peace.love.karuna.: across the border

This weekend I had to leave the country in order to re-enter and renew my visa here in Thailand. So, Krystal, Jordan, and I decided to head to the border. We didn’t want to do a quick in and out trip, but really wanted to see more of Burma. We have heard so much about it since we arrived here in Thailand. I wanted to see what it was like. Many of the students we teach at DEPDC are from Burma and, each day, cross the border to Mae Sai to come to school and obtain an education that they otherwise would not have the privilege of getting. It’s these children in Burma that are so at risk of being trafficked because they have such limited access to education and work opportunities. I wanted to see this place. So, we decided to spend out Saturday exploring Burma. Luckily, our friend, Rachel, had obtained the number of a Burmese man who gave day tours in Burma from a couple they had met while traveling. We called up Saimon and told him we would meet him at the border Saturday morning.

[Burma is now under the name of Myanmar as it was renamed by the military when the miltary took over the country]

The bus was especially crowded. It was my first time taking it on the weekend. Luckily, we somehow managed to get a seat. I ended up right next to the bus driver, turned sideways and facing him with my legs wedged between his seat and the stick shift. I had to move my legs each time he shifted gears. After the two hour bus drive, we hopped in a song taew and headed to the border. Right when I stepped out, a tall dark man came up to me and said “Hello, I am Saimon-are you the ones doing the tour?” Easy enough, right? Saimon was great. He walked us through the procedure of getting through the border. It was a $10 entry fee. He immediately warned us about the procedure. “If they ask for 500 BHT, say no. Say that you will only pay what the law says, $10. Just say that you will not.” Fortunately, the three of us didn’t run into this problem while entering and managed to get through just fine. They printed out a temporary passport and withhold your passport while in the country. I didn’t know that would be the case and began to slightly panic when I put out my hand to collect my passport and he shook his head. I’ve been told to never leave my passport as collateral. But, in this case, there wasn’t much that I could do. So I trusted it would be okay and headed on through the border.

When I think of a day tour, I think of driving around, making some stops at temples or some good scenery locations. Not with Saimon. Saimon gave us the VIP tour. He took us to places we could have never gone without him. We walked through the local villages, through the alleys between people’s homes made up of cinderblock and a tin roof. He did take us to temples, and he did take us to some awesome views…but we trecked around all day on foot to do so. The only time we sat out of the 8 hours we were with him was when we made a quick stop for lunch at the local market. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. It made the whole experience that much better.

I can’t even begin to describe what it was like. We saw so much, in so little time, and he never took us on a path that we had already walked. He took us to a Buddhist monastery where we were able to see Burmese Monks and Nuns meditate. We happened to come by right when they were about to break for lunch, I was sad to see most of them exiting to go eat because I wanted to watch them a little longer. But then Saimon told us to follow him. He took us downstairs into the hall where they all ate. I couldn’t believe it…there was not a noise made throughout the whole room. Not the cling of a spoon or a whisper of conversation; complete silence. It was incredible to watch. It was as if every single movement made by these individuals was done with some alternative purpose, so carefully and with such thought. I watched as one nun passed the water pitcher to the other, so gently, without even being asked to pass it. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have such patience and concentration, yet I was watching it take place right before me.

One thing that was so cool about being there in Burma, was to see everyone’s excitement of seeing these three white farangs (foreigners) walking through their villages and near their home. I never anticipated the friendliness that we encountered. Every home we stopped at to say hello invited us in for tea or for something to drink. We were met with nothing but smiles throughout the day. However, my favorite encounter was early on in our journey.

As we were hiking up a steep alley way, I noticed a girl from the corner of my eye standing in front of her home that resembled a concrete block. I knew that girl. Before I could even say anything, Krystal had already turned to me and said, “She’s from DEPDC.” Though she wasn’t a student in our class, we immediately recognized her sharp black eyes on that petite body. At this time, the girl was smiling with her hands held timidly up to her mouth. We told Saimon that we knew her from where we teach. Saimon looked at the girl and, in Burmese, asked, “Do you know these girls?” She smiled even bigger and nodded. At this time her parents had stepped outside and after hearing the conversation, they too had huge smiles on their face. The dad held the girl close to his knee, looked down at her and then towards us and invited us in for tea. We were short on time, so we had to carry on—but we thanked them for the offer. We then looked at this girl and told her we would see her on Monday.

Later on, we passed by some more children and a young boy, playing with his friends, called out to us. He also recognized us from DEPDC. It was so humbling to be able to see where these children live and to see the conditions that they are growing up in. They have so little, yet their smiles are so big. Jordan and I were talking about how refreshing it was to see children out in the streets, simply just playing. It reminded me of when I was young and would just run around in the street with all my neighborhood friends. I feel like this is something we see less and less of in the states as more video games and technological contraptions continue to come out, consuming so much of kids’ play time.

i loved this kid w/ tape tied around his arms, legs, waist, and head; superhero attire

Another cool place we went to was a private Chinese school. I though DEPDC gets out of control sometimes…this school took on a whole new level of chaos. There were kids running around everywhere, yelling and screaming. When we walked on the school grounds, things only escalated. We felt like celebrities walking around. At one point, we turned to look behind us and there were a good 50 kids following. All of them were so excited to see us, and even more excited to use their English to yell out a “HELLO!” Every time that I would say hello to one of the kids, they would turn to their friend and start giggling before they could get out a “hello” in return. Jordan can speak Chinese and was able to talk to some of the students and teachers. The kids loved him. I don’t think they had ever talked to a white man in Chinese before. Some girls even came back up to Jordan and asked if we wanted to eat lunch with them. We kindly declined since we had just eaten. It was so fun to see all of the kids and to see how quickly the news traveled throughout those school grounds that farangs were here as more kids began to follow and pay notice to us.

the pack of kids following behind :]

The day flew by. It was a great day and an amazing experience. I keep trying to relive various moments in my head, in hopes that I won’t forget. I’ve found myself doing a lot of that ever since I arrived in Thailand. Everything about this experience has become so important to me and continues to teach me so much…where’s my harry potter penseive when I need it?

I’ve already written far more than I planned, so I’ll summarize what I left out with some pictures :] …