Yes we are.

A collection of a few days for the internet access is very spotty.
แฟน this means friend...complements of Sanchai!


Hello all,

Had a fantastic relaxing weekend in Mae Hong Song. This is an absolutly lovely town about 100k from Sapong, basically just a beautiful vine of relaxation and temples in a lush valley surrounded by the dangerous mountains of Burma and Laos.
That night of arriving in town, I saw the conspirisist theory guy, (he declares his name is Rambo, so I shall refer to him as such). Rambo introduced me to his friend David- a middle aged photo journalist from Australia, and David and I had dinner together at a nearby cafe. He told me that he was going on a tour the next day to see the Karen people. I had to peep up and told him I highly discourage him from going because most tours to see the sacred long neck people aren’t held in a real Karen village. The tour companies take the farangs (fancy word for white pig tourist) to a village where women have necklaces they put on for the tourist, then sit in a Hollywood set posing for pictures. The tour companies pay the actors a few baht a day for posing, and putting on necklaces, but the people go home after usually inside the city of Mae Hong Song.

Well I totally forgot that Rambo was a tour guide for a "Karen village," and spoke to soon after bad mouthing the tour companies. Rambo got really angry at me, and started raising his voice- I remained calm. But he was saying things like- '"You know what happens when the tourist come over to Thailand and badmouth someone's company? Just Google dead tourist. You'll see pictures of a tourist chopped up in little rice bags, and other stuff." In the moment I didn't let what he was saying penetrate, but afterwards thought about it, and felt threatened. Dinner was very pleasant with David, but I kept thinking about those words: "dead tourist chopped in little rice bags," and was wondering why he was being so harsh with me?
My guest house was near the lake, which meant if I wanted to get some food, I would have to pass Rambo's tour business and see him outside. After dinner I went to buy some water and passed by his business- to which he yelled across the street and said, "you understand what I meant earlier before dinner? You better watch yourself!" Before this moment I had begun to feel cautious, but now after contemplating I felt threatened and unsafe in his presence.
After responding firmly and nicely, I returned back to my guesthouse for a good nights rest.

The next day I spent reading, relaxing, taking advantage of the nearby market, and bought a Thai phone. It was the day of the Buddhist holiday, and that night I walked up to top of the mountain to Doi Suptep. As I reached the top of the super long staircase, a little out of breath, I heard the gentle and rich notes of a Buddhist prayer being sung by a deep Asian voice over a monitor. Walking up the last step, I was greeted with the sight of hundreds of women monks dressed in white and in full lotus position, with eyes closed, illuminated by golden colored paper lamps, blowing in the night air. It was beautiful. I was wearing a sarong, and draped the cloth around my forearm- which made me feel monkish in the moonlight. I quietly made my way to the side of the holy progression, and found a place among the lowly mortals/non monks. The night excelled to more chanting, songs, and meditation. I sat cross-legged, and at one point a little boy handed me a candle. The oldest monks dressed in orange cloth lit a big white Buddha candle, and from that, lit little candles, lighting those of the white lady monks first then slowly lighting all the nn monks. I felt as if I were in a yoga class/ Christmas Eve candle service. There was that same peace, and a-cunamatada..ness in the air. (yes, I just made that word up.)
Once all the candles were lit, we walked around the temple 3 times. There was singing the whole time- but didn't understand it. Haha. It was still so perfect.The monks were hitting the big gongs, and huge bells outside the courtyard, which sounded like the wedding church bells in the misty alps. Breathtaking.
I got some yoghurt for dinner, then went to sleep.

The next day I woke up at 6am. There was something in the air that made me want to wake, like a promise of a new day. I heard voices outside, threw on a shirt, and walked out the door. There was so much fog covering the valley, I could only see a couple feet in front of me. The sun hadn't yet come up all the way, and I looked up to see a majority of the fog had settled on top of the lake. It was rather beautiful and mysterious. I walked a few steps and made out a shape of a man in a jacket and saw it was David, snapping shots with his huge Nikon. We walked together to a nearby temple I had never been to before, and I gave some bananas to a monk kneeling to receive a blessing. (a woman has to first give her gift to a man, who then gives it to the monk, otherwise the offering is considered dirty) This temple as incredible with huge lions guarding the entrance, about twice the size of two Jeeps stacked on top of each other. I just walked around observing the architecture and fog which brought some sort of protection to the sacritude of the temple.
While walking, we met this sweet old guy from Germany with a drawstring boy scout hat, who highly suggested getting Juk and Patago at the market for breakfast. I wanted to try it, so I said goodbye to David and tried the most interesting dish made of rice portage with raw egg.. yummm..?
David announced he was going to Fish Cave this day and I was welcome to join, so we planned to meet, but we never found each other. I wanted to get out of the city, and decided to rent a mountain bike and bike to Fish Cave, and some other surrounding caves. 22k later, I was on top of the world, cycling through trees, forest and huge limestone rock formations
I decided to ride my bike to a nearby cave off the road, which is also the home for many monks. I asked where the trail was to the cave, and a man showed me, but warned not to go in for it is dangerous and dark. The word dangerous was like an invitation for adventure, and I walked about 20m to the entrance of the cave. A Swiss guy was standing there and asked if I had brought a flashlight because without it you won't be able to see anything. I forgot my headlamp, and told him I didn't have one, so he wished me luck, and left the cave.
Well, I sure didn't bike all this way to turn around at the entrance to a dark exciting hole in the rock, so I used some string, leaves, and sticks to construct a barbaric looking torch. As I entered the cave, I lit it on fire and let out a beastly roar. Let’s do some exploration! There were little Buddha’s carved in the wall of the cave, and overall it looked like an upside down sea, the waves of rock were above me, and the floor as made of clumps of coral. I went to the end, and turned around taking back with me a new level of amazement such a beautiful cave would be underneath the surface of visible earth. What other treasures are hiding just under the surface of their facial appearance?
I hopped on my bike and road some more to fish cave which was extremely crowded with tourist and wasn't really a cave at all. Only an underground stream running from the top of the mountain to the bottom, and teaming with the largest carp I have ever seen. It was nice, but not as cool as the cave before. Funny that the word fish in Thai is pronounced "blah."

I didn’t want to pay for a guesthouse in the city, and especially didn’t feel safe with Rambo just around the corner, so I while biking I looked for a good place to sleep.

That night I had plans of sleeping in a rice field, when after setting up a tarp, a guy invited me to sleep at his house, however I ended up sleeping at this kind woman’s house called Luke son. She let me shower using cold bowls of water, and gave me kur or like a salty nut to munch on before dinner. Luke son spoke a little English and I was able to learn a lot of Thai. She lives with her mother, father, older brother, 5 dogs, and 3 cats. Her mom and dad cooked food for dinner and I got to eat with the family and fail miserably at keeping up a conversation. Haha. I was so warmed by their kindness, and love. After dinner, I walked with Luke Son to a nearby market where on of her puppies she had given a friend was sick.
I fed the puppy warm milk through a 1cc syringe, and talked with the owners who gave me a box of soy milk! Again- just the sweetest amazing people!
We walked back and I went to bed shortly, only to wake up at 6am, bike to Mae Hong Son and get rice pudding for breakfast, with cucumber and tomato. This was really good. I was chilled to the bone and it was warm and yummy.

I then road my bike to the opposite side of town and got coffee, journaled, and tried to ride to this one place someone suggested but couldn’t find it. I spent the whole day riding my bike! Then in the afternoon, showered in the toilet…don’t ask. Lol. Man, I was dirty….
I then walked down to the lake and meditated, while eating bananas, and enjoying the warm sun. I then ran into David again, and we had dinner while talking about climbing up to ABC, Everest BC, climbs we had done in the past, and the good mountain stories. He goes climbing more often than I do, and was talking about the 3 hour climb he did today in one of the national parks. It was really fun just talking about mountain stuff with someone who is just as stoaked as I am about climbing, nature, and mountaineering.
It was funny he kept saying he wishes to be a more open person, but he is one of the most open person I have ever met… It was a fresh air talking with him.
I went into a internet café and skyped for an hour with my family back home, and then camped out for 2 hours of sleep, waking up at 5am and catching a ride with Ning back to the school.
We arrived at the school and I felt this amazing sense of comfort, and joy. I am home. I love it here! I know the saying “home is where the heart is,” sounds cheesy and is overused, but truly… that is why I left Oklahoma. My heart wasn’t there, and now I have found it in the community of the Thai children.
Yesterday, I taught 4 lessons the vocab Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Family, and Love. Depending on the level of class- I would play different games and use varied examples. For the higher levels, we learned the chorus to We are Family, which they really liked me singing in an African American gospel voice. Last night, I spent some time with a girl who cooks at the school called Saaang. She has always been a bit distant from me, and kind of cold. I really wanted to make an effort and let her know I care, so I spent some time in the kitchen keeping the fire going, stirring pots, and asking her various things such as her birthday, and how to say certain words in Thai. Afterwards, I went for a 40minute run straight up hill to the top of the mountain to a big white Buddha. Saang was up there and had just finished meditating.
She asked if I wanted to go to her home, and I was like heck yes!!! I got on her motorbike and she drove to a small village and into the driveway of this little bungalow where I met her mother and father who aren’t Thai- but Thai-IYA, they are Thai by nationality, but speak a different language, so it was rather hard to communicate. Mostly they just smiled. Saang is so quiet and doesn’t speak much English because it is her third language and 1^st non tonal language. Ahh.. it makes sense!
I offered to teach her for 1 hour a week, if she taught me Thai at the same time, and she offered for me to spend the night at her house Sunday. Wow! Yes! Sleepover! She is 20 years old, so we are very close in age, and I feel like we can be friends even though I don’t understand her.

Today I woke up really tired, exhausted from not getting any sleep the night before. Classes today were moderate. No fireworks, and I found myself repeating a lot of information. I tested class 1, and the only English they know is colors, number up to 10, and the ABC’s up to the letter G. Which means they aren’t remembering anything I teach them unless we repeat it over and over and over. But they are also only 4 and 5, so they are very young and that is expected.
The other classes got the idea of family very easily, and we even got up and started dancing. I taught class 6 outside in the sun, and started a rap going for about 10 minutes. The kids enjoyed that.
There were 2 foreigners from Italy who visited the school today. They were lost looking for another village, but when they tried to turn around and go back up the road to Supong (main town) their car started sliding into the trees because of the lack of traction, and intense incline on the hill. I got to translate between their broken English, into Thai that they needed help. And one of the teachers (who happens to be an excellent driver) offered to drive their car up the massive hill out of the Hoo village. So they left with me waving goodbye, and the teacher returned after driving their car up the difficult path.

I feel so tired today, and being ecstatic in the classroom is draining sometimes. Especially when I have taught the same lesson 4 hours in a row. Tomorrow I will teach 5 lessons, and hopefully get some more sleep.
At lunch today I asked Ning “what happens when you die?” He explained the life after death from a Buddhist perspective and it was very interesting. I see now why the children are seriously terrified of ghosts. It’s almost impossible to go to hell if you follow 5 basic rules: don’t steal, kill, commit adultery, speak bad words, and get drunk. Other than that, you should try to live a good life, and at the end, you won’t go to hell, but be a spirit missing human form on the earth, until you help someone and do something good. You are given a 2^nd chance at life as it were, to make up for all the bad you have done in your previous life. Once your deeds equal 100% good, you go to heaven and sleep with angles.
Only Buddha and the monks are allowed to go to this special place, where you keep your body but don’t ever need or want anything. This place is considered pure. Any way, it was very interesting.
Going to get some sleep now, and try to read a little Jack Keroack. J
Love to all.
  

2-23-11

Little Fa spent the night in my room last night. I slept so well after killing the 4inch spider in my bed. Eik! I see know why Thai people don’t make their bed- just fold the blankets and lay them on top every morning after waking.

Today has been very fun! I woke up at 5am, and had an early breakfast with the teachers. There was some time between the end of breakfast and when the first classes started, so I helped clean the kitchen and school.
The morning started with class 2. All of them are around the age of 6 or 7. We did a quick game using the colors, then I taught the family vocabulary. The whole class went as planned, except they only understood the words mother and father- not brother, sister, and family. I was especially worried about this one student called Go. He has to be around 12 years old, and is definitely behind all the others despite his age. He would often not make eye contact, and not get involved. When doing a fun coloring activity, he didn’t participate. This bothered me, and he looked embarrassed even being in the same class as the others. I think he might have some sort of learning difficulty.
Class 4 was waiting for me, and excited to start the lesson. They breezed through the lesson I had planned teaching colors, love, and names, so I taught them the family vocab which they completely understood and were using the language with ease. This was refreshing having a whole class of excellent students, who were even taking notes.

I then went to the kitchen to help chop eggplant, carrot, peppers, chalets, and grind a mash of spices and hot chilies together with bean curd. After the children ate lunch with rice, I ate lunch with the teachers, and 2 new teachers from Mae Hong Son joined us. One of the teachers took my empty plate of rice and filled it twice. It was his way of flirting with me. Ugh… but it is wasteful and rude not to eat everything on your plate, so I thanked him and tried painfully to finish a 2^nd plate of rice.
He likes to sing, and play music. We were going to jam after lunch, before I taught more lessons, but Tik- the English speaking teacher- asked me to relax with class 6. She asked me to not teach, but just play games. So I spent the whole next hour playing “duck, duck goose,” “find the spoon,” “quarters,(a thai baht version),” and then played guitar songs like “country roads,” and native Thai songs they knew. One of the students even started picking on the guitar, which was impressive and sounded really great! We finished our games by me teaching them the song “Na, Na, Na, Na,” from Remember the Titans. They liked that, and we danced around the room forming a train, singing at the top of our lungs, and chugging around the school, then back into the classroom. They had been learning mathematics all day, and needed break. I completely understand! Math is no fun. J

After the hour of games, I spent a few in the kitchen making tofu stir-fry for the teachers dinner tonight. Hopefully they like it! Hopefully it actually taste good… I crushed pepper, garlic, onion, chilies, salt, together with a little oil, and cooked some tofu. Then boiled carrots, and cucumber with ginger and lemon juice, adding the flavorful tofu later. It tasted good to me, but I’m not known for my superb cooking skills. Haha. J

Right now the sun is going down, and the children will eat dinner in an hour. I’m going to take advantage of the sunlight and go for a run. Happy day.