:Title:    A summer of research
:Author:   Linda Nowakowski
:Date:     Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:04:45 PST
:URL:      http://www.ned.com/user/u523412994/news/20/

I am sitting in a first class, air conditioned train car that I have to myself. I have a great internet connection on the train! I just finished a plate of pad sieyu gai and a plate of mangoes, sticky rice and coconut cream. What a respite.

Life has been going at a frantic pace all semester but since Christina and Norbert got here, it has speeded out of control. 

Christina is such an inspiration to me.  I was so glad that my community visit suggestion for them was an accurate choice. They went home today with sprinkler heads, seeds, coconut tree saplings, slips of dragon fruit and about 100,000,000 LEDs that Khaenfa brought Norbert from China.

It was a great trip for everyone I think but in the middle of the night last night Norbert got a call that his mother and father had been in an accident and his mother had died.  They apparently had originally reported that both had died but his father regained consciousness. My heart aches so for Norbert.

Norbert is a special man.  One night one of the faculty memebrs came over and he and I and Christina and Norbert talked for hours.  Boris said the next day that he thought Norbert was the first person he had ever met who had no evil in him.

Christina, Norbert and I had a great talk yesterday with Aj. Apichai.  It was very encouraging so I am mounting a campaign or two for a couple of great projects.  We want to bring 5 Ugandans over here to live in the Asoke community at Srisaket but have them come one at a time. We also talked about the possibility of bringing Ugandas to Ubon to stdy in our Sufficiency Economy program.  And finally we talked about taking Thai students to Uganda.

I am falling asleep..more tomorrow.