I'm going to make the most of my last week in SE Asia

Not a lot has happened since I last updated. I wish I had pictures to share, but my camera is not water proof.
Lately, we have all been eating weird. So last night, Jacquie got really hungry, and made pasta in our hot water thing, and ate it with chopsticks from a coffee mug. I ate crackers and jam, spreading it with a coffee stir. First day back at the university. We're learning Thai writing now, which seems kind of pointless...but whatever. Luckily, we haven't forgotten our Thai language. Sometimes I insert some Vietnamese, but for the most part I've been able to get around.
Yesterday we went to the Thai/Burmese border and it was creepy. There was a ravine, some bamboo fencing, and land mines, and on the other side, a Burmese soldier.

We went up to a nauvice monk training center that was really cool. They grow all their own food, build their own mud huts, and generally are self sufficient. We had a tour, talked to some people, and ate really good organic food. :)
Bob also had us stop at a unofficial Burmese refugee camp, and we sat and talked with the director for awhile. He said the droughts were making their water supply almost non existent, and the crops weren't growing very well. I didn't meet many people, just got stared at a lot there.

Home in 8 days



I've bartered in thai with a song tao driver at 2 am in Chiang Mai.
I've climbed a mountainous waterfall in Laos, and been blessed by a 100 year old Lao lady.
I've been in a taxi when it hit a motorcycle on the dangerous streets of Hanoi, Vietnam.
I've pattered through ancient ruins in Cambodia, and old Sukothai ruins in Thailand.
I've had the walking stomach in 3 of the 4 countries in SE Asia.
I've sailed on a Junk and explored caves in Halong Bay, and sang karaoke with a group of cute university students in Hanoi.
I've saw in pools in Thailand and Cambodia, and seen 3D Alice in Wonderland in Vietnam.
I've been catcalled in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and stayed home sick in Laos.
I've meditated and been silent for 2 days in Thailand, and sang English songs with Khmer kids in Cambodia.
I've walked across the city at 4am in Chiang Mai, and watched in sun rise in Phnom Penh.
I've studied for a Thai midterm with a Thai university boy, and watched Whip It instead of studying for a Vietnamese final.
I've ridden through the mountains of Chiang Mai on a bus, and ridden through the quiet streets of Hanoi on the back of a boy's motorcycle.
I've ate too much bread in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, and too much fruit in Thailand.
I've listened to Super Mash Brothers in a bus in 3 of the 4 countries, and Death Cab in 2.
I've bought 5 bracelets for a dollar from a Khmer orphan, and 1 bracelet for two dollars from a boutique in Thailand.
I've had a breakdown in Thailand and Vietnam, and missed my dog in all 4.
I've lain on the roof of a guesthouse in Thailand and stared at the mountains; ridden through caves by boat in northern Vietnam.
I've received colored pictures from a 14 year old Khmer boy in Cambodia, and prayer beads from a 18 year old Vietnamese girl in Hanoi.
...and now I'm ready to go home :)