First Day in Mae Sot...

8/31/09 5:55pm

...proved to be an interesting one. It started when I got up bright and early with the expectation I would start working around 8-9am. When I woke up it was raining, like it had been doing the whole night, and it was a sharp realization that I had not remembered nor prepared for the rainy season which we are entering; not a very smart move on my part. So I waited a bit until there was a break in the rain and went on my first excursion to town in hopes to locate a poncho and umbrella. I did end up locating what I needed but in the process kept on being reminded how CRAZY and PSYCHOTIC the street dogs are. I don’t think they can even be considered dogs really, they are more like fluffy gone bad. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to experience such animals, feel lucky. They really are completely psycho and unpredictable, right when you think “oh my god, that one is gonna bite my leg off”, it turns away with complete disinterest in you and right when you think “good, that one doesn’t see me”, it’s like it has eyes in the back of its head, turns around and gives you this extremely eerie glare/growl/lunge/whatever. It’s completely unnerving. I won’t go on forever about this but I SWEAR if one thing would drive me out of this country it might, literally, be those damn dogs.

So after my first excursion to town it was obvious there was miscommunication somewhere down the line and I had not yet received a call to start my first day. The problem is that I can’t just show up to work. The organization is a sensitive one so the location is intentionally discreet. I got a general location from the guesthouse manager but even he, who has been here forever, couldn’t quite say where it was. Finally we got a hold of each other and I biked near its location to then be guided in person by one of the employees. The location was down this dirt side road in a very indiscriminant building. When I entered with one of the employees there were about 10 Karen women sitting around a table having their weekly meeting. We introduced ourselves and I answered any questions the women had and asked some myself then we were soon off to a “welcome” lunch. At lunch one of the women asked me how long I will stay, I told her about 6 or so months and she said that wasn’t enough, that I needed to stay about 2 years instead. Hmmmm…guess we will see. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping the office manager write and edit a progress report for donors in Australia since she will be flying there next week to meet with them personally. I got to learn a lot today about the unique challenges organizations face working in refugee camps, such as high turnover due to consistent resettlement which can impact the strength of the organization, and I also was shown a photo of Barbera Bush’s visit a while back as she was looking at goods for sale by this organization….wonder if she actually bought anything…. All in all it was a good first day and I anticipate most of my days to go about this way, dogs included.

The Entry Prize

08/29/09, 3:12am

So I made it to Thailand pretty smoothly, albeit 25hours after leaving the US, but still made it safe and sound. When I walked off the plane, the smells of Thailand grabbed me. I can’t quite describe them, probably some mix of heat, exhaust, and any other Thai smell that may have lingered, but very distinct. It put me in an emotional moment and a very real reminder of where I was at. This happened again very strongly when I hit the down town Chiang Mai area, with all the grilled charcoal and food smells in the air. It’s amazing how powerful smells can be. Anyways when I arrived I was standing in line to get my passport stamped and I was greeted by a diamond ring sitting so patiently for it to be found right at the “stand here” red line. I picked it up and was in shock with my findings when I was called next. The immigration officer was about to stamp my passport for the standard 30 day tourist entry allowance when I brought to his attention I had applied for a special 60 day x3 tourist allowance, he was confused but his fellow immigration officer confirmed this and said that was in fact what I should get. I was so excited and grateful that I impulsively handed him the diamond ring for the lost n’ found. I figured what goes around comes around and I didn’t want to push my karmic luck so I thought it was worth a fighting chance for someone to get their ring returned, I hope my optimism pays off for its owner.
Since this unexpected exciting moment I’ve just been taking in my surroundings in Chiang Mai, enjoying all the little pleasures such as guava juice, seaweed strips, sweet basil chips, shakes galore not to mention all the Thai food and much more while still adjusting to things I conveniently forgot about such as the heat combined with humidity, rabid dogs everywhere and practically killer traffic. I will be headed south to Mae Sot on Sunday, about a 7 hour bus ride, hopefully to be greeted by those I will be working with and a room at Baan Thai, which I anticipate to be my home for the next 6 months or so.

On My Way!

8/27/09, 6:25am

Hello, Thanks for being interested in my blog. Nothing too exciting quite yet to report on, I’m just currently sitting at the Taipei airport waiting for my flight to Bangkok. I’m going to be flying immediately up to Chiang Mai to spend some time in this wonderful town, population about 300,000 or so, that I lived and worked in from 2005-2007. I will only be able to spend a few days there before heading down by bus to Mae Sot, where I will be working in Thailand this time. I hope to have the few days in Chiang Mai to meet up with friends I taught English with as well as just relax, take in the familiar atmosphere and regroup. I haven’t decided yet how much of this blog will be just updates of what is going on and how much will be specifically work related, it probably will be a mix of the two,yet hopefully more work related. Either way I promise to not bore you too much with the daily details and only stick to the good stuff!