Thailand Summer Program - heading north

Its now 40 hours since the group arrived in Thailand and we're settling down for the night at Lotus Village in Sukhothai, after having dinner in the night market. Today was a long train trip north; being delayed for hours by work on the railways; seeing numerous herons, cranes and ibis in the rice fields and surrounding trees, as we clackety-clacked our way across the central plains, finally driving through a dramatic thundershower to arrive at Lotus Village. As much as… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2012

New friends and a monk

The Migrant Learning Center has been an amazing opportunity. I've been humbled by the personal stories of sacrifice and courage that the Burmese immigrants have shared with me. The real highlight though has been discovering the amazing sense of humor that the monks have! -Stephen Last week we went on a rock climbing, caving, and repelling trip and met the CMRCA crew. The climbing and caving was extremely fun, but that was not the surprise. After leaving our beloved volu… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011

Why we LOVE Thailand!

While climbing in a local gym in Chiang Mai some of the guides began to call me "soo yaht" and the nickname stuck. Its meaning and the experiences I have had on this trip are synonymous - Awesome! -Cole It's funny to think that just a few days ago I had no idea what some Thai elephants have been put through. At the elephant nature park, we learned how they are mistreated and were given a chance to do something about it. After bathing them, feeding them, and even shoveli… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011

Thoughts from Thailand...

I'm a big fan of all the rain we've been having here in Thailand. After a hot and muggy day of shoveling elephant poop and planting trees at the Elephant Nature Park, we were all sweaty, muddy, and exhausted. To wind down at the end of the day we went tubing in the river and were greeted with a sudden, powerful downpour. The rain smelled amazing and I felt immediately refreshed. Since we were already so wet and the rain was so strong, my hut-mates and I decided to skip o… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011

Elephant Nature Park - Part 1

Sawasdee from the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai.  It is day three of our stay here and so far we have fed elephants, bathed them (and each other in the water fight that ensued), cut grasses and cleared fields, listened to lectures on conservation, learned some Thai language, shoveled Ele poop, helped out finishing all the yummy deserts at dinner time, and we are getting used to being in a constant state of excitement.  Our day to day activities vary, tomorrow we wor… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011

Our Bangkok Adventure

Sawasdee from the City of Angels...Bangkok that is! Today has been so amazing it is hard to describe. We have all been together less than 24 hours and have had such an incredible day. Although tired this morning we all had a good breakfast then spent some quality time getting to know one another while we discussed what our month is going to look like. After a few hours of questions, games, and history we were off to explore. We began by jumping on a water taxi which… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011

Thailand Summer Program, The 24 Hour Countdown Begins...

Sawasdee Everybody, The Thailand Summer Program will officially commence in less than 24 hours. I am here in Bangkok making final preparations, getting organized, and generally bouncing off the walls with excitement! I am thrilled to meet 14 new friends and share with them all the gorgeous things about this amazing country. We are going to spend a week working with elephants, cycle around the ruins of Sukhothai, spend time with Burmese refugees in the Migrant Learnin… Read more

Category Thailand
Departure 2011