Slow Boat to Burma

Last weekend I needed to extend my visa by going to Burma. In Thailand, you are given a month long tourist visa each time you enter the country. Therefore, monthly "visa runs" comprised of exiting and promptly reentering the country are quite common for people staying for awhile. Since my two month visa had expired, I needed to get myself an extra month, so I took the bus to Ranong (where I've spent a lot of time for work, too... I think I've been there almost weekly for one thing or another), which is the closest point to access Burma. In chatting with foreigners in the past, I had a hazy idea about how things should go, and I knew NOT to pay more than 100 baht ($2.50) for my round-trip boat ticket. I arrived at Thai immigration, surrounded by an interesting mix of beach bums and sex tourists, got my stamp to leave, walked down the road to the dock, where I encountered a guy trying to get me to take his friend's boat. We argued about the price for awhile, and I shimmied down the rope ladder to the awaiting long boats. There was some arguing about the price that was agreed to and they told me that I had to pay 200 if I wanted to take the boat by myself. I replied that I never said that I wanted my own boat and to go find people. So after 30 minutes of moving between two boats (I wasn't certain of why, I just kept jumping across boats each time I was told to do so), we had 7 people, which was deemed sufficient to depart. Everyone was Burmese, so we chatted (as far as I can go in Burmese, which isn't far). The motor is actually on a long wooden pole which is placed in the water. As we bobbed along, water kept coming in from the side and splashing from the motor. The woman next to me was kindly trying to use her umbrella to shield the both of us from the splashing. We had to stop at numerous check-points out of Thailand. Once in Burmese water (Myanmar water, if you prefer), my passport was stamped and I paid 5 dollars (US) for a day pass to Myanmar. They like dollars and charge more if you want to pay in Thai currency. I had a 10. They gave me change. This highly impressed me. I've become a major cheapskate here and the thought of loosing $5 had been disturbing me all morning. So, way to go, Myanmar- you violently oppress your people and stifle open thought, but you've got a great system when it comes to dispensing change on your borders in currency that is not even your own. Then we went back to Thailand. The Thai police with a big dog stopped us to make sure we weren't smuggling cigarettes, drugs, or people back to Thailand. Everyone smiled. I said "Hi" in Thai, they let us go quickly. About 5 minutes later, the women in front of me pulled 2 cases of cigarettes (which are much cheaper on the Burmese side) out from inside her oversized windbreaker. It's good they hadn't unleashed the dog on us. When we got back to the dock, I bid adieu to my new traveling friends (including the American father and daughter duo who I'd joined on the return trip), and went back to immigration, where I encountered the same people from before, who'd paid a great deal more to take fancy, air-conditioned boats that didn't have "holes in the bottom" as one Brit put it. Afterwards, I was chatting with 2 women from the Netherlands. We had lunch together. They were so surprised that I was here on my own. Somedays I'm surprised that I'm here on my own.

My week has been filled with very long and ineffective meetings. One on Friday was particularly annoying, as it lasted for 4 hours, but nobody could answer any of the questions that were being asked (mostly by me... We have a new HIV program, and it's really difficult to determine how it should be run without knowing what other organizations are already doing... I've been asking this question for weeks to various people and the answer is never clear and never the same). There's a Japanese American who works for a partner organization nearby who was also at the meeting. We had a nice time commiserating. It's been really interesting being here, in the rural south, without expat friends for the most part. I feel like I'm seeing a side of the country, the local NGO world, that I would not have had I come with another westerner. I think it's also revealed to me how people from the outside are often seen by Thai people (not always so positively) and how little most westerners accomplish in the time that they are here, as they surround themselves with other people who think and act as they do. That being said, communication and sense of humor remain different, and that is really trying at times. When a co-worker thinks that a meeting is good and effective because it lasted for 4 hours, it's hard to explain how it feels to mourn 4 hours of your life that you will never regain. You can't really. And during those rare moments when I've had someone nearby with whom I can chuckle about feeling out of place or ineffective despite great time and effort, I begin to see why people seek out others who are like them, why local people perceive visitors as snooty or irritating, and why the cycle continues.

Still very little global concern about the situation in Burma. I had hoped that it would be addressed during the Asean summit, but seemed very much overshadowed by N. Korea and Lebanon. So sadly reactive. It's really frustrating and difficult to be constantly hearing from people about the atrocities from which they are fleeing (the usual forced military, forced portering for the military, stealing, beating, raping) knowing that nothing is being done to change it or draw international attention to it.

Our migrant women's football (soccer) program has been quite successful in a couple of communities. I've been playing a lot of football with the women, who are not at all adverse to slide tackling or just charging at one another. It's not a far cry from American football in some ways. It's been great and is making me seriously think about joining some kind of very non-competitive soccer team when I get back home. Non-competitive being key. My very competitive high school soccer team has permanently scarred me.

Three more weeks in Thailand, a little less than two more weeks at my office in the south. It's amazing how time flies!

Mohinga and Other Thoughts

Observations:

1.) Mohinga: Mohinga (I have no idea how to spell it; there likely isn't a proper English written way anyhow) is a Burmese dish. Noodle-based, with this broth comprised of fish and onions and stuff. It's sort of like a make-your-own sundae event, except it's make your own Mohinga. You can add green beans, cilantro, fish sauce, fried garlic, chili, etc. I've written about it before. Because it seems to be analogous to pizza in the US. People devour it. Every time it seems to be a competition of how quickly it can be shoveled into one's gullet. This does not happen with other foods, only Mohinga.

2.) I eat slower than everybody. My love for Mohinga is usually questioned because of it.

3.) Popular cell phone rings: We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells.

4.) Side cars on motorcycles: Can be used as a mobile noodle shop, a place for people to sit, a place to carry fish that you are going to sell. They are, however, frustrating to pass on the road as they move slowly and jut out into traffic. Did I mention that my latest and greatest side responsibility is driving the office pick-up truck? I have to use my left hand to shift gears, sit on the right, and drive on the left side of the road.

5.) A snobby church group from Texas: They are visiting for a week or so. My boss is obsessed with showing them around, as he feels they do not understand the situation for Burmese migrants in Thailand (they don't. I tried to explain). They are NOT nice. Always have a look on their faces like they smell something bad. I was my very nicest with them and they still were aloof. And I keep running into them. As a cynical east-coaster, I certainly do my fair share of Texas-mocking (particularly since the current administration assumed power). That being said, some of the nicest people I know are from Texas. Until these guys came along. Folks, we're in a foreign country on the other side of the world, far from our homeland. WE SHARE THAT HOMELAND. For crying out loud, just crack a smile for me.

6.) The symmetry of rubber plantations is amazing. The trees are spaced the same distance away from the trees next to them, as well as the trees in front and behind them. Multiply that by thousands. It's most fascinating to observe.

Women's Meeting

Ants.

There are ants everywhere. Right now there are about 7 floating in my coffee. They are in on my clothes. In my hair. They even manage to crawl inside of my toothpaste cap. As I brushed some off of my water bottle this morning so I could ingest some protein-free water, I realized how comfortable I've become with all of the ants (which really were initially quite disgusting, despite my fondness for bugs).

We don't have water today at home. Usually Thailand is great for things like electricity and water. I suppose it needs to occasionally remind its country-people that it is not quite developed yet. The lack of water threw my (apparently very clean?) neighbors into an uproar. So much so that they stood in front of our three attached rooms complaining loudly about it from 7 am on. One, who I work with, has spent the last hour trying to shower in the office (first the shower was not clean enough, then she had to buy soap that wouldn't rough up her skin, etc.) I'm sure I'm now considered the filthy one as I used my flushing bucket water (clean water collected to flush the toilet) to wash my face and brush my teeth so that I could get on with things.

My birthday was funny. Lots of usual birthday cultural confusion. A very jazzy rendition of Happy Birthday is sung here. I think someone, at some point, worked for World Vision (which is a Christian NGO) as the lesser-known second verse of Happy Birthday is used- "May God bless you always, may God bless you always... ." So yeah, 26. Seems old compared to 25. Need to get moving.

Some Photos from Ranong

A Class in the Midst of an English Lesson (I got to do a little teaching!)

Little sidecar / school bus contraption that takes 12-plus kids to school

So much rain! Clothes never seem to dry!

Little girl dancing in front of the pool hall

Studying

Shooting the Breeze at the Brothel

Community Vists and Celebrations

So my last post was along the bad mood vein. I had come back from a community visit during which my colleague who CAN translate for me chose to wander off for long bouts. When he was around, he'd only translate if I asked a question. Then, at the end of it all, he asked me to provide my opinion on what had been discussed for everyone there. If I had any clue what had been discussed, I'm sure my comments would be much more releveant for everyone listening to them. Certainly not the biggest crisis :)

It's been an interesting past few days. I've been doing site visits with a team that includes a guy from a Thai animation company who will be creating the animated cartoon based on the focus groups I’ve been working on for IOM. We drove around to different areas so that he could take pictures of typical living situations for Burmese migrants in this area. I had been to most of the places already, but it was kind of fun to go back and show the folks how my Burmese has progressed over the past two weeks (besides hello, I can now say ‘what is that?’ ‘what?’ ‘thank you’ ‘come’ ‘eat’ ‘come eat.’ We also went to this fishing town I’d never visited and saw people painting ships and hauling in fish. It was very “Downeaster Alexa.”

After a looong day of visiting, my colleagues and a few other friends were meeting up for a goodbye shindig for my friend Ayaka, who is leaving our office in the South to work at the Chiang Mai office. I’m quite sad she’s going, as we really hit it off, but I’ll see her in a couple of weeks in Bangkok and again in Chiang Mai at the end.

Some of my co-workers and the Italians from down the road













Thomas (our office radio expert)






So the goodbye party… we go to this cute little bar in a very cute little touristy beach town about 10 k from where we all live. Everyone was having a nice time chatting. There are a good number of tsunami volunteers from America and Europe who live in the area and come to volunteer for a couple of weeks or a couple of months. As the evening progressed, I started to feel like we were at a frat party. Loud drinking games, cursing, crude comments made about women. Thailand is always such a strange place of contrasts. Last night, I went to a birthday celebration for one of my Burmese neighbors who works with a nearby NGO. They were doing a July birthday celebration for the office (kind of like the corporate one-cake-a-month thing). It was hysterical. I wish I had brought my camera to document the hours upon hours of some of the most heartfelt karaoke, guitar-playing, and dancing I have seen recently. Funny thing about alot of popular Burmese songs is that they are set to familiar American classic rock / alternative rock songs, but the words are completely different (hence 'Shot through the heart' is about buying a bowl in the market).

Ergh...

I am so sick and tired of not being able to understand anybody.

My focus group project is reaching the end. My responsibility this week is to nag the slew of people responsible for transcription and translation to hustle. It's really upping my popularity. I've been trying to change up my methods to keep it exciting. A text message one day, an email the next, lots of emoticons. People looove emoticons. I'm also sorting through and analyzing a bunch of data about arrest, detention, and deportation. Yesterday I went on a community visit to a rubber plantation / shrimping part of town. We were distributing information about birth certificates for migrant children so that it is easier to enroll them in Thai schools. I did the distributing, not the explaining. The registration period for migrants recently ended, so now the govt. is sending out the goon squads to arrest and deport undocumented migrants (documentation is difficult, as some employers won't pay for it; if you don't have a current employer, you can't register). When we arrived to the village, a whole crew of men immediately fled, thinking we'd come to deport them. But why wouldn't they... us driving up at dusk in a Toyota pick-up truck.

My sunburn is peeling to a degree that makes me feel as though I am molting. It's especially pleasant when meeting new people. "So nice to meet you! Please ignore that large chunk of my arm that just fell off as you shook my hand... ." This past weekend I stayed in town, which was great. Went to the beach, played some football (of the soccer variety), talked World Cup, watched World Cup (@ 2 am in Thailand).

Pictures are of sites along my little road that leads to the beach. The top is a lagoon where people crab. On the bottom is a field where cows (and sometimes these mysterious horses) graze. Before the tsunami, it was all trees... you can see the line where the water stopped.

Beautiful Beach


Beautiful Pool


Sad, Sun-burned Me


I went to Phuket last weekend. I met up with my friend Philippa from college. She had a business trip in Singapore and came over to Thailand. Such a nice break from my ant-filled room (which I've been kicked out of, as the owner is returning tomorrow... I'm staying in a new ant-filled room across the street until yet another person vacates their room and I move there). Our hotel was amazing (in Phuket... I'm jumping around). I feel silly going on and on about it, as I'm supposed to be here for a cause that transcends silly things like beach resorts. The sun even came out on Saturday (I got the worst sunburn of my life... I was just so excited about sun versus rain that I forgot to reapply the old SPF 30). This week has been very office-based, except for a day trip to Ranong yesterday to pick up some transcripts for the focus groups. On the way back, there weren't any seats, so they put us in the luggage compartment. It was more comfortable than expected and even had a light so I could read. I went to a used bookstore last weekend and stocked up. I have been flying through books. Funny how that happens when you live in a sleepy town and often take public transport (lots of waiting, which isn't so bad with a book).