After leaving beautiful Karsdale on November 26 we finally arrived in Mae Sot at 5 am on December 19. We ate our way through Seattle and Vancouver with friends ( fresh tuna, oysters, my fill of Starbucks in Seattle; delicate ravioli in Vancouver...but I digress.)
Our hosts in Seattle , Gloria and Gary, whom we had met in Mae Sot, showed us the mountains and the water and introduced us to a wonderful group of people who are working hard to help the people of Burma. Gloria had helped arrange an exhibition of some of the MY STORY photos at the Miro Tea Shop in Ballard, near their home. We arrived to find that only one box of two had arrived and that box had apparently been drop kicked by the US postal service. Hence some broken glass to deal with! Luckily there was a U frame it shop around the corner so we were able to repair the damage post-haste. The exhibition will run for the month of January.
My friend Jane, fellow ESL teacher in Mexico and Mae Sot, then drove us up to Vancouver, where we biked around Stanley Park on a brilliant but coooold day. She also took us to look at several possible venues for the MY STORY exhibition in the spring of 2008. A morning yoga class was on the agenda in preparation for that endless flight to Bangkok in the evening.
Gloria, Gary, Jane and Mike we can't thank you enough for your generosity and hospitality. We are very lucky to have friends like you!
The Atlanta Hotel in Bangkok is still crumbling...a few more missing tiles in the swimming pool, the curtain falling off its rod in the room...but somehow it manages to exude a certain funky charm. And the restaurant is still good, presided over by Ahn and a staff of giggly waitresses. To top it all off, who should be there when we arrive but Tom and Cindy. Just like home!
Took a day off from camera research and went to the Bridge on the River Kwai in Kanchanaburi, about 2 hours north of Bangkok. There is fascinating new museum by the cemetery, with many photos, artifacts, and first hand accounts by the Brit and Aussie P.O.W's. Also a kazillion tourists all tripping over the RR ties on the bridge. We then took a clackety old train up the line, had lunch and then went for the shortest boat ride I've ever been on. It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes on a long-tail boat; however the river spray felt great.
So now we're in Mae Sot; we've met with some of our Karen Youth Organization students from the previous 2 years, in fact spent most of the day on Friday looking at the photos they had taken, many from IDP areas inside. And talking about schedules.
Today, Saturday, Dec. 22, we went for a bike ride along the River Moei that forms the Thai-Burma border here and on the way home somehow got into the middle of a parade of people in yellow shirts, complete with marching band, on Mae Sot's main street. We think they were celebrating the general election which is being held tomorrow, but of course we're not sure! Everyone seemed happy to have us bumble along. Right now, Nat is out buying beer because there is NO alcohol sold on election day.
On Monday, Dec. 24, we move into our rented house. We've bought a bed (that comes with 2 guys to assemble it) , mattress, and lounge-y chair thing while Thant at Ban Thai has given us a set of sheets. I have the Thai word for pillows so that is the next task. We are the proud owners of about 15 mugs, courtesy of the local mobile phone company. When you buy minutes, you get a mug...3 years = lots of mugs.
Also trying to figure out times to call the daughters on Christmas. You'd think we'd have figured it out by now; we'll see.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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