Pulled over for drunk driving

Last night I got pulled over for drunk driving. It is a little different here since I had not been drinking and the officer at the military/police checkpoint wanted me to get drunk with him. I tried to say no because it was late and I was exhausted, but the guy had a beer and a gun so I figured what the hell had a quick one and I was on my way.

How you doin...look in the mirror

I guess everyone's outlook affects the way they see the world, but when you can not speak to people it the power of your outlook is exaggerated affect.

Every morning I talk to my wife, Sandy, at 8:00. That is generally the last conversation I have until after dinner...sometimes it is the only conversation of the day. Because I only understand a few words of each of the 3 languages I am surrounded by (Thai, Burmese and Mon) I do not understand what people are saying. I understand "foreigner" in all three languages (which is what they refer to me as) so I know when people are talking about me. So I hear that people are talking about me, sometimes followed by laughter. I sometimes wonder what they are saying and why they are laughing. No way for me to know. If I am in a good mood, I think they are saying something nice and I am happier. If I am in a bad mood, they are idiots saying something terrible and I feel angry.

The fact that I am aware of the fact that I am in total control of my happiness makes this situation much easier.

Burning out

The project is going well, but I am worse for wear...been sick off and on for weeks and I can not take a few days off because the workers need supervision. In addition, the education stuff (which is on hold until Tuesday) is at a precarious time.

The kitchen is well on its way to being completed (sorry no pics...camera died) and then we have to make the walkways and playground. I am hoping construction finishes in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to it.

Getting some gas

Sometimes I forget the day to day stuff that is so different here. When a woman came to Sangklaburi the other day she thought it was so funny that you would get gas from a 50 gallon drum that she insisted on taking a picture. I decided what the heck and took one too even though it seems perfectly normal to me at this point.

Kidnap or not

The girl I have written a couple of times here and here is in jeopardy again. The mother has her in Burma (went over the border without the adoptive father's permission) and is threatening to send her far away to who knows what fate.

Now that she is in Burma, the options are quite limited. Forget her? Not easily. While visiting me my friend ran into a relative of a General in the Karen Rebel group who said it would be quite easy for them to go get the girl and bring her to my friend (some in Burma might call this kidnapping but they have been put in jail for trying to have free speech).

Difficult decision when you have a legal right but do you have a moral right to take a kid from her dying mother? If you do, will she stay with you or just hate you forever? Glad he has to decide and not me.

The wicked witch is gone

Snarl face, the woman who I wrote about here who lives in the main house next to ours is gone. The other day she yelled at me and told me to get out of her house. The problem is, it is not her house. I went to the man whose house it is (her brother) and at first he offered to have me live at his resort. When I told him she said it was her house he proved it was not by throwing her out. I guess I should feel bad... I will put that on the to do list for next week this week I will be happy she is gone.

It is hard to be a cock

A few years ago I would have been angered by cockfighting but given my current hatred of these early rising vile animals I do not care so much. In town there is a little rink with fighting roosters for sale. I have only seen them fighting one time there.

An hour ago I was eating dinner at my favorite tea leaf restaurant and they started having a cock fight. Usually they end after a couple of minutes when one of the roosters is going to get injured and the owner throws in the towel. This one went on and on because there was no clear winner.

Banish all the condiments!

When I went to Kanchanaburi for my periodic dentist trip, I went to Tesco (kind of like Walmart). In the liquor section they had this sign that said , "Not sell Tabasco and liquor to children who Are under 18 years". With all of the food being so hot in this country I can not see why they would not sell Tabasco to kids except if they see it as some sort of gateway condiment to ...mustard or other more dangerous condiments.

Special Life

Someone who reads my blog said my life here sounds so depressing. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Jim Valvano, an American Basketball coach, was diagnosed with cancer and knew he was going to die. He created the Jimmy V foundation to help with cancer research and taught others how to have a fulfilling life. In 1993 he gave a wonderful speech at an awards show (you can listen here). The part that really stuck for me was:

"We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."

I am forced to think about life every day, I feel sadness everyday and I laugh everyday. Not a day goes by that I do not feel lucky to have this special life.

Gumpin' Part II

A month ago I drove my friend's truck 3.5 hours each way to Kanchanaburi to pick up a donation. I stopped at my dentist office to make an appointment (they do not speak English so it is easier to do it in person). In the waiting room I met David, a nice guy who happens to be the General Manager at the Felix Kwai River Resort (http://felix-river-kwai.th66.com/) a big gorgeous resort in Kanchanaburi. We got to talking and he said he was looking for a new project to help.

I just had a meeting with David and he gave me some good advice (especially useful is contacting hotels for sheets, towels and dishes since they change them out regularly) and has agreed to make a nice donation. He is going to try to provide some on going support as well. Once again, doing nothing special, I meet someone nice who will help out. I really am Forrest Gump in disguise.

And you did not believe me

Some of you may not have believed my earlier post about 41 kids on a school bus/ pick-up truck. Once again, I risked my life to take a photo driving one handed down a road full of terrible drivers for your entertainment.

Gumpin' it

I feel like I fall into so many good things on a continual basis. A couple of days ago I met a nice couple that were on a bike tour of SE Asia. It turns out they are journalist and they and they are interested in my little project and me. They came out to the home and took hundreds of beautiful picture (with the notable exception of the special hair thining lens that I am certain he has on his camera). They also interviewed me.

I really do not feel so special and the fact that seemingly intelligent people seem to think so is kind of astounding to me. Either way, really nice couple, good experience and with some more good fortune, maybe a big help to the children at the temple.

The coolest life

I was sitting at the Myanmar border gate talking to some Burmese army officers about publicizing a meeting for tomorrow. The meeting is about Operation Smile, an NGO that provides free facial surgery to the poor (http://www.operationsmile.org/programs/patients/international/) ...really a great program. The officer introduces me to his commanding officer, who is a little drunk but friendly. They agree to send a truck around the village with a loud speaker on top to tell everyone about the meeting. As I was sitting there, some beautiful Buddist nuns walked by with their shaven heads and their beautiful pink robes and I thought I have the most interesting life.

A Great Honor

There are two women, F. and P. P., and their mother who I have become quite close with. They call me their brother and we have a brother/sister relationship. When P.P. leaves her home for long periods of time she honors her family by getting on her knees and doing a series of bows. Last night she was going away and I watched her do this to her sister and I thought it was really nice. Then, she asked me to come inside and she did the same for me. I do not think I have ever felt more honored.

An age old question answered

Last night I was getting ready to drive my bike from some meetings in a nearby city when I realized I had a flat tire. A man took me to the motorbike repair shop which was closed. He knocked on the door and they said they would repair the tire. Apparently, it had been happy hour for several hours because the men were quite drunk, so they sent their three boys out to try to fix the tire. No luck. So a drunk man came out and tried with limited success. Then, another one joined him. Finally, after one hour they said the bike was ready. Being aware of their drunken state I decided to do a quick check....brakes working...nope...tire full of air...nope. A few laughs, a few sorries, and a few minutes of work and I was on my way.

So the answer to the age old question, "How many drunks does it take to fix a tire? " 2 plus their 3 sons.

Fire and Grass Roof...bad combination

Three children stay in bamboo huts next to the Baan Unrak house. One boy lit a candle in his hut and left. Apparently, fire, grass roofs and bamboo are not a good combination. The fire quickly consumed three huts. Nobody was hurt. The kids lost their clothes (I replaced two sets of clothes for each boy). The kids seemed unfazed by it, but the accountant, who lost all of the financial records for the last three months, has looked better.

Gonna die....good!

There is a local woman whose daughter I know who:

• is HIV+ and does not follow the medication schedule for her ARV's (HIV medicines)
  
• she has TB and has only taken a portion of the medication that was donated to her several times thus the infection is quite resistant to normal medications.
  
• She works as a prostitute
• She has unprotected sex.
  
• All the hospitals have given up hope that she will follow through with a regime and literally told her to go home to die
  
• She will die soon
  

Last night I was chatting with a friend of mine who works with an NGO that does many things including assist people who are HIV+. She is especially compassionate and has dedicated her life to doing good things. We were discussing this patient and she said, "She will die soon, this is good. We must worry about the public as a whole not just one person." She is probably right but it seemed so callous to talk about someone you know like that it really took me back.

Insecurity

There was an attempted bombing in Kanchanaburi two days ago. The bomb was disarmed and it does not seem to have made the papers (so this is a rumor but from a friend who was there so I think it is true). Still do not know who is behind it or the New Years Eve bombings.

Realistically, a handful of people killed on New Years Eve in the bombings while thousands were killed on the roads during the new year holiday. Which should you worry about?

I am not worried about my safety in the least but I am keeping an eye on events.

A +

Sandy and I met A at Baan Unrak 3 1/2 years ago. She told everyone she was 16. She was really enthusiastic, a hard worker and she could speak English, Thai, Karen and Burmese (impressive considering she has only had 4 years of formal education). They ended up having her supervise the kitchen workers...quite an accomplishment especially considering she was really 13.

I have kept up with what she has been doing since she left Baan Unrak. Now she is really 16 and earns about $3 a day making brooms at her family's house.
A friend of mine told me about some educational programs that might be a good match for A. I sat down with her today at her house, a quaint bamboo hut set among rubber and palm trees, to talk about them. She wants to become more educated, but she feels like she must work to care for her parents. Caring for parents is a really important part of the culture here and I doubt that she will go into any of these programs. I hope I am wrong because if not, a girl with so many good qualities will have few options past making brooms the rest of her life.

Did ya hear the news....

The rumor mill has been a buzz for a week with mostly ridiculous rumors since the head monk was murdered. This would seem harmless except some of the rumors seem to be designed to enrage the simmering ethnic tensions in the area.

I was talking to friends about this and they made an interesting observation; the people here are from Burma and they can not get any honest news there...this is the normal way to find out what is happening.

The police know who killed the monk, but can not find him. There are no official reports about who paid the assassin. We will see if there will be justice.