Travel Update

Hello Loved Ones, I know I'm behind in posting, but the update is this:

I'm in Bangkok, Thailand, waiting for my passport and visa documents to process. I should arrive in China by next week. I'll meet up with friends, Isaac and Rachel, in Beijing. Then I plan to catch a train to Chengdu to visit friend Meg who works in the field of micro-credit. As I'm sure you've all heard, Chengdu suffered from a treacherous earthquake, and aftershocks, this month--the current death toll as of this writing was over 51,000. More than 29,000 people are still missing. And almost 288,500 people are counted as injured. (Thank goodness Meg is okay!)

Back to Beijing at the end of the month for a Chinese language course I think. Then maybe I'll be volunteering in some capacity with the Olympics in August. We'll see. I have a position with the Paralympics (the official games for athletes with physical disabilities) in September.

Since my return from Myanmar, I've been back in Sangklaburi (Thailand) helping out at the children's home's school a bit. It's been a great opportunity to hang out with my friends here. I'm always sad to leave. The photo here is of me with a few good friends.

By the way, thanks to everyone for checking up on me after the devastating cyclone in Myanmar. Luckily for me I had already left. My heart goes out to all the good people affected by the disaster. The current official death toll here, according to the Myanmar government, is nearly 78,000, with almost 56,000 people missing. The UN and Red Cross estimate a much higher figure.