Waiting in Chaing Rai

We keep looking each other and giggling, we are really in Thailand because someone out there agreed with our grant proposal and funded us to come study elephants.  What is crazy is how well things are going.  I can not say enough about the ease of travel in Thailand.  English is everywhere, and the Thai people seem to appreciate my brutal attempts at asking simple questions in Thai.  Hey, I teach 7th graders so I am not to cone rented about making a fool of myself.

Our flight up north went just as planned.  We departed the Casa Nithra at 5 am and got to BKK with plenty of time to spare.  At our gate there was complementary breakfast with coffee and panang chicken calzones (yes you read that right).  Connie did manage to find a tasty looking chocolate muffing to go with her latte.

I was fortunate to have an isle seat and I could watch the quilt like topography of rice patties, roads and rivers.  As we neared Chaing Rai, we started to see the start of mountains and jungles.  Many geology and topography questions are already starting to formulate for me.  Even though our flight was short, we were served a meal.  Good fruit and yogurt along with what eared to be a spam sandwich (I passed on the mystery meat).

So now we have a new block of time waiting.  We secured 2 free hours of internet at the airport.  By 3pm all of our group members should be here, then we will drive an hour north to the preserve.  I am loving taking in so many new sights, sounds, task and flavored.  I am also ecstatic to be embarking on an intense learning experience.  As teachers, we give a lot away.  Yes, the goal is to share knowledge, but the reality of the profession is such that we pour our hearts and minds into our students.  For two weeks (really 10 days) we get to be the students.

Thanks Fund for Teachers.