Elephants

We spent today riding and feeding elephants. The kids LOVED it. Sort of a slow day otherwise as we gear up for our flight to Phuket to board the dive boat. We will have limited access to internet after this. Most kids have emailed or called parents by now.

Also, I'm very sorry our interactive map has not been working. Apparently, there is a glitch in the software translating my gps coordinates to a decimal system. The tech guy assures me it will be working on Monday. Lets cross our fingers.

So far, trip has been fantastic. All the kids have been great. Parents and Cape Henry have a lot to be proud of in this fine group of young adults.

Laos/Thailand - School Built

We just arrived after two hard days of construction work on a school and another three days treking. So much to say, but here it is:

The students actually built a school. They mixed concrete, made the cinderblocks, and layed the blocks. We almost finished what turned out to be serious, hard work, but very rewarding. After staying three nights in relatively comfortable homes, we slept on floors with little mattresses, we treked up into the hmong tribal regions. Our first day was a challenge with leeches attacking from all directions. A few students had interesting leech locations! We arrived in a small village that had NEVER been visited by any white people, ever. Once again, Cape Henry leads the way. We were welcomed into their homes and given an elevated bamboo matt to sleep on. By far the roughest conditions we've ever experienced. The kids were great though. Real troopers. No complaints, no negativity. They rocked. The next day we treked over the ridges into another village and stayed in similar conditions. Twice we experience the Hmong baci ceremony and we're blessed with their animist shaman. This was really a cultural experience. Food was rough for some as rice was the mainstay. After three days of treking we made it back to luang prabang and civilization. Everyone is happy to be here and looking forward to riding elephants tomorrow.
Everyone made it out safe and sound.

We'll probably blog again tomorrow.

Trekking through Mong village

We arrived at Mong village, which has the most rustic living conditions I have ever seen. We are also the first Westerners to ever visit since the French army came through one day during World War II (remembered by one village elder). As a result, we've been objects of interest. The people followed us around, touching our clothes and hair. Instead of sleeping out in the open, we have been welcomed into their homes to sleep on the floor. All the kids are doing great! Stephanie will be adding the coordinates of our location to the interactive map sometime today.

First Leg into Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok with all bags, took a 6 hour nap and hit the ground running. Today we visited the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Wat Arun and the Teak Palace. The students loved the Tuk-Tuk rides around the city the most. Everyone is dragging but doing well. Rained for most of the morning so their new raincoats and boats got a workout. Everyone is doing fine and excited to head to Laos tomorrow. I've added our location to the interactive map so please keep watching our progress.

Nexus Google Interactive Map

Please make sure you visit the Interactive Map (link on both the blog and the Nexus page). You will be able to follow our exact GPS location throughout the whole trip. Try clicking on "hybrid" to see a more detailed google map.

Bangkok and Laos

We're on our way in two days: All students should be at the airport by 8:15AM at the Delta check in.
I will post blogs from Bangkok, Luang Prabang and Phuket