Final Project

Tonight we presented our final project -- the powerpoint with the results of our survey -- to the villagers in Theperak 1, one of the communities. The villagers got really excited about the network. So did Decha and Suntaree (two community activists the program works with). They've been some of our hardest critics so far, so hearing their support meant a lot to us.

What has made this semester what it is, has been relationships -- between each other, with the communities. Tonight we saw these relationships that we have formed with some villagers expanding to include other villagers. It's so cool. At the end of the meeting, we students stood side-by-side and expressed our gratitude to the communities, and spoke about what we've learned from them. It felt good to know that they appreciate what we're doing, and no matter what eventually becomes of this fledgling network, they want it now, and they see its benefits.

What a semester it's been. I feel like a bundle of cliches right now, but it's true, I suppose. That you really change doing this here.

Tomorrow is the first day of the human rights festival. We were setting up for that all day, in addition to running around like crazy people, trying to tie up loose ends with the PowerPoint presentation. The sala, which is further on campus, is looking really cool. I am looking forward to seeing many of my past host families tomorrow, in addition to the all the performances at the human rights festival. The network members are presenting our/their powerpoint, so that too is cool.

Although last night I was up to an ungodly hour with Alyssa and Pete, planning out our vacation to Cambodia and Laos, I plan on being up late again tonight. I find myself always keeping a mental to-do list in my head of things that need to be done by next Friday (eep!), things that I kept on thinking I had so much time to complete. Well, time has crept up on us really quickly. So now it's time to get to work.

Peace.

Happy Birthday (part 1)

It's the king's 80th birthday today. The Bangkok Post celebrated by revealing the secret of his fashion sense (http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/05Dec2007_news02.php). My group celebrated early last night with a sumptuous meal at Green Leaf. In addition to the king, we were celebrating the completion of data analysis from our very own survey! To think how far we've come!

So no we are figuring out next steps in our project. Less than two weeks to go in the program.

Which I realized last night in a sobering moment, also means less than two weeks to my birthday.

And that is why this entry is entitled "Happy Birthday (part 1)".

Peace.