Number 20

It is now official. At least Thai official. If the airport in Bangkok is fully operational by Sunday, I go to the Philippines. All indications from here are that it will be fully operational.

Today I worked all morning on the Vietnam project. Around noon Corn and Ella had to go to Central Market to buy a present for the teacher Ella worked with. Ella leaves Saturday to return home to Singapore and the children bought her gifts and planned a presentation. Everything was behind schedule, as usual, so I donned my chauffeur hat and drove us all to the market. Mark and Moon went to buy some gifts for Mark's family and Corn, Ella and I went shopping. We found a present, had a quick lunch and were now about an hour late to get to the school.

The school is 1/2 hour away and the red truck driver BABSEA uses to take the "teachers" to school wasn't answering his phone so I drove them all the way out to the school. I'm glad I did. It was a scenic drive in an area I hadn't been and I've become quite comfortable driving now. The children were really happy to see her as they thought maybe she would leave without saying goodbye. There were speeches, presentations and then we all got in a circle and crossed hands while the kids sang (in Thai) Auld Lang Sine, Shalom Chaverim, and a few other songs. Then they dropped hands and formed a line and one by one they shook her hand or gave her a hug. Many had bought or made gifts which they gave her. There were at least 100 kids in the line. As they finished many of them came over to me and engaged me in a multi handed game of rock, paper, scissors. I had about 25 kids all around me chanting 1-2-3 and putting out a rock paper or scissors. I used both hands and they all laughed and smiled and then I got some hugs from the littlest ones. It was really sweet and I'm glad I went. There was so much caring and appreciation from the staff and students.

We drove back to the house and relaxed a little before Ella's goodbye dinner. The Thai's are like Jews in that they love to party and eat at any and all occasions. We went to the Irish Pub and had decent American and British food. I had Cottage Pie which was like hamburger pie but without the beans. Wendy's husband Andrew from Australia joined us and he is exactly who Central Casting would send if you needed a 50'ish Australian Blowhard (the nice kind). Perfect accent and Australian jargon. After dinner everyone went upstairs to play a trivia game but I went around the corner to a Reggae bar called Rock, Roots and Reggae.

In Chiang Mai a band plays an hour and a half set and then goes to another bar and a different band shows up. Another thing you see in many restaurants and bars and in the street markets is Hill people in native garb selling silver bracelets and multi colored hats. The kids sell flowers or flower necklaces. They come up to you with a smile and ask you in Thai to buy one. If you say no or wave them off they look at you real sad. When you don't look at them they go to the next person with a smile and start over. We left the bar after 12 and they were still making the rounds.

The first band was really good. Classic reggae. The second band had a horn section that kicked ass. The others from the house showed up and listened for awhile. Across the way, about 100 feet from the bar was a bar with a Thai rock band and some of the group went to hear them. Eventually, we all decided to leave. Mark had gone back to the house right after dinner, Moon's boyfriend Gary, had come by for awhile and they went home, Andrew took off on his motorbike and Ella and Corn went back to Corn's house leaving me and the car in a part of town I had never been in. Corn gave me directions and I drove back with no problem.

Tomorrow is the King's birthday. Not Elvis but the Thai King. He is beloved by the people. Even though he has no Constitutional power, he has done a lot to help all of Thailand. It's actually a crime to say something bad about him. It's a big deal. Everything closes down and there will be fireworks and celebrations and a really big time. Should be fun.

So, between another beautiful day, the fun at the school and the music at the Reggae club, it was another fine day in Chiang Mai.