where i am.....

i talked to liz today and she has set up a great opportunity to get involved with the tsunami restoration there in thailand.
for those of you that would like to look on a map as to where i'll be -
i'm flying from bangkok, south to phuket. it's an hour flight. from there i will take a bus
or if i feel up to haggling, a taxi, 2 1/2 hours north to the town of khaolak. it was hardest hit
by the tsunami. i will be helping to rebuild, teaching english and taking photographs. at least
this is what liz said i would be doing. it will be a great intro to teaching, as i am nervous to just jump right in. we will be there for 2 weeks. we will get a place for christmas and spoil ourselves a bit for a couple of days until after the new year. the town of khaolak is close to a lot of national parks, amazing waterfalls and great diving. padi certification is only $300 for a 4 day course. liz is already certified so i will have a dive partner. the best diving is just off the coast. i will of course be writing if all of this is true in the upcoming weeks.
right now i'm in washington dc and going to be meeting with a national geographic editor tomorrow at 9:30am. she said she'd introduce me to the photo editors. i have my photo cd portfolio and my business card and of course my charm and wittiness to win them over.
i spent last night at happy hour with a woman that is a journalist for bill moyers and a couple of girls that work for the brookings institute. dc is an amazing place. did you know that if you live inside dc that you don't have a vote for president? and they don't have anybody in congress as a voice for them. do you know what that means? yes, taxation without representation.
it is certainly a hotbed with the primaries coming up and the buzz is exciting. everybody here is very in touch with what is going on and it was interesting to hear the take on why journalists aren't pushing forward and asking the hard questions and speaking out. let's just say there are a lot of egos and even if you do speak out you are subsequently shut out from press conferences, etc.... it is true. i don't believe we are living in a completely free society. i'm not saying we're a fascist nation but it seems slowly we are having our rights taken from us right under our noses and we have no idea.
i'll be sure to expand on this over more drinks (very expensive drinks at that) in the next few days.

thanks to you for all your amazing and kind words. i'll be printing them out and carrying them with me on this journey. i'm also deciding if i am going to follow my grandfather's steps into northern assam and india when i am there. there is a great story about the duffla indians to which nobody has heard of except for my grandfather. i have the arrows and arrow case to prove it.

happy trails,
jayb