HELLOOO Nurse!!!

Sadly, my international adventure is about to come to a close after three years, but a new and more exciting one is about to start. I have just been accepted into St. Luke's nursing program in Sioux City, Iowa, to start in January. It's been a slow, long and difficult process and I can't believe that I finally found a program that will accept me.

After I get my degree, I am planning on heading out right away. I am thinking of re-joining the Peace Corps, then taking a position with Doctors without Borders or Care. But as my old Arabic teacher used to say, "small steps, Kim!" Let's see if I can get through the program first.

I can't believe that I am going back to Iowa!

Hormonal Problem Anyone?

Hey guys, I am working on an assignment for my Anatomy and Physiology and I need to talk 2 people who have a hormonal problem and 3 people who have a problem with the digestive system (I am looking at you here, Ram). If you can help he, shoot me an email and I will send you some questions. If you can't help me but can bullshit something real good, then shoot me an email anyway.

Back at CLC

Well, I'm back at CLC. My trip back from Mae Sot was uneventful. I managed to snag the front seat of the songtow to avoid seasickness, which was nice. I felt bad for the driver who was obviously used to having his passenger keep him amused for the six-hour trip. I was too tired to try and patch together a conversation made up of our 20-word shared vocabulary so I politely offered him some of my breakfast and then pointedly put on a pair of headphones.

About halfway between Mae Sot and Mae Sariang, there is a massive refugee camp. I am sorry that I don't have pictures, but my camera isn't working. It's huge, and every possible place is taken by makeshift houses with leaf roofs and bamboo floors. Some of the houses have walls, many don't even have that. This is the closest that I will get into a camp, as foreigners aren't allowed. This makes me angry-- if Thailand is ashamed of the camps, then they should fix them so that are are livable to the point where they can show them off to the press. Anyway, we picked up a man and two small kids (about 4 or 5 years old) and they were removed from the truck as we left the camp. As the man was led away with the two scared-looking kids, I noticed that he was missing a leg-- probably from stepping on a mine-- and was fitted with a prosthetic. Hopefully he was just returned to the camp, but I wanted badly to yell at the guard that took him away.

The police were very paranoid on the way up to Mae Sot-- every one of them took my passport and examined it. Perhaps this is because of the new law that would require them to wear a "Hello Kitty" armband if they break a minor law like overlooking a foreigner. On the way back they were calmer and only one asked for my passport-- of course, it could be that they were the same guards and they simple remembered me.

Back at CLC, very little had changed. No classes Thursday or Monday, which is fine with me because I am behind in my own classes. Friday was a speedbump between a day off and a long weekend and so one one really wanted to work. Monday is the Queen's birthday, and most Thais celebrate my treating it as a mother's day. So I had some of the classes make Mother's Day cards. This was a bit of a gamble as many of the poor kids either don't know who their mother it, or have a mother who is passed on or a refugee in another country. Some of the kids don't even know their parents names, and have no foster families to take a missing parent's place.

Visa'ed Up

Well, I got my visa and I am good to go until November although it's hard to say where I will be I will be when time for renewal comes up again.

I was a bit nervous about going through. Thailand has a law that says that you can only be in for 90 days at a time on a tourist visa. Now, I came in for 90 days on a tourist visa, and now I am on a new visa, so I am not sure if I am breaking the law or not. I don't think so, but if my name came up in their computer and they decided that I wasn't allowed to come back in there isn't much, as I learned back in March, that I can do about it!

So a little background for those unfamiliar with Thai visa laws: you can either get a 30 day or 90 day visa-- I have a 90 day. This means that every 30/90 days you have to leave Thailand and come back in, this is called a "border run". It's really, really stupid if you ask me. Most people just go to Mae Sai or Mae Sot, cross into Burma, get the enter and the exit stamp, and then cross back into Thailand-- a process that takes about 15 minutes, not including travel time.

It's particularly silly to me because my school is about 10km from the border, but I still have to travel 400km to get to one of the official checkpoints! Too bad the Kareni Army, who patrols the border, doesn't have visa stamps. The other annoying thing is that I have to fork over 500 baht to the Burmese government whenever I do this. I would much rather give the money to the Thais, and I don't know why they don't change their laws so that they can keep the money.

Heading to Mae Sot for a border run is always a little bit of a risk because they close the Mae Sot border so much. Mae Sot is considered "little Burma" and most of the signs are in Burmese. There are a lot of refugees, migrant workers, and illegals here, and it's also the flashpoint for protests and the hang out for NGOS and illegitimate aid organizations (illegitimate meaning that they are not recognized by the Thai government and operate under wraps, but also do most of the best work.) Anyway, all these means that there is a lot of potential for trouble, and when this happens they shut down the border and you can't get a visa.

Anyway, everything went fine. I left the country and decided to hang out in Burma for an hour. Myawaddy is a little border town that you can't leave (except to go back to Thailand). They actually don't let you in with your passport, you have to leave it at the office and they give you a temp. I took a quick hike around. I had tea in a real Burmese Teahouse with it's squat tables and what I imagined was political conversation at the next table (probably not). It was pretty chill except for a backfire or a firework or something that was very loud and gunshotish. I took a sip of my coffee and looked around to see if I should be alarmed, and all the patrons were staring at the farang to see what she would do. Sorry guys, no hysterics here.

The teahouse was really nice, and the guy who ran it was a cutie with a wide smile who I think accidentally almost way undercharged me for my coffee. It was clean and well put together. Outside, it was filthy and depressing, and I know that Myawaddy is probably one of the nicer Burmese towns because so many tourists have to see it. Dogs wandered around with their uteruses hanging to the sidewalk. Everyone was dressed in torn rags and spat bettlenut. The bridge was full of beggars, most of which were missing legs and arms. It was pretty appalling and depressing. Manners were low too, I got more "hey babies" in walking around for an hour then my entire 6 months in Mae Hong Son.

Back at the border, chatted with a nice Canadian couple that were getting thier visas renewed as well. The poor woman (a student of Thai) was a day late on her visa, and the Thai authorities really do a number of you as they hand out thier guilt. After the glares, you get a special stamp on your passport and have to fill out about three different forms, the entire time the office is staring at you like you committed some horrendous crime. I actually was three days late when I left Thailand last time and I thought that the Border guy was going to start crying at my apparent lack of respect for Thai law. Then you hand over 500 baht (about 15 bucks) a day for you subordinance.

I’m in Mae Sot for one more night, then I am taking the long trip home, but I think that I am going to break it into two days rather then one.

Run For The Border!

Remember those old Taco Bell commertials? "Make a run for the border! BOONG!!!" Well, that's what I am doing. Can't believe that it's been three months already and my visa is about to expire!

I am taking this as a minivacation which I dearly need. For about a week I am not thinking about classes, students who arn't learning the present tense, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemestry... you name it, I'm not thinking about it. I am in the happen' town of Mae Sot. I don't remember this place being so dingy! Mae Hong Son is a lot nicer, maybe I should have taken a vacation up there. The creepest thing about this place are the expats. I don't know where the volenteers hang out, all I see is fat white guys who have swanky buisnesses in town that are generally the cover for something else, or scary looking guys with a Burmese wife and baby in tow, looking like they are almost done with a plan to escape this place, probably leaving the new baby behind. I am already starting to miss my safe harbour of Mae Hong Son-- clean, friendly, and for the most part creep-free.

I will be going to Burma tomarrow. If the weather holds up, I think that I will hit Myawaddy, which is a small Burmese down set up for tourest crossing from Mae Sot. 100 baht says I will hate it.

Midterm Blues

They tell you in the Peace Corps to prepare for a feeling of sadness in the middle of your service, and that this is a pretty common feeling halfway though. I am finding that this is true whether you are serving for two years or one year or six months. Unfortunately for me, the condition is made worse by the fact that I already have a disposition towards depression.

I have had a good time with teaching, but I am getting ready to move on. For me, teaching comes easy. But the enthusiasm that is needed does not. For me, the hardest part of teaching is the feeling that I get when I am standing in a class that the students don't want to be there, and I feel a bit like an entertainment director on a slave ship. One of the classes is always demanding songs and games, but it's frustrating because the games that I come up with feel like work. I actually managed to even ruin Uno for the class by hiding the discarded card and making them play the game completely orally. (That is, you had to say "red three" and the next person would have to listen and put down either a red or a three.) This "jailkeeper" feeling has been difficult for me from the first day that I started teaching in Samoa. And I feel that were I a better teacher then my students would want to be there. I try to think of my best teachers and remind myself that even with them I only wanted to be in class about 40% of the time. I tell myself that I am holding myself to unrealistic goals, but it doesn't help too much.

My next career move will hopefully be in nursing where the object of my job will be to get rid of people so that I never have to see them again, rather then holding them hostage with an English book for an hour. I am really excited about this and have loved the three classes that I am taking. However, I haven't been hearing back from the school, which is also frustrating and depressing. This makes me upset with myself for being impatient, and the whole thing starts again. Still, I have a feeling that this will work out for the best, I just have to be patient.

The students this year are an incredible bunch, and they really are the only thing that is keeping me here. Whenever I think about leaving my students flash before my eyes and I put it off for another month.