Progress

Hi,

It’s been a rainy few days in Chiang Rai.  We managed to walk between the raindrops and have a great weekend, but it still managed to wet things up pretty good.

The ‘Old School Friday’ song was “Respect” by Aretha Franklin.  The tune was written by Otis Redding.  Now it’s time for ‘Easy Monday’ and a tune you should remember:  “Oh yeah baby, like a fool I went and stayed too long, now I’m wondering if your love’s still strong.  Oo baby, here I am, __, __, __, __ __.”  Hint:  There’s a postal reference in the title.  The singer once was little.

Gong was supposed to leave for his cooking class in Chiang Mai on Sunday, but a bridge got washed out on the highway, so he had to leave Saturday and take the long way.  This entails going many more miles, some say it can take 4 to 6 hours instead of 3, but he made it just fine.

In other parts of Thailand, the major news stories center around the flooding of villages and towns.  The city of Nan, where we visited a few weeks ago, has been flooded.  We’re not sure if it’s the whole town, or the areas near the river, but Cat told us that her English teacher’s family lives there and they had to retreat to the second floor of their house.  There are several dams in other areas, that are about to overflow.  Water must be released, which will flow into rivers that will flood anyway.  It’s a ‘no win’ situation for the water management people.  

Our Sunday was pretty mellow.  We lunched at The Wanderer, and got a special treat.  Khun Noot took us into her ‘museum’ of artifacts that she and her late husband, Khun Witcha, had been collecting for many years.  Some things were found during digs in older provinces, and other things came from traders.  She has necklaces made from seeds that were originally gathered in the forest.  Today, she said no one wants to do that kind of work, so her necklaces have a new value.  There were also 2,000 year old beads and stacks of books as reference guides.  She gave us two small carvings, one of an elephant, the other a dragon.  They appear to be made from some kind of bone, with very delicate details.  There were boxes of pottery fragments found deep below the surface of the earth.  Fascinating stuff.

We returned to Riverie, the resort in progress, for dinner.  It’s our new favorite place for an elegant atmosphere, even if we’re eating chicken burgers (555).  Only one other table was occupied, so it was very peaceful as we sat and watched the river.  

We’ve been having some fun visits with Nitchanan lately.  While Natcha finishes making dinner, Nitchanan hangs out with us.  She brings us pillows and makes sure that we do like she does, or at least tries.  This evening, Cat came over for dinner and it was interesting to see the ‘shy side’ of Nitchanan.  We learned that her Akha lessons are becoming a part of her vocabulary.  When talking to Cat, she used a word we didn’t know.  It turns out to be the word for ‘girl’ in Akha.  She was referring to herself.  We think that going to school is starting to have a positive effect on her in different ways.  This morning Natcha took her to school on the motorbike and they both had their helmets on, which is new for Nitchanan.  I think she probably sees other kids arriving to school with their helmets on and sees it as a good thing.  We are so happy about that.

Lisa taught Chopper how to play ‘fetch’ today.  It began with a ball on a string.  After about 3 times, he got the idea.  Before too long, she was throwing the ball across the yard and he was bringing it back.  He’s very smart.  Later, in the kitchen, he wanted to play with Daku, but the old man was having no part of it.  He actually growled and showed his fangs.  Chopper backed off right away.  Things are changing around here, maybe for the better.

Have a Great Week.

                      Peace,

                                Danny

“Knowledge is power.

Information is liberating.

Education is the premise of

progress, in every society,

in every family.”

~Kofi Annan