Phitsanulok (say that 3 times fast!)

Greetings--or should I say sa wadee krap? I have been here with my fellow Rotary teammates for less than four days but it has been a whirlwind. I cannot begin to summarize what we've experienced so I'll just give a snapshot or two.

Last night, we went to a dinner--perhaps I should say feast--hosted by one of the city's Rotary clubs. There were maybe thirty people there, the five of us and the rest Thai peeps, mostly older folks though peppered with some of their children. As had occurred the day prior, I was sort of "adopted" by the one vegetarian in the bunch. This dude is a M.D. perhaps in his 50s and fascinating, as far as I could make out from his limited English (and my non-existent Thai). He had cooked me brown rice and a dish that had the first tofu I'd eaten in-country. He also is a gardender, organic apparently, and had a metal tray full of his most recent harvest. While eating and "talking" over our leisurely dinner, he would randomly hand me something to eat, say a sprig of parsely or a quasi-cherry tomato. He had maybe ten different types of greens, too, which he would hand me at random intervals. I'd just take it and eat it, sometimes surpised by the powerful flavor. Cool...

Meanwhile, the other dude I mostly talked to was this 70-year old guy, who was fabulous and nice as could be. He'd picked us up and driven us from our hotel. He was the first person to inquire about the primary elections in Texas and Ohio, among other nuggest of American knowledge that he displayed over the course of the evening. So, in between being handed samples of, I don't know, watercress, the older guy would say something like, "what do you think of embryonic stem cell research?"

Meanwhile, the food was winding down and the karaoke was winding up. Naturally, I demurred but my teammates were far bolder and busted out some Whitney Houston for the crowd. I'm traveling w/ some fine soul singers, I am.

Other highlights so far: the first (though by no means last) traditional Thai massage with one of my teammates perhaps being offered a "happy ending"? Other feasts. Everyone has been totally kind though the language barrier is significant to say the least; the best speakers, predictably, are the young'uns; it seems that many Rotarians send their teenage children to study in the States or Australia for a year.