Rain Has Arrived

Thursday, July 22, 2010--Ubon Ratchathani

The rain began last night about the time I went to bed and continued through the night.  When I left the hotel this morning at 9:30, it was comfortable outside.  The rain had cooled the air and the pavement.  It's amazing how much heat was still radiating from the concrete streets last night when I came home around 20:00.  Today, I made it all the way to the park, about 6 long blocks without feeling sticky!  And when I got there, I realized I had left my two water bottles in their bag on the sofa at the door.  It was so comfortable that I hadn't even noticed.

I stopped at a supermarket near the corner of the park and bought some crackers and chips.  I decided not to buy more water since I had plenty at the room.  

Things were about the same today.  There were scout troups there today in addition to school groups.  The cane sculptures were more complete.  I saw two giant birds, several large flowers, and others.  As usual, I found a bench in the shade and sat and read.

Two different students approached me during the time I was there asking if they could interview me.  Their English really wasn't that good.  One even asked me just to read her written questions in a notebook and to write my responses.  

All over Thailand, I have noticed that towns and cities are full of commercial businesses to aid in learning.  There are Kumon franchises and lots of English language schools.  The latter can be found every 2-3 blocks.  Parents here want the best for their children, and these places are often full after school and in the evenings.  I wonder how much learning is taking place considering how little English anyone speaks, however.  

I did get sticky returning to the hotel.  The sun had come out.  It was quite warm and humid at 13:00.  It was nice to get the air conditioner on and to get my damp shirt off.  After doing more research on the computer, started to get ready to go out again.  The rain began, however, before I could get ready.  That was about 17:30.  It has continued to rain all evening.  Thank goodness I had the crackers and chips I bought.  It was too wet to try to go out for dinner.  I just ate those and watched TV.

Tomorrow, I plan to get a bus in the afternoon (only one bus per day at 14:00) for Khong Chiam.  It is a small village on the Mekong River.  Because it is remote, I may not have the opportunity to connect to the Internet with my computer.  There is supposed to be a cyber cafe or two there with very slow speeds, so I hope I can post occasionally and read e-mail, however.  If I get up and the weather is bad, I may try to stay here one more day before going there.