AmeriCorps Construction Assistant Janet Chen is representing Habitat for Humanity of Dane County on the 26th Annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. The project is building or repairing 166 homes in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Laos. All countries that border the Mekong River. The project runs from Nov. 15-20. Here are some notes from Janet about her journey.

From Janet Chen ...

The travel was paranoid (forced to check in trowels, passport momentarily lost) but uneventful. Watched Julie/Julia, 500 days of Summer, Time Travellers Wife, tv, pandas. The China Airlines served sashimi on potato salad and after not eating for hours and it was heavenly.

I arrived at the Lotus Hotel and immediately washed my clothes in the tub. There is a laundry line in the bathroom, but unfortunately it does not pull out . In the elevator, there was a group of folks from Milwaukee.

Changed money. Got a haircut for 220 baht. (33 baht = 1 US dollar.) Yes, I travelled to Thailand to get a 220 baht haircut, including tip. In NYC, there are stylists from Shanghai who cut hair for $5. The Thai barber was better than the Shanghair barber. Asian and african hair is thick and sticks up if not thinned and I rarely get a good cut.  And they washed the white paint out too.

The alley behind the hotel is full of parking lots and street food vendor stands. Taipei is similar. My grandfather took us out to lunch and paid .50 for four of us.  A drink for 5 baht. Catfish in bannana leaf, brains in bannana leaf, and rice fo 40 baht. Other stands: whole fish on glowing coals, deep fry, smoothies. How does Pizza Hut compete?

On the way to the internet store I walked thru a night market. Was this the famous night market? Are there several? It is mostly clothes, though it is hard to tell by flashlight. They told us to bring a flashlight.

The water smells of mold, like the rooms in AL. It is 91 degrees F.