Bangkok, Thailand

I arrived in Thailand at 11:35 on Sunday evening. After officially travelling for 23 hours I was exhausted but very excited. The first leg of my flight was from New York (JFK) to Tokyo (Narita) and took about 15 hours. I had a two hour layover and was able to change some money and do some reading. The second leg of the trip was Tokyo to Bangkok and was about 6 hours. The flight was practically empty, so I had an entire row of three seats to myself. It was wonderful to stretch out and really sleep...which I did for the majority of the flight. Upon arriving at the airport I cleared customs without any problems and met two girls from California. One of them was born here in Thailand, and is fluent in the language. It made finding a taxi and navigating my way to the hotel a breeze! I spent the day lounging by the pool, and recovering from the jet lag, and met the rest of my group a few minutes ago. The exciting news is that Tibet has been reopened to tourists, and we might be able to go. However, this is contigent upon our visa's being approved, and I won't know that for a few days still. Otherwise, we will be spending the day touring the city tomorrow, and then catching a flight tomorrow evening to Chiang Rai.

Victor's Visit

It has been over two years since I last saw Victor. He wore many hats during our Peace Corps service, and was both our training director and our safety and security officer. It was surreal but wonderful to see him here in NYC, and to get together with everyone for dinner. Just seeing him brought back so many memories, and many funny stories were recounted about training. He seemed to be having a wonderful time with his New York "host family" Derek and Sara, and even successfully navigated the city's subway system! I look forward to hopefully seeing him again in 2010 on his side of the world. A big thanks to Sara for organizing the whole get together!

8th Grade Stepping-up Ceremony

It was a bitter sweet day to see my advisory leave the 8th grade and set off for high school. A week before the graduation I had a long conversation with one of my advisees, Tajae, about how scary change can be. Whether you are changing the school you attend, the job that you work at, or just your scenery, it all takes you out of your comfort zone. I still vividly remember my first night in South Africa when I started to question why I was there. I was conflicted because of my desire to try something new, and at the same time my fear of the unknown. Even as I get ready to set off on this trip I still get the butterfly's in my stomach, and that has become my favorite part of traveling. It is in that feeling that I remember how easily I slip into a routine, and how good it is to constantly challenge myself and try something new. Congratulations Honestas! I will miss those of your who are leaving Bronx Latin, but I am so excited to hear about all your new adventures. I hope that you too will come to appreciate and look forward to the butterfly's! Check out the rest of the pictures here.

Change of Plans

After a horrible morning at the Chinese Embassy on Thursday, I finally started to accept that I might not actually make it into Tibet. Sure enough, this evening I received confirmation from my travel company that the tour has been altered due to complications with the Chinese Government. It's unfortunate that something couldn't be worked out, but the adjusted tour looks great as well. I had wanted to visit Bhutan, and now I can! My biggest disappointment is the missed Mt. Everest stop.

10 Afternoon we cross border into Thailand and fly to Bangkok
11 Afternoon flight to Kolkata, India
12 Day tour of Kolkata/ Overnight train
13 Darjeeling, India
14 Gangtok, India
15 Kalimpong, India
16 Phuentsoling, Bhutan
17 Thimphu, Bhutan
18 Punakha/Wangde, Bhutan
19 Punakha/Wangde, Bhutan
20 Paro, Bhutan