O.k. sorry I haven’t written in a while but I’ve been exhaustively busy. This last week, on Tuesday, we presented our final recommendations to the islands’ authorities; port director, Mayor & his assistants, as well as the dean of Burapha University. They all said our project was excellent and better than they expected, which is kind of a backhanded comment, I guess…My team worked very well together, we all had different areas of expertise that when combined, produced great work. Our communication flowed easily and although we haven’t known each other for long, we understood and respected one another. Truth is , we couldn’t have asked for a better team leader. Greg is organized, works well under pressure and extremely talented.
On Wednesday, I made a day trip to Bangkok (1hr by van-$3.00) to get a visa for my trip to India. The dean didn’t want me to go alone because I am “just a woman”, he said. I told him this woman was pretty tough but he still asked my male teammates to look after me. It was archaic but with noble intent. While it takes 4-6 weeks in the U.S. to get an Indian visa, it’s only 4 days in Bangkok. On Thursday, we spent the day writing the paper (about 20pgs) that went with the presentation. It was intense work but we got through it. That evening, all students in Thailand (about 15 split up into 3 groups) had dinner with each other and their Thai team. Again, dinner was a feast. We had the usual 8 plates except for the shark fin soup, which was new. After dinner, we celebrated by heading to a local bar, Hermes. We ordered a bottle of Vodka, soda water & limes for about $30.00. Our Thai students thought we were lying when we told them what it would cost in Miami. In the morning, we went to the university to turn in our final work and were surprised with beautiful gifts from the dean. He also said some very touching parting words. He said he would never forget us and that we would always be in his heart. I told him I was sure I was his favorite since, after all, I was “just a woman” ;) He agreed and then reminded me he was serious and that’s what I merely was. I took no offense, he didn’t say it to insult me. At noon, we checked out of the hotel and headed for Bangkok where almost all students departed one by one. Adrienne and I head for Chiang Mai in the morning. We’re staying at the airport hotel (Novohotel) which is connected to the airport. Our gate is literally down the hall. The hotel is gorgeous and the room is comfortable. Off to Chiang Mai we go!
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