ira on May 9th, 2007

There is other great news, too.  I survived a real Thai massage and became a convert.  In spite of my past reluctance about letting anyone kneed my bod , I finally submitted.  My back and butt pain were just getting too awful.  (Before leaving for Thailand, I’d seen Bob Hudgins and Howard Morgan–both NS friends–about […]

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ira on May 8th, 2007

Now, back to where we are staying.  Veena, an acquaintance from last year became our agent this year and showed us the housing options in Khon Kaen.  As advertised, housing costs are really low.  But there’s a  catch.  Most in-town rentals are one-room affairs, large enough to sleep in but way too cramped for living.  […]

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ira on May 8th, 2007

After the customary thirty-one hour door-to-door trip from Dallas, Judy and I arrived again at the VP Tower in BKK.  The next night, Doug and Yim, who owned the old hangout, Thee Sud Isaan, threw a party at their house.  Half of our friends were there, and we had a great time.  The next night, we […]

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judy on May 3rd, 2007

Ira and I are in Khon Kaen and have found a place to live!!  We have new cell phones and are in the process of unpacking.    A wonderful Thai woman we met last year helped us look for an apartment and, after considering several options, we have rented a serviced apartment in a hotel […]

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judy on November 4th, 2006

Ira and I are doing fine.  We are now in Khon Kaen in the northeast of Thailand where Ira is located as part of the International Neurosurgery volunteer program we told you about.   After the first month in Bangkok at our same language school and a week-long trip to Myanmar, we came up here on […]

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judy on October 15th, 2006

This is part 2 of the Myanmar trip story and was written by Dick Svee. Burma Road    They lived among an ancient civilization; hundreds of pagodas and stupas in various stages of decay, some with cracks and broken plaster revealing eroding brick foundations; others with trees growing and swallowed by the encroaching forest.    […]

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judy on October 15th, 2006

Part 1 — from Bill and Sherry — written after they were back on board ship. Life changing. Awesome. Incredible. Overwhelming. Beautiful people. I was traveling alone and this mother with eight children who lives in a small one-room house invited me in to eat with them. … I’ll need some time to unpack what […]

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judy on October 15th, 2006

Ira and I have just returned from a 6 day trip to Myanmar/Burma where we joined up with friends we made on Semester at Sea Fall 2002, Bill and Sherry May, and Dick and Beth Svee.  These two couples are on Semester at Sea again for the Fall 2006 voyage — Bill is teaching a […]

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judy on September 30th, 2006

One last word or two about the Thai political situation.  It is not affecting anyone’s daily life at all, except for those who are involved in it.  Thaksin is in London “holidaying” as one of newspapers put it; his entire family and retainers are also there with him in the multi-million dollar home that he […]

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