I’m just a holy fool…

Epilogue

When I was in Thailand, the music video to Lady Gaga’s song Judas was released. The music video, like the song itself is a contradiction. It is both a song praising our human nature and Judas, while at the same time lamenting our human nature and condemning Judas. And though I acknowledge that might not be exactly what Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (Lady Gaga’s birth name) had going with the song, it is what I took away from the song:

I couldn't love a man so purely
Even prophets forgave his crooked way
I've learned love is like a brick, you can
Build a house or sink a dead body

Judas is an interesting figure in the Bible. He was like all of us humans, he made choices, he made mistakes, but he is still is a child of God. We may not like that prospect, that one of the most reviled people in Bible can still be loved by God, but the surest sign of God’s love is freedom, and we can choose to use that to build a better world or wreck it. But you know what, God still forgives, God still loves, and that love transcends even the most wicked evil. Jesus still loved Judas.

We all want people to love us, we want to love people, and yet it does not always turn out that way. For even among the best of us, we still find prejudices, old hates, and other signs of our own shortcomings. It is the sad reality of our lives. Often times we are blind or ignorant to the affects of our actions. And then there are times that we are aware of it, and we don’t care if we hurt someone. We may even couch it in terms of “love.” And when we hurt somebody, there is no way you can wrap enough love around that hurt to make it less painful to the person we’ve hurt, in fact it makes it worse. I’ve had people do that to me, say something hurtful and couch it in terms of love, and it sucks, it is hurtful, cruel, and almost seemingly a joke. But then I realize that I have probably done the same thing as well.

We have a choice to use love and freedom to help or hurt people. And really, that was the big thing that I learned in Thailand. It is something we know already, something that is so simple, and yet we seem to keep choosing the latter, not the former. We believe ourselves to be special, different, better than others. This is the beginning of evil. But this world truly changes when we love someone, not because we are different, but because we are the same. We are human; we have hurts, fears, desires, joys, and challenges. We must love people, not to make them become us, but to unite us. And in the end of the mission trip, that is what I learned.

Christianity is NOT about Heaven or Hell; Salvation or Damnation; or things eternal and out of this world. Instead, it is about love, service, and reconciliation, which is the stuff of this world. Jesus came as a model, a teacher, and a bridge builder. Jesus showed us how to connect with one another by reconnecting us with God. We do this by serving one another. And we do this not to make converts, not to make people become like us (for if we do that, the work becomes tainted by our hubris and presumption.) In this journey called life, we are constantly moving forward, changing, and hopefully making this world a better place. That is the Gospel call; it is about the journey to engage in the restoration and redemption of this world like Christ, not the destination of our souls after we die.

Though there is still many ideas and concepts that I am still exploring and understanding from Thailand, this is the lesson I learned from Thailand. And for good or for ill, that is what I learned, through our work together, the reality of the fullness of God can emerge in this world.

So in the end, I am just a holy fool.

James



P.S. So right now I am in New Haven, CT taking part in the Episcopal Service Corps. I am living along side of 18 really cool people working at Christ Church and in the city. If you want to follow that blog, here is the link for it: http://jamesinnewhaven.blogspot.com/

Kyrie Elyson

Chapter 7: The Karen, Burma, and all that lies between

Sorry for the delay, a lot has happened. Currently I am in Pattaya waiting to go back to America tomorrow. I have had a lot of things on my mind, so I have written those out and I will post them tonight. Tomorrow, I will post the day-to-day minutia, and then when I return I will give my final thoughts.

By the way, I would ask that you keep Thailand in your prayers. Tomorrow is Election Day and there is a very good chance that violence will break out afterwards. That is why we are leaving early.

So I’ve talked about Burma, and the Karen people. But then I realized that I have never explained the situation in Burma, and I’ve never talked about who the Karen people are…yeah not one of my smarter moves.

No country is ethnically “pure,” so to speak. For example, France has French people, but there are also Germans to the East, Spanish to the West, and other Europeans such as the Roma as well. Though they live in France, they are not French. Though Burma has Burmese people, not all people in Burma are Burmese. In the south and in cities like Rangoon it is primarily Burmese. But to the north, west, and east, there are many different kinds of people. One of these groups is the Karen. They are a people that live in the mountains along the Thai and Burma border, but mostly in Burma. They live in what is called Karen State, one of the provinces of Burma.

Burma has been inhabited and ruled for a very long time, but we will keep it short and simple. From the 19^th century to WWII, Burma was a British Colony. It was during this time that many of the ethnic minorities had a certain degree of autonomy. During WWII, Burma was invaded by Japan, and many groups fought against the Japanese. In 1945, Burma was given its independence by the UK and the ethnic Burmese were given control of the country. There were some tensions, but a somewhat stable democracy emerged. In 1962 there was a military coup that overthrew the government. In order to assert control throughout the country, Burma has sought to bring to heel all the ethnic minorities of the country. This has been carried out via warfare, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, forced migration, and genocide. Because of the civil war in Burma, over a million people have been displaced. The Karen have been affected greatly, and many have sought shelter in Thailand in refugee camps.

In 2010, Burma held elections that were considered by many in the world to be neither free nor fare. Nevertheless, Thailand has decided to use that as an excuse to begin pushing for the closure of the refugee camps, citing that democracy has come to Burma. Should the camps close, the Karen and other peoples would be forced back into Burma. And what would await them are villages covered with landmines and the Burma Army. The death toll from such a return would be in the thousands. Right now, there is no easy solution to Burma, and so it is my prayer that one can emerge. Of all the peoples in the world, none have been more loving and kind than the Karen. They do so much and expect nothing in return. When I was in the No Poe refugee camp, I saw what true love and compassion is. I never want to see another one of them hurt by the conflict in Burma.

Chapter 8: Meditations on the world

So as things wind down to a close, I have had many thoughts run through my head.

A million things go rushing by, and yet none of them make sense.

A politician says something stupid, a Coke is purchased, the Bachelor is on, a cat rides a unicycle on the news, someone eats a hamburger, a car drives by, the soft sound of rain is heard, the sun rises, the sun sets, a man plays a guitar, a student goes to Facebook, and a book page turns.

Life

We move in and out, the quiet dance of our routines push forward and forward. We wake up, go to work, come home, and go to bed. The routine of life, it is universal whether it is in America, Italy, China, Thailand, or Swaziland. Interspersed is the little things that brighten our day. And nothing really changes. Technology improves, but the nature of life does not change.

Repetition

Even a hundred years from now, it won’t change. Someone has to file the papers, make the coffee, harvest the vegetables, sell the merchandise, and make the money.

Monotonousness

Our lives get boring; we yearn for something different to shake things up. We take the two-week vacation, go on the retreat, and take a sick day when we are not sick. And then it returns to normal. And the boredom returns. We yearn for something more, but nothing changes really. And we move live looking forward to the next thing, the next vacation, the next retreat, and the next sick day. We live life almost as if we are merely collecting one experience after another. Is this truly living?

Escape

Are we truly blessed, gifted by living in America? Sure we have more material wealth, but has that made us happy? Does God bless people with money, cars, houses, stock options, or anything of tangible wealth?

Refraction

Many Karen have little. In Burma, the Burma Army continues to inflict horrible atrocities. In Thailand, the government does little to help those that escape from Burma. And though the government allows refugee camps, those camps might be shut down, and the Karen people will be forced back into a warzone. The west barely cares about them. In fact most Americans know little about the Karen, or the civil war in Burma, or that the Thai government are actually considering sending thousands of people to their deaths. And yet, I have never met any group on this planet that has been as warm, kind, gentle, welcoming, and caring as the Karen. Despite the realities of their situation, they opened up their homes to us, gave us so much, and treated us like honored guests. And even though they have little, they are truly the ones who are blessed. Their lives are filled with hope, even in the midst of the crisis. They are the ones truly living.

Daybreak

I think that is the essence of what this time in Thailand has been for me. It has been a process of understanding and realizing that which we must do to create a better and gentler world. And in fact the answer has been staring us in the face the whole time. I think the expectation of a missions trip, and indeed the entire Christian message, is to get out and make more Christians. As a student of history, and one that has studied Christian history, the path to make more Christians may have been a bit…messy…to say the least. Frankly, I think that a missions trip, and the goal of Christianity itself, should and indeed has very little to do with converting people (though some would disagree). Instead it is about loving and caring for one another. And that means loving the whole being of the person no matter how different and how distant they are.

And so, this is my hope and prayer; that we may find ways to grow with one another and make manifest God’s love in this world.

Intermezzo

Chapter 6: Out of Chiang Mai, into the Beyond

I know, I know, I’ve been away for a while. Yes I am alive, no I have not been eaten by malaria yet. But do you know how hard it is to post a blog when you are without a computer, internet, electricity, and in a border village where you can not only see Burma, but you can also see their Army camps on the next hill. It is quite liberating. So I’ve been out and about for a while, chilling in rural Thailand, hanging out with the Karen people. I’ve had some thoughts about things, but I ought to fill y’all in on the when and where I have been.

So on Friday May 27 we left Chiang Mai for the border. We woke up early and met our driver and guide, Kit. Kit is a college student in Chiang Mai that was ending his summer break. We left Chiang Mai and spent 10 hours driving. The first half was fine, it was on a straight and clear highway for most of the way. But the second half was on a curvey road of doom. Who knew that Thailand had crazy mountain roads? After many hours of traveling and nausea, we reached our first destination: Glau Tau.

In Glau Tau (and I apologize to those that know the proper spelling of the town since I am probably butchering it) we stayed with a Karen pastor named Edmund. And he dropped that on Saturday we had to lead a VBS (Vacation Bible School). So we had to create a 3-hour program in one night. Joy. So not only did we play with a bunch of kids, we had to sing and dance in front of them…yeah I’m not planning a Broadway career any time soon….

After a few days in Glau Tau, we headed to Blun Klewn (once again, I cannot spell this town.) This is actually Kit’s home and we stayed with his father, Pastor Samuel. We spent our time there teaching English in the local school and preparing for our trip to Lay Ton Ku. After buying food and getting packed, we were ready for the wild.

Now on Wednesday, we began our trek to Lay Ton Ku. Now Lay Ton Ku is this Karen village along the Thai-Burma border. It is also up in the mountains. We were presented with two choices. Either we could drive up their, taking the insane mountain roads to the village that would be of questionable quality (basically dirt roads) or hike the 10 miles where we would have to cross four ridges (meaning hiking uphill on steep mountain trails in 90 plus degree weather with heavy humidity). Well to have the “authentic experience” we hiked. Now I have backpacked across many trails, but this was probably the hardest that I have ever done. As I write this, I am still sore.

(As a side note, what in the name of all that is good is an “authentic experience?”? All experiences are authentic if we live them, even if it is sitting in a cubical. Should I ever master the Karen language, I would love to ask them their thoughts on why foreigners like to endure the elements to do things like sleeping outside and hiking when those things are daily realities for them. I have the feeling that those with vehicles are more than happy to have an “inauthentic experience” if it means getting to and from Lay Ton Ku was an easier process. Okay my rant is over)

So after getting to Lay Ton Ku, and after getting over the general feelings of praying to God to kill me, we head to the waterfall near the village. And this made all of the hiking worth it. Seeing the water, swimming in the waterfall, and enjoying life in the cool water after sweltering in the heat was nothing but pure rapture. I could feel the vitality returning to my body in that water.

Being in Lay Ton Ku was interesting. The people there had certain interesting habits. Men do not cut their hair, instead they wrap it around their head as a sort of turban. They also like durian, a lot, actually a little too much. Durian is this one tropical fruit that is spikey on the outside and has a mustardy like fruit on the inside. While in the village we visited the local temple and met Puchet, the senior monk and religious authority of the village. After meeting with him, he gave us a gift of not 1, but 12 durians, even more joy. We ended up regifting a few of them to the village Big Man (the village leader) after meeting with him. Nevertheless Lay Ton Ku was a lot of fun, but after spending Wednesday and Thursday there, we would be forced to make the return hike, and I was dreading that.

We made the return hike on Friday, and fortunately it was easier since there was more downhill, and we had the drive to push us forward to bring us back to Blun Klewn. When we got back to Kit’s house, there was a gift from the gods, Coke and Fanta. The coursing sugar and caffeine retuned much life to us (and exposed us to mosquitoes since our blood was now sweet with sugar. On Saturday we headed to Mae Sot, where we are now, to work with another NGO called Partners for Relief and Development (known now as Partners).

So all in all it was a good experience. Kit was an amazing guide and it was really fun to hang out with him. The Karen people were very friendly and treated us warmly. Though the hike was difficult, I am glad I did it, even though I think I may take a break from backpacking for a while…I’m still worn out by it…

Rapture

Chapter 5: Living in a world of May 22

On May 21, 2011, at 6 PM local time, I was in the check out line at Carrefour with my teammates buying stuff we are giving to the orphanage we volunteered at over the weekend (pictures on Monday). At that exact moment, when all people were going about their business, buying groceries, office supplies, and random stuff, they all came to a stop. The store got quiet, and everyone dropped what he or she was doing. They stood up straight, looked up and…

In Thailand, apparently they play the national anthem at 6 PM. So people stopped to pay their respects to King and Country (Thailand has a King, and unlike many European nations, they like their King). Afterwards, everyone resumed his or her activities. That was it. The world did not end, there was no earthquake, and there was no rapture, the world kept on spinning.

I feel this is important to talk about. Not only because it is relevant, but also because I am on a missions trip to Thailand. What does it mean to live in the world of May 22? For many of us, May 21 was normal, despite some snickering about the people believing it was the end. But for some, they staked everything on it. They quit jobs, cancelled appointments, and said goodbye to their loved ones. They did not even consider the possibility of being wrong. And yet nothing happened. For many of us, May 22 will be a normal day, but for some it is a day of disappointment. Sure some will believe the inevitable excuse of “my calculations were off” from the guy who predicted it, but others will be disillusioned, lost, and without a job to go back to. So what does it mean to live in a world of May 22?

Many of the world’s religions have some discourse on eschatology (the fancy greek word for the study of the end of time). Some are more vivid than others. Christianity has a very vivid description in the Book of Revelation. For two thousand years, people have tried to unlike the meaning of not only this book, but also the entire Bible in order to determine when the end of time was going to occur. Obviously, they were all wrong. We are still here more or less. But despite the constant failures at predicting the event, people still cling to the apocalypse for one reason or another. The biggest of these is hope.

The Book of Revelation is supposedly authored by a figure known as John of Patmos. He wrote during a time of persecution for Christians in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). For many, there was a feeling of hopelessness, of despair, and of great fear. In this atmosphere, John wrote about the end of this world and the creation of another. The new world would be one where God would reside on Earth with man, that there would be justice, harmony, and peace. The world would not only be restored, but it would be remade. It speaks to one of the most basic aspects of our humanity, the hope for a better world.

Flash forward to today. There is poverty, disease, war, and injustice in our world, and yet instead of it getting better, it seemingly is getting worse. Turn on the television, Google news, or listen to the radio and it seems that we are on a one-way trip to disaster. And because the stakes seem so big, people can begin to believe that there is no hope, no way out, except for God to set things right. There is nothing wrong with that, to hope for a better world. What is sad is when this sentiment that people have gets exploited for fame, power, and money. Even though nothing happened, how much airtime and publicity did Harold Camping (the Oakland, CA pastor that initially predicted this) receive? A whole lot. And inevitably, he will come out with a new prediction like he did in 1994 pointing to something in the future. So we will be here again in a few years.

And though the world did not end on May 21, we should remember that we have been given May 22 as a gift, just like every other day.

I spent my May 21 at an orphanage in Thailand. I have to admit, I do not like kids that much, particularly in high doses. But even my old Grinchy self couldn’t help but have fun with the rascals. For one reason or another these kids were here. And across the world, there are many other orphanages with kids, and some of those are not lucky enough to be in an area that gets a great deal of foot traffic from the outside world. It would be naïve of me to suggest that I alone, or my team alone, can save the world. But after spending weeks reading reports, looking at photos, and watching movies about the atrocities that happen in Burma, particularly to children, seeing these kids and the life in their eyes gives me hope for the future.

We can and we must build a better world for ourselves and our children. All of the problems of our world are human made, and, here is the beauty of that reality, they can be solved by humanity. The problems may seem big and daunting, but they are not insurmountable. It requires a leap of faith, to live in hope and not in fear.

And so, May 22 can be a normal day like any other day, or it can be a day where we begin the task of making a new and gentler world.

Supplemental

Chapter 3: City of Temples and Rain

I have been in Thailand for about a week, and so far I think I have a pretty good layout of the city at this point. Chiang Mai is the cultural heart of Thailand, and as such it is packed to the gills with temples and traditional structures. Chiang Mai has over 300 temples within it. The city is beautiful, hectic, and crazy. I am enjoying it nonetheless. The food is cheap and good, whether it is from a street vendor selling Pad Thai or a restaurant that has some new curry, I truly do enjoy it. And though it is hot, it is also pleasant when indoors, or up on a mountain.

The layout of Chiang Mai is pretty simple. The city itself is fairly small and easy to get around. There is the old city, which is within the old city walls that were built in the 1200’s. It is about a square km in area and this is where I am staying. There are a number of temples within the area, but I have yet to visit them. The hotel we are staying in is the Mountain View Guest House. It is a nice enough place, Pi Dang, the owner is incredibly nice and helpful. She can easily point us in the direction of something fun, and get us a Songthaw (a pickup truck converted into a taxi), and for this I am thankful. Every Sunday night, a section of the city gets converted into a walking street market. This market contains pieces of art, faux designer goods, and food. It is a lot of fun to be there, but it is also crowded and packed to the gills.

Most of the city is outside the walls. Notable places are the Kat Swan Kae mall, the Night Bazaar, and even more temples. The Kat Swan Kae is a mall near the wall and it is really unusual mall. On the outside, it looks hideous; it is a large ugly brick structure that does not even look like a mall. Walk inside though, and it is a large modern mall. You are greeted with a wave of A/C, which is needed when you walk to it from the hot outside air, and it runs 5-6 (maybe 7) floors. I really don’t know. The mall has no central focal point or corridor, but instead is grouped into a series of clusters in the building. There are empty and unused sections of the mall, particularly on the floor with the bowling alley and cinema. But it is still a good mall, and the grocery store in the basement has a pretty decent food court. I really don’t shop here since I am looking to the various markets for cheapo goods. The Night Bazaar is a nightly market in the Farung district of the city (or the foreign district). It sells many of the same goods as the walking street market on Sunday, so it is kinda the same old thing. However, I do not like having to pay 4x the standard rate for the Songthaws in the area (it costs 20 Baht to go there, and 40-50 to leave).

Now you may wonder why I titled this as the City of Temples and Rain, well along with 300 temples, there is also rain, and I mean a lot of rain. It has rained every day that we’ve been here. And not an “oh its misting a little bit,” I mean “my Lord, I’m drowning in rain.” It usually starts at 4 PM daily, but there have been some exceptions to that rule, like when it is nighttime and you want to go home. Last Friday, we were going home from work, and it took us an hour to get a songthaw, and it was in the rain. It was miserable. We finally got one, but it was wet, and none of us had any rain gear with us (stupid us.) But once we get inside, the rain and thunder are actually quite pleasant. The Next bit will be the narrative of what I have been doing.

Chapter 4: FBR, Temples, and a Palace

So at the FBR office, we are in the process of organizing their archived files. That kinda has been the 9-5 bit of life. FBR sends teams in (mostly consisting of people from Burma, primarily the ethnic minorities of Burma) to give medical aid and support to Internally Displaced peoples in Burma. They then send reports of their activities, the movements of Myanmar’s army, and any other relevant information. It is pretty simple work.

The staff is great to work with. It is a combination of Caucasians and Thais at the office. The guy overseeing us is Nick, he’s cool and is patient with us. We are also learning Thai while at the office. The language though is tough, very tough…

Everyday in the office though, we have a “sandwich” lady that comes around and takes down our orders for lunch, and everyday it is an adventure with something new and cool. I’ve had such things like Pas See Ew (fried egg noodles), Ka Pao (a stir-fried dish with ground meat and egg), Panang Curry, and a garlic chicken.

After work though, we return to the guesthouse and get dinner. At first though, with so much rain, we could only eat really close. But with improved weather, we now have a greater degree of options for food. Though most of the places we’ve been to have no English menu, it has mainly been a point and “I want that” thing.

Last Saturday we had our first excursion up to Doisethep and Puhping palace. Doisethep is a large Buddhist temple on top of the mountain in Chiang Mai. The view from up top was glamorous, but inside the temple, it was an event of true beauty. There is something to be said about South East Asian art and architecture. It has all the order and forms of China, but the passion and heart of India. In short, Chinese and Indian styles fuse to make something extraordinary. The liberal uses of yellow and orange for color gives the temple a certain vibrancy. The palace was also cool. The Puhping palace is a winter residence of the royal family in Thailand. We couldn’t go into the palace directly, but the gardens were still really pretty.

This Saturday though was a lot of fun. We took a whirlwind tour of the jungle with multiple activities. We started out by driving to an Orchid Farm. From there we went into a jungle and rode elephants. The elephant I rode I named Vara, and she was more content with eating than with walking though. We had lunch, and then we hiked to a waterfall. Though the hike was strenuous, being able to swim at the waterfall was refreshing. Next we did white water rafting. This was my favorite activity, and I wished that we could have done it longer, but alas we couldn’t. After some bamboo rafting, we headed back to the guesthouse to celebrate Maddi’s birthday. All in all it was a good day.

Next week, I will post musings that I have been having.

Starting Out

Well, it has been a few days since I got to Thailand. Admittedly I have been more exhausted than anything else because of the time difference and because of wanting to shove a million things into a single day. But here I am, now able to work, typing at 6:41 AM on Friday, since I am awake, have nothing to do, with my body thinking it is 4:42 PM, I would like to spend this time with all of you. Since I have both my undivided attention and yours, let me fill you in on what has been happening.

Prologue

So in 2010, 9 Pepperdine students including myself, applied to a program called JOURNEY being offered through Malibu Presbyterian Church. This was a missions program offered to Pepperdine students, but the catch was that we did not know where we were going to go. In January of 2011, we found out. Kim Gao, Caleb Yee, Madison Hancock, Heather Stancl, and myself were selected to go to Chiang Mai, Thailand an work with the Free Burma Rangers, an NGO that assists the Burmese people and advocates for them worldwide. We spent the next few moths meeting and receiving info and training, preparing to leave for Thailand on May 2.

But that is not all, Caleb and I were seniors at Pepperdine, and seeing as we had completed all our classes, and spending another year at Pepperdine would cost (barring scholarships) approximately $50,000, it was time for us to graduate. So on top of preparing for Thailand, we had to prepare for Graduation. On April 30, we graduated.

After Graduating, I made my final preparations, including picking up a new thing of Malaria pills that will protect me form the disease but has the lovely side effect of nightmares. On May 2, we departed from LAX to Thailand.

Chapter 1: Flight

We left LAX at approximately 3:45 PM. Singapore Air was not that bad. Though it was lacking in leg room, the service was friendly, the food was edible, and the movie selection was superb. We were flying to Singapore via Narita, Japan, and that first flight was 12 hours. I truly dislike flying, I am not afraid, I just don’t like being shoved into tight spaces. But between sleeping, watching movies, and eating, I managed. I watched the following things:

Boston Legal

Family Guy

Not the Messiah: He’s a Very Naughty Boy

I also played a little more Final Fantasy IX on my PSP. After landing in Narita, we had to wait for the flight crew to change. So we spent an hour there. I have truly been to the Narita airport too many times (4 times), since I can figure out were everything is now. The flight from Narita to Singapore was 7 hours, and I tried to sleep, but even with stretching out across the seats (since the plane was now mostly empty and I had a full row) was tough.

Once we got to Singapore, it was 2:30 AM. We had about 6 hours to kill, and the airport was nearly dead, it was empty. So we decided to walk to the terminal, which would take us half an hour. While there, we played around on the travellators (the conveyor belts in the airport) making silly movies with our silly walks. We eventually left Singapore for Chiang Mai, and we finally reached Thailand. As the plane was landing, I was listening to the main theme from The King and I, I feel like I was Orientalizing the whole thing…

Chapter 2: Arrival

My word it is humid here. Not humid in the sense of “oh it is a little warmer,” it is humid in the sense that after you are practically breathing in a wall of moisture in 90+ degrees. We get off the plane and it hits you almost instantaneously. After going through Customs and baggage claim, we are picked up by Jesse, and we head to the Mountain View Guest House, where we will be living for the first few weeks. The place is pretty nice and the staff is friendly, and they have free wifi. The roof also has an amazing view of the city. We unpack and we have to take care of business.

We walk to the mall, which was a miserable experience since it is really hot and we are stopping to take pictures all the time. The mall we go to is this ugly brick structure, it really doesn’t look like a mall, but inside it is your standard mall…sort of…(I will post on the city later) We buy the cell phone, pull money from an atm, and do some shopping. The girls find a deal on shampoo, conditioner, and body wash for I think 149 Baht (the exchange rate is 1:30). It comes out to be comes out to be more, and they fight over what is realistically a few cents. We return from the mall, eat, and then pass out.

The next day we head to the Free Burma Rangers office, which is outside of the city proper. We get there via Songtao, a pickup truck converted into a taxi. We get there and no one is in the office. Some in our group become frustrated over the lack of organization in this whole process. I truly do not mind, I do not know what to expect, and we eventually work things out. The staff arrives and we are able to start an orientation and start working. For now we are office aids for them.

This is a summation of what we have done. In the next post I will describe the city of Chiang Mai, and some of the other fun stuff.

Later