Back in the Saddle

Well folks, it's been a long time, but here I am again on a sunny Saturday afternoon, sitting in my favorite internet cafe, typing away and watching time go by. Already today I have accomplished more than the average weekend morning. After sleeping in decadently late, I spoke with people who want to hire two of our graduates to come and work in their "leadership" school. Since they are reprentatives of one of the armed groups in the area, I suspect it is more of a propaganda school, but it is now my job to talk with them, keep on their good side, maintain relationships, send them interested graduates and give them my cell number in case they feel like chatting. Welcome back to Mae Sot, Jen.

After coffee, juicy mangoes and a swing in my hammock, I plug into my music and jump on my bike for a long meandering ride going nowhere in particular. I went out through the back of the market, to a small town nearby, then selected a random road to follow through the rice feilds and cow paddies. I stopped for water in a small store and "chatted" for awhile with the people there. The sun is full on my face, but there is a cool wind coming down off the mountains that are shrouded in rain clouds. Everything is green and bright and the sky in the distance is deep purple. I swerve to avoid hitting bright little lizards scuttling across the hot pavement. I pass feilds full of cows, and men squatting in the shade chewing betel nuts and watching them. I had forgotten what a beautiful country this is, and how lucky I am to live here.

I have emptied out the Thai bank account and finally have a ticket back to Canada for the wedding. I still have not gotten from Vancouver to Calgary, but I will work on that. I am flying Cathay Pacific, so even without a first class upgrade, the flight will be nice.

Itinerary:

1 CX 750S 24JUL SU BKKHKG HK1 1130 1510
2 CX 838S 24JUL SU HKGYVR HK1 1640 1330
3 CX 839S 05AUG FR YVRHKG HK1 1450 1905
4 CX 709S 06AUG SA HKGBKK HK1 2210 2350


As for work, well, I am sitting behind a desk. At least, that is what I have been doing all week. It helps that the desk is in a small office with three walls that are entirely windows, so that when I look up from my computer screen, document or book, I see palm trees, greenery and mountains in the distance.

Friday was entirely consumed with meetings. Some of them are fun and involve me making contact with all the community organizations that we work with, in this case an educational NGO who gives us funding. Other meetings, like the Consortium All Staff meeting, seem to drag endlessly on, reminding us all of the inverse function of number of people at meetings vs. actual productivity. Monday I shall be busy enough with my first teacher coming, training continuing of my counterpart (assistant) and a million things to do, as usual.

Enjoy your weekend!