Special Buckets

Its been a whirlwind tour since arrving. A motobike pic-up from Mea Hong Son Airport, a quick Burmese history lesson, a judge's football game, dinner at Judge Rays house, a hard night out in MHS, a party for Jason, Morgan and Max, a hike up the mountain in the rain, teachers vs. students volleyball, korean bar-b-que, bucket showers, judging the regional English speaking contest 2008, a 5 hour bus ride to Chaing Mai, bucket drinks on arrival, losing Max only to find out that he fell in the river and was found by Niels (who was responsible for the bucket drinks inthe first place), someone stole my shoes, and now motobikes in Chaing Mai.

Thailand is pretty damn awesome! Obviously is has been a lot of fun so far, I am lamenting how sort my time is, but it has been packed with fun.

Nai Soi school is in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is surrounded by rice paddies and misty mountains. The kids are beautiful and full of smiles and laughter. They are all very warm and welcoming; it doesn't take long to feel like you are part of their lives. The hike up the mountain was with 25 of them and it was one of the most fun hikes I have ever been on. Everyone was singing and laughing, slipping and sliding. It started to rain and with hardly a thought they had made hats out of the huge leaves that are everywhere. Its an amazing connection to nature that so many of us have lost, or rather maybe never had in the first place.

Mea Hong Son is a very cool little town with a couple of Wots (Buddhist Temples). Emmett is something like a celebrity, saying hello to nearly everyone we pass, I can see why this place would be so hard to ever leave. Chaing Mai is cool, its the second largest city in Thailand after Bangkok, and there are lots of Americans and Europeans (no doubt the reason my shoes were stolen - there are just some things that you don't do, and if the custom is to take your shoes off in buildings, THEN YOU DON'T STEAL SOMEONES SHOES!!!!!!). Its fun, but the authenticity is lost somewhere in all that madness.

So much has happened in such a short time that its hard to remember and process it all, but I've been taking notes and when I get a better opportunity, there will be more details about all the stuff above.

I think we are going to go get iodine foot baths that pull all the toxins out of your body - should be interesting to see what comes out.