Tim Snyder did a great job describing what we saw on our tour yesterday 
and it is my pleasure to provide some photos. First from the Grand Palace and Wat Pra Kao. The three young women in the photo are Nan, our tour guide, the photographer from AU, and Jae, from PR at AU.
A few photos from the canal tour. I couldn't believe that I was getting into that contraption and NO life preservers!
I liked one of the photos so much I downloaded it twice! (Actually, I am downloading and packing at the same time). No photos of me feeding the fish. I thought I was a regular Francis of Assisi but Tim said I was upsetting the ecosystem. The truth as I was just doing what the boat driver wanted so I get off the thing as quickly as possible!! Now that I am safely on shore, I have to admit it was really interesting and gave us a good sense of what traditional life in Bangkok was and is like.
Just a few photos from Wat Po with it famous image of the reclining image of Buddha and of the very peaceful pagoda with one of the oldest images of the Buddha in Thailand. It was there that Tim and I had a wonderful conversation with our guide about the meaning of prayer and contemplation. 
One of the many ways that Tim Snyder helped to make this trip so pleasant was that he taught me how to compress these photos so it took only seconds to download them.
Wat Po was truly amazing but as you can see as the heat (and I mean heat) of the day wore on your photographers were flagging. I suspect that Tim will show some of the other photos of Wat Po in his post.
If you pay close attention to the photos you will notice that Tim and I have the same color shirts on each day. This was not planned. Yesterday we both wore Loyola Basketball shirts (other sports programs appeared on other days) to tour the temples. Like the King shirts, this was a spontaneous way for Dr. Snyder and me to congratulate Gerald Brown making the "Best of Baltimore 2007" edition of The City Paper as best male college athlete! Great news for him, for the men's basketball program and for Loyola!
I don't know if I will blog again while still in Thailand. I have to check out of the hotel in ninety minutes (2 PM) and then we'll head to Hua Mark campus of AU to meet with Dr. Samusa ("Dr Sam") and then get ready to head for the airport after dinner with Father Nash. Our flight leaves for JFK at 12:40 AM and we arrive at JFK at 7:15 AM.
I want to thank you for reading this blog and for all of the nice comments that came in. I am also very grateful to Dr. Snyder. He has been wonderful to travel with and he is a terrific representative of Loyola.
Our hosts at Assumption University could not have been more welcoming. Tim and I know how hectic schedules can be for university administrators--especially at the end of term--yet Brothers Bancha and Martin and their colleagues could not have been more generous with their time and with the resources of the university. I leave here with an enormous respect for this outstanding university and deeply grateful for the Assumption-Loyola partnership. Loyola is very fortunate to have this relationship.
Words cannot express my gratitude to Frank Nash for his gracious hospitality (one of the hallmarks of the Maryland Province of Jesuits) and for his excellent work over many years here in Bangkok. Everyone we met at Assumption speaks of Frank in glowing terms and there is genuine sadness that he will retire as director of this program. Frank is not the sort of person who looks for recognition and praise so the next few weeks will be difficult for him as he faces what I suspect will tearful farewells and much thanks. It is a great tribute to him that he has legions of friends at the University and in Bangkok.
Finally, many thanks to our students in Bangkok. What a great group of young people (and, surprisingly, Foreigner fans!). You remind me of why it is such a grace to be involved in the work of university education. I am grateful to you for showing me the ropes, patiently explaining, and making sure that I didn't get lost. Enjoy your travels over the next few weeks and come back to us safely.
I am looking forward to returning home. Family weekend is always fun. I hope that I see you at the events--and lets get out there and support our swimmers and men's soccer on Saturday afternoon!
Go Hounds!
ad maiorem Dei gloriam
Brian Linnane, SJ
You gentleman looked like you had a lot of fun and experienced alot of new things. Can't wait for Junior year!!
Posted by: Jenn | October 04, 2007 at 12:31 PM