This blog won’t arouse too much interest this time around and I apologize for that. Quite honestly it is even difficult for me to write because it’s so boring. But here goes……… Two and a half weeks ago I went into Bangkok for arthroscopic surgery on my left shoulder. For those who know me well, remember I had my right shoulder repaired three years ago. I’m thankful for several things, the first that I only have two shoulders! The second that I was at the number one rated hospital in Southeast Asia and one of the 10 best in the world [View Full Entry]

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School midterm break started the first week of October and what better time to get away and explore my neighborhood. Of course I consider all the countries surrounding Thailand to be part of that area. The history of Thailand cannot be understood unless one goes back centuries and learns a little about the power and influence of the Khmers. We started our journey into southern Laos by bus from Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. The city of Pakse, Laos, borders the Mekong delta on its west and the Boloven Plateau to the east. The river is not at its best here but the [View Full Entry]

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Eight months…it’s been eight whole months since I left home to do the “hardest job I would ever love.” Maybe in retrospect I will be able to say those six words but right now I’m trying not to think of it as a job. (I faintly remember ‘retiring’). There is a paradox being here as a Peace Corps volunteer…on the one hand we are treated as employees of the US government, with all their restrictions, requirements, paperwork, bureaucracy and health insurance (the best thing going for us!). Then when it seems to suit them, we are volunteers&hellip [View Full Entry]

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It's been an uneventful couple of weeks. As a matter of fact I've been in a slump as I've finally completed the World Map Project and seem to feel 'that's it, where do I go from here?'. It's perfectly normal which means it's abnormal for me, to be in a valley at 7months of service. The medical unit has a graph of when we should be in our high, low and middle emotional states. Interesting how it's right on. I have such a good rapport with the staff (11) of Ban Nong ya Rang ka school that they've asked me to [View Full Entry]

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I’ve been noticing that some bloggers have a name for their site. To show that I too feel a real attachment to my blog, I’m going with Bcgypsey’s Capers. I do still encourage positive, upbeat, ego pleasing comments. Work is progressing on The Map, albeit slow but still moving along. I’ve taken several days away from the project to meet Bob in Bangkok. We spent a couple of days riding the BTS, MTR, river taxis and pink cabs. Sorry no elephants. Rush hour begins at 6am and goes until 8pm...no kidding, so they would have been quite the hindrance. We spent [View Full Entry]

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Sitting sipping my second glass of wine, I began to reflect on some of the things I most missed about America. Aside from family and friends, music is certainly high on my list. I don’t mean to sound snobbish or pretentious, it’s just that Thai music is loud, distorted, monotonous, repetitious, tedious, oh well, you get the idea I just don’t like it. Next, is Microsoft Word in English. Now I do have to admit that I have a pirated version of Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, in Thai. Think about this for just a moment, all of a sudden you can’t [View Full Entry]

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Tried to send this blog several days ago but it didn't to so will try again. I haven’t done the blog in a few weeks and thought I’d better catch everyone up on ‘things’. I’ve not made any great achievements yet…well I did have a ba dang court constructed (lawn bowling) but I don’t consider that any big deal…if it had been a bing bong table, that would have been different! I feel settled in my village but am still finding new faces and new surprises. The pictures of the weavers were two of those finds. Rice planting is in full [View Full Entry]

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I know that everyone is wondering if I’ve been doing anything constructive since arriving in Thailand. First let me repeat my mantra…“I’m a volunteer, I’m a volunteer, I’m a volunteer!” So that being said, I feel comfortable telling you that I often get pedicures and manicures. You'd know that's pretty constructive if you've ever seen my feet! Those who know me, understand that I have no academic background. As I was attempting to explain this to my Nyoke (something like a mayor) in my best Thai, he was telling me to visit the three daycare [View Full Entry]

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Ok, so now I've been told that my pictures still haven't come through. No more text until you see the pics so here goes..........................Let me know what happens. This is only a sampling of what I originally sent, maybe lucky for you. [View Full Entry]

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Not much! So, I've rec'd word that there was another glitch in uploading my photos. I'm going to try again and won't bore you with too much text. ...Except to mention that I am starting an exercise program in my village. It is very surprising to see that there are many Thais who overweight and the incident of stroke is so high it is considered the number 3 (1999 statistics) cause of death after HIV/Aids and traffic accidents. I think that HIV/Aids deaths have actually decreased somewhat since that date. I don't have my daughter's talent for Jazzercise so I'm doing [View Full Entry]

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