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!!