The Power of The Uniform

February 17, 2012

Here in Bangkok, the uniform that I wear gives me more privileges and attention than I could ever have imagined. Some previous exchange students had warned me about this before coming, but I didn’t fully understand it until I started spending 95% of my time in a uniform. So, here goes uniform 101:

1. Anyone with any excuse to wear a uniform does so. I don’t know why, or where the tradition came from, but it is just the way it is. During my first few weeks in Thailand, I kept seeing pictures and posters of individuals in what looked like military uniforms everywhere. Their uniforms were white and decorated with all sorts of medals and badges. Well, it turns out that they are government workers, and that all government workers wear a uniform. Even bank workers wear a uniform. Each bank has its signature “color,” and their employees (many of them women) all wear what looks like an flight attendant’s uniform.

2. “No Uniform, No Service.” All Thammasat University BBA (business administration) students are required to wear a uniform to all classes. At the BBA counter, there is a sign in English, and then translated into Thai that clearly states “No Uniform, No Service.” And they mean it. I have a friend who went to the counter to ask the BBA staff a question, and they refused her because she was not wearing a uniform.

3. No Uniform, No Attendance. Thammasat has a strict attendance policy – miss three classes and you cannot take the midterm or final exams. If you don’t show up within the first 15 minutes of class, you are counted late, and then another 15 minutes and you are counted absent, no exceptions. The kicker is that if you show up perfectly on time, but are not wearing the proper uniform, you will be counted as absent. No. Exceptions.

4. Thammasat is the Harvard of Thailand. And therefore, wearing the Thammasat uniform speaks volumes. The most crucial components of my uniform include a black skirt, a white short-sleeved collared shirt, official Thammasat pin, and a belt with an official Thammasat buckle. It is these buckles and pins that differentiate a Thammasat student from a student in any other school, as most student also wear a black skirt and white shirt. Here is a photo from the Thammasat website that shows some students in uniform:

The other night, I went straight from school to meet up with some friends on Khao San Road, Bangkok’s official tourist/backpacker/hippie heaven. As I was walking through the streets, everyone was staring at me. The foreigners were staring, seemingly wondering “Who is this white person in a school uniform?!” and the Thais were probably thinking the same thing. I went into a McDonalds to buy a water, and the girls behind the counters were whispering, and all I understood was “Thammasat, Thammasat.” So in Thai I said “Yes, I am a Thammasat student.” They couldn’t believe it.

Most days, if I am walking in my uniform, I hear the people behind me whispering “Thammasat” or the people crossing my path in the other direction staring at my belt with intense eyes, trying to see which school I study at. When and if they are able to figure it out, I hear a chorus of “Ahhhh, Thammasat!” My favorite uniform moment came this evening when I was in a 7-eleven with my roommate, and the employees behind the counter were obnoxiously greeting incoming tourists in Thai, which I’m sure is their way of messing with tourists to make a boring work shift fun. It was hilarious, so we couldn’t help but laugh. Soon, the employees were also laughing, and they quickly noticed my uniform and figured out that I was a Thammasat student. As soon as I confirmed this, they started saying “Ohhhh, Thammasat, Thammasat!!” and each of them reached to shake my hand, meanwhile repeating “Ahh, Thammasat, Thammasat.” I have to say, one of my favorite Thailand moments.

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A Weekend Trip….to Tropical Paradise

February 10, 2012

One of the perks of living in this beautiful country is that after a week of stress, no sleep, and lots of late nights, a tropical island is just a few hours away.  My roommate and I decided we had to take full advantage of this, and traveled to the beautiful island of Koh Samet this past weekend.  Koh Samet is located right in the Gulf of Thailand, only a 40min ferry ride offshore, so it is a popular spot for anyone in Bangkok hoping for an island retreat.  The whole process of getting there is very Thai – don’t book anything in advance, just go to a monument in the middle of the city, hand over 200 baht ($6 USD) to a woman sitting at a table, hop into a mini van with a bunch of strangers, and get driven to the coast.

On the island, we stayed at the LungWang Wonderland Resort.  The name makes it sound glamorous, but it was anything but.  Very backpacker-ish, and very simple.  Nevertheless, it had clean rooms and bathrooms, decent food, and most importantly, was right on the beach, with beach chairs and lounge chairs included.  We could have not asked for anything more – just a weekend with our Kindles, catching up on sleep, lying on the beach, and waking up to the sound of the ocean in the morning (yes, that’s how close we were to the water!). And that was all for $10 USD per night.

Our only excursion was to go snorkeling one afternoon right before sunset. I have been snorkeling before in Mexico and the Caribbean, but there the snorkeling was always in crystal clear water;  the fish and coral were at the bottom of the sea, very far away from us, but still very much visible.  Well, that was absolutely not the case here…the coral was so close to the surface of the water that I bumped into it at one point (frightening) and the fish were swarming around us the whole time.  Our excursion ended at a beautiful resort on the island where we laid on lounge chairs, ate fresh fruit, and watched an incredible sunset over the sea.  A perfect weekend getaway.

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Only in Bangkok

February 3, 2012

I thought I would share some details about what I did this past Saturday, to give you a good idea of an average, ordinary day in Bangkok.

My day began by meeting a friend in the lobby of my apartment building, so that we could catch the bus together to meet a few friends for breakfast.  We said our usual “Sa wat dee kha”  to the lovely guards at the bottom of our building, and headed out on a walk to the bus.  At only 10am, it was already 85 degrees outside; the sun was shining, and all of the street vendors who crowd the Bangkok streets were just beginning to set up their food and clothing stands to begin their long weekend of work.  We climbed up the stairs of the overpass, which provides a safe way to cross the huge, 10-lane highway, passing the usual homeless men lying on the concrete, and the standard installments of individuals singing into a microphone hoping to make some money.  We hopped onto our bus, being careful not to touch the monks, clad in their orange robes, who were also boarding the bus.  We sat down, and the bus “tout” came over to collect our money – only 8 baht (about 25 cents), because the bus was open-air and not air-conditioned.  I quickly noticed what looked like an animal’s cage resting at the front of the bus next to the driver – based on the tail that was visible we assumed it must be a squirrel.  Well, that’s odd.  After the bus tout was finished collecting money, she proceeded to the front of the bus, opened the cage, pulled out what we think was a baby squirrel, wrapped it up in a small baby-squirrel-sized blanket, and proceeded to feed it with a syringe, squeezing something into its mouth for the remainder of the ride.  I tried to get a good picture, but the bus ride was so bumpy that a blurry one will have to do.

We then proceeded to Ethos, our new favorite earthy-crunchy, all-natural, sing-kumbaya, can’t-wear-shoes-inside, sit-on-the-floor type of restaurant. We had the most incredible banana mango gluten-free pancakes. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but they were delicious.

Afterwards, we ventured out to the main road in the now sweltering heat.  We waited for a bus that we knew would take us to the mall right by our apartment complex.  We fully expected to have at least a 30 minute bus ride – it takes minimum of thirty minutes to get anywhere in Bangkok, because there is always traffic.  Well, no one had mentioned to us that this bus takes the most roundabout, absurd path to go from point A to point B.  The ride ended up taking us 2 hours.  Don’t get me wrong, seeing the scenery of a weekend in the city was great, but my gosh, in that heat, with no air-conditioning, it was rough.

After two hours, our mall destination was finally in sight, so we got up and pressed the red button which signals to the driver that we want to get off at the next stop.  He was driving particularly aggressively at this point, especially considering how bad the traffic was.  And then, like slow motion, I saw it: bus jerking left, small helpless car turning right, and then — CRRUUUNCCHHH.  The horrible sound of metal crunching.  Our bus crashed straight into the car next us.  We all looked at each other, decided it would be best to just get off that bus as fast as possible, and into the refuge of the huge and nicely air-conditioned Central Pinklao mall.

Just another morning in Bangkok, Thailand.

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Elephants, Waterfalls, and Bamboo Rafts

January 27, 2012

I just got back from an incredible weekend in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is a ten hour bus ride north of Bangkok.  Chiang Mai is close to the Burmese border in Northern Thailand.  I was there with my roommate, Addie, as well as two other exchange students.  Thanks to the fantastic recommendations of another Spider (thank you, Dora!), we packed a lot into a three-day weekend.

We took the night bus to and from Chiang Mai, meaning we had three full days there — Saturday through Monday.  Because we had such a short time, we wanted to make sure we made the most of our stay.  Through the hostel that we were recommended, Libra Guesthouse, we were able to book a 2-day, 1-night “trek,” which ended up being incredible.  Our trek started off Saturday morning with a stop at Mork-Fa Waterfall, in Doi Suthep Pui National Park. The water was freezing, but the sight was incredible, and in the end, very refreshing.  After the waterfall, we stopped for some delicious lunch (vegetable fried rice with fresh pineapple). and then we headed to yet another national park, which was home to hot springs.  When I say hot, I mean hot — upwards of 110 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40 degrees Celsius.  It was at this point that we begun our “walk through the jungle,” as it was advertised on Libra’s website.  Well, let me tell you, this was not just a casual stroll. This was, in fact, a 5-hour hike through the jungle.  The walk provided us with incredible views of the mountains, and in the end, it was fantastic, but certainly not what we were anticipating.

On our hike, we came across a few “hill tribes.”  Hill tribes are essentially groups of people — most of the time not recognized as Thai citizens — who, over the past few centuries, have migrated from China and Tibet, settling in the border between Northern Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar).  It was wonderful to be able to see a different part of Thailand, and to learn a little bit about the hill tribes, especially because most of our guides on the trek are members of those hill tribes.  So after five hours of trekking, crossing many unstable bridges made of bamboo, and finishing every last drop of our precious bottled water, we finally made it to our campsite for the night.  We bundled up quickly, because unlike Bangkok, where the temperature never drops below 85 degrees F (30 Celsius), it was freezing.  We had a delicious freshly made dinner by our guides (fresh fruit with homemade chicken and potato curry), and spent the evening sitting around the campfire, hearing hilarious and inappropriate stories from our guides, as well as learning an elephant song that none of us could quite understand. I must also mention that we were joined by eight crazy Russians on this trek. They did not speak a word of English, but somehow thought that speaking Russian very loudly to us would help us understand what they were saying.  After they had a few drinks that evening, it certainly made for an interesting campfire.

After a freezing cold night with only a thin, damp mat separating us from the bamboo floor, we woke up on Day 2 of the trek, and before we knew it, there were elephants in the river! We could not believe our eyes – our guides were on top of them, washing them, and the elephants casually strolled out of the river towards us, at which point we were able to feed them and touch them.  We were then mounted on the elephants – at first sitting on a contraption they had tied to the elephant, but wanting the real jungle experience, I opted to slide down and ride on the elephant’s back.  We spent about an hour just wading through the jungle and the river on the elephants.  A truly incredible experience.  Instead of hiking back down the mountain to get back to our starting point, we opted for a more relaxing variety of transport, taking a bamboo raft that our guides made for a two hour trip down the river.  Definitely a fun way to end the two day trek!

For the last day of our trip, once we were back at the hostel in Chiang Mai, we were able to see the many sights of the beautiful city.  These included the Sunday night market, the Night Bazaar, and many Buddhist temples, including the most famous temple in Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep.  Doi Suthep is situated in the mountains above the city — about a 30 minute drive away.  It has incredible views of the city, and like many of the other temples we have visited, the beauty of the temple was breathtaking.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend! And I have to say, for anyone who is wondering… the weekend was unbelievably cheap.  For the entire weekend, door-to-door, bus, taxi, food, water, trekking, hostel, everything; the weekend came to a grand total of $140 USD.  Not bad, right? Still on a high from this weekend, Addie and I are certainly excited to plan our next adventure…we have our sights set on Cambodia next!

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Learning a lot in Thailand

January 16, 2012

I have been here for almost two weeks now, and since my last entry, a lot has happened: school orientation, moving into my apartment, opening a bank account, my first week of classes, exploring the city, joining a gym, conquering the Bangkok bus system, using the river boat taxis, navigating Thai malls, grocery shopping, dealing with the warning of a terrorist attack in Bangkok, and my first adventure in Chinatown with some Richmond Spiders.  I have included some pictures taken around the city to give you an idea of the setting.  All of these firsts have included learning many interesting nuances of Thai culture:

1.  The importance of politeness:  as I mentioned in my last blog post, Thais as a whole are some of the most kind and friendly people that I have ever met.  They are always smiling, always willing to help, and completely accommodating and understanding of the fact that I am a foreigner in this city.  Most of the time, Thais are not out to rip you off in order to make an extra baht or two.  That being said, many natives have warned us that it is essential to reciprocate this kindness.  Once you get angry or hostile with a Thai, the smile stays but suddenly their helpful, genuinely kind demeanor goes out the window.

2.  Eating street food is much cheaper than cooking at home: counterintuitive, right?  In the US, cooking meals at home is emphasized everywhere – partly because it is healthier, but also because it is cheaper than going out to eat.  Here, however, on average, eating a big meal on the street costs about a dollar or two.  Buying fruits and vegetables on the street is easy and cheap, but buying fruits and vegetables in the supermarket is extremely expensive.  I am not complaining, though; fresh mango and pineapple at every hour of the day, with stir fry, rice, Pad Thai, and spring rolls on every corner…  Thailand is truly food heaven.

3.  Some strict cultural customs are NOT negotiable: a) Never say anything bad about the King and the royal family, because it is against the law and very offensive.  The current King is a beloved man here in Thailand, because he is truly someone concerned with his people and has done an incredible amount for Thailand in his sixty-some years of rule.  He is also the longest reigning monarch in the world. b) Never put your feet up anywhere — for example, on a seat in the bus, in the movie theater, or on your desk.  Showing a Thai the bottom of your feet is one of the rudest offenses, and is taken very seriously. Apparently a picture of President Obama with his feet up on his desk in the oval office caused quite an uproar here. C) Twice a day, when Thailand’s national anthem (of sorts) is blasted on the loudspeakers around the city, everyone — including foreigners — must stop and pay respect until it is finished.  Not doing this is considered incredibly rude.

4.  Buddhism has a big influence on Thai culture: By some estimates, Thailand is 95% Buddhist, which is made very evident by the thousands of temples and shrines blanketing the city.  As I mentioned before, I have been overwhelmed by the politeness and genuine kindness of Thai people, and I learned recently that much of this has to do with Buddhism.  There are five precepts of Buddhism, which guide people to live a happy and enlightened life. This will, in turn, help them to reach the afterlife.  These precepts include refraining from stealing, killing, lying, and engaging in adultery.  These rules, and the hope of accumulating enough karma to reach the afterlife, are taken very seriously, which I believe is a large reason why Thais seem so incredibly kind.

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Falling in Love with Bangkok

January 5, 2012

After a 6 hour flight to London, and then an 11 hour flight to Bangkok, I have finally arrived in Thailand!!

What did I first notice after arriving here? Despite the fact that this is very much a city, there is greenery everywhere!! Lining the highways are palm trees, plants, and every tropical flower imaginable.  It is truly paradise.  Today I had my first adventure in Bangkok, alone, and after only two days here I have completely fallen in love with the city.

One of my main missions of the day was to get my uniform for Thammasat University where I will be studying for the next semester.  There are many signs around the university that state that any student without a uniform will not be served; so they take the uniform thing very seriously. I went to the bookstore at Thammasat and after many hand motions and pointing to a picture of the uniform, I was able to communicate that I needed to buy a uniform– only to be told uniforms are no longer sold at the bookstore.  Great. My Thammasat orientation packet said it would be at the bookstore, and the email I received yesterday about orientation reiterated this fact.  But nonetheless, no uniform.  The gentleman at the bookstore who was helping me kept repeating “tuktuk” and “market” meaning I could take a tuktuk to get the uniform at a local market.  I had him write down the name of the market in Thai because I have learned this is the best way to accomplish anything around here: with actual words, in Thai, written on a piece of paper.  I walked outside and ending up hailing a cab.  After much more confusion my taxi driver motioned down a street saying “here, here.”  The only problem was that the street was completely packed with millions of identical looking clothing stands, none of which seemed to be selling official Thammasat uniforms.

I went up to one of the stall owners to ask where I could find a Thammasat uniform, and he was wonderful.   He took it upon himself to guide me through the market, bringing me to each stall that I needed to go to to get the essentials for my uniform.  Every stall owner was so incredibly sweet.  I was overwhelmed with how generous and kind everyone was to me.  I never felt taken advantage of, and felt such genuine warmth from everyone.  After my shopping was complete I grabbed a taxi to go back to the house.  Instead of taking a taxi to the doorstep, however, I decided to walk the last bit of the way to completely soak up my surroundings.   Here are a couple of pictures of the street I am staying on until I move into my apartment:

I am in love the freedom of being able to walk alone and explore the city all by myself, on only my second day in Thailand.  It is the most liberating and wonderful feeling, a feeling that I never had studying abroad in Kenya last semester.  I am so excited for the next five months here!!

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The Start of an Incredible Adventure

January 4, 2012

I can’t believe that I am beginning another blog, and with that, another adventure abroad.  My name is Samantha and I have been back at home in Concord, Massachusetts, for about two weeks since returning from a semester abroad in Kenya.  I am a junior international business major, and could not help but take full advantage of the opportunity to go abroad, by choosing to go abroad for two semesters in two different locations.  My semester in Kenya actually had nothing to do with my business major; rather it was an SIT (School of International Training) program focused on community health and development, which are both passions of mine.  It was an incredible four months, involving living in two different homestays, experiencing life with no running water and no electricity, navigating daily life in a dangerous city, and learning an incredible amount by living as much a typical Kenyan life as possible.  I have a feeling Bangkok won’t be quite the same experience….

In Bangkok I will be studying at Thammasat University, through the university’s international business exchange program.   As part of the exchange program I will be there with students from all around the world, which I am incredibly excited about.  I will also be there with one of my best friends from Richmond, Addie.  We are planning to live in an apartment together, and from what I have  heard these apartments are are a far cry from the village living I experienced in Kenya: most that I have come across resemble apartments in the US, fully equipped with a gym and a pool.  In addition to school, I am planning to do an internship with the non-profit organization called Step Ahead, which is a fantastic NGO that was founded by two Richmond alumni.  To be honest I don’t know exactly why I chose Thailand; I went back and forth for months about whether to study abroad for two semesters or not, and then it just all fell in to place.  I have always heard so many incredible things about Thailand, and hoped to one day travel there.  When an internship in Bangkok as well as the opportunity to study business fell into my lap, I couldn’t say no, especially because I know that this is truly the opportunity of a lifetime.

I don’t think it has quite hit me that I am leaving to live on the other side of the world for the next five months.  But then again it didn’t really sink in that I had been in Kenya until a few days after I got back to the US.  I am incredibly excited though– I can’t wait to live a completely different lifestyle than I did in Kenya.  I am so excited to meet a dynamic group of people, to explore a completely new culture, and to see a new part of the world.  I am also intrigued to be involved in the development world in Bangkok through my internship; it will be fascinating to not only compare the different issues that exist in Bangkok versus Nairobi, but also to get a feel of how those issues are addressed differently in each city.  I am eager to start my life in Bangkok, but I also have a lot to do in the week that I have left at home.  As I learned from my trip to Kenya, it is best not to worry, not to consume myself with “what-ifs” and to just go with it.  That is the best and only way to travel!

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Full Circle: Mai Pen Rai

December 21, 2011

With Bi Si (welcoming and goodbye ceremony strings in which locals bless you) strings on my left hand and an ocean to my right, how do I even begin reflecting on this experience? I am sitting on the beach in Koh Tao, staring out at the beautiful water forgetting that I am in Thailand still. It is the brief interactions with locals and long conversations with vendors in Thai that remind me of my experience. Or the exported food items on the menu that make me wonder how far they had to travel. It is the memories of my host families and the villages that come flooding back when I see bedding or mats. These are just a few of the moments that make this experience real. Otherwise it feels like a dream. A dream that I can’t forget in the morning, a dream whose lessons I must keep with me.

I am traveling with four of my friends from the program and we often find ourselves talking about goals for going home or how to explain our program in relatable terms. The list of 55 buzz words work well when talking to another group member, but to anyone else, space just means space. It does not make you laugh, cringe, or cry. I am struggling with how to explain my tears when someone says that word, or explain my frustrations and successes with “challenging appropriately”.  However, this experience would not be meaningful if I could not take it back with me, if I could not implement the lessons I have learned.

So what will I do? For starters, write down my lessons, quotes from NGOs, villagers, and government officials, and post them around my room. Keep a constant reminder of my growth and new knowledge. And for that knowledge, bring it back to UR. Not just the content, but my new outlook of what education means. We turned it into a joke here, the basis of our education model, “Took kawn ben ajaan.” Every person is a teacher. This program put it in the structure, we learned from each other as facilitators, villagers about their lives and development, journalists about politics, and everyone we encountered. I hope to share that lesson. One can learn a lot from the experts, but experience is unmatched. Lets just hope this plays out well in VA and NJ.

So, as for my first question prior to leaving… how do you say “no worries” in Thai? It’s mai pen rai. Meaning no problem, don’t worry about it. And just like I thought, it’s more than a saying here—it’s a lifestyle. It is a lifestyle I have now understood and adapted to. So adjustment back home will surely be difficult, but mai pen rai, its all a learning experience.

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The Spirit of Collaboration: Grassroots Movements

December 9, 2011

On an alternative education program, it is not final exams that we have, but rather, final projects.  After working with communities all semester long, learning about their struggles, successes, and current projects, we as students finally get to be a part of it.  When I initially came I was confused what out projects were.  I did not understand the process; and that process is collaboration.  My final project is unlike anything I have ever worked on because I am not only working with a group of five other students, but with an entire community.  And these people not only want, but need, it to be perfect, because it changes their livelihoods.  (Also, everything has to be translated into Thai.)

For my project, I am working with the Rasi Salai community as they begin the very early stages of starting a Green Market, or an organic market.

We created surveys and the conducted them both in the city with consumers and on potential producers’ farms.  After collecting our data, we returned to Khon Kaen to analyze it, create an educational pamphlet on organic food, and prepare for our annual Human Rights Festival.  What a crazy two weeks it has been!  So now, as it nears an end, I finally have clarity on what it means to collaborate with a community, and I have a better idea of what grassroots movements really are.  I came into this program thinking there needed to be outside involvement, but after having worked with a community that has been organizing for 17 years, I understand that motivation and passion are what drives movements, not power or money.  A dam was built in the community, and rather than giving up, they fight (“sou sou!”)  In this case, that means working within their situation, and making it better.  So currently, that means an organic market.  I know it is early stages, but I am really looking forward to years from now when I return to Thailand and go to the Wetlands Peoples’ Green Market.

As for now, well it’s time to wind down.  (No, that doesn’t mean free time).  We will have the Human Rights Festival, which is a gathering of many communities and NGOs presenting their issues and networking together.  Then off to the retreat to reform the program structure and reflect on my experience.  It is hard to believe that its all coming to an end, but nice to know I have a community at Richmond to come home to.

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Time for Harvest, and Final Projects

December 5, 2011

Harvest time means that all the green fields from the beginning of my journey have turned golden yellow.  It is a physical representation of truly how much time has passed.  Pretty cool, though, because just as the rice has changed through process, so have I, through our group process.

This last unit before final projects was based on mining, and it brought together everything we have learned so far.  Water gets poisoned, land rights are violated, and of course, the farmland is destroyed.  What was most interesting about this unit was its complexity.  I, as an American consumer, contribute to this issue.  At our reading discussion, we had to take everything that had mined products in it and put it at our feet.  Jewlery, electronics from our backpacks, notebooks, pens — everything was sitting at our feet.  It was a scary realization.  Then we went off to the communities, and they, too, use products that have been mined.  It’s really a “not in my backyard” argument, but it needs to happen in our current economy, so whose backyard do we put it in?  More importantly, how do we ensure that those people have a say? That seems to be one of the biggest problems here in Northeast Thailand.  The villagers simply are not heard when the proposed projects will change their livelihood forever.

Despite all the work that was due, two friends and I decided to take our personal days and return back to the organic village.  What an adventure it was.  I could not stay with my host family, so I stayed with my friends and Paw Wan.  Paw is the local rice varieties expert, so it was cool harvesting rice in his farm.  It wasn’t just Jasmine 105 or Gaw Kaw 6; we were harvesting black rice, and then for dinner, we had the most delicious red sticky rice.  (Which doesn’t mean the rice is sticky — it is a different kind of rice that is eaten in this region.)

The trip back was where the adventure happened.  A driver brought us to the city nearby, then we got on an open air bus to take us to the bus station, and then there was only standing room on the four-hour bus ride.  Plus, the air conditioning was broken.  I found myself sitting on the floor (because it was cooler) scrunched between my friends, and just hoping that time would pass quickly.

We got home safe and sound as always, appreciating the adventure and impressed with our language skills.  It is now time for final projects, so off to the village to assess the feasibility of a Green Market.  But more on that soon…

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