Saying Goodbye

So, this is it. I’m sitting here trying to figure out how on earth to articulate how I feel about leaving and about everything that has happened in the last year.

I spent my last day in Mae Sot not in Mae Sot at all, but in Myawaddy, Burma (just across the border) with two of my good friends. It was amazing to see the National League for Democracy’s offices being open and publicly visible, and for people to be freely talking about Aung San Suu Kyi and politics and not fearing reprisals from the government, so different from the atmosphere when I was there in June 2011. On Sunday night, after a BBQ at some friends’ house, we all went and watched The Lady together at a bar run by and for Burmese ex-political prisoners. It was a wonderful way to end my time in Little Burma.

My last breakfast in Burma

There is so much I will miss from my strange little border town. From the yelling Tokay’s, to the old Thai ladies that practice their traditional dancing on my street at 6.30 every night. I will miss my bike (which I have given to one of the girls at work), my soi (street) dogs, and constantly eating mangoes. And on the topic of food, I will miss the incredible variety of Thai food on offer in Mae Sot, as well as the unique and delectable Burmese foods – so many different salads, breakfasts of curry and naan or rich noodle soup with coriander and onions. It’s all so amazing and so delicious. Of course, there are many things that I will not miss, vicious dogs chasing me on my bike, being hit by motorbikes, having to cover myself in deet to dissuade the ever-present mosquitoes, the smell of fish everywhere and the distinct possibility that anything I order that I don’t know exactly what it is will probably taste fishy (I really do not like fish). I will not miss the heat, but at the same time, I will miss it very much. I have not become acclimatised at all, 38 degrees for weeks in a row is too much but the thought of anything less than 25 makes me think cold thoughts. I will miss the freedom I feel living here, even though at times I feel trapped and isolated; this has been a wonderful place to simply be myself without anyone having any prior conceptions about me. 

One of the children on our Dry Food Programme

Of course, the things I will miss the most are my amazing job, my incredible family of friends, and my awe-inspiring Burmese colleagues. The work I have been involved in this past year has taught me more than I could have ever imagined, about everything. I now know far more about Burma than ever before, not to mention healthcare, which I previously knew nothing about. I know how to develop websites and write annual reports, design and implement self-income generation projects and improve local staff capacity. My inspiring colleagues have taught me about their lives, the struggles they face at home in Burma on a daily basis, and how to carry on in the face of brutal oppression. It has been an honour, and truly humbling to meet and work with each and every one of them. 

 

And my friends here in Mae Sot. Wow. What a fantastic bunch of human beings. Supportive, hilarious, inspiring, motivated, conscientious, party-fuelled, and insanely hard working people who I am so grateful to have met and to call my friends. Saying goodbye to them all last night was a lot harder than I had thought it was going to be. The past few weeks with them have been by far the best time I have had in Mae Sot, and I am so glad that I am leaving on a high note; I am already speculating on my return. 

Somtam and sticky rice

One of the main reasons the market stinks.

Vegetarian Laarb. Indescribably good.

This year has been one that I can never forget. Realising life-long dreams has only been a part of it. I have achieved so much more than I could have thought possible, in so many areas. Burma is changing, and I think it is still too early to speculate on what might happen there in the next few years, but one thing I know for sure is that I want to be a part of it. 

Tomorrow, I am off to Melbourne to seek my fortune, so if anyone hears of any jobs there, let me know! Also, if you are there, get in touch and let’s hang out. I am also very excited to tell you that last week I had a paper published in a German-based academic journal (the paper is in English), so if you are interested in brainwashing or cults, have a read.

And finally, I would like to say one more big thank you to all my friends and family. Without your continual support, the past year would not have been possible, and I will always be grateful for your help. As for the immediate future, this is the end of The Far Away Lands for now. If my life becomes terribly exciting in Melbourne, I may write from time to time, so check back every once in a while if you are interested. I hope to be living somewhere else exotic and interesting within a year at the most (very possibly back in Mae Sot), so this is definitely not the end. Thank you all for reading, and for all your lovely feedback. It’s been fun to share it with you.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again: I love this town and I love these people. I have truly witnessed life here: birth, death and marriage; pain, suffering, oppression; hope, emancipation and joy. I will miss it all more than you can know.

The most beautiful Soi dog ever, the lovely Joon

My favorite food in Thailand: Noodle Soup! The best noodle shop in Mae Sot is at the end of my Soi.

Happy New Year!

There has been so much going on recently that the past few weeks have gone by in a blur, and now I have less than a week left here, which I am not very happy about at all.

Firstly, happy Songkran (from Thailand), and happy Thingyan (from Burma), or, in English, happy New Year! This last weekend marked the New Year here, and what a way to mark it. Both countries partake in the biggest, most elaborate nation-wide water fight you’ve ever seen in your life. It is difficult to accurately describe the mayhem that takes over Burma and Thailand during this incredible holiday. There is parting and dancing in the streets and water being thrown from passing pick-up trucks, as well as people roaming the streets with water guns and manning enormous barrels of water to throw at everyone and anyone.  Other than monks, very very young babies, some elderly people and street workers, absolutely no one is immune, and there is no mercy: if you are out in the streets, you will be saturated for the entire time you are outside. There is food and drinks being shared with everyone on the streets, and a paste made of talcum powder and water being lovingly smeared on everyone’s face.

Did I mention that this party goes on for more than four days? After day three I had blisters on my water gun trigger finger, and a developing ear infection from having so much water forced into it. This is seriously the absolute best national holiday I have ever had the pleasure to take part in. I really cannot think of a better way to celebrate anything. Everyone was so happy, Burmese, Thai and farang (foreign) people were dancing and celebrating exuberantly together, small children were elated over what was going on (really, some unbelievably joyous faces, it was beautiful to see), and the elderly, while taking on a much gentler water sprinkling technique, were also having the time of their lives drenching everyone and being drenched in return. 

Aside from wild water parties, in these past couple of weeks I’ve gone camping in a national park, gone back to Burma for the day, gone to Chiang Mai, and on Monday I spent the day visiting waterfalls with one of my local colleagues and her family. In between all this I have also been frantically trying to finish writing our 2011 Annual Report, and unfortunately I don’t think will be done before I go. It’s been a really fantastic few weeks, and I am now very unsure why on earth I am leaving, and the date is drawing rapidly nearer. 

My final week here will be filled with more frantic work, eating as much delicious food as possible, cheap haircuts, lots of cleaning of my house for my friend to move in, culling and packing, parting with all my amazing friends here, and most sadly, saying goodbye.

The world's best way to eat a potato?

Getting as good as I gave.

A Wolf in a Legitmate Governments' Clothing?

It’s an interesting time to be here. As you may or may not know, Burma held by-elections last Sunday, April 1st. These are the first elections since the General Election of November 2010, which marked the beginning of Burma’s current period of reform. The 2010 elections, however, have been widely regarded as a sham. The military junta that had ruled the country for nearly 50 years, ceded power to a new, nominally civilian government, that is full of retired, ex-military Generals. Hardly a significant power shift. The by-election earlier this month offered up 44 seats out of 600, a very small number, and not enough to hold much influence. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, won 43 of these, and Daw Suu is due to take her seat in parliament for the first time on April 23rd. However, there are widespread reports of ballot fraud, for example, waxing voting papers so they couldn't be marked, peoples names mysteriously missing off electoral roles, and serious intimidation in the lead-up to election day.

There is no doubt that these elections are an incredible achievement for Burma, and a step towards democracy in a very big way. However, it is worrying that the international community is being so quick to reward the Burmese government by lifting sanctions, investing and so on. While there is no doubt that things are changing, Burma is still a heavily oppressed nation. The government still uses rape as a weapon of war, it still uses forced labour – it has said it will cease this practice by 2015, three years away – forced relocation is still a significant issue, ethnic conflicts continue to rage, and life in the border regions remains miserable for hundreds of thousands of people. The NLD, while an inspirational party, don’t represent all the people of Burma. Ethnic minorities are sorely misrepresented in the Party, which is primarily made up of ethnic Burmans. And it is these ethnic areas where human rights abuses are most flagrant. Freedom of speech is slowly improving, but it is still illegal to speak out openly against the government - Daw Suu’s victory speech was heavily censored. Landmines continue to be laid, and political prisoners continue to be arrested and have their rights violated. Take, for example, the most recent briefing from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, based here in Mae Sot:

Mahn Nyein Maung, an ethnic Karen leader, was sentenced to life plus three years this month for unlawful association and treason and released six days later. U Gambira, monk leader of the 2007 protests released as part of the January presidential order, was re-arrested for the second time since his release and was detained for a day and interrogated for hours. Such interrogation can have fatal consequences, as in the case of a 19 year old Shan woman, who fell to her death from a fifth story window after days of relentless interrogation and intimidation by the Bureau of Special Investigation (BSI).

Meanwhile, the situation in Kachin State has not improved, as reports of forced labour, abductions and other human rights abuses continue to come out. The sentencing of a farmer to 3 months of hard labour for refusing to move from their land to make way for a state development project is further evidence that protecting the rights of citizens is secondary to the interests of the state.

It’s strange being here right now: learning about these things first hand from the people that are suffering through them, while the rest of the world looks on with approving nods at the alleged changes being made. The government had absolutely nothing to lose in these elections, 44 seats is not enough to effect any change, but it undoubtedly improves the international community’s view of the country. A pretty ingenious move if you ask me. Burma was ruled by a vicious military junta for 50 years. It takes more than just 16 months to undo all that.

The struggle here is still so strong, yet international NGOs are pulling funding on the border all over the show, in favour of aid inside Burma. While this is also needed, there needs to be a transition period; the border and the few hundred thousand displaced people that live here are still suffering unimaginable hardships. International attention is shifting away from the very real needs here, and is instead favouring the new, exciting and somewhat deceptive developments inside. I went to Burma again for a few hours last Wednesday to do a visa run, to the town of Myawaddy just over the border (the border only opened up in December last year, after nearly two years of being closed). It was inspiring to see the NLD HQ in town, and it made me very sad to think about leaving. I have just two weeks left here before moving on to Melbourne and (hopefully) a paid job for a while, and while I am really excited to be going somewhere new, there is still so much to stay for.

Here is an article from the Washington Post discussing some of the things that are happening in Kachin State right now, and why lifting sanctions and international pressure is a terrible idea.

Tokay Ok!

This is a crazy busy week full of exciting adventure, new postcard coming on Monday I promise! In the meantime, here is a photo of the amazing Tokay that's been living outside my bedroom for a year. He chose my birthday to finally reveal himself to me, a pretty great present from mother nature if you ask me!

The Miracle of Birth

Not yesterdays newborn, but a glorious one nonetheless

Today I’m going to talk to you about the miracle of birth. Well, I don’t actually believe in miracles, but I do think that human reproduction is pretty spectacular. Yesterday I was lucky enough (right choice of words?) to watch a woman here at the Clinic give birth. This is the first (human) birth I’ve seen and it was rather incredible. I did watch a dog squeeze out 11 puppies on my door step last year, but that's not quite the same. I’m so amazed by the concept of reproduction at all that I have to say a big kudos to evolution for sorting out our bodies to enable us to not only grow another human being inside our bellies, but then to squeeze it out as well. And the fact that we are so well evolved that, if needs be, we can do the whole birthing thing on our own, wow. Just wow.

Now, I’m sure I don’t need to go into details here, it was a pretty gross experience, but nowhere near as messy as I had expected, and I have to admit, I was surprised by one or two of the routine things that happen, I thought I knew all about what goes on, but it turns out you learn something new everyday. The mama was a 21 year old Burmese woman, and this was her second child (a little girl by the way, with lots of hair). Anyways, it's been about 9 years since there was a time when someone I know wasn't preggas, and I now have a whole new level of respect for all my amazing friends that have had kids. You guys did good. Real good. 

I am currently writing the 2011 Annual Report for the Clinic, so I thought I’d share some interesting information about our incredible Reproductive Health department here:

Maternal mortality rates are over 1,000 per 100,000 live births in the Eastern Burma conflict zones. This compares to 360 in the rest of Burma and 44 per 100,000 live births in Thailand. This demonstrates the huge need for the safe, free services provided by the MTC reproductive health department.

The department delivers between 3 – 15 babies every day, with the average usually being 7. We offer comprehensive short and long term contraception options for women, including condoms, oral contraceptives, hormonal injections, 3-year hormonal implants, IUD’s and referrals to Mae Sot Hospital for tubal ligation procedures. Our data illustrates that we are now seeing a decrease in the ratio of post-abortion care patients : deliveries. We believe this is a result of our contraception programmes – when given the choice about when and if to have children, women often choose to prevent pregnancies. As a result, fewer unplanned and unwanted pregnancies reduce the incidence of unsafe abortion.

There are many challenges in the RH departments, including an increasing number of premature and low birth weight babies being born. This, in turn, puts pressure on our neonatal unit, which only has the capacity to appropriately care for a small number of premature babies; closely related to this issue is the fact that these babies need to be admitted to the neonatal unit for significant periods of time, hindering the availability of space for new arrivals. The equipment available in the neonatal unit is severely lacking: the department only has two incubators for premature infants; however there are always more than two premature or low birth weight babies at the same time. Four RH-IPD staff have been trained as ultrasound technicians and are able to provide more accurate assessments for women during pregnancy and labour, thus being able to diagnose and reduce many risks faced by a large number of women.

I've seen this every day for a year and I still don't really get the message - use a new one every day, or wash after use so you can use them again next week?

This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as the department goes, we also do a lot to combat the spread of HIV from mother to child for example. So if you’re interested in learning more, check out our RH webpage.

Yay for mama's!

The little things

I’ve been sick this past week. I’ve had the dreaded dengue fever which, as I’m sure you can imagine, is not ideal in this heat. I’m well over the worst now and am currently just suffering from extreme tiredness. I’ve spent the past week in bed, watching tv and movies on my laptop (it’s come to my attention that Carmella Soprano and Dana Scully have awful fashion sense, despite the exciting lives they lead. Such awful unflattering man-ish pants and oversized, shoulder-padded suit jackets, and Carmella, what's with the hair? Dana - you should totally pash up Mulder while you can, don't worry, the truth is out there). Now, let me tell you, sweating through a fever in 38 degree weather, alone and bored is a poor substitute for inhabiting a big comfy couch, a pair of 3XL mens track pants (grey of course) and a million blankets and pillows, and watching Jeremy Kyle and Ricky Lake re-runs. Needless to say it’s been a bit tough not being nursed back to health by someone resembling a mother, who will bring you all kinds of treats and prizes along with significant amounts of sympathy no matter how much of a complaining baby you’re being. However, it’s been really great to see how wonderful my friends are over here, two in particular have been bringing me lots of meals and fruit and generally looking after me. So it hasn’t been all bad. Spending lots of time at home and by myself has led me to think about all the little things that I look forward to having back in my life soon. Side note: I am leaving the border at the end of April and will go and seek my fortune in Melbourne for a time, more on that later. So, in no particular order, here are a few of the things that I have longed for this week:

1. Carpet – a strange thing to desire, it’s true. But lying down on the floor because you got a bit tired standing up isn’t the same when it’s hard shiny tiles, not lush, cosy carpet. 

Creepy outdoor sink

2. Being able to drink the tap water – this has been a big one this week as my kitchen is downstairs and my bedroom is upstairs, so in order to keep sufficiently hydrated (one of the biggest things with dengue) I have to go downstairs all the time to get more of the good stuff, I can’t just drink from the bathroom tap that is a mere 1m from my room.

3. A washing machine – no one here has a washing machine. This means that even doing my washing this week has been a gigantic hassle so I just haven’t done it. Usually I hand wash small things and just take sheets and towels to the laundry lady, but this week, no hand washing or laundry lady, far too much effort. If only I could chuck everything in a machine and press go...

4. Having a functional kitchen – this is a big one. My kitchen consists of one gas ring, my sink is outside in a mosquito infested concrete box (probably where I got the dengue from to begin with). I love to cook, but this past year has been the least cooky of my life and I miss it. Plus, being sick, it’s meant that people have had to bring me pretty much all my meals. No one here really cooks, it’s far cheaper to eat out, which is a lot less glamorous than you think. 

Low grade kitchen

5. Having clean feet – this issue closely relates to point one, above. I’ve been doing a lot of lying in bed. Having tiles through the whole house and incessant dust coming in through the permanently-open windows means that no matter how much you sweep or mop, your feet are always dirty when you walk around the house (fyi – wearing socks is not an option). This dirt is then transferred into your bed pretty quickly, gross.

 

That’s about it. The top five things I’ve been longing for this week (couch, daytime tv, track pants and comfort food aside of course, those ones are the most important, oh except perhaps cheese rolls. Man, I want a million cheese rolls so bad). Hopefully I shall have all these things again soon enough (except perhaps the ever-longed for cheese roll as it is endemic to the lower South Island of NZ)

PS. There are orchids flowering in my garden. I think that's pretty good stuff.

 

 

Living Inside a Heater

For those of you that know me well, you will be aware of the fact that I much prefer wearing no clothes to wearing any clothes. For those that don’t know me that well, this may be a new revelation to you, but don’t go getting any weird ideas, it’s just a well known fact that not wearing clothes is exponentially superior to wearing clothes. The purpose of this little gem of information will become clear soon. 

Depending on your level of knowing me personally, you may also know that I like to complain about things. And the weather seems to be a big point of complaint here in Mae Sot at the moment amongst many people, so I feel it’s only appropriate that I jump on this bandwagon. In the past few weeks, the weather here has changed significantly. When I first got back, it was dry, searingly hot and, as I said back then, like cycling into a hairdryer on full. It then became smoky. Oh so smoky. And the hairdryer became filled with ash and dust, ensuring that any venturing outside that was done left one covered in a fine layer of dusty, ashy grime, itchy eyes and a severly deminished ability to breathe. Then this weekend it rained. For the first time since October. Rain here is not just a casual shower. It’s all or nothing. And the weather has really put on a show in the past few days. There’s been thunder, particularly impressive lightening, and monsoon rain with big, fat, instantly saturating raindrops. This rain solidified my decision to get out of this place before rainy season (more on that another day), I just can’t do it again. 

You may think that with this rain would come some respite from the oppressive heat. Not so my friends; not so. Instead, the thick, wet air has upped the heat index significantly. Now, I have always been particularly interested in weather and temperatures and barometers and such. Thus, I shall tell you about the heat index (courtesy of our good friend wikipedia):

“The heat index or humiture is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity in an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent temperature — how hot it feels. The result is also known as the "felt air temperature" or "apparent temperature". For example, when the temperature is 32 °C (90 °F) with very high humidity, the heat index can be about 41 °C (105 °F).

The human body normally cools itself by perspiration, or sweating, which evaporates and carries heat away from the body. However, when the relative humidity is high, the evaporation rate is reduced, so heat is removed from the body at a lower rate, causing it to retain more heat than it would in dry air.”

Exhibit A

So. This week, we have daily forecasted temperatures of 35-38°C, scattered thunderstorms, and a corresponding heat index of 48 degrees Celsius. Forty-eight. That is a mere two degrees short of 50, and as I am sure you are aware, 50 degrees is half way to boiling point. All this science talk aside, this means that it is real super heaps hot x1,000,000 here. The hair dryer is now on at full blast with a boiling (well, 50% boiling) kettle blowing its steam into the funnel of aforementioned dryer. Hopefully this doesn't cause pulmonary edema or some such.

This brings us full circle. As mentioned above, I am a no-clothes enthusiast. The nights don't even provide an escape from the heat anymore - imagine my dismay when I wake up every morning in my 30ish degree room (yes, I have a thermometer on the wall) and am forced to put on clothes. Well, this dismay would happen anywhere in the world for me, but what makes it most painful here is that I must put on conservative clothing. I refer you to Exhibit A, a photo of me dressed for work this morning. Note the long skirt (side note: this is my amazing Kansas skirt – it is the Sunflower State after all), and the t-shirt (pretty risqué today actually – you can see a lot of chest). Needless to say, these are hot items of clothing to be wearing in nearly 50 degree heat. 

 

It has come to my attention that the hottest places in the world also seem to be the most conservative, demanding the highest fabric:skin ratio. While Thailand itself ins't so conservative, Burma most certainly is. And here in little Burma, shoulders are scandalous, as are legs. Thus, singlets are out, as is anything above the knee. 

I'm too hot to think of a good way to finish this. So I'll just leave you with this: it’s real hot.

Living in the end times

Just Focus On Trying To Breathe

Umpiem on fire

This has been a smoky week. On Thursday last week one of the nine refugee camps along the border caught fire. It’s home to close to 20,000 displaced people, and it’s just 87kms from Mae Sot. It’s currently the dry season here, so the simple wood, bamboo and thatch huts were no match for this raging inferno. Around one quarter of the camp was destroyed with over 4000 people being left homeless. By some amazing stroke of luck, no one died in the fire and only a small handful of people received serious burns. Needless to say, everyone here was on high alert for casualties and injuries, but thankfully we weren’t needed. Our Emergency Response Team raced down there as soon as we got the news, to help out in any way they could. It has been incredibly inspiring seeing the response of the community, both Thai and Expat, to the fire. Over 40,000 baht (over NZD$1600), was raised by our community within the first few hours of the emergency, and supplies and donations continue to trickle in. I've driven by this camp several times,  and some of my friends work in it, so it's really sad to know what's going on there at the moment.

The aftermath

But my reason for mentioning this is to add to the general air of this post. Mae Sot has been under a blanket of smoke for the past week or so. It’s ‘burn season’ here at the moment, so farmers are burning off their fields in preparation for new planting, a fine layer of the resulting ash coats everything outside. Added to this is the fact that there is an enormous forest fire raging somewhere nearby on the border. The Thai government is allegedly trying to blame this smoke extravaganza on both Burma (apparently the fire is slightly more on the Burmese side of the border) and on climate change. Either way, this is a horrible and uncomfortable place to be at the moment. 

Usual visiblity in Mae Sot

Current visibility in Mae Sot

There is no escape from the smoke, not even inside my house, as we have screens on the windows and don’t/can’t close the actual glass on the windows. Everyone is struggling to breathe, dry throats and coughs abound. And itchy, sore red eyes are everywhere. It’s a bit rubbish really. Two days ago the Bangkok Post stated “Smoke from wildfires has reduced air quality and visibility on the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak's Mae Sot district to the point of a crisis as dust particles are almost exceeding safe levels”. I’m not sure what’s meant to happen when safe levels are exceeded, but I’d say they have well and truly exceeded them now. The tiny airport here has been closed for the past 4 days or so due to visibility issues, although the smoke did clear up enough yesterday afternoon for a small window, so the one-flight-every-second-day that comes in here was able to land. 

 Last night as I was trying to sleep, my room was full of smoke, everything is dusty and I feel grimy all the time. A while back I said that sometimes it’s like cycling into a hairdryer here. Well, currently it’s like cycling into a hairdryer that is also loaded with dust. Here’s hoping the smoke clears soon, at the moment I’ll just focus on trying to breathe.

The Things You Remember

 I’m lying here on my floor trying to think of what to write. It’s the hottest part of the day, so not entirely conducive to thinking or writing, but I’m trying anyway. It’s been at least 35 degrees minimum since I got back here, with crazy amounts of humidity. My perm has never looked better. I don't know what I will do when hot season begins in a couple of weeks. If this isn’t hot, I really don’t know what is. The upside is that this season seems to coincide with mango season, so I’m eating pretty wild amounts of them.

So what to write about? Well, what have I been up to? Um, not much really aside from working and watching lots of tv shows and doing pilates – I’ve hurt by back a bit, again. The upside of this is that I’ve been able to justify getting a couple of Thai massages in the last wee while.

And now I am reminded of a memory from my trip to Burma last year...

At the jetty

We’d met these two lovely guys in Rangoon on our first day there, so when we returned a week later, we called and met up with one of them again. We went for a bit of a walk and sat at the main jetty of the Irawaddy River watching people and boats come and go, and couples stealing private moments together under cosy umbrellas. It was a particularly beautiful sunset and a wonderful way to spend our final evening in Burma, I can remember it vividly. After a while, our friend received a phone call from his friend, the other guy we’d met, asking if all of us (three in total) wanted to come and meet him for a massage. My friend and I looked at each other and thought, why not eh? So we packed into a beaten up old shit box of a taxi and raced through the crumbling city. We pulled up outside this decrepit wooden building, its facade was a rotting, disintegrating mess, it was at least four stories high and looked like it was about to fall down. By this time it was dark. Our friend pointed to the door and said, “It’s just in here”. Um, ok, not quite what we were expecting, but, I suppose this is ok. Maybe? My friend and I stepped inside. It was pitch black and there was an overwhelming stench of mould in the air; there was a steep, wide flight of stairs in front of us. We tentatively started up them, the damp floorboards creaking under our weight, with our new friend following us up. About half way up we exchanged glances that said “Oh no. What have we gotten ourselves into?” No one else in the world knew where we were, not even us, we spoke minimal Burmese, didn’t really know this guy, although did seem to be genuinely nice, and this building would have been well and truly condemned anywhere else in the world. Had we just made a totally rookie decision and were about to meet some horrible fate? There was not much we could do at this point other than keep going and see what happened. As we got to the top of the stairs, my heart was in my throat, I was thinking “well, I’ve really messed it up this time”.

Downtown Rangoon

Slowly, the sliding doors in front of us began to open letting out a slice of golden light. As they opened, they revealed the total opposite of whatever it was we were expecting: behind the doors was a beautiful, clean, brand spanking new waiting area. The couches were soft and plush, there was steaming green tea and tiny cups waiting for us on the ornate coffee table, and the reception desk shone with a gleaming golden finish, matching the golden walls and sumptuous carpet, and the beautifully dressed staff were attentive to our every need. We both let out a huge sigh of relief. After our tea, the three of us were ushered into a small room. Our other friend was already in there waiting for us. The room itself was rather unremarkable, but maintained the same welcoming feeling of the waiting area, it had the obligatory floor mattresses all massage places here have, and a gigantic flat screen tv on the wall, which most places don’t have. After some more tea and idle chat, in came four Burmese girls and the massage commenced. I can’t really remember much about the actual massage, other than that my girl kept burping and my friend kept giggling as she was so ticklish, and that we got pretty into trying to figure out what was going on in the soap opera that was being played on the tv (this was an ongoing game with us, Burmese and Thai soaps are so dramatic). 

After the massage and more tea, we tried to pay but were told under no uncertain terms that this was their treat and we were not to pay a cent. We headed back down the stairs which, this time, didn’t seem so dark, didn’t seem to creak and, strangely, the smell seemed to have disappeared. We clambered into another dilapidated taxi and the four of us headed to dinner. On the way, we asked what was with the whole dodgy-building thing, considering the inside was so beautiful. Turns out massage of any kind (sassy or no) was illegal in Burma, but our friends were important guys who were “in the know”. Why this is, I still haven’t been able to figure out. But I sure am glad I didn’t die in there.

Back to reality, I guess.

I got to meet little Micah

So, I’ve been getting a few emails and messages from people enquiring when I’m going to get this bad boy back up and running. Here goes I guess.

I had an amazing trip home to Aotearoa, but I’m happy to be home in Mae Sot. My visit to NZ was a fairly spectacular friendship extravaganza and, as my best friend put it the week after her amazing wedding when we’d all gone home, I’m now having a pretty serious friend come-down. But that’s ok because now I get to hang out with all my great friends here. 

I know I’ve said it several times already, but once again, thank you so much to those of you that have helped me out. I have been truly humbled by the generosity and support of my community. I quite literally could not have made it back here without your help. From selling pakoras at markets for me, to buying my t-shirts, buying me a drink so I could save my pennies, to slipping me little envelopes and just generally giving me words of wisdom and encouragement, every little bit has helped, and you are all welcome at my place anytime! I’ll even take you on a guided tour around town and buy you a bowl of delicious mohinga.

 

At this stage, things are very up in the air regarding how long I will be here for this time – there are many, many factors to be considered before any concrete decisions about anything can be made. But for now, here I am. I’d kinda forgotten how insane this place is. Everything has changed in the month I’ve been away, yet at the same time, somehow everything is still the same. The babies are still screaming on immunisation day, and the fathers are still grinning in anticipation as they rub their wives backs while they’re in labour. The days are still scorchingly hot (minimum 37 degrees all week, no clouds and currently 24% humidity to be precise), the nights and mornings are wonderful and cool; but not for long, I can feel the hot season encroaching upon us at an ever increasing rate. This is liberal chap-stick application territory – the occasional breeze brings no respite from the heat, instead making you feel like you are cycling straight into a hair dryer. One thing that is noticeably different however, is the abundance of mosquitoes around at the moment. They are eating me alive. Here’s hoping I don’t get dengue or malaria I suppose. 

Christmas at the beach

As for work, it’s pretty much the same as always. Once again, I’d forgotten how much there is to do here, constantly. I’ve worked more in the past three days than the past 5 weeks. Not surprising really when you consider the fact that I was on holiday for those weeks, but still. I’m right back into the delicious food over here, although, I was a bit bummed out to find a big black bug in my noodle soup today; it’s from my favourite place that’s usually so reliable! Oh well, no health regulations over here. For all the good food here though, I was pretty happy to eat obscene amounts of cheese when in NZ. Oh cheese, how I miss you. 

Anyways, I hope those of you who have had summer holidays have had a wonderful break – I know the weather in NZ has been pretty hit and miss this summer. And for my dear Northern Hemisphere friends, well, it sucks to be you in the cold I guess. But I hope you’ve managed to roast a few chestnuts on the fire or whatever it is you do in Northern Hemisphere winters. 

For those I saw – I love your faces! For those I didn’t see, I still love your faces, but they might be a bit blurry in the ole memory so here’s hoping we catch up next time I’m home. It’s always just grand indeed to hear back from you, so do be in touch eh. I’m off to eat a mango. Ka kite.