It's a Small World, After All

Just in case anyone was wondering :) , we see the same moon as you, just at a different time. As you know, it has been beautiful the past few nights. We have had very few clouds, and no rain, since I have been here, so the moon has been out (and I can see where I am bicycling at night.)

Today I bicycled down the road from the farm to see the sights for a second time. This time I had my camera.

A little blurry because I did not stop. At the end of the road that leads to the farm is a Wat (temple). The monks actually live in tents at this one, though. Their saffron robes are often hanging out to dry. At 6PM every day, one of them on a loudspeaker leads everyone in some kind of vocal activity (I am not sure what to call it) for at least 40 minutes. Tonight on the way back from supper, I heard it clearly, and I can hear it from my room as well. I asked Jay, who had been a monk for about 6 years, what they were saying and he said he did not know. He said it was Nepalese.

6 years and he didn't know? I should not feel too bad if he doesn't pick up everything I teach him for the 3 months I am here. :) Actually, Jay said he spent a lot of time learning Japanese while he was a monk. He knows at least 5 languages, which is a good thing for Jay, because he loves to talk. He stays here at the farm, so we have already had some good conversations.



Along this road there is a rice patty. Thailand is the world's largest rice exporter, so patties are everywhere. This little one is the closest one I have seen to the farm.

I was a little surprised to find corn fields here as well. There are several nearby, and all in different stages of maturity, including some (not pictured) that are ready to harvest.

The golf course I saw on the way to Mai Rim is actually very close to the farm. Looking past the rice patty here, you can see a fence- and if you look closely, there are golfers to the right beyond the fence. They (or their caddies?) seem to all carry umbrellas for the sun.

Further down the road is a hotel that was never completed. Apparently, there were once great plans to develop this area- they even diverted a river. But all that remains is the abandoned bridge I showed in an earlier post, and this monument. Notice the compost/trash piles in the right foreground. The vegetation seems to grow fast here, and groundskeepers are always trimming and cleaning up. Lots of biomass.





A close-up of the hotel. Looks llike it would have been very nice. It certainly would have made the traffic situation a little different around here.

Tomorrow there is no class. We will be taking a trip to see a "fair" concerning the King's projects. The King and Queen have sponsored many projects around the country (but especially in rural areas such as the hills near Burma in this part of the country) to help better the lot of poor people, and people who have traditionally made their livings illegally. The royal family really does care for the people of their country.