I love Mae Sot

Update from October and November.

2010-12-14T01:19:00.000-08:00

Ages ago! We had a birthday party at my house for Thai teacher Ki Ki's sister. I made spaghetti. As usual with the salt...

Some of the students..

Yummyyyyyy cake!

Teacher Ki Ki and I.

Then Sayama P Say Heh went to Scotland! Teacher Sunday is helping to pack her suitcase.

I lent P Say Heh my Burmese - English dictionary. She didn't need it though, everyone thought she only had a little English but she went and could speak brilliantly. Sneaky!

Her daughter was sick and throwing up in her bed whilst we were packing..

This is at Jack and Niamh's pig on a spit lunch.

Who are the brothers??

This is the day after the refugees fled into Mae Sot. The next day I went to the nursery to bring back a few things and the nursery had about 15 refugees sleeping on the floor! So I went and brought round some tablet I had made the day before.

They were shy to accept it so I left the box on the table...came back 15 mins later and ALL the tablet was gone. Who knew??

Little baby liked it too..by the way, they recently changed his name from Heh P'lu Soe to Heh P'lu Zai.

I brought in some of the nursery's resources for the temporary refugee children to play with. We watched the jungle book on my computer too. I brought magazines and make up for the women hahaha.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm going to write this one very fast as I can't bear to look at the photo......!!!

MOUSE!!!!

I also went to Chiang Mai at the end of October. This was the first time I met Kyaw Win's baby daughter. She is very very sweet!

It was nearly Loi Kratong, so they had lots of cool light effects at the Gates of Chiang Mai.

We sent of a huge Loi Kratong lantern together.

In Chiang Mai, I went to get my feet nibbled by fish!

KFC with teacher Ki Ki...

Prepare yourself.....this photo is brutal!!

Muslim New Year at Mae La refugee camp! I went to visit Ni Shar's family inside Mae La for Muslim New Year and watched two bulls being slaughtered. It was....interesting. I watched the whole thing and apparently was sitting too close cause I had blood on my face!!

Say Ta Nar teacher.

Little kitten found at the clinic.

CDC Kindergarten chatting with P Say Heh whilst she was in Scotland. The wonders of Skype!

Eh Nar Moo's wedding being prepared.

My little family.

One of the Miss Loi Kratong contestants from CDC.

Ailsa, Jack and I went swimming with Sylvia and May May at the hot spring.

Loi Kratong floats.

P Say Heh returns from Scotland to teach Kindergarten.

Outside CDC, harvesting something...I don't know.

Pho Cho and Ni Shar's daughter putting thannaka on my face.

Nursery student literally climbing the walls!!

I feel so guilty that I haven't posted anything in ages! Now my computer's broken and all my photos are on there. I will fill in the gaps when I get home and post recent updates.

Sorry!! Louise x

Dr Cynthia's Birthday

2010-12-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

It was Dr Cynthia's birthday on Sunday but it was the King of Thailand's birthday then and the whole nation really celebrate that so Dr Cynthia's birthday was celebrated today by CDC School, the school she started from Mae Tao Clinic. You can see Dr Cynthia above speaking to her patients.

For more than a month, Louise has been practising Karen dance and song for 2 hours a day in preparation for a competition and to perform for Dr Cynthia. You can see the huge poster they made for Dr Cynthia's birthday in one of the photos.

Dr Cynthia's birthday presentation on PhotoPeach

I've blogged this to help Louise catch up with her blogs. She'll probably give me a(nother) row and hate the slideshows. Louise, you can delete them. You're looking fabulous. Love. Mum

Naw Chit's wedding

2010-12-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

Naw Chit's Wedding on PhotoPeach

Not blogged in ages!!

2010-11-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

I am off to Mae Hong Son tomorrow, apparently the journey is mental with thousands of twists, turns and huge drops. I am going with Say Heh for her Neice's wedding on Saturday. I will blog next week. Wish me luck on my insane 20 hour journey there and back!

x

Change (New Blog)

2010-11-12T03:11:00.000-08:00

Monday was a day of change for many people following Burma's sham elections on the 7th of November.

After we found out the news that the school was temporarily closed, students began to get sent home. But the road to the border was blocked by Thai police, therefore P Say Heh's boarder students could not return to their home as it is on the road to the border. A teacher said that they would be waiting until they heard news that they could go back. He said that it would be good if we could tell a story or something to take their minds off the situation.

So I cycled to the Nursery where all the teachers were sitting together, one of the teachers was crying. I asked what was wrong she said got a CD player and took the younger kids (KG - Grade 6) to sing Fischy music songs. Afterwards, I went to the school office and many people were on the internet looking at news webpages and videos of the fighting. I blogged and emailed a little bit then went home.

At night I was going to have dinner with GA but he came with his friend instead and said that we should go and help at the temporary camp. They had already been and were hungry so they ate a little then we went by motorcycle. The temporary camp is only a 10 minute walk from where I live.

The was a beautiful sunset over Mae Sot. But fear was instilled in the 30,000 refugees who had crossed the border that day. As night fell, they were frightened the clashes between DKBA and SPDC would only get worse.

This is the motorcycle journey up the highway, you can see many refugees walking towards the temporary camp.

We went inside and I have never seen anything like it before. Thousands of people sitting down in this huge field (the Thai military base). Whole families sitting on pieces of cardboard, in a little amount of clothing. I saw many heavily pregnant women, single mothers with children and newborn babies, little kids running about without parents. The only slight comparison I could make is to a huge festival but everybody is cold, hungry and scared.

There were maybe 100 tents set up and families were inside..

A pregnant woman walking through the crowds of people.

We asked the Thai authorities if there was anything we could do to help. They said we could move a load of water from one site to another so we started doing that.

This is the red cross water area.

While we were moving the water, the Thai authorities were setting up shelter tents.

When we finished with that the Thai authorities told us just to wait and see if there was anything else we could help with.

We started talking to a family of a mother and three young children. GA gave his shirt to the mother for the baby because he would get so cold in the night time.

This is one of the lady's children. Loved the camera!

GA got talking to some monks and took them to his house for shelter and food for the night.

While they were away I walked around the camp and saw that they had a medical tent set up. People were gathering round for treatment.

A Thai-Burmese translator.

I'm not sure why this photo is half orange, very frustrating. The Thai authorities were fantastic and so helpful.

They had an area set up to queue for food. There was a man on top of a car making announcements in Burmese..

People waiting in the area for food.

These videos are in the food area. People were being told to sit down and stop pushing in the line by the Thai authorities.

I was sitting beside two women, one had an adorable baby who laughed whenever I spoke to him. Very cute. The second woman said she was a teacher in Myawaddy and her husband and children were inside the camp. I asked the woman with the baby if she was going to get food (as she was waiting in the area to get food) and she said that she couldn't go and stand in line for food because people were crushing every time the line moved up and her baby would start crying. Nobody else was there to take care of her baby while she queued for food.

Then I saw a tv crew behind me and they were interviewing the Mae Sot district officer. Also the man who I had to apologise to last year when I got taken away by the police from Hle Bee school!

I went home a bit later.

It was such an intense day and night and it's sad to see that things are becoming worse for the people who are still in Mae Sot.

Louise x

Terror in the Night

2010-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

War is breaking out on the border....and Louise alarmed the Burmese teacher she called at 3am to come and help her on Wednesday night. He rushed up the road to rescue Louise, wondering what could be so bad. I'll let Louise tell the rest! (Mum)

(Comment from the Burmese teacher....
Last night Louise catch mouse. she get it . But she so afraid of it and she call me to take out at 3;00 am. i think what happen with Louise i worried so much. When i heard about the happening. i want to laugh so much. So it is funny for us . On the other way i can understand her because i think she haven't experience about it. When i look at her, i see she was very scared. after i take out the mouse, i give back the plate to her. She didn't need it . she said " i'm so afraid............................'

More clashes between Burmese army and DKBA splinter groups in different areas..

2010-11-10T02:03:00.000-08:00

"The clashes in Three Pagodas Pass have almost paralleled fighting that broke out yesterday morning in Myawaddy, Karen State between junta forces and DKBA units led by Bo Kyaw Thet from Brigade 5 led by Bo Moustache."

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4561-junta-bombards-dkba-in-three-pagodas-pass.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4cda45d42cd4ecc4%2C0

Change

2010-11-09T06:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day of change for many people following Burma's sham elections on the 7th of November.

After we found out the news that the school was temporarily closed, students began to get sent home. But the road to the border was blocked by Thai police, therefore P Say Heh's boarder students could not return to their home as it is on the road to the border. A teacher said that they would be waiting until they heard news that they could go back. He said that it would be good if we could tell a story or something to take their minds off the situation.

So I cycled to the Nursery where all the teachers were sitting together, one of the teachers was crying. I asked what was wrong she said got a CD player and took the younger kids (KG - Grade 6) to sing Fischy music songs. Afterwards, I went to the school office and many people were on the internet looking at news webpages and videos of the fighting. I blogged and emailed a little bit then went home.

At night I was going to have dinner with GA but he came with his friend instead and said that we should go and help at the temporary camp. They had already been and were hungry so they ate a little then we went by motorcycle. The temporary camp is only a 10 minute walk from where I live.

Sorry, no time to post, I will post the rest tomorrow!

Louise x

Mae Tao Clinic Emergency Funding Appeal

2010-11-09T02:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCL_cXyf3yI

Youtube links of today's fighting!

2010-11-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DldwAri_7yc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwSyVXFa_5E

Snippet

2010-11-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20005

Read this article for information about today.

My internet is running really slow so I can't post about the rest of my day tonight but I will post a blog tomorrow.

Tonight I tried to help out at one of the temporary camps for people who have fleed from Myawaddy town. Just moving some water around and talking to the people there. Most who are hungry and tired.

The Thai government have been amazing in this emergency situation though and credit goes to them for their effort in taking care of the 15,000 people who are inside the Thai military base.

I am fine by the way, it's just been an exhausting day and very upsetting. I don't think there will be more attacks inside Thailand. I do not feel threatened where I am. Keep your eyes on the situation.

Louise x

The news I've heard

2010-11-08T01:03:00.000-08:00

Burmese Police and army in Myawaddy.

Hearing so many different things. The latest I've heard is that two people died this morning near the 'Friendshp Bridge' when an explosive hit them near their car.

10 others are injured and have been sent to the Mae Sot hospital.

Louise

Another link to Bangkok Post.

2010-11-07T23:12:00.001-08:00

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/205332/clashes-in-burma-hit-mae-sot?awesm=fbshare.me_AWamk

Scary and confusing morning.

2010-11-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

http://www.dvb.no/news/fighting-erupts-in-border-town/12689

Today the Thai authorities asked all the Burmese schools close to the border (including CDC) to close. There was also a Thai school (opposite Say Heh's boarding house) that closed too.

This morning, fighting broke out in Myawaddy town (border town to Mae Sot, Thailand) between SPDC and DKBA, one explosive was shot over to the Thai side and injured a woman. The injured people in Thailand have been sent to the Mae Sot Hospital.

CDC foreigner volunteers (including me) were told this by a CDC teacher and also by Dr Cynthia Maung. When I asked Dr Cynthia about the boarding houses and she said that some were being moved temporarily. Say Heh's was going to be one of them because it's closest to the border, but Say Heh's boarding house cannot be moved because the Thai police are 'blocking it'. I think Thai police have been sent to the road leading to the border to wait and see what happens and protect. The Thai police are letting the Burmese come temporarily and are sending them to a Monastery and asking for food and water to be sent there.

I talked to some students and teacher's. One of CDC's high school teachers told me she's lived in Mae sot for 13 years and has never experienced something like this. She is worried for her future and said Thailand is usually a peaceful place for them. Today was scary and confusing, it felt like the school was being evacuated. I'm sure they're just being cautious because it's very serious inside Burma. But surely they have no reason to involve Thailand in this?

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=19993

Louise x

Mairi from Campie school.

2010-11-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I didn't reply to your comments. I only just went back to check if there were any comments posted that I didn't already see. That is amazing that you are doing to much for CDC school. I know the kids at CDC will be so grateful for everything you are doing!

If you write a letter to a student at CDC telling them about your daily life and draw some pictures that would be fantastic. Give it to Ms Laing and she can send it to me soon. I'll pick a really special friend for you, I know so many lovely girls at CDC. I will send it back to my mum and she can give your friend's letter to you.

Thank you Mairi for doing so many lovely things for the students at CDC school. There is a wonderful Burmese teacher coming to visit your school very soon, maybe she'll teach you some Burmese language!

Louise x

Telling you about CDC-Campie school partnership because a teacher from CDC is coming to Scotland on Sunday!

2010-11-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

My Mum's school has a link with the school I'm working at called CDC. Their partnership is under Global Schools Partnerships which is funded by UK government. It's an exchange of projects and teachers. Burmese couldn't easily get visas for the UK before but since Tories/Lib Dems are in goverment it's nearly impossible for Burmese to get visas. But some Burmese who have lived in Thailand for a long time or were born here get registered as Thai (if they can pay enough bribe money).

CDC has a Daycare for 1-2 years, Nursery for 3-5 years, Kindergarten for 4-7 years, Primary school for Grade 1-6, High School for Grade 7-12.
The all have different head teachers. The head teacher of CDC Primary and KG (P Say Heh) has a Thai passport so she applied for a UK visa to be one of the exchange teachers.

She applied with a group of her and two other teachers who have Burmese passports and they all got denied for various reasons. Then the CDC teacher applied again with a group of other people (some Thai passports, some Burmese) but only P Say Heh got her visa approved. She didn't want to travel alone so 3 people from the rest of the group applied again and only 1 other Thai passport holder got a visa.

So this week, on the 6th of November, two teachers - Paw Ray from Sah Htoo Lay school and P Say Heh from CDC are coming to Scotland and will be working in two schools - Forthview and Campie.
Say Heh is lovely and so so kind. She's like an Auntie to me now. She's so nervous about travelling to the UK but she's really excited. She's an older woman and is really shy to speak English. Please all make her feel welcome.

Campie parents are organising a party for the teachers (at the Quayside I think) while they are in Scotland so go along if you want to meet them.

x

P.S.
If you want to send me any Christmas presents you can give them to Say Heh to bring back :)

Today I went to school...

2010-10-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

...and everyone was having vaccinations.

I held some of the little ones' hands and tried to make them less nervous.

At the end of the day my Grade 12s were having their vaccinations and I was standing with them and holding their hands. Then lots of the teachers started getting theirs done. Teacher Myo Nyunt asked me if I was getting one and I looked at him as if he was mental and said I'd already had them done back home. He said "Hmm, are you sure. This is the H1N1 vaccine.

Myo Nyunt got his vaccination..
I asked loads of times to make sure it was definitely H1N1 and was persuaded into getting it done. I told the kids to watch to see that it didn't hurt. ...and it didn't hurt AT ALL. I didn't even feel it go in.

That's what I love about living here is that you can never tell what is going to happen next. Went into school to teach and ended up getting an H1N1 vaccine.

Chiang Mai blog soon! x

Friday at the Nursery.

2010-10-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

We decided to do art on Friday the 1st with the materials Gillian from Campie nursery sent to CDC nursery. We split into 3 groups of about 7 kids.

We made different fruits out of tissue paper.

Ma La Chit took watermelons.

I took apples. One of the teacher's came over to help my group.

The kids really enjoyed themselves. Friday is always a play day.

Teacher Shellay Paw took Oranges.

This is Muku. He works in CDC office and comes to eat lunch at the nursery every day.

My group's apples. Ailsa did an orange.

The kids playing.

Cap Yo Win and his best friend. Cap Yo Win is the cutest!! He has such a lovely smile.

His friend is so sweet with the nursery puppies. He's so gentle with them.

This is one of the nursery teachers. Looking very wintery.

They took school photos.

I thought they were really funny.

Little baby Heh Blue Saw.

Cap Yo Win taking his lunch outside after eating.

Teacher Ma La Chit is known by everybody in CDC as the scary teacher. She is fantastic at keeping the kids under control. Lisa says that even parents at home tell their children that they better behave otherwise they'll get teacher Ma La Chit haha! I think she's fantastic, couldn't teach without her.

After lunch, the kids got a treat as teacher Ma La Chit did a funny dance for them. The video is so funny! The kids found it HILARIOUS!

These are teacher's Eh Na Paw and Eh Say. They both teach KG.

This is teacher P Say Hei. P means grandmother and she is the headteacher of the primary school at CDC.

Teacher Say Hei will be going to Scotland in October/November of this year as part of the Campie/CDC Global schools partnership teacher exchange. It will be a fantastic experience for her and it's nice to think that she'll be living in my house for 2 weeks. I'm jealous she gets to go and eat yummy chippies and Scottish food. Sooooooo jealous.

I'm sooo excited for her, she can visit Princes Street gardens. Campie parents are arranging a party at the Quayside for Say Hei when she visits. I wish I could come back and visit with her. It's sad she'll be there when I'm here!

That night, my old roommates and I went to Kung's bar. Played foosball and jenga and pool and such.

These are the barmen at Kung's bar. Naing, Saw and Htet.

The craziest one!

So many blogs! I'm sooooo behind.

Yesterday P Say Hei got her visa to go to Scotland. We're so happy because last time, all the teacher's got rejected.

Mae La Refugee Camp

2010-10-13T01:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Poh Cho, Ni Shar and their two children took me to visit their family in Mae La Refugee Camp. I had never visited a refugee camp before and usually visitor's are not allowed into the camp. Ni Shar's father is one of the area leader's in Zone C of Mae La, he asked permission for my visit which was very kind of him.

Mae La is split into three Zones. A, B & C. We visited Zone C which has mostly Muslim Burmese residents and some Karen.

We left at around 8am. I forgot my passport for the Thai checkpoints so Poh Cho had to take me back to pick it up!

We got a song taew which was about an hour and a half long journey. I slept all the way there. When I woke up, the song taew was completely packed with people hanging off the back and such. This is normal for Thailand though.

We got to the camp and walked through to Ni Shar's father's house. He lives with his wife and daughter. I know his daughter already because last year she lived at Say Ta Nar with Poh Cho and Ni Shar. I taught her for a little bit last year when I was covering for the Canadian teacher Emily. She is called Zar Zar Lin and she is so smart and beautiful and kind. I was SO happy to see her again because this year, she moved back to Mae La to go to further study.

I met Ni Shar's family, they all live so close together. The houses aren't that small but they are quite close together. You can stand at their front door and chat to their Auntie at her house.

Zar Zar Lin took me to see her school. I met her head teacher briefly and had a look round the school. Then we visited her friend's house.

The roads inside the camp are awful and full of potholes but there were people with motorcycles inside. Mostly, people walk everywhere. There were a few market stalls and shops around. They had potatoes, which is all I need to live somewhere haha! By the end of my visit I soo wanted to go and live with Ni Shar's family.

People aren't allowed to take photos inside the camp, but I was allowed to take photos of the scenery and Ni Shar's family.

These are the gorgeous mountains on one side of the camp. The camp is sort of in a valley. There's mountains on one side and on the other is a huge long road that leads from Mae Sot to the border.

You can read a much better description of Mae La here: http://asiabible.wordpress.com/mae-la-refugee-camp

This is Ni Shar and her father. He is looking at my passport to see what it looks like. Burmese people are so interested in our passports.

Her family were lovely to me and gave us loads of yummy Indian/Burmese food.

I asked some questions about the camp, so we talked about things to do with the camp.

This is Ni Shar's mother and father. The little girl was around all day, I don't think she's a relative.

Before we left, Ni Shar's dad invited us back to visit at Muslim New Year on the 7th of Novemebr. This is the same date as the Burmese 2010 elections. He told us that because of this clash, Muslim's inside Burma are not allowed to celebrate their New Year.

But this is not a problem for Muslims inside the camp.

We could take as many photos as we liked from outside the camp. You can see a few of the houses from this picture. They are made from wood, bamboo, leaves etc.

I asked if people were allowed to leave the camp. I was told they weren't previously but it seemed people were hanging around outside, walking along the road or just sitting outside. Poh Cho said that people pay bribes so they can be let outside the gate by the Thai officers.

He also said that some people go outside of the camp to work because the rations given by TBBC are not enough for their family needs. This is illegal and they could face being sent back to Burma if they get caught doing this.

The children sleeping. Such a long day!

I had a fantastic visit to Ni Shar's family, they were so kind and generous to us. It was such an amazing opportunity to get a glimpse of how life works inside Mae La. I am so grateful to Poh Cho, Ni Shar and their family for letting me visit them.

Catch Up

2010-10-06T00:30:00.000-07:00

The nursery have gotten many packages from Gillian, the Campie nursery teacher. One of the times, she sent bunting that the teachers hung on the ceiling.

Teacher Ku Paw told me about this little boy. He lives with his Grandmother in Mae Sot because his parent's live and work in Bangkok. They are working away from him so they can send money back to him in Mae Sot. He's about 4 years old.

Many people who live in Mae Sot or Thailand work hard so they can send money back to their families. They keep a small amount for themselves and send money back to the Parents, children, siblings etc.

These are some of the kids from the nursery waiting to go home. They were sitting outside chatting away, I asked teacher Ku Paw what they were talking about and she said they were saying they're excited to go home and see the little brothers and sisters.

This is Zwe and teacher Za Za. Zwe is a student in my English after school class and teacher Za Za is a nursery teacher. They are lovely people and their whole family speak great English.

My little brother Heh Blu Soh and one of my favourite teacher's Eh Say. She is lovelyyyy!

There is a student in my English class who is quite a good artist. He wanted to learn more so I took some of his drawings to Sein Sein Lin. She is one of the artists at Borderline shop. She really liked them and will start teaching him on Sundays.

That night Lisa, Ailsa, my roommates and I went to see Poh Cho and Ni Shar. Ni Shar made yummy food and Poh Cho told my roommates about what he teachers in his school. Poh Cho speaks a lot to the children in his school about political topics such as Child Soldiers, Child trafficking, Child rights etc. Not many schools feel safe enough to do this and to not have any involvment in political subjects.

Here are some of Yan Naing Win's pictures.

We got another package from teacher Gillian for CDC nursery. The teachers were really happy, they just don't show it in photos. They look a bit confused because they didn't know what the contents of the package were.

Mum asked me to get photos of Grade 6's and 7's. Teacher Myo Nyunt took them. I think he enjoyed it, they were so creative!

This is teacher Myo Nyunt looking very fashionable as usual. Thought I'd get a photo for the Campie teacher's. I'll have a book of all his fashionable outfits by the time I leave.

I made mince and tatties! Yummmmmmmm!

Sat and ate dinner at the front door beside a little frog!

Then my roommates and I went out for a night out with our friends Joe and Stalin.

First, we went to My Mae Sot bar and watched a Burmese band play.

Joe.

Stalin.

Lianna and I.

Ben and Stalin.

Ben and Joe.

We bought a bottle of Rum for like £3. Spirit bottles are sooo cheap.

Ben and Lianna.

They all got up to sing a Burmese song, I sat out and filmed it haha.

We've been trying to explain to people that a ring on your 'ring finger' means you are either engaged or married. They really don't understand that. So we tried a different tactic of telling people that if they wear a ring on that finger everybody'll think they're off the market and won't want to be their boyfriend/girlfriend. That definitely works! haha.

Stalin and I got married!

Ben and Lianna danced.

We lost Lianna! We thought she went to the toilet and she'd been about 20 mins so I went to find her and she was with one of the barmaids getting Thannaka and make-up put on haha.

Then we went off to Y2K, the club in Mae Sot. I've never wanted to go before cause it seemed really sleazy. But we were in a good group so it seemed like fun.

Gang!

The club was cool, I never thought there'd be a club like that in Mae Sot. There was a live pop band playing like a gig. They let you take in bottles of spirits and just buy mixers so we did that.

On our table, there was free popcorn!!

I haddddddddd to get a photo of the toilet sign! So funny!!

The next day (with a big hangover) I went with Yan Naing Win to Sein Sein Lin for an art lesson.

More blogs to comeeeeeeee. Next one is about Mae La refugee camp I think.

This week I had a fabby time in Chiang Mai. Met up with my roommates a lot and we made new friends and went to good bars.

Yesterday we had a day off for World Teacher's Day so me, the Thai teacher, her sister and 3 students went to a waterfall and climbed up it!!

Internet

2010-10-04T01:29:00.000-07:00

Sorting out my emails etc. Not had time to blog today but I can do it tomorrow.

Sitting in the tuck shop at CDC on the internet and a HUGE influx of students just came in handing me money for things haha.

Tomorrow! x

Chiang Mai!

2010-09-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in Chiang Mai at the Amari hotel. It's lovelyyy, I've had SUCH a fun time.

I got my visa yesterday and I'll try and blog soon about everything.

I'm off to try and get a bus ticket then eat pizza for brunch with Ben and Lianna. Back to Mae Sot today hopefully! I'm missing it already!

x

Gone to Mae Sai to renew visa

2010-09-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Louise has a one year visa to be in Thailand but she has to leave and re-enter the country every 90 days. As she's been there 3 months on 4 October, she needs to leave the country. Usually that's quite easy because she can just cross the Friendship Bridge in Mae Sot to Myawaddy in Burma. However that border between Thailand and Burma has been closed since July this year so she had to find another border to cross.

Today she took the 6 hour bus journey to Chiang Mai, where she's staying in the lovely Amari hotel. Tomorrow, Thursday, she travels to Mae Sai in the very north of Thailand to cross the border to Tachieik in Burma. That's another 5 hr bus journey ( I think). She has 1 hour to cross the border, re-enter Thailand, buy cheap DVDs then get the bus back to Chiang Mai to collapse in her lovely Amari Hotel bed before returning to Mae Sot on Friday.

Good luck, Louise and don't sleep in for that bus!

Posted by Sheila, her mum to keep you up to date......

Naw Blay's wedding.

2010-09-22T00:48:00.000-07:00

The night before the wedding Lisa, the kids and I went and stayed at Jack and Niamh's house. Naw Blay and Jack Tummy's family were staying at Jack and Niamh's. There were over 20 people staying because Jack's dad runs a boarding house in Mae La refugee camp, a lot of students came to the wedding with them,
We ate, played cards, watched a movie etc. It was really lovely.

In the morning, we ate loads of toast (yummy!). Everyone got ready in their Karen outfits.
This is MayMay and Ailsa. I helped with the makeup for a lot of the girls. These are some of Jack's Dad's boarders.

One of the boarders with Jack's brother.

Naw Blay getting ready! Beautiful wedding colours, she looked gorgeous.

Niamh with Aine.

Moo Moo (Jack's sister-in-law) doing some make-up.

Jack looking very handsome next to beautiful May May.

Naw Blay's younger sister, such longggggggg hair!

Lisa, Niamh , Aine, Naw Blay and May May

The ring bearer's didn't have enough string to tie the rings so Naw Blay cut string from May May's outfit. Dangerously close to her neck.

Look at Niamh's expression!

Wee Jack.

Saw Go in the wedding colours.

Everyone piling into the car.

The people sitting in the back.

Naw Blay looking beautiful!

Niamh, Aine and P P.

The wedding party.

Eveybody walking into the church, the boarder students are singing.

Jack Tummy

Ailsa running about.

All the kids got really bored. The ceremony lasted about 2 hours.

Lots of singing. This is Moo Moo (Naw Blay and Jack's sister-in-law) singing.

At the end everybody shook hands with Eh Lin and Naw Blay.

And took many photos.

Then we had such yummy food!! I want some now actually, it was soooo yummy.

After, we went back to Jack and Niamh's house. Little Jack and Ailsa played in the paddling pool.

It was such a lovely day! I'm so happy for Naw Blay :)

5.30am! Eughhh!

2010-09-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

I'm going to Mae La refugee camp this today with Poh Cho and Ni Shar. Woke up at 5.30am!

I'm currently trying to stuff myself with as much food as possible :)

Blog tomorrow.

x

My New House!

2010-09-15T02:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in agessssssssss! I've been quite busy. Hardly been in my house. On Saturday I went to Naw Blay's wedding and it was lovely. I'll blog about that later.
I tried to blog last night and it was taking over 20 mins to put pics up. I'm at the school today using their wireless and it's a god speed. So I'll be writing the blogs from school.

On the 31st of August I moved into my new house :)
I had to stay in the house all day and wait for deliveries. Fridge, bed and gas stove with canister.

Jack, Ailsa and one of the boarding house students came round to play and watch movies.

This is the rubbish view from the kitchen. It had a really nice view before but now they built a huge wall :(

My (tall) bed came!

This is my kitchen. It's packed with things. I can make anything! Ku Paw (the nursery headteacher) gave me a toaster oven because she never uses it. I've made pizza and cakes in it. It's small though, so everything has to be mini.

Out the back there is a tap. So I didn't bother buying a sink. I've been washing dishes the Burmese way. I have two basins and I fill them with water (one soapy). It's easy and cheap!

The morning after I moved in though, I found a cockroach and a drowned lizard in the water because I forgot to empty it at night. This is the drowned lizard. This is my bed now, all set up. :) It's comfyyy. I have a huge mosquito net to cover it.

Going up the stairs.

My upstairs bathroom.

My house is so huge and I was never going upstairs (except for the shower). So I made the room that faces the football pitch out the front a dressing room. It's got clothes (only some cause I still need to unpack) on a railing and all my makeup.

I'm still unpacking! Bloomin 8 bottles on suntan lotion which are usless in Mae Sot as it's almost always cloudy.

There has been a slight problem with my house. It has cockroaches! Eugh! I have to kill them all the time. I've figured out that if you mop the floor with floor cleaner every day and spray with cockroach spray everywhere then they die a lot better. I still see them, but they're usually dead.

Okay, so that's my house! Sorry it took to long! x

Blog

2010-09-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

I will blog soon! I need to take photos of the house first and I've been so busy since moving in. Sooooooooooon!

x

Internet!

2010-09-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Today I got internet! I'm using a USB internet which apparently isn't very fast but it's like normal. I paid a little extra for this one, but it's amazingggg.

Fabby!

I'll do a blog tomorrow, butr it's 1.30am and I'm sleeeeeeeepy. Gonna go to bed.

night night x

P.s. Anybody know how to make a steak pie in a toaster oven? :)

Mo Uay Day! It's Raining!

2010-08-30T17:56:00.000-07:00

Was torrential this morning when I woke up, it's starting to ease off now. Hopefully it'll have stopped by the time I'm supposed to move all my stuff!

x

Move In Day!

2010-08-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will move into my new house :D I'm so excited to make it like home. I'll take lots of photos.

Not much has happened this week. Been out to Kung's bar a few nights. I was teaching during the week and you know about the Karen festival.

I'll let you know how tomorrow goes but I don't have internet in the house. May have to pop up to CDC and use their wireless.

x

Karen Culture Day

2010-08-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today was Karen Culture day, also known as the Wrist Tying Festival.
"The festival is known as Lah Ku Kee Su. Lah Ku means August and Kee Su describes the act of binding the wrist with white thread in the belief that evil spirits causing illness can be exorcized."

I had to wake up at 7am! Eeek. Before I left I realised that my camera had no battery, so I put it on charge and forgot to take it!! I reallyyyy wanted it too. Today was amazing.

So part of this day is the wrist-tying. People give eachother string from their Karen shirts.
Especially young single girls and boys. People who are good friends. But it seemed like everybody gave to everybody.

They elders take the string and rub it upwards on your forearm 3 times, they whisper prayers to send your spirit back to your family. Then they wrap the string around your wrist 3 times, tie and snap off loose ends. They then put the leftover string on your head or shoulder. One of the elder ladies did one for me, but everybody else does it too.
Loads of people would come up and tie you.

I went with Lisa, Ailsa and Say Say (one of the Naw Naw's). A CDC troop were dancing and also another dance troop from the Mae Tao Clinic, as well as many other singers and dancers. There were some very famous Poh Karen singers who the crowd went crazy for.

Personally, I was fascinated by the talented dancers. I loveeeeee Karen dancing. It's so jumpy and fun. So, I have been signed up to Karen dance at Karen New Year in January. I'll make sure to get lots of photos and videos of that. All the girls from the office at the clinic, including Lisa and some other women from around the clinic. We will be doing the 'spinster's dance'. Apparently it's easier than the energetic young person's dance.

We saw teacher Myo Nyunt, he was dressed rather brightly. Bright pink and red Karen shirt. He never fails to impress clothing-wise.

Afterwards, I came home and slept for like 5 hours. Oops. Guess I'm just not a morning person.

:) reallyyyyyyyy lovely morning. I really regret not taking my camera! :( Maybe I'll try to get them to reenact their dance routine.

Week blog! Photos are working :)

2010-08-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

On Monday last week I did a lesson at Say Ta Nar school. I would sum it by with the word strenuous.

Start at 8.30am but Poh Cho had told me to come at 8am. So they sang for 5 mins then I had to teach for 3 hrs 25 mins. To a class with pupils from grade 4 to grade 7.

We did a few things. They all introduced themselves and I asked questions about them. We talked about their families. We sang a Fischy music song that I was planning to teach, but they already knew it (Teacher Mary!). They learned different answers to the question "How are you?"

Ni Shar made a fabby lunch which I loved. Then as I was leaving I walked outside onto the road and saw some of the boys from the school prising open one of the grates in the ground with metal rods!!

One of the Grade 1 boys had changed his clothes and was preparing to go underground!
MENTAL!

I was havin a bloomin fit.

His job was to clear the gutter so that it didn't flood I think. Can you imagine that EVER happening in Scotland? All the boys were calling him the Say Ta Nar hero.

After STN I came home and slept for like 4 hours. Then I went to the shop to buy stuff for my house. I bought a bin, table, chair, mop and two containers for sugar etc. £23 They said they'd deliver the next day.

Tuesday

I went to the nursery and went about my day being a teacher/carer. I had to teach my group alphabet stuff which was easy and sang some songs.

They have a new swing outside the nursery.

This is the front of my house.

...and the side.

During lunch I went to see the house and the builders told me to go and look inside. This is the main bit downstairs. Through the doorway is the kitchen. Theres a toilet to the right of the kitchen.

The stairs are up!

The chief builder made me look upstairs haha.

I took a video for you to show upstairs. There are two bedrooms.

This is the upstairs bathroom. There's a tall-ish toilet!

The shower is upstairs too.

This is the downstairs Thai-style toilet. Beautiful tiles!

My stuff for the house got delivered. This is my really good chair which is soo comfy. I'm gonna buy pillows and stuff for it because it's quite low down and I can't reach the table. Need a wee booster seat.

Wednesday was my day off. I had arranged to go and buy tiles for my kitchen and living area in the house with the landlords. We bought beautiful ones. They were the cheapest tiles they had. £100 for the whole thing. Eeeeeeeeeek!

Thursday

After nursery I went to the English class (voluntary). I go after school on Tuesday's and Thursday's. I might go every day when I'm closer though.

These are some of the boys who go. They are fantastic, so clever and very funny. The boy on the right speaks only Karen but comes to the English class to learn. He is very funny. He copies little things I say but funny voices sometimes. Quietly though so you don't know if you even heard it or not. Very cool guy. Today (Tuesday 24th) He ran all the way from CDC high school to the boys' boarding house near the nursery, chasing someone on a bike.

Friday

On Friday, I cycled into the nursery and there were medics set up and a wee boy crying his eyes out. Vaccination day.

His father got called in and calmed him down, very very sweet. I just came at the end though so there were only a couple left to get vaccinated by the time I arrived.

Friday is games day. This is the teacher's favourite game. The children pass the balls in the basket under their legs or over their heads and the last kid puts it in the basket at the end.

This is the nursery baby. His mother is the cleaner I think, she just helps tidy up and stuff. The baby is always with her. There is a nursery student in the photo too. The one who ALWAYS jumps on me.

This baby is also the one who has peed on me a record of FOUR times. According to Myo Nyunt though, for the Karen people, this means the baby loves you "veeeeery much!"

One of the teachers.

One of the many insanely cute boys there. This boy is the smiley one.

At lunch time, Ailsa and I went to visit my house and see how is was going.
There were many cows outside the nursery.

They had tiled the whole of the downstairs area just TWO days after me buying them.

They've also put up a board thing to cover the stairs.

These are the tiles in the living room. They are very pale but have sort of wooden markings.

After we visited the house, Ailsa and I got on the bike and cycled up to CDC. We went to the tuck shop and bought ice cream with Jack. Then we came back.

We had arranged with Lisa that Jack, Ailsa, my two roommates and the two Naw Naw's who looked after me overnight in the hospital would go to the BBQ restaurant in Mae Sot.

On the way we went to find mite spray at the pet shop for this hamster I have inherited. He hisses at you when you go anywhere near him!! They didn't have mite spray but Lianna (my roommate) bought some a few days later and he seemed much happier.

At the pet shop, the owner showed us the baby hamsters he has that were just a few days old.

They look like beans.

We went to the BBQ restaurant and it was boiling hot but really yummy!

Afterwards, my roommates and I went to the bar at the end of our street, Drop Out bar. We played cards.

Here's a video of the boys singing a song.

And a game Ku Paw (the nursery headteacher) was playing.

Another blog sooooon!

Read and comment!

Sorry!

2010-08-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

I was gonna do a blog about my week, but the internet won't let me post any photos. Very frustrating!

x

I can't help but post this!

2010-08-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

I hate not to post in chronological order but I have to show you the cute wee boys in the nursery! These are some photos from today.

Visas Rejected

2010-08-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading my mum's blog, you'll know how much effort everybody involved in the Global Schools Partnership exchange has put into getting passports and visas for the 3 Burmese & Karen teachers.
Unfortunately, when we got the passports back from Bangkok, all three of the teachers visas had been denied. It was shocking for us and very disappointing. We had a meeting later that day with the headteacher of CDC high school, the three teachers who are coming, Lisa, Dr Cynthia, Thazin (Hle Bee headteacher) and I. We have decided to try again with more letters of support from various people.

We will try again, don't give up!

x

The rest of my Birthday!

2010-08-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

So after I found the scrabble message, I found this. My roommates are looking out for me insect-wise.
Phyu Phyu Win and Si Si Win came round to give me pink roses! They didn't know it was my Birthday but I felt EVERYONE should know. They were so excited.

They're reading mum's wacky card.

We went to Dave's and I had a nice chat with him about Dengue etc. No HP sauce, I made chips but it didn't taste the same without HP sauce. But they gave me a lovely Birthday croissaint.

I had a lovely day. Phone calls from my Papa, Mum, and teacher Fiona (and all her relatives). I got emails from Uncle Andrew too! Which was lovely, because we share the same Birthday :)

At night, we went to Casa Mia and had dinner. They had made a banana cake for me :)

I think Lisa bought special candles, like sparklers. :) lovelyyyy!

The cake was soooo yummy.

Jack tummy took my camera so I have lots of weird photos.

That's Ben, one of my roommates.

Cute Ailsa picture.

Present from Ben and Lianna. DVD's!

Jack Tummy and Aine.

Niamh and Aine.

Opening presents :)

Jack tummy and I.

It was a lovely Birthday and it was so nice to have loadsssss of messages from family and friends.

I got a Birthday phone call from my Uncle David and cousin Daniella. It was lovely and we had a really good chat :)

I would've loved to be at home with everyone but this was a different kind of Birthday, still lovely!

Internet down

2010-08-12T03:27:00.001-07:00

Louise's internet is down but she'll post as soon as it's back on. She's feeling much better though the rash hasn't gone yet.

It's my Birthday!!

2010-08-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

Woke up to this message from my roommates.

I'm off to Casa Mia tonight for a birthday meal and they've made a banana cake! yummy!

Better-ish!

2010-08-08T04:33:00.000-07:00

I really want to say thank you to everyone who commented or sent messages to me, it was SO unbelievably lovely the amount of people who cared or were worried. It's so so nice to see hundreds of messages from family and friends.
There were 62 people who read the blog yesterday! Up from around 18-25 per day. I know that it's difficult to comment sometimes but it's lovely to know people are reading.

I cannot begin to thank all the people who came to see me in the hospital and brought food and books and love and cuddles. Lisa was amazing, bringing everything I needed. She even ventured into my minging room which isn't so minging anymore (thank you PoePoe the maid for cleaning my room and bringing in books). She got my laundry done. Sylvia made me pasta for lunch and brought me into the hospital in the first place. She spoke Thai to the nurses and doctors which is invaluable.

I just ate a big meal of chicken supreme and home made chips. My roommates (Ben and Lianna) went out and bought lots of food for me and we cooked together. They've been so nice and helpful. They bought me a huge bunch of yellow flowers which smell lovely! It's always fabby to live with med students because they are very knowledgable about fevers and such.

So...these are my photos from the hospital and some shots of the Dengue rash.

This is my horrendous drip which I had in for about 28-30 hours. Overnight is horrible with a drip, keep thinking you're gonna rip it out.

I had SO many visitors, these are the Naw Naw's from Lisa's house. They're students at CDC high school and live with Lisa's family. They are so motherly and helpful with anything you need.

They were sleeping under the huge "bed sheet" towels they give you in the hospital.

They both slept the whole night (when they weren't nursing me) on that long chair thing. Kept kicking each other.

Me and my drip.

Sorry this one's side-ways. But you can see all the food people brought (and made) for me.

This is the second day. I was MUCH happier because I'd been told I was allowed to go homeee!

Si Si Win came to keep me company.

And this is the horrific rash, I hatehateHATE Dengue rash! I've thought of many ways to describe it.

One is it's like an old drunk man's red face.

Another is that it feels like you're wearing trousers made of towel. But really stiff uncomfortable towel trousers. It's itchy but prickly and sensitive at the same time.

So red!!

So, it was a horrible stay at the hospital but made bearable my the many amazing Burmese, Karen and Foreign friends around me who I will have to repay in some way when I'm better!

The calls and emails from friends and family back home have made this illness better and I'm so grateful for everyone's messages. Thank you.

And thank you Mum for letting the whole of Thailand and UK know about my short stint in the Pawo Hospital!

I can't sleep!

2010-08-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

The rash is so uncomfortable I can't move without wanting to itch, it's prickly though not just itchy. Really horrible. I'm getting a headache from the computer though so I'm going to turn it off. I have no credit in my phone so I can't call mum.

x

Sat 5pm Mae Sot

2010-08-07T02:37:00.000-07:00

Louise is home in Mae Sot - unhappy, uncomfortable - but home and the drip is out. Phew!

Louise is getting home

2010-08-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning here and Louise phoned to say her platelet count has risen so she'll get the drip out soon and then she can leave the hospital. She is SO HAPPY.

She phoned first thing moaning her head off about blooming drips and being desperate to get out of hospital. I decided this was a good sign so let her rant. She sounded like her papa so I'm quite used to ranters!

Apparently the rash on her legs has got worse. She says her legs look like Santa Claus or some other alchoholic's red face!

She's had so much help again today. Lisa's taken her laundry away to be done and gave her a phone charger. Nee Shar came in at 7am and tidied up her bed area, brought her Burmese tea which she loves and Burmese food which she shared. Bobo came and then brought Si Si Win in to sit with her all day. Si Si Win happily gave up her Saturday to sit in hospital with Louise. Sylvia came in and pushed the medics to take blood quicker and is coming back later to sort out the payment and take Louise home. Her roomates are visiting later too.. if she is still there. What a wonderful community and what kind people. She's very lucky. So we are all happy!

Friday 7pm UK time

2010-08-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Louise apparently developed a dengue rash yesterday and that alongside having a drip into her hand is making her very uncomfortable and is stopping her sleeping. Her skin feels very sensitive so the sheets are itchy too.

She's been very caringly looked after by our Mae Sot friends today. Sylvia took her in and settled her. Popo, who cleans the house, visited and took her a book to read. 2 friends from the Mae Tao clinic office brought her gnocchi. Pho Cho and Neeshar from Say Ta Nar School visited with their children. Neeshar set to tidying the bedsheets and got Louise to eat an orange and gave her other fruit. GA went to Canadian Dave's and brought the crackers she loves and Dave and Chulee sent her in some butter cookies. Lisa went to homestay and brought in Louise's ipod and a book and other things she needs then went home and brought Noh Kerry and her sister to stay the night with Louise.

It was a good sign earlier on Friday evening when Louise laughed at her Noh Nohs (Noh -= sister in Karen language) and took their photo because they were huddled together under a white towel because they were finding the air conditioning freezing cold.

So she's being very well looked after. However, it's 1am and she phoned because she can't sleep. I so wish I could be with her but thank you dear Mae Sot friends for taking such good care of her. You are all so kind. Sheila

Louise is in hospital in Mae Sot

2010-08-06T01:14:00.000-07:00

Louise was admitted to CAWO hospital in Mae Sot today. A blood test confirmed that she has dengue fever. That's why she's been blogging about feeling sick for the last 2 weeks, since just before we left in fact. They are expecting to keep her in for 1 or 2 days and have her hooked up to a drip. Apparently she coped fine with that till she phoned me, then she burst into tears. Poor wee scone.

Our Mae Sot friends are rallying around her. Sylvia took her to the hospital. Other Karen friends have already taken her in some of her favourite gnocchi from Casa Mia but she can't eat yet. She's eaten very little this week and probably not drunk enough either. This morning, she couldn't even eat the croisants she loves to get at Canadian Dave's. Dave, get some more in fast before she needs to convalesce! It's seriously rubbish her being so far away from us while she is ill.

If you want to write to her, she won't get it for 2 weeks but she'll love it when it comes. Send a note to Louise Laing, c/o Borderline Gallery, 674/14 Intharakeeree Road, Mae Sot, TAK 63110, Thailand.

I'll keep you posted on how she's doing. She'll be 19 on Monday 9 August.....

Sheila ( Louise's mum)

Sorry!

2010-08-02T09:15:00.000-07:00

I'll start blogging a bit more when I'm better. I slept from 8pm last night till 7am. Then from 9.30am till 3pm. It's night time again now and I've eaten mashed potatoes so I'm waiting for mum to call then I'll be off to bed. Call soon mum! Stop watching tv! x

Sicky sick sick.

2010-07-31T23:24:00.000-07:00

Hardly got any sleep last night, had a really painful headache, sore stomach. Woke up at 4am achey and tired and boiling hot, put the fan on and 1 min later, I was freezing cold. I called mum (it was 10pm in Scotland) and she told me to drink lots of water. I was so weak though and could hardly move downstairs to get water. I eventually went and was drinking lots through the night. Still couldn't sleep though. So at around 7am I got up and tried to sleep in the hall, that didn't work. So I had a shower and went to sleep downstairs, took paracetamol and slept for an hour and now all I have is a dull headache.

How strange, it was so horrible and painful, I really thought I had dengue. I'm glad it's gone away now though and I'll be drinking gatorade, hope it doesn't come back!

x

I must blog. I must blog.

2010-07-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we went to CDC for mum to say goodbye kind of. Myo Nyo showed us the beautiful floral statues made from candles and lots of little trinkets. The students had made these, they were amazing, professional looking.

This is my house! It's being built, should be ready in September. My one is the one closest, it's two story. Wood upstairs and concrete downstairs. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. It's so cool seeing it improving every time I go to CDC.

You can see it from inside the main school gate. It's beside the nursery building which is a 5 min walk from the main school buildings.

We saw little Jack there.

The kids playing opposite nursery, some people waiting to go home. That's the football pitch beside the wee pond.

This little shack is opposite my house, that's the view from the front of my house.

That's the neighbour inbetween my row of houses and CDC nursery.

The front of my house.

On Saturday we went to the Saturday night market. We saw a crowd of people and went over to find thai kids having a breakdance-off. It was so funny, every time someone made a mistake the other side would all hit the floor to chuck them off. Strangeeeeee but soo interesting. I could've stayed there for hours.

Mum bought me a huge pink mosquito net.

On Sunday I moved into homestay. Very sad saying goodbye to mum! Spending the night in different hotels in Mae Sot, weird. It's nice to be back at homestay though, somewhere I know well.

And that night we had a goodbye dinner with the CDC teacher's who Campie teachers have been working with. Lisa and the kids and Jack, Niamh & little Aine.

The next morning we got up at 6ish and mum and Geoff picked me up in their tuk tuk and we went to the bus station. I wasn't a happy bunny.

Saying goodbye to Lisa and the kids.

I went to Mae Pa that afternoon to Jack and Niamh's house. I visited Jack's sister Naw Blay. Later on Jack and I went to the Dam and he taught me how to ride the motorcycle! I'm fabby at it, I might rent one for a day sometime during my stay and see how it goes.

I went to Tesco that night to try and find potatoes to bake in my microwave. My brothers John and David bought me a microwave to go in my new house for my birthday :)
But there are hardly any potatoes in Mae Sot. There are some things that there are very little of, I learnt that it's because the border has been shut off because of disputes between Thailand and Burma and that a lot of deliveries come from Burma so until the border opens back up again, there's no potatoes!

But....I did find Betty Crocker brownie mix. The exact same one from the co-op. So I made brownies in the micro :D

Ther next day Bobo and I went to the tea shop hidden in the market and everyone remembered me from last year :) lovely lovely people.

But there was a totally steemin drunk guy and he climbed onto this cardboard box carrier thing whilst the girl was pushing it. She seemed to know him though and found it funny..then he fell onto the mingin ground.

Today I started at CDC nursery. I went and Ku Paw, the headteacher of nursery said she was busy in the office and just to 'teach'. So I did what you do when you're put in that situation...sing Fischy music!! So we sang songs and went over them. Then I tried to do circle time, but they just don't understand it and so many of them are shy and will not speak. It's takes like 3 mins to get one child to say something with a class of 60 or somethin. Does not work in circle time with kids getting bored and mucking about.

Then we broke for lunch. Ku Paw fed me and told me I need to learn how to eat Karen food because they're doing a project where they learn about other people in other countries.

I always feel like a rubbish teacher, but the children enjoyed the songs which was good. After lunch, the teachers did a little task where the children had to go up and they were told to close their eyes. Then they were given a bag of rocks and a bag of soft-play balls. They were asked lots of questions about how heavy they were and how light they were.

We coloured in pictures after this.

Then they slept. I played 'Relax', a Fischy music song which is so soothing I almost fell asleep too!

The teachers all look after them like mothers. Wiping their noses and stroking their heads to get them to sleep, but one of the teachers kept going round and uncrossing their legs and making them lie straight and hitting them with sticks if they werent sleeping! They all do that here though, it's just their way.

After the kids slept the teachers washed their faces and covered them in talcum powder. Then they went off home. Rocky came to pick Ailsa up.

I decided to go to the after school English class. I didn't feel like doing it but because my motto this year is to seize opportunities - I did it. I said I wasn't gonna teach, just watch. Then he asked me to introduce myself, I talked about what I'm doing at CDC and Scotland and about me. They asked really good questions. It's nice just to have conversations with them and their English is fantastic, it's not like teaching, just chatting away. Really nice.

They asked me to come every day to their after school class :)

I cycled back along the Asia Highway and randomly turned off, thought I was lost but came out next to Borderline. So I went in and then me & Bobo went and had tea together.

Afterwards, I came home. Then went out and bought mangosteen and made cheesy pasta. Good filling food with mangosteen to finish - yum!

Longgggggggggg blog. I'll try to do shorter ones every few days.

BUT COMMENT NOW, I spent ageeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees typing. :)

I miss my mum!

2010-07-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Today Mum and Geoff left Mae Sot. I went to the bus station to see them off with GA and Lisa, Jack and Ailsa. It was sad to say goodbye, but it didn't feel like I was saying goodbye until I got home and cried and cried. Then I fell asleep.
Mum is on the bus, but the windows are so dark I could only see in a bit.
So they board the bus and I get a phone call 3 mins later from mum crying, awww.

Then they left, GA and I went to the his motorbike. We got onto the highway and the bus was opposite us on the highway, so we waved but they didn't see.

Just a tiny blog to say I'm depressed and lonely. But the first week alone's always crap.

But you should definitely read this article I just found on the Irrawaddy website.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=2296&page=1

I'll do a catch up blog soon and start blogging better.

Burma - It Can't Wait.

2010-07-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

I going to post videos from a DVD I bought in Mae Sot. The videos are all uploaded on youtube so I'll send the links.

I know some people have seen these before but I thought some people who havent might want to see them.

Some of them are pretty rubbish but there are some good ones.

The first is Will Ferrell talking about the situation in Burma.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWDJZmp1TGY

Wee catch-up.

2010-07-22T08:12:00.001-07:00

I know I've been rubbish at blogging my time so far. I think I'll get better when my mum goes back to Scotland and I'm not going out for dinner every night.

I joined my mum and her teacher Katherine last week when they taught songs to the children at CDC.

I visited my Karen mother at Casa Mia and all the girls there.

...and I put the £81 deposit down on my first house!

We had loads of questions for the Landlord, but she was lovely. The house won't be ready until September-ish, so on Saturday I'll move back into homestay until the house is finished. It's all very exciting.

The house I chose is the one beside CDC nursery. It's got two bedrooms, two toilets and a kitchen. Plus, it's going to be the only one out of 6 with a shower! So I'm going to be looking for a roommate :)

I'm off to watch a movie, goodnight all! x

House Hunting

2010-07-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

So, for the last week I've been looking for a house in Mae Sot. First I went to Auntie's coffee shop and the woman who works there told me I could stay in her sister's house for free. They are Thai/Burmese and her sister lives in Mae Sot Villa. It's quite far away so we went in her car to visit the house, her two sons came too.

I couldn't believe how amazing these houses were, total luxury houses. I didn't know they had them in Mae Sot. They showed us inside and they had a spare bedroom. It seemed perfect, but so far away from where I'm working. The house had beautiful wooden floors and a huge tv! Comfy sofas and luxurious toilets (tall ones). There's a community swimming pool which is beautiful, with a pool bar. The problem is that it is too far away and I wouldn't feel as if I was living in the community I'm working with.

Trying to get as many options as possible, we asked Canadian Dave if he knew of anywhere and he pointed out to us a real estate lady opposite his shop. We went to her and she said she'd take us to a few places.

We went to a place which had for of the same kind of houses. Small and wooden, not great in the heat. It didnt seem to safe though, as nobody was living in the other houses.

The lady then took us to a house which was 'very far away'. She took us up the CDC school road whch we thought was quite strange and she stopped right beside the nursery where I'm going to be teaching. They're building small houses there which look just right for me. Plus, it being right next to work is a huge plus. It's quite expensive but I think it's a good place to be. I can have a kitchen too which is good. The house is so close to CDC and their boarding houses. Plus Lisa and Rocky live not too far away.

This house will not be finished until September though, so I will live back in homestay until It's finished.

Today Sylvia, the owner of Homestay where I lived last year, took us to look at some apartments. One was quite a bit cheaper than the other. But one had kitchen space. The cheaper one doesn't have space for a kitchen though, whereas the more expensive one does.

I think just now, it seems like the house beside work is the best one. But we've heard there's another little place beside the school too, so we'll have a look this week and make a decision.

I'm looking forward to having a kitchen again and not eating in restaurants every night :)

Sunday

2010-07-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I went to Lisa and Rocky's house to see Jack and Ailsa. They now have 5 Naw Naw's living with them. They are lovely, beautiful girls who attend CDC school. So when they asked me to go to Church with them, I couldn't say no. They are such sweethearts. Most of the Naw Naw's go to seperate churches but I went to the Mae Tao Clinic church with 2 of them and some other girls from the area. It wasn't too bad because they are such beautiful singers and they wanted to practice their English on me. I knew the service would be in Burmese and Karen but I can understand some of it so it's not too bad. But the service went on for 2 and a half hours! I thought it was and hour and a half, so for an hour people kept getting up and I thought it was time to leave...then they went up to sing again! It was the longest Church service I've ever seen haha.

When we got back we were hungry and Rocky had made some pasta so we dug in.

Then we walked back to Casa Mia and the teachers had their dinner. They had been to the border to cross to Burma that day and the Thai side told them that Burma was closed because they had 'problems in their Country'. What a joke.

So anyway, after Casa Mia we walked back to the DK hotel as it rained and rained :)

If you want to read my Mum and her teacher's Burma blog go to: www.campieburma.blogspot.com

x

Bloggybloggy.

2010-07-13T07:35:00.000-07:00

So on the 10th we went to visit one of the CDC boarding houses but we couldn't find it, we just went to the border, looked around for a bit. we had many confusing conversations on a payphone about the whereabouts of the boarding house.

This is us on the tuk tuk to the border.

That's the bridge you cross to go into Burma. Burma is the side you can see.

The colourful house is strange, it completely stands out from the deterring houses to the left. The theory is that it's a show for the people coming into the country.

We caught a songthaew from the border to near the hotel. A songthaew is a tiny wee bus thing.

It seats 8...there were 21 of us on it! It stopped at the Mae Tao Clinic and a newborn baby and new mother got on. the mother was hangin off the end of the songthaew. insane!

That night we went to visit Poh Cho and Ni Shar who are teachers coming from Say Ta Nar school to Scotland in October. They are husband and wife and are amazing people. They are so excited to come to Scotland and visit different schools to learn more about education.

I taught for a few days in their school last year and Poh Cho is a fantastic headteacher. He's lets the children know their rights which is so important for them. He holds school assembly's on issues like street children, child trafficking, child labour. They are such inspirational people.

First day in Mae Sot

2010-07-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

On our first day here the teachers went to CDC school, their partnership school. I walked to Borderline to collect my old bike. I love this bike, I used it every day last year. I had amazing vegetarian noodles and met everyone from Borderline shop again.

After, I cycled through the market to Hle Bee school. It was amazing to see everyone again and go to all my old classes. I went to see the baby and she was sleeping. I woke her up by being too loud and she was not a happy bunny. She is speaking though!

Unhappy baby.

At night we went to Casa Mia and I got to see my Karen mother. I missed them so much and it was lovely to see them again :)

Mae Sot 2010!

2010-07-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

This year I've come back to Mae Sot with my mum and 3 of her teachers. They have a link with CDC school, which is part of the Mae Tao Clinic. The teachers are staying for just over one more week and my mum and Geoff are staying until later on this month. I'll be staying for a year (but we'll see how the hot season goes) to help out in the CDC nursery.

So, we finally reached Mae Sot last night after 4 days of travelling. On one of our many flights we flew over Burma. It was so clear, the detail we could see was so amazing.

We stayed at the Amari rincome again. It was so amazing to sleep in a proper bed after that 24 hour long journey. Went out for dinner then slept.

In the morning we had our Amari breakfast, veryy good.

Went for a swim at the pool. There was a conference on with lots of Thai men that day and it just so happened that whilst we were lounging beside the pool, they had their lunch break. So about 60 Thai men walked past us to go to lunch next to the pool.

Then me, mum and Geoff went shopping, I got shoes and went for lunch at The Pub.

That night we went to the Migrant Learning Centre and spoke to the students there about us coming to Mae Sot. Then we went for dinner in town, it had the most amazing pizza. After, mum's teachers (Hannah, Katherine and Alicia) and I went to the night bazzar.

The Next day Hannah and I went for a wee swim, then we all went for breakfast and went to get the bus to Mae Sot. We spent all day on the bus to Mae Sot, lovely views!

Eventually, we arrived! Greeted by Lisa, Rocky, Jack and Ailsa! It was so lovely to see them all again. Little Jack and Ailsa were very sweet.

We got to the DK hotel and went out to Canadian Dave's for dinner. We met Lisa and their family there and our Guardian Angel came too! We had a lovely night and after we went off to bed. We were so knackered!

More tomorrow from today! x

Monkey Videos!

2010-03-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

My last week in Mae Sot!

2010-03-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

In the last week I was very busy! GA and I visited CDC school, it's a primary and high school which is founded by Dr Cynthia Maung. The same Doctor who founded the Mae Tao Clinic. CDC school is just across the road from the clinic.

My mother's new school Campie is linking with CDC Primary school. So GA and I took letters from Campie to CDC school, we took pictures of the children and I asked them to write letters back to the Campie students.

On the way back from school, we rode past all the kids walking home and bumped into a few bulls.

On the 5th of January I went to golf with the roomies. Jack tummy picked me up in a hurry cause I had missed his calls, so I had no time to get changed - freezing! Then we went to a village where there was a Karen concert.

Little Jack was there but Lisa and Ailsa weren't feeling too well. We played in the park there and ate some food. I love looking after Jack, he's such a lovely boy.

The place was beautifully lit in fairy lights and it was in the middle of a little lake/pond.

Eh Klo Dah and I.

Everyone was giving the singers flowers so Jack and I took flowers to our favourite singer after he came off stage. They were both very happy.

We saw Jue Jue there and all the people from the office. She was carrying a huge baby.

Jack giving flowers to a singer.

Jack and Saw Kod dancing.

Jack approves.

The next day we went back to CDC and took some more photos of the children from Grade 1 to Grade 6.

On the 8th of January I had my last day teaching at Hle Bee.

These are two of my Grade 3 students, they are twins. Too Go and Thinn Tha Zin. They are fantastic at English and are the sweetest little kids. A few weeks before I left, I went to their house and met their uncle and grandmother. I learned a bit about their family and looked at photo albums.

Most of my Grade 3 class.

The girls :) beautiful thannaka

I said goodbye to Si Si Win and her family. She bought me a blue top as a leaving present. She is such a kind and intelligent girl who deserves to have a chance. As a result of the economic downturn, a lot of factories have been shut down. Both Si's mother and father lost their jobs at the local factory along with hundreds of other migrant workers. Si is attending high school in June at CDC.

This is a huge moth that was outside our house for days.

That day, Clair and I got our hair cut. I had been to this hairdresser before and brought a picture the first time. I didn't the the hairdresser remembered me until the end when he showed me to a pinboard in the back which had my photo attached to it! hahaha. Where's Wally?

On that Sunday, Jack and Niamh had their anniversary party. It was a barbecue and the food was brilliant. What was even more brilliant is that it was a kareoke party! Rocky had just come back from Karen state so Jack, Ailsa and Lisa were very happy.

I say the food was brilliant...but I stuck to the barbecue chicken etc :)

Monday the 11th of January was my last day in Mae Sot, it was also a very busy day.

The school had invited me back to say goodbye. I went into my classes to say goodbye and Tha Zin had forgotten I was leaving, so we had an impromptu leaving party. All the children gathered in the Grade 2 building and students from each grade sang beautiful songs. A little dancing and students and teachers got up to say goodbye speeches. Each Grade gave me beautiful presents, gorgeous vibrant tops and pretty scarves. I was so surprised they had gotten so many presents, it was never ending! I was touched by their generosity for letting me work in their school, being so inexperienced and a rubbish teacher. The kids had a lot of fun in my classes but I doubt they learned anything of significance related to the English language.

Me with teachers Khaing Khaing and Phyu Phyu.

My lovely grade 2 luzzo's!

They had a machine for making snow cone type things.

You grind the ice down by turning the handle. The ice then goes into a little dish then they pour sugary liquids on them. I think you guessed I didn't eat them.

Kisses goodbye from Teacher Katie and her daughter.

The boy's from grade 4 rushed out to te shops and bought me a present!

Baby was very angry at me for leaving. Every time I went on holiday or away for longer than a few days, she hated me!

After saying goodbye to everyone at Hle Bee, went to the clinic to say goodbye to everybody there. I had a long chat with Lisa, it was hard to say goodbye to her cause it's fun havng her around. I really didn't want to leave her and the kids, they're such fun children.

I said goodbye to the office staff, didn't feel like I was properly leaving though. Just felt like a normal day.

The driver -never knew his name-, Saw Kod and I.

On the way home I had to go and give something to Ngwe Ngwe, one of the girls from Borderline.

They had this poster in their house. It's Sylvia and Meme! Very funny.

I wasn't meant to be staying for long because I was supposed to be meeting GA at my house. But Ngwe Ngwe had bought lots of food for us to eat and GA turned up at hers because I wasn't at my house, so it all turned out fine.

Ngwe Ngwe lives with Than Thoo Zaw, his Mother and Uncle.

So I got to say goodbye to him.

I bumped into Maung Maung Tinn at Casa Mia and said last goodbyes.

Then I said goodbye to my favourite waitress and my Karen mother.

That night, I went for my last dinner at the barbecue place with the Canadian volunteers and my australian roommates. Half way through the dinner, Michelle and Kristen said they were going to the shop. They came back and as we were finishing our they surprised me with a full banoffee pie from Casa Mia! They had sneaked out in the middle of the meal to pick it up, I was so shocked. The Canadian volunteers gave me a present too, a beautiful Karen bag. I wore it the other day.

Afterwards, we went to Thaimes bar and had a few drinks. We met Andy, the volunteer from the clinic and chatted for a while, said goodbyes.

I had a long conversation with Emily, which was great.

Then we said goodbye to Emily and Clair and I, the true partiers, went to seven eleven.

In front of seven eleven was a night butcher stall, pretty mingin. But I had to get a picture!

Jack Tummy going crazy
at the Karen Concert.

Okay, that was my last blog. It only took me 2 months to finish it! I will upload a few videos soon.

I will return to Thailand on the 5th of July and I am immensely excited. I cannot wait to see everyone again!

I miss Mae Sot!!!

2010-02-02T16:58:00.000-08:00

On the 28h of December Clair and I went to golf.

Some guy tried to teach me but he couldn't speak English, he knew "follow through" "good" "yes" "no".

After, we went to Tesco Lotus and bought some food. Then we went home and made a feast!

Little Chef.

After Christmas, Lisa and the children came back with me to Mae Sot. I had already finished school by then, so I got to spend a lot of time with the kids. I miss them so much now!

We made necklaces, lots of necklaces.

On New Years Eve, my three Autralian roommates and I went to Bai Fern for yummy pizza.

Then we went to Thaimes bar, empty. But we had a few drinks, our two other roommates left but Clair and I stayed. She got drunk, very drunk.

Thai from Thaimes bar.

First drink of New Year.

After, we walked home and Clair broke her flip flop. So we stopped at a Thai bar. Absolutely packed with students. We made some friends :)

On the 1st of January 2010 I went to a party. It was at Mu Mu's house. She's Jack's brother's girlfriend.

I am posting more tomorrow, splitting the blog up into shorter blogs. :)

I MISS MAE SOT. x

Mae Sot

2010-01-20T16:17:00.000-08:00

I will eventually finish the blog of leaving Mae Sot. My computer broke and all the pictures were still on there, but it's fixed now. Look forward to the next bloggggg.

x

Landed in UK

2010-01-13T23:23:00.000-08:00

Louise safely landed in London at 5.30am. The snow that cancelled Heathrow flights to Edinburgh yesterday afternoon and evening has gone so she is sitting waiting to fly up to Edinburgh at 8am. She had a really good flight. She managed to get her 11kg of hand luggage on board but she left one bag on the Heathrow bus between terminals. And yes it was the one with her passport in. Thankfully she got it back! So exciting.... she'll be home in 2 hours. HURRAY..... except she just asked if she could go straight back to Thailand!

I'm coming home! (but I still have to do many blogs when I get back).

2010-01-13T03:21:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting in Chiang Mai airport. Checked in my luggage to Edinburgh, got it down to 23.7 kilos, yay! But now I have 3 hand luggage bags.
Chiang Mai - Bangkok - London - Edinburgh. Get home at 9.15am if everything goes fine.
I was considering getting a foot massage at the airport, yum. Think I'll pass though :(
See you sooooooooon. x

On way home to Scotland 13.1.10

2010-01-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

So many folk asking when Louise is returning so I am sneaking on to her blog, which will get me in big trouble, to tell you that Louise is in Chiang Mai just now, waking to her last day in Thailand this trip. She leaves Chiang Mai at 7pm on Wednesday 13th to fly to Bangkok. She flies from Bangkok at 00:10 on Thursday 14 March and gets into Edinburgh from London at 9.15am Thursday 14th January. Let's hope for a smooth and snow free journey.

Not surprisingly she has too much baggage and is insisting on bringing her hammock home. She's so determined to do this, she'll probably wear it onto the plane!

Safe journey, wee scone!

Mummah (as you keep calling me) x

Christmas at the Farm!

2010-01-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

On the 21st...

2010-01-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

After boxing we went to the night market for food. These Thai people sat down at our table with a bottle of Whiskey and started giving us drinks. Clair was fine with this but I thought they were a bit sketchy. But the owner of the night market seemed to know them and were talking to them so we stayed for a bit. The two guys were called 'nob' and 'job'....there was a girl but I can't remember her name.
Job said he was a fashion designer and aked if he could style my hair.
This is the result...
Louise and 'Job'.

Eventually we got home and I was still hyped from Muay Thai so Clair let me borrow her shorts and pretend to be one of the fighters!

I just found this video of Naw La, one of the Thai/Karen girls at the clinic. Very funny.

x

Happy Karen New Year!

2010-01-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

The 16th of December was Karen New Year. Karen state is one of the 7 States in Burma. It's the closest state to us and borders with Mae Sot.
I went with Jack's sister to the party at the Karen leader's house.

Karen leader So so and his wife.
Me and my sister.

Afterwards, we went to the Mae Tao Clinic to watch the concert the staff were putting on. I saw one of the Say Ta Nar students there and it was a really good show.

x

Christmas decorations

2010-01-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

We put up our Christmas decorations and I feel guilty for not posting everything we've done. So I'm posting the pictures now. We took manyyyy photos.
Louise and Taiwanese Daniel.

Initiative.

Snowflakes.
Clair's fingers not mine.

Hahaha baby in a sink. She had the cold and was all wrapped up. Very cute.

Merry Christmas fellow roomies.

Trigger happy.

Santas little elves.

I can't believe it's taken me a month to post this, but here we go - Zoo times!

2010-01-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

Whilst Clair and I were looking at the mummy panda exhibit, I got talking to this Zoo keeper. We were asking lots of questions about the Pandas. When we left, he came with us - still talking. And he took us to the nearest tramcar stop, which was just behind the Panda exhibit. Then he went away and we said goodbye. We waited for the tramcar but none were stopping. Then the guy came back out and said "Do you want to see Linping?" The baby Panda!! It's insane because you can only see the baby panda in the exhibit with the mother between like 7-8am and we were late with that one.
Of course we said yes and he took us into this staff only area and into a little office. In Thailand they have a Panda channel. Yes, I really do mean a channel for only live footage of the baby Panda with Mother. 24/7. So we went into this office and there were loads of guys sitting at computers editing footage of the Panda. So funny. Then the guy slid open this little window and there was baby Linping! I took a video, I think we speak in it but don't take any notice of that.

The other thing I missed out in my blog post was the Monkeys. They were my favourite animal at the zoo, even though we got to see famous little Linping and play with Leopards.

We went to the monkeys and saw loads of them in exhibits like this one.

Then we walked up a little path and found this huge Orangutan exhibit.
There was a huge Peacock just sitting at the edge of the path next to the Orangutan's.

I've put up ALL my photos of the monkeys.

They were funny ones, they are very clever. They kept motioning for me to give them food. Then were got grumpy when I didn't.
I remember saying that they looked really like old men. Funny animals.

Then, we looked down the path a little bit, and sitting right infront of the Orangutan exhibit was a tiny little cage. Inside? A baby Orangutan and a baby Chimpanzee!

We played with them for agesssssss! They were so happy to have people to play with. I fell in love with them, they kept holding our hands. Their hands were freezing cold but they were like real people's hands. They had fingernails and everything, it was truly crazy. That situation was extraordinary, when I came to Thailand I never imagined I would get to play with Zoo animals. The baby Monkeys were just like human babies but extremely clever. At one point when I was taking a video, the Chimp grabbed my camera and tried to steal it.
They even started kissing our hands and trying to undo the lock of the cage.

The Orangutan grabbed the zoo keeper's -who drifted over a few times- crotch! I didn't notice this until afterwards, so funny.

There are many videos of the monkeys to upload but the video downloader says my limit is exceeded for the day. I'll try to upload them tomorrow.

Louise x
P.S. This is a longer Panda video and MUCH better. It includes baby Linping falling.

Hello strangers!

2010-01-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

I feel like an awful person because I havent even Christmas posted yet. I've just been so knackered recently and busy.
I'm going to try and do big posts in the next few days so hang on.

Today, Clair and I went to Casa Mia and made Cookies and a Banana cake! They're delicious. My Karen mother who owns Casa Mia was lovely and let us use their oven.

x

We made a SNOWLOUISE cos we missed her on Christmas Day.

2009-12-25T08:29:00.001-08:00

We missed Louise so much today that we decided to create a snowLouise in her honour. We dressed our SnowLouise up in 3 outfits cos our Louise probably wears at least 3 outfits a day! We made our Snowlouise in our neighbour Moyra's garden cos she had better snow than us but the snow is definitely thawing. Awwwwwwww.....

Louise has had a lovely day visiting the next door farm for a big Christmas party. She loved the presents we'd sent and that Alison had sent. Thanks Ali. Everyone at the party was drinking straight whisky but Louise was on mohitos.... which makes a change from the mosquitos drinking from Louise! She won't use mosquito repellent!

She goes back to Mae Sot on 27th so will be back in touch by then. Cat made her day today by phoning her for a very very long time. Thanks Cat. Come and see our Snowlouise before she goes!

Christmas Eve on the Farm

2009-12-24T04:04:00.000-08:00

I just called Louise on the farm. As she spoke, she told me

they're cooking a huge meal and one of the dishes has flower petals in it

they're doing a secret Santa tomorrow - you had to make a gift OR buy it for less than 100 baht (£2). Louise bought modelling balloons.

an ENTIRE Thai hill tribe arrived for the meal .....

so she went off to take photos.....

A different sort of Christmas Eve for Louise. Daren't tell her how much snow is here because she would get really homesick.

Christmas on the Farm

2009-12-23T04:57:00.000-08:00

Louise has gone to spend Christmas with Lisa, Rocky, Jack and Ailsa on a farm way out of Chiang Mai. What an adventure that will be. You can phone her but she won't have internet access. That'll be a shock to her system.

I spoke to her today and she was missing the snow. Ailsa was running around with no clothes on (as usual... she's only 3!) so it must be hot there.

It's only 3 weeks till she comes home on 14 January 2010. Have a happy Christmas everyone. From Sheila, Louise's mum.

Muay Thai

2009-12-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

I had such a fun night at Muay Thai. It was held at the Thai high school and the students were fighting. They were so good though, like a proper fight.
As soon as we walked in the gate we could smell a menthol smell. Turns out they smother the guys in Tiger Balm before they get in the ring.

We joked that this guy was the janitor, his uniform was so similiar to a janitor's.
Numerous jokes were made about the poor old janitor, mostly because he kept feeling up the fighters.

The Thai King turned up for the fight, it was amazing. I felt so honoured to be in his presence.

I didn't get any good photos from the fights, the quality is really crap. There's a video though. The first round of the first fight was a knockout! The guy looked dead.

This guy was amazing, the one in the pink was my favourite to win.
His opponent flipped his round at one point, like a cartwheel!!

The guys got ready in the corners of the room, ultimate privacy.

They really didn't seem to care that hundreds of people were crowded round them when they dropped their wee short shorts.

This is Ram Muay, the dance to show respect for their teachers. It is performed before every fight.