The Sky, and New Year's (early)

One of the joys of having to ride back and forth to dinner is the night sky here in Mae Sa Laung. There is not much artificial light, so now that the moon is just a crescent, and setting early, the sky is beautiful. The last 2 nights have been stunning, as you may have noticed wherever you are, with Venus almost cradled in the moon. With my simple camera, I did the best I could this evening.

Another nice thing about Thailand is getting to look at Orion and the Pleiades overhead without either getting up at 3AM or freezing while I am doing it. Tonight it was the Pleades directly overhead and me comfortable in a T-shirt. But then, tonight, the sky is also peppered with those lanterns I wrote about in the last post. Every once in a while, one gets really high, and it can fool you into thinking that Mars has gotten brighter and changed position (the lanterns have an orangy look). The farm here is in a wooded area, so I cannot see much from my window, but I just went out and there were a few lanterns off in the distance in a perfectly clear sky. There has been a steady beat of gunfire/cannon fire/fireworks/firecackers or whatever since about 7PM. There is loud music coming from at least 2 directions. It is a party.

On the way home from dinner, I saw several large groups (extended families, or neighbors?) eating outside sitting on the ground in a somewhat formal-looking setting. Perhaps there is a religious connection with New year's here. On the other hand, I also saw someone carrying a fifth (or liter or whatever) down the road. I understand that it is even more dangerous to drive here tonight than back in the States. Maybe that is why they need 5 days off- big party.

I will save Lal Lian's news for later...just wanted to give you a flavor of the early nighttime portion of New Year's here.

Lanterns & Noise

In a recent post, I showed a picture of what a burned out "balloon" (more properly lantern) looked like. I linked to Erika's blog about them. Look at Elainea's blog to see 2 very informative pictures of these lanterns, which are one of the features of Loy Krathong. It's a wonder this whole country has not burned up.

Tonight is New Year's, and eveyone is off today. In fact, since the King's birthday a couple of weeks ago, eveyone except the protesters in Bangkok (red shirts this time around) has been off quite a bit. I hear they get 5 days total for New Year's.

I mentioned the monk's devotions over a PA system. I may not have mentioned that they are not unique. It seems everyone cranks it up for whatever reason they desire. Many nights, especially weekends, I hear loud music from the village. At the school, and less noticeable here at the farm, there are PA announcements from the village cheiftains, or whoever they are, about various bits of village business (I guess). Last week, it was a woman who spent a good 15 minutes talking about free massages. Helicopters regularly fly low over both the Farm and the School. Gun volleys and/or fireworks of some sort (I only hear them, not see them, so I do not know) are a daily occurence. In general, there does not appear to be a presumed right to not be disturbed.

In my next post, I will share with you some information about Lal Lian's plans for an orphanage in his village in Burma. He is one of the graduates who is back here for additional Bible training. He is a joy to teach, and I believe that his heart is in the right place and that God will use him as a result.

It is going to be 63 degrees today back home. A few days ago, it was 11 degrees. I have decided that I do not miss the weather back home. Now that Christmas is past, Bruce, the employee who is taking care of things while I am gone, officially switches from wearing shorts to work to wearing long pants...but he won't- not if it's 63. He made a point of telling me that he wore shorts the day it was 11 degrees in the morning. I tell that to the students here who bundle up when it gets below 65 or 70, and they can't believe it. That's Bruce!

Today, after doing some study this morning, I decided to get out again and explore my surroundings. A satellite picture will be helpful, courtesy of Google Earth. Sorry for the low resolution. If you are a Google Earth user, copy 18 53.75'N, 98 58.165'E and fly to it to find Legacy Farm. You will have to pan out a little to get the view below, but the detail is worth it.



In this view, you may be able to see some of the things I have mentioned in past posts. To the left is the main highway from Chiang Mai (south- down) to Mai Rim and beyond (north- up). A little south of the golf course is a road that goes off to the east (right) to the village of Mae Sa Laung. Legacy School is in this village, and the Farm is just outside to the northeast. The road through the village passes one of my favorite places, the ice cream lady, and it continues to the east where it stops due to a bridge that washed out. Because of that, I have to turn left before that and go past the monks for a slightly longer route to the farm. (It is almost exactly one mile) The Ping River, which flows down to Chiang Mai (and eventually becomes the Chao Phraya and goes to Bangkok) is east of the village. I have labeled a "detour", which is actually flowing a little now and flows much more in the rainy season. The land bordered by the Ping and the Pseudo-Ping was destined for development one time (hence the bridge to nowhere), and that development may have been tied somehow to the unfinished hotel that lies just to the other side of the creek next to the golf course.

Today, I began my bicycle trip by heading across that bridge and exploring the land in between the creek and river. But first...


Right across from the driveway into the Farm, there is a road heading in the other direction. I decided to ride down and see where it went. I was surprised to find out that it was concrete all the way through- just that the leaves and other debris that had landed there now supports its own vegetation right on top of the concrete.

Turns out that the road just loops around and comes out to the raod to the Farm.




There was an abandoned house on this little road. I am beginning to see a trend here. Many things are begun and never finished- more on that later in today's blog. Perhaps it is a function of changing fortunes connected with changes in government- I don't know. They would do well to review Jesus' parable in Luke 14- For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—  lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.



Here is a view of the Pseudo-Ping looking down from the bridge to nowhere. Speaking of unfinished business, off in the distance is the hotel that was never completed. This creek has been flowing rather clear, but the little bit of rain we had Thursday was enough to muddy it.

Another view of the abandoned bridge. In this case, the paving ends once the road enters the wilderness. The path was rather smooth, however, so I could continue to ride the bike- in fact I could stay on it most of the places I went on this "island."

Nathan always puts flower pictures on his blog, so I thought I should, too. These were pretty, but they did not seem to be open. They were in the path, and I stopped to look for thorns and such before going through. In all, I was pleasantly surprised to find the area free of thorns and brambles in spite of the fact that it was all overgown with relatively new vegetation. Where I come from, that means a tangled and thorny mess of wild roses and berries not to mention all the other scourges whose seeds stick to your socks and other clothing. Not here- very nice.

When they celebrate something in Thailand, it is likely that flaming "balloons" are part of the festivities. (See Erika's blog from last year) . Well, of course these things have to end up somewhere, and here was one. I suspect they are all over the place, but this is the first one I have seen.

On the way back across the bridge after my exploration, I took this picture, as o'er the ramparts I watched. (Sorry- my mother AND my father-in-law both grew up in Ft. Howard, Maryland, just down the road from Ft. McHenry. My wife went to Francis Scott Key HS, and our first house was right down the road from Terra Rubra, Key's birthplace. I can't help it.) Legacy students (and teachers?) built these concrete-and-brickwork "fortifications" to stop the erosion during the rainy season- so the farm does not end up in the Gulf of Thailand. All that mud in the Chao Phraya in Bangkok came from somewhere! The blue pipe is for getting water for the pond at the farm during the dry season when rice patty water is not flowing nearby.

I headed down the village road away from the vilage and toward the washed-out bridge. On the way, I found Gehenna. As Nathan explained a couple of weeks ago, Gehenna, translated "hell" in the New Testament, was Jerusalem's garbage dump at the edge of the Valley of Hinnom, with 24/7 fires to burn up anything, including criminals' (already dead) bodies. In Jesus' time, it was a metaphor for judgment of evil. It was a bad ending, to be sure, but at least everything was burned UP.

As I have said before, Thailand is the world's largest rice exporter (not producer, China is, but they eat most of theirs). So there are a lot of rice fields, but Thais like corn, too. Here is a corn field not far from the Farm.

The rice harvest has been completed, so what I see now is fields in various stages of preparation for the next crop. Below is a field that has been harvested, but not yet burned off and replanted.

This field appears to have been plowed. I do not think they plow them all. Notice the gullies for carrying water. As I explored today, I noticed water flowing everywhere, and rather complex arrangements to keep it at the elevations needed to properly flood any nearby field.

If there is one thing that has frustrated me in my short life, it is inefficiently run health spas. I am relieved that Thailand is finally doing something about it.

Notice the little white pipe. It carries water from the other side of the street (where Chiang Mai University is solving the world's health spa problems) to the rice paddies on this side. (see next picture)

These fields were burned, but not plowed. They are being flooded now. I suppose they are planted. Thai no-till. Kinda has a ring to it :)

These paddies are farther along. Notice the plastic bags fluttering on twine that is strung along the field. This is to keep certain birds from hurting the crop. Apparently some birds are fond of the leaves.

If you have to work in the fields, I am sure a little shade is appreciated. In Israel, the structures used for this purpose were called Succoth. They were so appreciated, a Feast was named after them :)

In my travels, I got to view the "real" Ping river a half mile or so downriver from where the Pseudo-Ping rejoins its mommie.

Looking back toward Mae Sa Luang. The big building is the health spa think tank, and if you look really hard, you might see the abandoned hotel to the right behind the tall palm. Of course, rice fields in the foreground.

I do not know what or who had the property on the left, but it was decorated by alternating Thai flags and Royal flags. The vegetation was beautiful.

The plants looked very familiar. I think we have many of them back home, but for us, they are house plants.

This one is for whomever Nathan takes them for. Cheers!

????

I guess the guy that gets to guard the bananas needs shade.

As I neared another village, there was the requisite wat.

For the record, I live very near US Route 30, in southern Pennsylvania. Like many of the highways that were used by travelers during the middle of the twentieth century, Rt 30 has more than its share of kitcsh, and signs trumpeting the attractions that are just ahead. Of course, if one is not blessed to be right on the main road, more signs are needed to make sure some poor suckers will leave the beaten path and brave the back roads in the hope that the good things in life really do not come easy. I suspect the proprietors of this establishment may be American, quite likely Pennsylvanian.

Only 250m...Daddy, are we *there* yet????

I'll save it for another time, but when I was taking this picture, a man came up to me on a scooter and wanted to show me his property nearby (he may have thought I was looking at the property, since it was right behind this sign. The man had an unfinished "boutique hotel," as he called it. He showed me around and invited me to take pictures. I will share this in another post. (Only $2 million US, if you're interested. I'll keep my commission reasonable.)

Whatever road I was on came back out to Rt 107 about a mile south of Mae Sa Laung. Directly across the road is a government military installation. Notice the mountains in the background. These are the same mountains that are outside (west) of Chiang Mai.

Riding scooters and bikes on Rt 107 is expected, just stay out of the way. I rode the wrong way (on the wrong side, since I was going to have to exit in a mile or so, and there is no crossover right at Mae Sa Laung), so I stayed WAY out of the way.

Anyone with a nice property, or something to protect, fences it in.

Even if you don't have *that much* to protect. :)

Just south of Mae Sa Laung is this beautiful arch. You see these here and there, but I am not sure why.


The vegetation along the road is beautiful, and not just because of the arch- it is all along the highway to Chiang Mai (as I can attest to- having viewed it without the distraction of windows, twice now, from a pickup truck bed.)

The median is nicely landscaped, and if I were more energetic, I would have gone over to the other side of the highway for a better picture without the shadows.

Mae Sa Laung has its own "Police Box" in case you cannot read it. I know what you're thinking...and I have no idea.

Looking down the street in the village. As I came back from my excursion, my spirits were lifted by the sight of the little white umbrella on the left. That means the ice cream lady is back from her trip!

That's as good a place as any to end today's entry. After some kow soi kai down the steet, I stopped in and welcomed her back.

What a week. I have been so busy that I have not had time to post here. I hope everyone is well and that you are enduring winter (or summer for a few of you) wherever you are. As I mentioned, the visa situation was working out, and indeed it did. For a few more interesting details, check out Nathan's blog (link on the left- Double-O-Kimmons post). Actually I think it should be Mission:Impossible...the music works better as I am reading it. Thanks again for all the prayers.

Thailand is, of course, Buddhist, so Christmas is not noticed, at least out here away from the big cities. Chiang Mai and Bangkok have a little more western influence (i.e. shopping opportunities) so the holiday is creeping in. At the request of the students, I spent some time this week covering the origins of Christmas and Easter, how they found themselves in the church, and how unnecessary that is. Nathan spent a second session examining the Greek and Hebrew words translated "hell" in English Bibles, and this resulted in considerable discussion last night. Hkawn Din was particularly pleased to see the Bible teaching that innocents who have never heard of the Christ are NOT doomed to everlasting torture (in fact, no one is). When I have time, I will write up some of these lessons, and make them available on a website. I am committed to writing them up for translation into Burmese, so I might as well share them- besides, they will fit in perfectly with the ministry I have started back home.

As I mentioned, the students staying here during the break said they would like to have (non-credit) class every day, so I have been preparing a 2 hour daily doctrine class. I have been trying to write up the information in a logical and easy-to-use style so that they can take the material back to their villages and use it. Because of this, the preparation is taking me most of the rest of the day and night after class (10 AM) and lunch (noon). So this is definitely not break time for me. When regular classes begin again the second week of January, I will be back to the Tuesday and Thursday regular classes. I offered the Burmese graduates special classes on the other 3 days, and they were all for it. I am only here for a while, so we might as well make the most of it!

This week featured a FIRST since I arrived over 3 weeks ago. It rained. I have been amazed at the lack of rain for so long, but we had a light rain 2 days ago. Made it a little more interestign riding back and forth to school on the bike- especially since it has no bumpers- nice splatters up the back of my yellow shirt. Also made me appreciate that I am here in the winter and not in the rainy season, when it rains literally every day.

Seng Hpa continues to amaze me with all the things she can do with, and make for us to put on, rice. All without recipes- just in her head. Hkawn Din has made a few of her own creations as well. Every once in a while, we even have something a little western, like the french fries yesterday. I cannot offer an opinion as to how they were, and neither can Nathan or Ben, because they all disappeared before we had a taste. For a minute I thought my wife was somewhere around- that's one of the signs. (Hi Shelby!)

Leon is still struggling somewhat, so please continue to pray for him. He is doing his therapy, but it is a long road, it seems. He was not doing so well today, so I took the sermon. Began with Jesus on Solomon's Porch (feast of dedication) and backed up to the Assyrian Empire. Looked at Daniel 2, 8 and 11 as we followed through with Babylon, Persia, Alexander and then the Selucids and Ptolemys to show why the Temple had to be cleansed and rededicated in the first place. In the end, I illustrated "irony"- a term with which they are not familiar- by pointing out that the very holiday (Hannukah) that began as a result of fighting hellenism has itself become contaminated (IMO) with customs unrelated to YHVH. At least that is ironic to me. Nobody fell asleep, anyway- maybe it was the pretty maps on the projector. Or maybe it was the familiarity the Burmese hill tribe people have with finding themselves in the middle of warring factions- just as the Jews did between the Selucids (king of the north) and Ptolemys (king of the south).

It is nice to have a few minutes when I do not have to be doing something. Maybe I can relax for a little while tomorow before I start working on Monday's class. Oh, and for the record, another reason this week has been tougher than usual is that the ice cream lady has taken the week off. Looks like they are off on a holiday- house is deserted. I look forward to their return. :)

About Thailand

On the simple map at the right, you can get an idea of where we are. Legacy is in Chiang Mai Province, which is way up north along the Ping River. On the map, the Ping is mislabled Chao Phraya, but that river does not actually begin until the Ping meets the Nan at Nakhon Sawan, after which the Chao Phraya flows southward toward Bangkok, and meanders lazily through the Thai capital before entering the Gulf of Thailand. Altogether, Thailand is about twice as big as Wyoming.



You can see that Chiang Mai is between Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. Cambodia borders Thailand south of Laos. Phuket and Thailand's other famous beach areas are further south, and all the way south is the troubled area bordering Malaysia.



The Mekong River, which many of us remember as we watched the news during the Vietnam War, is northeast of here. It flows south from China and forms the border between Myanmar and Laos before defining 2 sections of the Thai/Laotian border as well . The Mekong is a vital waterway affecting much of southeast Asia. After passing through Cambodia, it forms a large delta in Vietnam.

From Silk Roads and Siamese Smiles blog- the Mekong flows an estimated 4,880 km (3,032 mi) from the Tibetan Plateau through Yunnan (China) province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and finally Vietnam. It is the lifeblood of thousands of Asian folks who live at the mercy and benevolence of this great river. It’s name in Thai–Mae Khong–means “mother of all rivers.” Interesting note about the Mekong is that it flows backward at certain times of the year. This is because the low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide level out at sea. Therefore the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides throughout its stretch in Vietnam and up to Phnom Penh.





Thailand is a Buddhist country (95%) of over 65 million people. It is a constitutional monarchy (since 1932) and the traditional founding date of the country is 1238. It has never been colonized. The economy is fairly robust, and has large import/export and tourism components. It has suffered somewhat from the recent political instability and airport closures, but talk has been of slower growth, not contraction like we see in much of the rest of the world. It is up to the new government to see that this continues. There are fears in some circles that things could get much, much worse if this government is not any more effective than the last two. All this, and the people, at least on the outside, appear to be happy. Thailand is a nice place to be.

Eskimos

Today, I played repairman. Fixed some furniture at the school and a thing or 2 here at the farm.

The next 3 weeks are a school break, but the Burmese students will be here, at least for the most part. Tonight I asked them how often they would like to have Advanced Bible Class with me and they said "every day." So I am psyched. I get to cover many things that I will not have time for in the "official" class. I am looking forward to this!

Leon and Gloria had a rough week, with all the visa problems and health issues, and Nathan was in Burma, so I had both the Fri night Bible Study and the sermon on sabbath. I covered goal setting, and then planning to acheive those goals. I think the students understood, but implementing is another thing altogether.

Climate is not something I have ever studied, but there is apparently much to know. For instance, if you look at a world map, you will see that northern Thailand is about the same lattitude as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia and the Sahara desert. In spite of all that, it is really a bit chilly at night here- seems to be in the 50's (F). For the locals, this means bundling up, leading some of them to learn a new English word- Eskimo- when I commented that Nora resembled one on a chilly morning.

Ben, Jay, Hkawn Din, Seng Mai and Nora at Bible Study. Notice the warm clothing.

Even the Farang dress like it is winter. Elainea has a excuse, being from south of San Diego...but Erika is from Minneapolis! How does she dress back there??!!

At the time, I was wearing a short sleeve shirt. I guess I just haven't been here long enough yet.

Visa update

Thanks so much for your prayers!I have had to wait to update you, because things were still up in the air even as late as late Friday. Turns out that all the necessary documents have been stamped in Burma, thanks to Nathan hand-carrying them to Yangon by plane, and "Auntie" Tumar carrying them from Yangon (Rangoon) by train to the new capital upcountry. The officials were insisting on additional documents which we would not have had time to get there...but it seems to have gone well so far, and for the official price as well, which is very reasonable.The stamped documents still have to get back to Thailand where the Thai visas can be extended early next week before it is too late. This was all definitely NOT going to happen, but God softened the hearts that needed to be softened, and it is looking good. Lal Lian, Seng Hpa and Seng Aung are all relieved, as is everyone else around here.Thank you all very much, and PRAISE GOD!!

I am writing 2 other posts that should have been posted earlier this week, so be sure to look back a few days for new posts.

Monks and Scorpions

The chickens seem to like the compost pile. I am as likely to see them there as anywhere. A couple of days ago, the chickens woke me up early in the AM- quite a ruckus out at their house, including chicken screaming, or whatever it is called. I expected to see feathers flying and maybe a python...but they shut up when I went out there. Maybe they were just hungry or something. They started up again as I walked off, and stopped when I stopped and began to walk back to them. Reminded me of our neighbor's 3 geese who who would walk up the road to our place-when my mom would chase them back down, they would obediently retreat. As soon as she would turn around to go back home, they would all turn around and fuss at her until she faced them and then they would resume their walk back to the farm. Quite comical. My mother named them after her mother and 2 aunts, Ethel, Ruth and Myrtle. There was an eerie resemblance, at least in their temperment when the three were together. :)




On a trip out to the compost pile last week, I was greeted by a rather ferocious-looking denizen of Asian forests. It was about 8 inches long. When it heard or saw me, it quickly buried itself in the leaves before I could get a good picture, so I will use a stock photo taken at a park here in Thailand. I tried to scare it up out of the leaves, but it just burrowed deeper. Not knowing how poisonous it might be, I let it be. I read up on it later, and found out that it looks much more dangerous that it actually is. The sting of this bad boy is only about as serious as a bee sting.

On another trip down the road, I got a couple better pictures of the monk "encampment." I have also seen some of them washing out in a rather public location by the road. Other than that, one does not notice them except over the loudspeaker at 6PM. One morning, they decided to broadcast at about 5:30 for some reason. I asked Jay, our resident former monk, what that was about, and he did not know. For more information about the paticular Thai version of Buddhist monkhood (is that a word?) visit http://www.thaibuddhist.com/ .

I suppose if I got out of the house early enough, I would see them on their rounds collecting food from the community.

I have been sleeping almost normal hours. I think my brain has finally joined my body here in Asia.

I am dating this post earlier in the week, because that is where it belongs.

Prayer request!

The matter of extending Thai visas for out Burmese students is almost never routine, and we have a particular problem at this very moment regarding Seng Aung, Seng Hpa, and Lallian. Their visas will expire Dec 30, and the process of trying to gee the proper paperwork approved and stamped in Burma has already begun, but is running into problems, not to mention the desire of some for monetary enrichment as part of the process. Add to that the fact that Burmese must always carry their national ID cards, yet those cards must go back to Burma to complete this paperwork. The students are hesitant to let them out of their sight, but Nathan is hand carrying them- at least that is the plan. He is on his way to Bangkok tonight and may go to Burma tomorrow, depending on where certain other documents are at the time. Very confusing.

If this situation is not resolved VERY SOON, they will have to go home with no definite date to return. Seng Aung and Lal Lian are 2 of the students I came here to teach and mentor. Please ask God to see to it that these matters are worked out in a timely manner. We are doing all we can on this end, but it often takes more than that to get things done. Thanks!

Royal Project Fair and Student Pictures!

There was no class today, so that we could pile in the trucks and go down to Chiang Mai University to see the Royal Project Fair. Since Legacy operates under the Ministry of Culture, it is entirely appropriate that we are familiar with these Projects.

Some of you may actually be familiar with these projects. Although the King and Queen strive to help their people any way they can, they are not rich. They have done much of this work by leveraging the donations of others. It all started in 1971 when Herbert Armstrong, on behalf of the Worldwide Church of God, donated a small amount of seed money to get things going. Much has been accomplished since then.

As you can see from these 2 pictures, the King and Queen have been invloved with helping their people for many years- since they were much younger.

The original idea was to get the country folk (especially the hill tribes) to stop growing opium and make a living growning fruits and vegetables, and learning other skills that would help them to earn decent livings.

At the Feast in 2007, we visited a Project just like this one on the left, maybe this actual one. There was a large farm, and also a pottery factory and hand weaving, as I recall. The products are sold all over Thailand, and at fairs like this as well. Some goods, like the flowers in the dispay, are grown for export. Since poppy growers are at the bottom of the drug chain, they do not make a great living. I have been told that they do better with fruits and vegetables. In a discussion I had with Chalermsak, one of our first-year students, I found that not everyone agrees with this assessment. FWIW, Chalermsak is not a shrinking violet, speaking of flowers.

High-end coffee is one of the products that comes from the Royal projects. According to Ben (pictured below on the left, with Nathan), our resident coffee expert, it was good.

Ben and Nathan, who don't seem to go anywhere without some sort of appendage to the shoulder.

Ben is working at both the farm and the school. He is trained as an engineer, but is taking some time off to help at Legacy. Besides that, he seems to have a bit of a travel bug.

The flower display included strategically placed chairs and benches that were perfect for taking pictures.

Left- Beka, Lal Lian, Seng Mai and Fon.

Erika and Elainea, teachers, flanking Nora, who is both a student and a worker, and mother of 2 wonderful daughters who were in school while we took our trip.

Chalermsak, Atiwat and Japur, 3 of our Thai first year students. Japur stays down at the farm, and I often enjoy his singing and guitar playing.

Lal Lian, Beka, Hkawn Din and Seng Mai

Fon with Dora and Nora, who are sisters

Products literally ranged from soup to nuts. One booth featured herbal products and essential oils.

I always wondered about those little ears of corn...

I sampled some Feta cheese-made from some kind of Buffalo milk- pretty good

Then there was the vermicompsting exhibit. Short story- composting with an abundance of WORMS. When it is done, you have both potting soil and a liquid (pictured) you can use as fertilizer. Yuck.


One of the most interesting things about this exhibit was the video they had playing in an endless loop on a laptop. All in Thai, but I watched anyway.

2 very intersting things. First, the video was produced by the Narcotics people in Thailand. Seems odd that Narcs would care about compost, but it is all about getting people to do something other than grow opium.

Second, the video opened with a version of Dueling Banjos. Must elicit the farm motif? But even more interesting was the closing music while the credits rolled. It was played in the same bluegrassy-folk style on acoustic instuments. The tune? The Star Spangled Banner. I don't get it.

Potpourri- quite a large bag (100g) for 70 Baht- that's about $2

Those plants on the right look familiar?

Below, some hill tribe women demonstrate that hemp can be spun and woven.

Before we left for school, Dora decided to make "flowers" from palm leaves.