At least not in Bangkok. According to this article in the Thai newspaper “The Nation,” authorities are banning elephants from the city. One of the fascinating things that I love about Bangkok is the chance that you can see one of the big beasts lumbering around some of the major streets at night. That being said, however, it is actually very cruel to the animals that their handlers put them in this position. The handlers try to get tourists to buy food from them to feed the elephants, thereby lining the handlers’ pockets. The city is quite a bad environment for elephants, so I hope the ruling has a good effect. Apparently, this is not the first time the authorities have tried to get the elephants off the streets and into their natural habitat. Let’s hope it works this time.
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The university is having a 3-day festival this week, running from Wednesday through today. The students from their different departments (majors) set up small areas in a large parking lot just below the campus from which they sell food and drinks to raise money for various projects, field trips, etc. Each area is covered with awnings and tarps to protect diners and drinkers from the weather. I took a quick walk through the area on Wednesday night after my 7 p.m. class, but it started to sprinkle a bit, with heavier showers forecast for later, so I didn’t linger long. Throughout the night and into the early morning hours there was quite a bit of rain, very heavy at times. After my morning class yesterday, I again took a walk through the area, on my way to catch a bus to the bank to send some cash back to my U.S. bank. My guess is that at least more than half of the booths had been flattened by the winds and heavy rains. It was still raining pretty hard at the time, and some of the early arriving students were hard at work trying to re-erect their booths. It finally quit raining in the early afternoon and the festivities went on as scheduled later that evening. Right now the sun is out and the forecast calls for clear skies all day, so I’ll probably check out the activities tonight after class. Speaking of festivities, the Yanks have been on a roll lately, winning 8 in a row and closing to within 2 1/2 games of first place. They’re playing awesome baseball and I have a good feeling about the team this year. The pitching is coming around, A-Rod is back and pounding the ball, and, most important, the “chemistry” among the players seems to be quite positive. Here’s hoping they keep it up over the long run. I’ll try to get some recent photos posted here soon. Stay tuned for more later. I hope all the moms and grandmoms and others have a great day today. I already phoned my mother today–how about you? In a scenario that every Yankee fan probably dreamed of, A-Rod made his return from the disabled list today. First time at bat, top of the first, runners on first and second, first pitch — WHAM! — a home run into the left field seats in Baltimore. Wow, what a return! Hopefully, he’ll prove to be the catalyst the team needs to shake itself out of its current doldrums. More later. |
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