My last couple of weeks have veered from wacky to mind-boggling. Wacky first:
No kidding, there I was: trekking through the jungle with 76 Thai university students, 4 professors, one university VP, and assorted guides and staff. This happened because I went to the small hill town of Umphang, hoping that it was enough of a trekking center for me to find a group to join, but not an overdeveloped industrial tourism center like Chiang Mai. So there I was joining a group. I think the original plan for me to stay with them for just one day, then wait in camp for a smaller group of Western tourists to catch up - but after the first day I was having so much fun that I declined the change. The students had varying levels of English, which was good because it meant I didn't have to remember all 80+ names (Om, Oiy, Daffy, Neeuw, Bon, Sum, Ton, oh my goodness...) and just chatted with the brighter and less shy ones. The teachers were all nifty and this was the first time I really got to talk to intelligent, thoughtful Thai people. The highlight of the trek was the Tee Lor Su waterfall, which has my vote for best waterfall in the world (counter-claims investigated on submission). It's not just the biggest waterfall in SE Asia, it's got all kinds of different cascades and rivulets and zillions of small to large pools lurking in the jungle connected by tantalizing trails, all this just long enough of a walk from the campground that you get there hot but not uncomfortable.
The next part is harder to write about because I really want you all to care about Burmese people (oh yeah, the name change hasn't took here) but you can't really get it unless you talk to them yourselves. You probably know as much as I did a week ago: evil military dictatorship, democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi, vague blur. Through a sort of odd coincidence I wound up in the Thai border town of Mae Sot helping teach basic computer skills to a group of "backpack medics," ethnic Karen Burmese people who provide basic services to ethnic/refugee/jungle communities that the Burmese military really wants to wipe out. They come over here once or twice a year for training and to pick up supplies. Most of them don't have computers (or electricity) at home but they know they need to write reports and keep statistics when they can. I have never met a more motivated group of people: starting from no computer experience at all, they were good for 6 hours a day of class and questions afterwards. English is their 3d or 4th language and their 2nd or 3d writing system, so they're struggling with more than just the computer concepts. These are amazing people. What do you say to a totally normal-looking round-faced middle aged man who says in a matter of fact tone of voice that his 8-10 day trip to get to Mae Sot can take up to 3 weeks if the military is active and he has to travel at night? How about the friendly 20-year-old who's excited about the amputation seminar because of the landmines in his district? Some of them will never see their families again, because the military knows who they are and will hurt anybody they communicate with. OK I sound like a brochure now, but I was totally sucked in by their determination to learn, their energy, their cheerfulness, and the way they helped each other learn. Every time I saw them get a new concept or make a new connection I wanted to cheer. They're also just fun people to hang out with.
My other new heroes are the American medical professionals whom I was working with, who come here twice a year or so to provide training. (The computer training request was a surprise, which is why I was useful - the group photographer had already started the classes but we did a good tag-team act.) They are totally dedicated to working with the backpack medics and the clinic that serves refugees here, putting in their own time and money etc. They're also astonishingly fun people. So there I was working 6+ hours a day in a stuffy room for several days in a row with a bunch of people I had never met before, having more fun than I've had since I don't know when. Completely bizarre. If any of this is interesting to you at all please check out their website: the group is the Global Health Access program, www.ghap.org.
I'm back in Bangkok now, with a couple more hours before I head for the airport for the flight to Istanbul. Dinner time.
Best to all,
-Sarah