I'm not surprised but it is nice to see Vermont #1 and Burlington #7 in terms of per-capita Peace Corps Volunteers.
Peace Corps Press Release with all the numbers
and here is a video by a New England news network
I received full medical clearance for my Peace Corps application last week.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
What I Have Been Doing
Three other students and I are working on a project for the NGO called International Rivers. They asked CIEE Thailand to find out information about the electricity transmission lines from a newly constructed hydropower dam in Laos. Our group said yes to the project.
To summarize; we drove around Roi-Et province for 3 days talking to villagers where the transmissions lines went through rice fields. There was one family who's house lay under the proposed path of the power lines and was destroyed along with their livelihood/source of income. We have been trying to sort through all of this out in at the office for a few days. Then this morning we were in Bangkok for a meeting with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to find out their side of the story, since they are the ones who built the power lines.
I am certainly learning a lot during this final project time and this is some of the best "education" I have ever received.....(Remember I'm on study abroad and receiving college credit for all of this!) Every thing we ask for; CIEE Thailand will get for us: do we want a van to go drive around Roi-Et province?-got it, Can we have a meeting with EGAT officials in Bangkok?-got it.
This morning my small group was in a meeting with 4 EGAT employees and our teacher as the translator. We spent 2.5 hours asking questions and talking to them. I learned a lot about the transmission line project but even more about development projects, gov organizations, and people.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." --Mark Twain
To summarize; we drove around Roi-Et province for 3 days talking to villagers where the transmissions lines went through rice fields. There was one family who's house lay under the proposed path of the power lines and was destroyed along with their livelihood/source of income. We have been trying to sort through all of this out in at the office for a few days. Then this morning we were in Bangkok for a meeting with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to find out their side of the story, since they are the ones who built the power lines.
I am certainly learning a lot during this final project time and this is some of the best "education" I have ever received.....(Remember I'm on study abroad and receiving college credit for all of this!) Every thing we ask for; CIEE Thailand will get for us: do we want a van to go drive around Roi-Et province?-got it, Can we have a meeting with EGAT officials in Bangkok?-got it.
This morning my small group was in a meeting with 4 EGAT employees and our teacher as the translator. We spent 2.5 hours asking questions and talking to them. I learned a lot about the transmission line project but even more about development projects, gov organizations, and people.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." --Mark Twain
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Burma Visa in Bangkok and Ayutthaya
On Nov 20-21 me and a group of friends headed to Bangkok to get our visa for Myanmar (Burma). We arrived at 6:3am and were the first people in line for the embassy that opened at 8:30am. By 7:30 there was 10 people in line. We successfully got our visa after a stressful embassy visit. We returned at 3pm to pick up our passport and found the embassy filled with people.
That night we stayed in Bangkok and the next morning went to Ayutthaya, a UNESCO world heritage site. Here is the photo gallery
SUCCESS! we got the visas
showing off my Myanmar visa, Sagar reading "Rules for Rebels" and Dan is reading George Orwell's book about Burma
christmas tree in Bangkok--in mid-November
That night we stayed in Bangkok and the next morning went to Ayutthaya, a UNESCO world heritage site. Here is the photo gallery
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Student Newsletter #2 CIEE Thailand
Here is the Student Newsletter about our semester in Thailand. I do not have an article in this newsletter.
Here is the newsletter #1 blog post from September 24
Here is the newsletter #1 blog post from September 24
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Visa in Bangkok, ancient city of Ayuthaya
tomorrow I will be in Bangkok to get a visa and to sight see maybe. The next day I'm headed to the ancient city of Ayuthaya. Be back on Sunday
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
No Nong Bong Mining Community
On November 7th we got in the van and headed to our last homestay in Thailand. A gold mine was built a few years ago and now the farming village can't grow vegetables or fruit, only rice can grow now. The water is unfit to bath in and you should never drink the water from the local river. Drinking water is trucked in but you must still bathe with water containing heavy metals, cyanide and arsenic.
The first day Andy, Dan, and I spent with our host father. We harvested rice for a few hours in the morning and then spent the afternoon relaxing and drinking rice whiskey. For the next few days we had exchanges with a local NGO working on the issue, the Provincial Health Office, the Office of Industry, and another village 10 km away that lives on a potential copper mining site.
This unit I was in charge of everything along with 5 other students. The program aims for students to teach ourselves and our peers. We had to plan the briefing meeting before we left for the community, and run all exchanges throughout the week and make sure everything goes well in the group of 27 students. Did I mention this was the longest homestay in the same village?..... a week in No Nong Bong Village.
Last week I dropped my backpack with my big camera and as a result, my camera isn't working properly. So this unit I took pictures when my camera was working(sometimes). Also I noticed my picture taking style has changed, at least during this trip. I took a lot more pictures of my classmates and the natural surrounding.
Here is the full No Nong Bong Photo Gallery
these farmers are working in rice fields. in the background is the gold mine that has seriously harmed their way of life
The first day Andy, Dan, and I spent with our host father. We harvested rice for a few hours in the morning and then spent the afternoon relaxing and drinking rice whiskey. For the next few days we had exchanges with a local NGO working on the issue, the Provincial Health Office, the Office of Industry, and another village 10 km away that lives on a potential copper mining site.
This unit I was in charge of everything along with 5 other students. The program aims for students to teach ourselves and our peers. We had to plan the briefing meeting before we left for the community, and run all exchanges throughout the week and make sure everything goes well in the group of 27 students. Did I mention this was the longest homestay in the same village?..... a week in No Nong Bong Village.
Last week I dropped my backpack with my big camera and as a result, my camera isn't working properly. So this unit I took pictures when my camera was working(sometimes). Also I noticed my picture taking style has changed, at least during this trip. I took a lot more pictures of my classmates and the natural surrounding.
Here is the full No Nong Bong Photo Gallery
these farmers are working in rice fields. in the background is the gold mine that has seriously harmed their way of life
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