Experiential Education:
Journal Entries
As promised, I'm sending individual comments/observations from each of our students. I asked 
each of them to give me a quote about something memorable they have seen, thought, experienced so far. Some have shared quotes from their journals; others have written something for this message, because I asked. Unfortunately, I don't have one from everyone, but I'll try again to get those who didn't rise to this occasion to do so next time.
I'll list what they've submitted in an approximately trip-chronological order - though I didn't provide, as I have in the past, the kind of structure that asked them to be sure to cover each place we've been. So there will be some places/experiences that several are commenting on, and others that are not mentioned.
Sawadee-ka, from Chiang Mai, Thailand
From LAURA, after the HS group visited the ruins at Ayuthaya:
"The best of many incredible moments on this trip occurred at the ruins in Ayuthaya. It was the moment when I truly realized where I was, and I became aware of the amazing opportunities that lie before me. This happened while I was looking at Buddha's head sitting in the roots of a bodhi tree - the first bodhi tree I have ever seen."
From GRANT, about the park near Wan Pen's:
"I have never seen a more perfect representation of 'paradise on earth' than the waterfalls at Erewan National Park. If the beautiful blue pools were not magical enough, the thousands of white butterflies fluttering around our feet gave me reason to believe in perfection."
From AMELIA, about the town that is the jumping-off point for the microhydro project:
"I loved the feeling of walking around Mae Sot and seeing the calm around me. Knowing that under the smooth surface, there are ripples, and the deeper down into the city you go, the more turbulent its life."
(The next 4 or 5 are comments about experiences in Chiang Dao, where they visited LangPhusam's amazing temple/monastery, the Chiang Dao cave, and took a long jungle hike.)
From JOSH, about the walk up to the monastery:
"Stopping to catch my breath on the way to the temple, my mind aimlessly wondering, I stumbled upon the question, 'Is the journey or the destination more relevant to one's prosperity in life?' With no answer in sight, I continued to move on, climbing 500 steep steps, thinking 'this will help clarify my thoughts.'"
From CHLOE:
"I really liked the Lahm phu san temple near Malee's. The views were the greatest I've ever seen. I enjoyed it in silence and it was so amazing that the birds were all singing, from both sides of the valley, so I could hear amazing bird sounds with both my ears. I can't really explain it exactly, But! It was sooooo fabulous! On the way up the walk was nice even though it was quite a bit ... hard; it was goooood! It made me think of a lot of things."
From PETER:
"While the Asia trip in general is a magnificent place for metacognition, the Buddhist monastery at Chiang Dao stimulated abstract and profound thinking like no other place I have ever been."
From CHRIS:
"We went for a hike on a trail through the jungle, our imaginations caught by images of tigers and snakes we had seen in childhood fiction. As we ascended the verdant slopes, our feet cut raw the already-open clay wounds, slick and wet in the humid morning. Above us a canopy of trailing vines, thick with age but often misleading where they hung unhinged high above us."
From SHALINI:
"I watch the green papaya leaves dancing in the breeze, and listen as two tiny yellow birds sing songs of sweet love. The powerful sun continues to shine and kiss my warm brown skin. I breathe and smile. Love is all around."
All three of the following short quotes were written in the microhydro village, Mae Way:
From BEN:
"I've seen the answers to my questions in the face of a little girl."
From JARED:
"Kindle your heart's flame."
From SAM:
"Do the roosters really need to converse across the village now?
It's still dark out!"
And the last one tied to a specific place, from KAI, from just yesterday:
"Reading a book about enlightenment in the Chiang Mai wat, realizing how much of it I have unknowingly experienced and setting a goal of being more aware in the future."
Finally, a few that are more general:
From FELIPE, quoting first someone like Ted, no doubt:
"'The best form of learning and personal growth happens when one steps out of their comfort zone.' Examples: AIDS orphanage, Karen village, caves, GIANT SPIDERS; all have been experiences in general that have opened my eyes to the world and myself."
From BRITA:
"The sensory experiences will probably stay with me the longest - the sounds of jungle birds an yelping dogs, taste of fish chili paste, barbecued pineapple, fresh papayas, brilliant bougainvilla and plastic garbage, smells of sewage canals and wafts of curries, and the fish nibbling on leg hairs in the waterfall pools."
From ZOEY, three quotes, the first is attributed; the second two are journal entries:
"We may misunderstand, but we do not mis-experience." -Marie Baptiste.
"The monkey slingshots are MORE than justifiable." (1/29 journal entry @ Erewan N.P.)
"Silence is an emotion. Accepting sound as my source of perception is undeniably enhancing." (2/2 entry in the Karen village)
And from BRYCE, who is on his second Asia trip:
"Thailand has changed a lot in two years. The way I view the environments and situation we are encountering is very different than how I operated two years ago. I've loved being back in Thailand, and I've really noticed a lot of ways in which I've grown in the past couple years."