Thailand's second biggest city, after their 3-day idyll at Wan Pen's farm, followed by their first overnight train ride.
As I gather at least some of the students have already reported (while I spent my internet time booking Indian train tickets), we've had a wealth of experiences since I wrote from Bangkok. There was the van ride to Ban Phra Tat, the village where Wan Pen and family live, followed by arrival at her recently-improved accommodations for visitors - improvements Ted and I were a bit concerned about changing the character of the place, until we got there. What were funky, no-electricity & no-running-water, village-style bungalows now have electricity available (through hookup to car batteries charged by solar power), sturdy foundations, and lovely folk art. All very Thai, all simple but lovely. We were glad to see that bucket showers remain a feature. And Wan Pen's cooking is just as superb as ever.
Our second day there was spent in play - at the nearby Phra Tat cave (with first a talk about carpse? topography and extremaphiles from Ted), and then the infamous 7-tiered Erawan waterfall. The group was in fine form, and the day was both exhilarating and exhausting. We slept well that night - and the next two, lulled to sleep by excellent food and sweet jungle noises, woken by the roosters. Our third day was devoted to "you choose" - students were told to use the day in whatever way they felt best, and given a variety of options. A partial list of how we spent Sunday at Wan Pen's, made while sitting on the balcony of my bungalow enjoying the warm sun, the gentle breeze and the dappled light of the garden surrounding the bungalows follows: playing harmonica, practicing/playing hackeysack, exploring (the nearby village and monastery, the Buddha shrine on the ridge, the other ridge that took a good deal of bushwhacking to summit), listening to birdsongs, reading (AP Psych! chapter on Motivation, novels), journaling, playing pickup soccer with village kids, washing clothes, playing with Wan Pen's grandkids, planting small fruit trees for Mr. Hey, resting, talking to each other... A beautiful day for each and all of us.
Monday was return-to-Bangkok and boarding-of-the-train-to-
We'll return to our guesthouse in Chiang Mai Thursday night, then take off for Mae Sot Friday morning. Mae Sot is our jumping-off point for our first service project in a small Karen tribal village 2 hours north of there, right across the river from Burma. The college group is there now, beginning the work we will continue after we take their places - building a school (Karen children, most of them refugees, are not allowed to attend Thai schools), helping with the establishment of a job training center for youth in need of job skills, and otherwise doing whatever the villagers let us know would be helpful. We'll return to Mae Sot after a few days, thence back to Bangkok in time for one more night at the Shanti before our departure for India Feb 11. I expect I'll be able to send another update once we are back in Bangkok, if not before.
And so go I - miles to cross before I sleep. We send our love and constant gratitude.
Blessings,
Peg
No comments:
Post a Comment