Bangkok!

Landed safely in Bangkok and will rendevous with some of the folks from the Institute for Village Studies today to head north to Chiang Mai and then out to the villages. Flights were seamless, though long - The only snafu was arriving at 1 am at the Shanti Lodge to discover that there was a misunderstanding about when I would arrive. Late AM on January 29, NOT evening of January 29, so there was no room. The folks here are great, however and found me a place to sleep.

This morning, wandering the streets near the lodge, bathed in the competing smells of roasting vegetables and chiles in the street vendors carts, the profusion of flowers,and exhaust from the multitude of scooters, all against a faint background of urine. The air is warm (85s), soft and wet on the skin. Feels like being in a steam bath.

On the way to the bank I passed the door to what I think is a preschool. All the children were gathered in the front courtyard in their white shirts and dark pants/skirts singing, singing. Their voices bouncing off the white tile spread out into the street to blend with the traffic and vendor calls. Entrancing. I stood in the door and just took it in, noticing that these children move in groups, little clusters breaking off from the whole group as the singing ended and they headed off, perhaps to their classrooms, all in a line with smiles that could crack open the world.

I am looking forward to working in the schools up north next week.

M