Picture of me on my new bike

This is a little hard to explain, but the bike I bought has a really low seat that make you sit very upright. The handlebars bend inwards, so it feels like your hands are very close together and very near to your body when you ride. In other words when I ride it- I feel a lot like a very proper squirrel. The joke about this has devolved into the above picture.

The word in Karen for squirrel is something like Le. Therefore, the bike gang that me and several others are forming will clearly be named the Le.  When I described this to someone they explained that squirrels are terrible because they eat your mangoes, and they must be killed on site. It's official: they really are hated everywhere.

Meat, Meat, and more Meat

Some of the old fellows that worked for the organization came back for summer projects. They are leaving soon, and treated everyone at the local partner organization to a dinner last night- that we all went to also.

There are these restaurants here called, Mu Ga Ta (i think) which is a cook it yourself all you can eat buffet of meat. I showed up to the dinner about 40 minutes late to start because in trying to re-inflate my bike tire, I totally deflated it. I then got lost and went all the way to the Burma border before realizing it- and then broke the chain on my bike. Luckily, Thai men seem to like to stop on the side of the highway and help out strange farang women.

The restraunt has holes in the middle of the table with basically buckets of charcoal and you get these huge plates of meat. and by meant I don't just mean chicken and pork, but also pork belly, liver, octopus, tripe, fish cakes (? don't ask me to describe what it is because I don't know). Basically, as you cook this stuff all the juices run down into this boiling water that you add noodles and veggies too. It makes a really fatty soup. Kind of delicious, kind of gross.

There is also a really strange desert buffet that has this black jello (no idea what flavor), weird gummy things, chopped up pieces of white sandwich bread, that you add cherry or lime syrup to, sweet and condensed milk, and ice.

Yeah. Not so tasty.

Mae La

So it's been a little while since I have written; things have been really busy this week! There just happened to be a lot of reports due the same month I started working- but the good news is that its helped me learn a lot about the programs I am working on and I have gotten to spend a lot of time with the local staff we partner with figuring things out. Still not done, but its been rewarding so far.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit Mae La refugee camp- which is about an hours drive from Mae Sot. Mae La is huge- about 50,000 people. Another fellow I work with used to teach English at a University in Chaing Mai that hosts exchange students from the U.S. So we basically jumped on a trip with them to the camp. There is a large bible school- almost like a divinity college- in the camp so visited their first as their guests. We thought it would be an informal meeting but of course we walked into like 300 Karen students dressed in identical Karen dresses/shirts singing gospels as we were led to a stage where we had to introduce ourselves. Since the students all performed for us, we did an impromtu song for them- of course the only song we as a group of people who had never met each other before all knew was the national anthem. And my friend Tahmid goes, "OH don't worry Sarah knows how to sing, she will lead us off." After that awkwardness was over they generously fed us a really delicious Karen lunch and we walked around the camp a bit. Mae La is an established camp that in terms of refugee settings is pretty stable- The most helpful thing for me was seeing the clinic there- since they had a malnutrition ward and I am working on malnutrition interventions for children. It was really sad- but also nice to see that treatments can be made to work in difficult settings.

It is really rainy season now and when the rain poured down in the camp things got really muddy and really water logged really fast- so we didn't stay too long. I will post pictures soon (I keep saying this- but it will happen).

There have been two highlights of the week since- both involving my friend Karen and exercise believe it or not (I refuse to develop a rice belly here).  We want running at a track near at this private school near our houses and I totally fell in love with this adorable stray dog who is just about the sweetest thing ever. She almost looks like she a bald spot on her back because she has this strange mixture of smooth and wirey hair and dark and light fur (I know, sounds weird, and it is, but also very endearing). She seems to hang around there a lot which gives me motivation to go back. The second highlight was our attendance of an INSANE Thai aerobics class. Basically, it was a couple of 30 and 40 year old Thai women and us, doing ridiculous fast step dance moves to blaring techno versions of 80s and 90s songs. It was kind of like American aerobics on crack. We will definitely be going back.

Hope everyone is doing well- and that it has started to cool down in the states... I hear its been hot!!

Settling In

So the rainy season is late. It's rained a few days, but for the most part has been dry, which is nice except for the fact that the rain breaks the humidity a bit and cools down the air. Also, it would be bad to run out of water later in the year. Despite the rains holding off though, Dengue has arrived. Several people I work with came down with it this week, and just yesterday one of the older fellows. I am keeping my bottle of deet next to me at all times. I think I need to make a holster for it. Mosquitoes here are quite tricky. Aedes, the mosquito that spreads Dengue, bites mostly during the day and likes cool damp places. I got swarmed, for instance, by a whole bunch of Aedes mosquitoes when I plugged in my toaster for the first time. It had been a very nice living space for them until it started to heat up!

Nothing else very exciting has happened yet. Two of the fellows working for the same organization as me for the past year just left Mae Sot, which was actually quite sad. It always amazes me how close you can get to people in a short amount of time when travelling. We had a going away party for them at their favorite karaoke bar, which also happens to be a brothel? This was quite confusing to me but it seems to work like this. There is a big room where you can sing karaoke or hang out with sex workers. There are private rooms where you can have a small group sing karaoke, or hang out with sex workers. So we of course sang karaoke in a room to ourselves (which is extra great because while a lot of the songs are American, the videos are random scenery from the Netherlands) , but upon leaving I had one sex worker run up and sniff my cheek, smiling and giggling. My friend explained this is the way Thai people kiss sometimes, which explains the sniffing, but not why she ran up to me and did this in the first place. It's a mystery.

I have also discovered fermented Thai milk, which sounds disgusting, but is full of probiotics that are fantastic for my digestive system since getting here. They kind of taste like green jello salad, extended McIvor clan, which you know is one of my favorite things ever.

I think I mentioned the dogs already. There are strays everywhere, but at night they like roam the streets in packs. Basically, in Mae Sot, dogs OWN the night. I got chased by a pack of them a couple of days ago, which was actually slightly terrifying. I have taken to carrying a big umbrella that I shake at them like a stick while I growl really loudly. This is working so far.

World Cup fever caught in Thailand, and was fueled by the huge number of farangs (foreigners) here. The final game was crazy because it was at 1:30 in the morning, and the bar was packed with Spaniards (who of course went nuts). Side note: Thai beer kind of sucks. And Thai whiskey, not so much whiskey, its more like rum and really really sugary like everything else here. No good wine either, but that's ok, because there is also no good cheese.

Miss everyone! I'll try to keep these a bit shorter and less boring in the future :)

My Recent Visitor

So, Tahmid (my roommate) and I could not figure out what the crazy sound coming from our kitchen at night was. It was very loud and sounded like some sort of crazy mating call. I should explain that our kitchen is partly open to the outside, something not unusual in Thai houses because it is hot.

The third night we heard it, Tahmid was in the kitchen. The ensuing conversation went something like this.

S: Oh my god there is that crazy frog sound again. it sounds like it's in our kitchen!
T: Yeah, I know let me see if I can see anyth... OH MY GOD.
S: What?
T: Lizard
S: A lizard?
T: A giant lizard!
S: Naw uh.
T: Yes.
S: Let me see, is it going to terrify me?
T: Probably.

And this was how Tahmid and I learned of Tokay Geckos, which are huge geckos (this one was only about 6 inches) that makes crazy sounds. Apparently they eat bugs and people rarely see them. Tahmid got some pictures that I will post soon, but until then you can see a picture on the wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokay_gecko

Looks pretty much exactly alike. Also, the wikipedia page has a sound clip of the mating call, which is exactly what we were hearing; although, if you want the full effect turn the sounds on your speakers all the way up (It is loud!)

Was kind of exciting until our supervisor the next day told us that when they feel threatned they will jump at you and bite onto you, especially your face.

Haven't heard the gecko against since the first spotting....
We named him Mortikei for the time being.

I'm here!

So forgive my lack of creative blogging skills for the time being, I am still figuring this out!

I arrived in Thailand June 24th, after 40 plus hours of travel. All in all, the trip was not so bad, besides running through the Taiwan airport (which is really long and weird) to make it on my flight to Bangkok. After listening to John Denver with the Taxi driver through the crazy Bangkok traffic, I made it to my friend Susan's place to crash for a few days, which was wonderful! Highlights included Lebanese food (which tastes good everywhere apparently), the best pedicure I've ever had, and seeing the Grand Palace and Reclining Buddha which are incredible. I will eventually post some pictures when I replace the cord for my camera that I left in the states.

From there, it was a 7 hour bus ride to Mae Sot where I am staying. Mae Sot is not as small as I expected, and besides the gazillion stray dogs everywhere is really great. I have not yet been chased by one, which is a plus. The dog that keeps jumping out at me when I go home and scaring me to death turned out to be my neighbors dog, who is quite friendly!

Best highlight so far of Mae Sot is surely the food. Thai, Burmese, Indian, you name it. At night in the Muslim district here they sell Roti with bananas and sweet and condensed milk. It's awesome. Burmese Tea Leaf Salad and Thai Spicy Papaya Salad are two of my favorites. And cool fresh fruit icees with salt, which are wonderfully hydrating.

When I first arrived it was extremely hot, but now its cooled down a bit and the rains are really just starting. During my first down pour I only got soaked from my waist down (despite my giant poncho) and only fell of my bike once into a car! I am figure out now what feats I can and can not do on my bike in the rain.

I am just getting started with my practicum and am meeting lots of people that I will be working with. So far, I love the programs and the people. I will not be talking about it much on this blog however for a large variety or reasons. But! I do hope to put some of my adventures down and interesting funny moments (future posts should be less boring).

Hope everyone is well in the states!