Drum Beats

So last Monday one of my students brought over a little project he had been working on.... a set of drums! We knew he was trying because we got asked for random things like tins and duck tape, but I had no idea how cool they would be! I was especially impressed with the pedal. It works great - I think they sound similar to real drums. And I think the design is rather ingenious. I think we should just keep random junk around to encourage creativity! So here's the guy who not only made them, but can play them pretty well too. I'm going to try posting a video. The guys were about to practice a different song but ended up with an impromptu jam session because the drums add so much.

I tried to upload the video but it's not working - I'll tack it on later!

Teaching Gig

As if teaching for my day job weren't enough, I decided to do a short two week stint teaching at Payap University - where I'm also a student. It was a basic English conversation class for seniors. We were together two hours a day, five days a week, for two weeks. Not really a lot of time. This was the only time I've taught away from Legacy. It was interesting having more than eight people in my class. It was actually still pretty small ranging from 6-16.

Some random things I noticed in no particular order:
1. It's okay to be a half an hour late because of rain.
2. It's okay to be late. As in consistently, 10-15 minutes.
3. I don't notice any cliques.
4. Students LOVE to laugh and joke around, with anyone and everyone.
5. You can almost guarantee they will not bring their notes from the last class.
6. Some didn't bring a pen.
7. Speaking Thai in English class is way more fun than speaking English in English class.
8. The class is easier to manage if I dress up in a skirt and heels.
9. The class is easier to manage if I joke around.
10. Remember to smile!

Here is my class! I'm turning Thai and I take pictures of people - I never used to take pictures of people!

See the dog? I guess if they are little enough they can come to class.

Ban Mae Surin Trip

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to another refugee camp on the border between Thailand and Burma. This time we went to see the family of one of our workers. We were mostly there to get information on the family so that they will be able to join us for the feast in about a month.

We had also planned to visit the other camp, but unfortunately could not due to the condition of the roads. Rainy season makes traveling along the border difficult and even dangerous because roads get washed out and it becomes very slick.

So, I had to be content with just one adventure. And I would say it counts in the adventure category. Not at all for personal safety, but if you've ever seen those ads for 4-wheel drive vehicles in the US, this would count as roughing it. We were able to get in touch with a man who had a truck and could drive us into the camp. He had clearly taken the trip many times, because he was familiar with the road and had few problems. The truck did have to make it through mud and boulders, and streams, though. And after that we got to walk in for about an hour to the camp.
This was part of our room in the Guesthouse in Kuhn Yuom. We spent a night there before going to the camp in the morning.
The trusty truck we took and our driver up there to the left.
(Photo credit: Nathan Kimmons)
I believe there were five of these bridges on the way to the family's house in the camp. I didn't mind it so much, but one of the railings I was gently holding on to did break - it caused a little startle.
(Photo credit: Nathan Kimmons)
LaNuNan ended up carrying some stuff for me. Fortunately he is an innovative guy who grabbed bamboo and...
...made a pole to carry the stuff with.
The view from the family's house.
Some of the little neighbor girls - they just struck me as being so cute.
We only stayed in the camp a short time. We were not allowed to be there past dark, so we had lunch, got the information we needed, and then started the walk back. This time our walk was more interesting because a bunch of people came with us (to get the supplies we had brought) and we got to stop at the clinic.

The clinic was interesting. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of information about it. We just went in and saw the different rooms. It looked sparse. But it looked clean and organized. I asked about volunteering there for a couple weeks and it's possible. I believe I will look into that over our summer break.
The main clinic in the camp.
The group after we'd walked back to the truck.
(Photo credit: Nathan Kimmons)
I know this might not seem like a sensitive thing to say, but I really like going to the camps. Like I wrote before about the camp near Mae Sariang, I just feel like it's so peaceful and relaxed. And I feel like it's fairly clean and well-looked after. The people also seem happy. The pace is obviously slower, which I'm guessing would not be enjoyable day in day out, year in year out, but for me it's nice and simple.

I suppose the thing that strikes me about the camps is the lack of variety and the lack of choice. Their diets are not really varied. Any variety comes from little plots they choose to plant. I'm sure they see the same people all the time. Most if not all of them don't really have a choice whether or not to be there. I imagine there is uncertainty about the future too. I would feel as if my future were in someone else's hands.

I still would like to spend some time, a week or two, in one of the camps just to get a better idea of what it is like. Obviously going for two days (or an afternoon!) is not enough to understand much.

Please keep the families in your prayers, and also that Legacy can get them out for the Feast. Spending time with them here at school is so fun!

School trip - Waterfalls!

It's always fun to get away from school for a little bit. It's especially fun when all the students can go. I like to see the different personalities that come out and this was a good way to get to know this years new students.

Last week, on the Queen's birthday, we took our first school trip of the year. We didn't stray far - just a few miles up windy road - but it was a great time. We went to the local waterfalls (after a late start because of rain!) and had lunch, hiked, and swam.
Elainea and I after clawing our way up.
Some of the students taking a dip.
Hiding under the waterfall.
The crew
The crew again.
Somporn and Peto making a sand mound.
Wichai flying through the waterfall.
Finishing off the remainders from lunch.

After four hours of good fun, it was nice to come home and get into dry clothes!

July 4th in a Nutshell

This last blog hiatus has been too long! Pete's a great frog - but probably not worth the front page for that length of time!

I plan to do some serious updating in the next couple days - just so long as the internet doesn't drive me crazy.

It's been more than a month since July 4th and unfortunately I am just now blogging about it. A little of the "this just happened" excitement has worn off. However, I still think it's worth a blog!

This year we had high hopes for our 4th. We were envisioning the hamburgers, chicken watermelon, corn - plus games and fireworks! Well, the day dawned very dreary, and in non-Thailand fashion, stayed dreary the whole day. In fact it was dreary and rainy for several days in a row!

We actually had July 4th on July 5th - perhaps this is where the trouble came in! We didn't get started until late and then we found out our grill was broken. In the end, after more effort than usual, we did get all the good food we desired - just no fireworks!

Trying to get the fire started. It took a bit of time, and some less than usual methods, but it did get started!

At this point we were already eating the chicken and just waiting to get started on the hamburgers!

Lots of meat!

What 4th of July is complete without ice cream?

Meet Pete

Pete is my hero. We met a couple months ago. I can't quite say what drew me to him - but he sure was cute! I believe we met in my bathroom. He in the corner, me just walking in. I admit I was a little startled. But I soon got over it and had him in a bucket and outside. So who is this Pete? Why, Pete is "my" frog of course!

A couple days after letting him out I saw him in my bathroom again, put him in a bucket and outside. A couple days later the same thing. So I thought,"Eh, might as well let him hang around." He did a couple cute things and even startled me again one night when he ventured into the living room and I almost stepped on him!

Warning to those who get grossed out by bugs, communing with animals and whatnot!

Well, last night he proved his friend status. Lately these bizarre-flying-ant-type-things (yes, the technical term) will all congregate in some place in the house late at night right before I go to bed. I make a beeline for my room, shut the door, lock it (you never know!) and tuck stuff in the cracks so they can't see the light - there I am safe.

Last night, however, I wanted to take a shower. Unfortunately for me, and the bizarre-flying-ant-type-things they congregated there. Yuck! Fortunately for me, but not for the bizarre-flying-ant-type-things, Pete came to the rescue. I sprayed them all down to the floor and he took care of the rest.

Ahh, then I had a bug-free shower once again. Thanks Pete!

Wedding Two

This past weekend I went to another wedding. This time it was of two former students. I took the trip with a couple of my current students - a long seven hour trip by bus and sawng-tao. We arrived early in the afternoon and I chatted with the students, caught up with the ones I haven't seen in awhile.

That night we went to the community room where the wedding was to be held. It looked kind of disastrous! But once they were through with it, it was quite beautiful.

One item of note: My (former) students look so serious in the picture - but they are actually really cute together! I think they were hot, actually.

Here are three of the four of us that went to the wedding: Wichai, LaNuNan, me.
The room where the wedding took place.
Jaseefu, one of my students who graduated last year.
A group from the village sang a couple songs at the wedding.
The wedding couple Atiwat and Fon. Fon is in her native Lahu dress.
People leaving from the ceremony.
One of my students - the class clown.
Wedding guests eating after the wedding.

I think this is it for the weddings for awhile. Today we started up school again so it's back to some serious work!

Wedding One

This past weekend one of my former students, Narirat, got married. I took my first trip "by myself" since arriving in Thailand 2 years ago. When I lived in France it was common to dash off at a moments notice and see different places - often on my own. While here in Thailand I always travel with other teachers. It's nice because I like the company.

Planning travel here can be difficult because there is not really a website with times of buses and a map of routes. Also, it's hard to understand where you want to end up. This is because they often use the roman alphabet to spell things out phonetically. Often, it gets spelled differently in different places. The easiest example - is my city Chiang Mai or Chiangmai? Well, written in Thai it's all one word - เชียงใหม่, but you will see it written both of the other ways.

This weekend I went to Mae Chan. I went out to the main road to catch the bus and one of my students came along to make sure I got on the right one. I was worried I wouldn't be able to read the Thai fast enough to flag it down! I got on the bus and took a nice ride to Chiang Dao (about 60km) where I met Somboon, Narirat's friend. He took me the rest of the way to her place by motorbike about 200km - my longest motorbike ride yet! It was pretty fun actually, because on the motorbike I don't ever feel motion sick and I get to easily see all the beautiful scenery.

We had to pull over quickly when it started to pour. This is the view from the mango stand.

The couple at the stand were so nice. They invited us in, talked, and shared mangoes with us.

Narirat's friend holding the bag of mangoes the couple gave us for free.

One of the views as we were going up into the mountains. There were so many better ones but it's hard to take pictures from a moving bike.

I arrived in the village of Narirat's fiance about 6:30. I met her friends and we had fun communicating - me finally braving what little Thai I know and them the same with English. Of course, my student translated some and so did Somboon (who goes to school in India).

That night I went to bed around 11:30 - finally truly falling asleep around 2 when all the music stopped. At 5:50 the next morning everyone was up again. There was breakfast and then the wedding at 10. After the wedding there was a meal served for everyone in the village. Then I came home.

It was a short, day and half trip, but so fun.


The village church where Narirat got married.

Inside the church.

A group of people at the wedding. (I must be getting used to Thailand because I did not realize how much taller I was than everyone until I saw this picture!)

Me, Narirat, and Jo (her husband).

The cute couple.

Taking to the Hills

I just spent a wonderful couple days going up to the Burma-Thai border. The trip was looking a little iffy - what with concerns about the weather and all. But our prayers were answered, and the weather stayed nice so we could get in and out. The road into the camp is narrow, windy, hilly, and mostly dirt. In rainy season (which is just starting up there) the road gets washed away and is difficult to navigate. Not only is it difficult, but it is also very dangerous when the road gets slick. Just last week a truck tipped going in - no injuries though!

On Friday we drove to a town near the border and, on the advice of the locals, stayed the night. Friday afternoon one of my past students, Jay, took me on a motorbike trip up into the mountains surrounding the area. I still get nervous on motorbikes, but he's an expert driver. (He really is - he used to race bikes!) The road up to his friend's place had numerous twists and turns and was also a dirt road most of the way. I am getting better at just relaxing and trusting the driver - it's safer that way! We lucked out and it didn't start raining heavily until we got to the paved road on the way down.
This road doesn't look too bad, but a bit further up we got to the deep ruts and rocky areas - then I just wanted to hold on!
We walked the last 2k to his friend's house.
This is inside one of the bamboo houses in the family compound. The family served me a delicious (and very spicy) meal with bamboo shoots.
The next morning we left town at 5am after getting our rope (which, thankfully, we didn't need!). Two and a half hours later we arrived in the camp. We unloaded all the food we brought, plus our bags and piled back in the truck. We had another bumpy ride to the other side of the camp where another family lives. I didn't go to their home last time, so it was fun seeing a different area. They fed us some little cakes (I ate sooo much this weekend!) and then, after a short walk around, we all piled back in the truck to Saw Baw's place.
The Hanging Bridge on the other side of the camp. We crossed this to get to the home of Saw Po Htoo.
The day was filled with eating, relaxing, walking around, and church! I gave up my camera again to the resident refugee camp photographer.
Eh Hser Ku - the photographer

It seemed that everywhere we went people were outside being active. We saw young people playing many kinds of sports.

Swimming
Frisbee
Football (Soccer)
Boxing - Jay was a Muay Thai boxer and was showing some of the local guys technique. Some of them are hoping to get out of the camp this way by getting a Thai ID card.
Biking
Volleyball
Takraw

While in the camp I ate so much! They're really good cooks, and extremely nice hosts.
The four guests eating. The family would eat afterwards. Fortunately, they still would come sit around us and talk!
Some of the delicious food.

One thing that really interested me were the roofs made of leaves. Of course, they have thatched roofs outside the camp too, but there I was more curious. Apparently this kind of roof lasts for about a year. It is very cool (as in not hot). I couldn't understand how they could be so strong, but after feeling it I can see how it works. Apparently it doesn't take too long to put up either. About a day with four guys.

Thatched roof houses
A stack of thatch ready to be put on a house.
The leaves are secured with bamboo.
The leaves make a nice pattern, too!
As a teacher, I am obviously interested in how and where students learn. I found their school interesting quite apart from being a teacher!
The local middle school.
The "hallway" to the classrooms.
A view inside one of the classrooms. To the left is the classroom "next door". I can't begin to imagine what the noise level is like.

Here are some more pictures to get an idea of what it is like around the camp. Also, some of them are just cool pictures!








Saturday night we slept over in the camp. The family set up a place for us in the main room. It felt like they really went all out to make us feel comfortable. At night, they get electricity from about seven until nine. At that point, the lights flicker and they run to light the candles, then the lights go off. So there I was, lying under my pink mosquito net, with the soft candlelight and the sound of the river a few yards away. It was a very relaxing way to drift off to sleep.
The electricity they get at night is powered by the waterfall. I didn't get a picture of the little building, nor is the waterfall very impressive at this time of year, but apparently it's enough.
Hser Eh Paw is the youngest of four daughters. Last time I saw her she was sick and cried the whole time. This time she was (mostly) happy and running around.


LaNuNan can frequently be seen with a guitar.
LaNuNan goes along to help translate and help with services.
The number of languages spoken this weekend was about four. The driver spoke Thai and a little English. LaNuNan spoke Burmese, English, and a little Thai. Jay spoke Karen, English, and Thai. I spoke...English. The families are Karen, so they spoke Karen, Burmese and a very small amount of Thai. It makes communicating very interesting!

All in all it was a great weekend, and I'm excited to go back!