le blog rliamo144 par : Liam

Hello everyone. 

At last, it's Saturday, which means its time for my next update.  First I want to thank Jae for adding a comment to my last entry.  To answer your question, I'm here until 20 August, which is when I fly back to the US.  I was originally planning to stay in Mae Sot until 17 August, but just recently I've been considering leaving about 2 days early, so I could spend a few days in Laos.  Of course, I will keep you all updated on what i actually decide to do.... any decisions won't be made until much closer to that date!

So, what's happened to me in the last week???  i don't even know where to begin!  I was really tempted to update halfway through this week, since there's been so much thats happened.... but i know I can't just write everything, or else this blog would go on forever, and I don't think anyone would really want to read it.  So....

Let's start with Sunday.  All day Sunday I was on the bus from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot.  I got into Mae Sot at about 7 pm, and went promptly to the guest house (one of the donors to the school, Fernand, had arranged a special deal to get a room for 2500B, or about 75$ US, per month at a particular guest house).  The guest house, while far from perfect (doesnt have hot water, mechanical flush toilet, poorly lit), is reasonably big, has a decent bed, and a private WC + Shower..... which is the best I could get for 75$ per month!  I phoned one of the other volunteers, Astrid a French girl, who came with some of the other teachers to pick me up and bring me to the orphanage to meet the children.  I ended up sleeping my first two nights at the orphanage (don't ask why.... its a long story).

To clarify some things, the orphanage and the school are one and the same.  The same strutures (I don't want to call them buildings, becuase they aren't...) are used during the day as a school, and during the night as an orphange.  The only difference is that the orphanage houses about 35 children, while a total of about 180 kids are at the school during the day.  The orphans are incredible young people.... I know all of them have their own life stories (i haven't asked any of them.... I never know what the right thing to say is), and they are all super super warm people.  They all call me "teacher" and don't hestitate to serve me.  They are incredibly disciplined children who demand no pity, and who are incredibly motivated for school.... they looked forward with great anticipation to the beginning of the school year, and are so passionate about learning that they want to do their homework at any hour during the day.

The other students are a bit more diverse.... they all have different life stories.  Some of them are disciplined, some aren't so much.  Some of them are helpless and poor, some of them don't seem so poor (of course.... the school is direly poor).

Classes started on Wednesday.  I was originally scheduled to teach three classes: Grades 5 + 6 (combined), grade 9, and primary.  Primary proved to be too much of a challange, since none of them understood a word of anything I would say.... so I was "upgraded" to grades 3 + 4 (combined), which is only a little better.  I do enjoy the respect pretty much all the children give me....and I love seeing the children interested in learning, and trying and answering my questions and taking notes.  That said, it really is quite challenging in some ways.  For one thing, I have no preset curriculum.  Nor am I supplied with any sort of materials (except for a white board, a marker, and an eraser).  Every day I have to think of a creative and productive way to spend the 45 minutes of classtime eloted for each class- not as easy as it sounds!!!  Learning the names is also quite difficult.... Burmese names can be difficult to pronounce, and many of them sound similar (I couldnt even tell you how many Aungs I have...).

I have been doing my best...  I have to be really creative every day.  (If any of you has ANY ideas for me.... email me at ROCO148@msn.com).    Many of the female students seem to take a bit of a liking to me... one of my grade 9 students just stares and smiles at me the whole time, and hides her head in embarassment whenever I call her name to answer a question.  The other day she gave me a flower.  One of the grade 10 students (not in any of my classes) is even more forward.... yesterday she "asked me out" to lunch, then asked for my phone number, implying that she wanted to "hang out" on Saturday (i.e., today).  While she's an incredibly sweet girl, only a year younger than me, and I must admit I rather enjoy the female attention, I'm a bit scared of where this is headed...

The school is in the village of Mae Pa, which is 6 km north of Mae Sot (which is where I'm staying).  So I ride a bike to and from school every day.  Mae Sot itself is quite interesting.... there is quite a mix of different people here.  The most visible group are the Thais.  The Thais are a reserved people, not unkind, but not terribly friendly. The language is nearly impossible to master, as it is very tonal, and the Thais try to recognise the tones NOT the letters (so my phrasebook isn't much use, since i can't produce the tones very well).  The Thais understand almost no English.... so communication has been quite difficult.  Then, there are the Chinese, who own a lot of the department stores in town (Mae Sot, despite being in "boony land" is suprisngly developed and modern.... almost anything I coould need to buy could be found here....).  Then, my favourite group, the longyi-wearing Burmese.  The Burmese are quite unlike any people in the world..... nowhere else have I ever seen such warm, generous, giving, friendly people.  I have fallen quite in love with the Burmese peopl.  THe burmese language is also much easier to master.... while it is tonal, the tones aren't nearly as important as they are in Thai.  The fourth group, which is largely invisible except in the "right places", is the Westerners.  I have yet to interact with any, apart from those volunteering with me at the school (aka the BHSOH = Boarding High School for Orphans and Helpless Youth).

At this time there are two fellow volunteers (both of whom I believe are only staying for another month or so).  I have already mentioned Astrid, a french girl of 22 who is teaching English and giving optional French lessons.  The other volunteer is an older French man named Stefan, whose English is very minimal and is only giving the optional French lessons.  I kinda feel bad for him, since he only actualy teaches about 1 hour a day.... however, he has the ideal teaching situation- he is only teaching those students who are MOTIVATED.  Both of the volunteers are quite friendly, and my French is adequate to communiate with both of them (although Astrid also speaks decent, although thickly accented English).  Both of them sleep at the orphanage, so it's kinda difficult to "hang out" with them on evenings, etc.

I'm sure many of you are wondering about the food situation.  Food is quite cheap and quite good.  The Thais don't seem to differentiate between different meals and will eat the same thing at any point in the day (although its been hard for me to adapt to eating chicken fried rice at 8 am).  A good dish of noodles or rice will cost about 20 B ( which is about 60 cents US).... a larger meal might cost about 40 B (1,20$).  Street food.... like a small skewer of BBQ meat... runs for 3B ( less than 10 cents), and the delicious sweet roti, which is something like a crepe (Note: not quite like the roti prata found in singapore), runs for about 20 B.  Western food is available, but not quite as good or as cheap.... usually a dish of, say spaghetti, will cost like 50B or something..... still cheap, but not when you can get just as much food for 20 B.

Anyway... I think that covers the most important things that happened this week.  This week has definitely been one I will never forget (I'm sure I'm not going to forget what I've done this summer....), and has been one that has particularly touched me.  While there has been a lot of "getting used to things" and the transition hasnt been 100% smooth, I can't say I have any regrets about coming here.  Even if I left this week (which I'm not going to, although I must admit I've thought about it....), it will be a week that has changed my life.  Of course, with two months left, I've only just begun my time here.  And while I'm quite happy that I'm getting this experience, I also think I'll be ready to return to the familiarity of the West.... where I can talk with  anyone in English (or French), and I can take hot showers and use mechanical flush toilets and drink tap water and walk the streets without having everyone stare at me.

That's all from Mae Sot for this week.... I will update again in one week.  Thanks again to everyone who continues to read this blog.  I apologise for not putting up my Myanmar + Chiang Mai pictures.... the uploading process wouldve taken a bit longer than I anticipated, so I figure I'll just wait until I get back to north America.... so the pictures aren't coming for a while.  In the mean time, you're welcome to look at my singapore and malaysia picatures, which are already up on my facebook profile.  If you have any questions, or messages of encouragement, I welcome you to leave comments (although I might not address them immediately) or email me at the given email address.  I  wish you all warmth and joy!

Hi everyone and sorry it took so long.  I really wanted to update from Myanmar, but that didn't work for reasons I will explain later. 

So, Monday morning, Jon and I left Singapore for Yangon, Myanmar (otherwise known as Rangoon, Burma - I will use the names interchangably).  When we landed.... I was a bit shocked.  Never have I seen such poverty first hand.  Rangoon suffers from a complete lack of infrastruture..... many roads aren't paved, and the ones that are, are rather poorly paved.  Nearly all buildings are delipitated- probably havent been renovated since the colonial era.  Power supply is inconsistent.... in fact, at any given time during the day, it is more likely that there is no power.  The lucky ones have their own generators, to power their homes or businesses.  There are few "proper" stores.... nearly all commerce takes place on the street.... and everything is negotiable.  Take the exchange rate of the local currency, the kyat.  The "official rate" is fixed at 6 to 1 USD.  The airport rate was 450 to 1 usd..... the rate Jon and I got: 1260 to 1 USD. 

The upside to this volatility.... things were cheap!!!!!  To give you an idea..... a plate of food cost on average K1500.  A glass of beer cost K400.  I got a nice, button down shirt for K1500.  Each post card we mailed cost K50.  And this is my favourite: I got a haircut for K500!!!!   Yes, I know, I'm a Jew.... but there's nothing quite like getting things at incredibly low prises. 

The Burmese people were in general incredibly friendly.  Never before in my life (except, perhaps, the night I "slept" in Bangkok airport) did I feel like a celebrity.  Jon and I truly stood out- as there were nearly no other white people in Rangoon.  We got a lot of stares, many smiles, a bunch of ways, and quite a few "Minglabas" (yes, Sulin, they DO say it!).  I must admit that I definitely enjoyed the attention- especially the female attention.  However, as Rangoon is direly poor, there were quite a few beggars- entirely in the form of children, elderly, and cripples.... and it breaks your heart to see them, but you know you shouldnt give them anything, as it wouldn't help them in the long run.  Then you have the people trying to scam money off you.... they have this little script (at least 10 people ran through this script with us).  "Hey, where you from?  How long you been in Myanmar?  Where you want to go?"   Apparantly, thats the only English some people know.

There was also evidence of government propoganda.  We got a rather humourous Burmese tv station in our hotel room.... and tehre was a pretty funny billboard too.  Then: the national musuem!  What a joke!  It was 6 stories of pots and bowls, and they had these "ancient" violins, which looked remarkably like classical european violins.... and even had price tags on them!!!  Hmmmm......   And yes, there were armed soldiers all over the city...... however, they weren't threatening to us foreigners.... although my attempt to access the internet proved unsuccessful, as all relevant sites were blocked (including hotmail!!!!)

My conclusion on Rangoon:  it is an extremely impoverished city.  The infrastructure is poor and its people are suffering.  Night commerce is done on the streets by bonfire, and the city smells of gasoline, street food, and rubbish, which is all over the street.  However, if the lack of modern amenities isn't a problem- Rangoon is a very nice city.  It is very navigable, has some attractive colonial buildings, and is loaded with greeen space.  The food is quite good (although perhaps not for everyone...) and incredibly cheap.... the local Myanmar beer is the best Asian brew I've ever had.  If you don't mind the beggars and the scam artists, the people are INCREDIBLY nice, and seem to adore foreigners.

I have plenty of pictures from Myanmar.... I hope to post them soon (I don't know when yet).  Check facebook for pictures from Malaysia and Singapore.

This morning we left Rangoon for Bangkok.... we only spent today here.  Bangkok is the 4th SEA capital that I have seen, and is extremely different than the other three.  It is sorta like a combinatiojn of KL and Rangoon- only on a much larger scale.  Bangkok is incredibly sprawling, congested, pollutted, contains many scam artists (who are MUCH more pushy than there burmese counterparts), lacks the friendly attitude of Rangoon,  and contains WAY too many slums and shantytowns (I even saw an infamous rubbish-pile family).  Yet, it contains its own shrae of glitz, and glamour.  It was somewhat of a welcome relief from Rangoon..... although I loved Rangoon, I felt like I was transported back in time by about 60 years.  Here, I feel like I am back in the 21st century.... however, Bangkok is trying to hide the fact that it is still a third world city.

Tomorrow I leave for Chaing Mai--- alone.  I'm by myself for the rest of the summer.  I don't know what I'm getting into. 

I'll try to update again from Chiang Mai.  For all of you who sent me birthday wishes (my birthday was on 29 may), many many thanks!  Despite being many miles away, you guys helped make it a birthday I would never forget.  Keep checking this blog for more updates, and facebook for pictures.  Until my next update, take care.  :-)

Hi my friends.  Thank you in advance for reading my blog.

It's been a crazy last few days.  Sunday night was my last night in the USA.... I spent it with my buddies from high school, playing Monopoly, Mango Republic, and eventually chilling out at Taco Bell, of all places.  I didn't get home tooo late, but, unsurprisingly enough, i wasnt able to get much sleep.  I feel alseep at 3 am, only to get up at 5:30 am, at which point my journey would begin. 

My mom took me to the New Brunswick, NJ train station, where I caught the train to NYC.  In NYC I met my brother Matt for coffee.  Then I took the subway to JFK airport, which was about a 90 min ride overall.  I killed some time at JFk, which is by no means the most impressive airport ive seen, and boarded the plan at around 3 pm.  The plane had left by 4 pm and we were on our way!

The flight was about 16 hours, and it definitely felt that long!  THe first part of the flght wasnt bad.... the entertainment was fantastic, the food was quite good, the service was quite friendly (imaigne being served by a bunch of attractive Asian ladies), and there were no anoying neighbours.  At time point halfway through this long flight, however, things took a turn for the worse.  My stomach started acting up on me, and the rest of the flight became quite unpleasant.

Eventually, at about 7:30 pm on Tuesday night, we got into Hong Kong, which boasts the nicest airport I've ever seen.  THe layouver there was short.  THe flght from there to Bangkok was smooth and pleasant.  I got into Bangkok at midnight, and was told that I couldnt check into my next flight until 5 am..... so I had 5 hours to kill at Bangkoks airport.... which were among th emost interesting 5 hours of my life.  Everyone was treaing me like a celebrity.... youd have all these ppl saying "hey ferang!" (which means foreigner) and asking to shake my hand..... it also didnt take too long for someone to show me the infamous catelouge of young ladies. 

I think I might have gotten about 30 mins of sleep on the floor at the airport....everyone told me that I shouldnt be sleeping on the floor.  Eventually, I got on the flight to Singapore, and at 10:30 am Wednesday, I was in Singapore. 

Singpoare is interesting.... the food is very good and very cheap.  We ate a hawker centre (by we I mean me and my friend Jon Gerber, whom Im lodging with in Singapore).  The hawker cetnres consist of this enclosed area which a whole bunch of small food stalls.  SPent the rest of the day sight seeing, and seeing Pirates of the Caribbean.  Of course, I was quite tired at this point, becuase I had gotten maybe a total of 4 hours since Sunday.

It is now Thursday morning, 9 am.  Its like Monday and Tuesday never really happened, which is one of the most odd feelings in the world.  Yet, after a wonderful nights sleep, I am quite refreshed.

Thats all from me for now.... I've stilll only been in Singapore for less than 24 hours.  I will update you in a few days.  Until then..... cheers, and take care of yourself.