Steff's Work 3.. 3's a charm

Yeah!!!! That's all i can say. Things have really picked up and I am absolutely loving it. It really was not at all like I envisioned and there have defiantly been some rocky rocky roads, but damn it has worked out.

My role has been more to unite people, to motivate people and to offer guidance to others doing some awesome things. I have continued to connect people around Mae Sot community and now there is a large push from the large NGOS (IRC, unicef, WE, ZOA, etc) to implement a referral system for child protection situations. Mae Tao Clinic and their clan have also been trying to begin talking about this for months now, but have not been very successful. The larger organization can be more successful most likely and than share this with the rest of the community, where the community can adapt it was needed.

My suggestions have been focused strongly on prevention. Teaching individuals, families, communities about dynamics of child abuse, addiction, stress vulnerability, anger displacement, empowering the people, empowering the communities, helping to build up community awareness of their role in preventing child abuse and how as a community they can support families that are caught in this cycle.

I've been continuing to visit the boarding houses in the area and trying out psychsocial activities with the students to assess their validity and usefulness. Some of the kids really love this noodle song, where you pretend you are a stiff uncooked noodle (representing anxiety) and then jump into a pot of bubbling water and slowly the firmness and (anxiety) melt away until you are a pile of noodles laying on the floor. They really love to lay in a funny pile on the ground and then pretend to eat each other afterwards :)

There was one child at Agape who had been sitting quietly next to another teacher and then got up and ran toward the outside of the compound and appeared to try to climb over the fence. The other children ran after him and hit and yelled at him,dragging him back. Normally I try to stay as uninvolved as possible (I never understand all the dynamics since I can't understand the language), but this was intense and the child was screaming and absolutely terrified. I ran over and picked him up away for mt other kids. They all gestured for me to take him to the house mama. The kid screamed bloody murder and held onto my so tightly I thought he would draw blood. I went to ask the other teacher if she had noticed anything, but she had no clue what was going on. The House mama came over smiling. I did not want to cause tension or insult the hierarchy or the House mama, but i just could not hand over the kid. It felt wrong. We both just smiled and gestured lightly to each other and eventually she went away. The kid relaxed a bit, but was still crying quietly and inconsolable.
The kid could not stop crying completely and was just miserable. He kept uttering Amay (which i figured out to me mom) and pointing outside. He was so obviously stressed and effected by the environment.
I did finally decide to take him outside for a walk and a breather. He lead me across the street through a farm field (where we received very weird stares) to a house on the corner of the pasture. There was a man and woman who did not look happy. I was so nervous I had made a bad decision (whatif the mom was there and was angry that I brought her son to visit, what if these were relatives who had been abusive to him and they would try to keep him..) any way these were not people he knew. His mom was not there. He quieted down and then was willing to go back to Apage and appeared sad, but less tormented about his mom. I spoke with the Boarding house master about his pain and struggles, he understood and had noticed that the boy had been having troubles adapting. I voiced my concern with his intense fear of the House mom and that perhaps people could interact with him differently, while also stating my apologizes for overstepping my place. I don't have reasons to believe they abuse him, but I know that a child who does not adapt quickly or easily and one who cries is not treated in my opinion on the best way. Culturally if a child laughs or is angry you laugh at him because "he is so cute." Or if he cries you gently slap him because crying is bad. The happy part of the story is no this little boy who used to cry often is not crying anymore. He is happy and has been able to adjust mostly to life at Agape.

There are two kids at SAW who lost their parents and when they first arrived could not be next to anyone else but each other. They have over the last couple weeks been able to relax a bit more and build some relationships. The little boy especially clings to me. At this boarding house Sigmond and another male staff run the boardinghouse while some adolescent boys and girls help to watch the kids. All the kids, adolescent girls, young girls and boys look to me as a mother figure. I get adolescent girls who plop down on my lap looking for a hug. I've been trying to do some relaxation stuff with the kids because they are having a lot of nightmares at night. This is a pretty new boarding house (little over a month old, so most of the children are new orphans, or boarders).

Unicef, WE has Incorporated the behavioral management ideas as alternatives to corporal punishment into their curriculum and I will help present that one last time at a training for the largest migrant school here in Mae Sot right before we leave.

I'm also trying to incorporate a compassion fatigue assessment and ways to prevent it as my final goodbye. (so many staff overwork themselves and really don't take enough time for themselves).

I went to the Thai street kid lunch spot behind the Burmese day market the other day. It is a Christian organization that supports a woman who feeds the street kids and families lunch everyday. The kids hang out with staff and socialize. They hung all over us and I just felt like I wanted to bring them home and have them take a bath and get clean clothes. I've been running into this girl named Salema a often around town and was really struggling with what to do for her. She had a little brother she sometimes carried around. I had given her some spare clothing and had had her sit down to lunch and dinner with me a few times to chat. (once a Thai woman had been so mean to her and I had seen her move around the corner from me and begin to cry silently). I made her sit with me and socialize as if she was not a bugger, but a friend. Anyway I've had the privilege to consult with a guy working with that organization and also with a drop in center for street kids and families and to brainstorm how to improve their situations for the long term and what to do in the short term.

I am about half way done with my activity packet and have numerous agencies that would like copies to share with their staff to make sure to incorporate psychsocial ideas into their work with the migrant kids. It is a beginning.

At one point I even helped Mae Sot social worker who was going to online school in Australia one weekend. She had gotten her paper back and needed to make revisions on editing. We spent a lot of time other. it was interesting she told me more about the bribes and dynamics behind the papers people get here in Thailand. She also discussed sexual identify issues and how in a collective society like hers it was difficult to have friends who opening showed their sexual preference (by wearing tshirts and pants --- I wonder what they think of all the westerners around here) and how she likes them as people but then she gets teased and ridiculed. She processed about if she felt strong enough to remain friends with these girls. She also has not gotten married and faces a lot of pressure from others around this. A lot of times it is difficult to discuss this stuff with their friends here.

My high school students who translate for me have some romeo and Juliet drama happening. They are at a cross roads in their lives. They have both graduated and are extremely intelligent people. The adults in their lives are looking for them to take action to move forward. The girl has an opportunity to move to Bangkok and work for a woman's organization. The boy has all these opportunities but wants to be an artist (Leslie we bought you one of his artworks for your cabin!) However, they are both madly in Love with each other. They are only allowed to see each other very rarely, so when they come with me to translate I guess they have been lying to the girls mother and saying it is only she who comes. Yikes. anyway. I just find them both endearing and I hope they end up doing all of it! :)

A doctoral psychology student (a previous lawyer) came to Mae Sot and is interested in doing a research paper on the gaps of service for the migrant community. A lot of the suggestions focused around mental health. She was really interesting and also offered to mentor Ben during his law school days.

I've just been doing a lot of this. Connecting people with each other, helping to point out needs, areas to connect and to work together, building relationships and sharing these with others. Lots of social work stuff.

I feel like I have learned so much here. So much about community organizing, trauma: trust/ distrust exclusive/ isolating societies, conflict community, politics, change, just how important a unified community is, and a lot about myself.

I'll be able to leave Mae Sot feeling good and that I contributed to the welfare of the migrant population.

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP)

What is AAPP? http://www.aappb.org/
Since the 1988 popular democracy movement was crushed in a ruthless crackdown by the military regime, thousands of people have been arrested, tortured and given long prison sentences for their beliefs and political activities. Moreover, even after political prisoners are released, they continue to face horrible treatment. The military uses all available means to intimidate and harass former political prisoners in order to prevent them from conducting political activities. When extraordinarily sensitive occasions take place in the country-such as the anniversary of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising-former political prisoners are usually re-arrested, interrogated and detained for an unlimited amount of time without reason. The military regime also uses many different tactics to attempt to isolate former political prisoners from society. The main weapon of the junta to marginalize ex-political prisoners is to deny them economic and educational opportunities. For these reasons, many former political prisoners are forced to live in exile. Many former political prisoners who previously gave assistance to their fellow political prisoners wanted to continue these activities. In order to be effective and efficient in performing these activities, and to honor student leader Min Ko Naing who was only recently released after serving nearly 16 years behind bars, former political prisoners established AAPP on the 11th anniversary of Min Ko Naing’s arrest.
What We Do: 1. Assist families of political prisoners to visit their loved ones. 2. Support prisoners by providing necessities such as food and medicine. 3. Monitor conditions in prisons. 4. Publicize arrests, conditions and life stories of imprisoned political activists and artists. 5. Advocate in accordance with international bodies, provide information to Amnesty International, International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch and so on. 6. Assist former political prisoners with their mental and physical rehabilitation from torture and isolation.
Objectives: 1. To report on the military regime’s oppression of political prisoners who are presently detained in various prisons. 2. To encourage the support of international governments and organiza- tions in order to pressure the Burmese military regime to prevent the further persecution of political prisoners. 3. To secure fundamental human rights for political prisoners, and to provide them with basic necessities such as food and medicine. 4. To protect the political prisoners upon their release from prison from harassment and intimidation by the military regime, including when they are looking for employment, continuing their studies, associating with friends and colleagues, and especially to protect them from persecution if their political activities are resumed. 5. To aid in the reconstruction of the former political prisoners’ lives, includ- ing both their mental and physical well-being.
Steps to Improve Prison Conditions: 1. Physical and mental torture in all its forms should cease to exist. 2. Prisoners should not be subjected to lengthy periods of solitary confinement. A maximum period for solitary confinement should be imposed and enforced. 3. Sanitation projects should be implemented inside prisons to improve the general health situation. 4. Adequate and nutritious food and sufficient clothing should be pro- vided to all prisoners. 5. Access to adequate medical treatment should be available to all prisoners. 6. Political prisoners should not be transferred to remote prisons so that their families cannot visit on a regular basis. 7. Prisoners should be immediately released when their sentence is finished. This should be strictly enforced. 8. Access to a fair and public trial should be available. 9. Prisoners should have access to reading and writing materials and the opportunity to use them.
What You Can Do: • Make a donation to support AAPP’s work. • Put pressure on companies that are dealing with the military junta in your re- spective country to cut ties with Burma. • Boycott tourism to Burma and products made in Burma imported to your region. • Tell friends and family about torture victims and the situation in Burma and ask them to support the work of Amnesty International and AAPP. • Demand the release of all political prisoners. • Condemn arbitrary arrest and all forms of torture.
The AAPP along with the Forum for Democracy in Burma, have begun a global petition campaign:
There are over 2,100 political prisoners languishing in prisons all over Burma. Free Burma’s Political Prisoners Now aims to collect 888,888 signatures before 24 May 2009, the legal date that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should be released from house arrest. This is a united global campaign working with over a hundred groups from around the globe. The petition calls on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to make it his personal priority to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma, as the essential first step towards democracy in the country. Please sign the petition at http://www.fbppn.net/
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO!
1. Sign the Petition
2. Get your friends, families, and colleagues to sign.(Join our pages on Facebook and Youtube as well)
3. Download the campaign kit (to the left) and get those in your community involved. Tell them about the situation in Burma and the courageous actions of Burma’s political prisoners.
4. Tell the FBPPN Campaign Committee what you are doing so that we can share with others about the global movement for Burma’s political prisoners. Email http://www.fbppn.net/info@fbppn.net
WHY THIS CAMPAIGN IS SO IMPORTANT
Daw Aung Suu Kyi says, “We are all prisoners in our own country.” Political prisoners are not criminals. They have courageously spoken out on behalf of those who have been silenced. The release of all political prisoners is the essential first step towards freedom and democracy in Burma. There can be no democratic transition without them. They must be allowed to freely participate in any future democratic political process.

To sign the petition go to http://www.fbppn.net/

Past Couple Weeks...

Let's see.... So we've both been digging into our work a lot this past couple weeks. Time is just flying by. It seems like things are just starting to pick up and now we will be leaving.

This past weekend there was a Cyclone Nargis commemoration in memory of the victims and the survivors. The cyclone hit May 2nd 2008. Nearly 400,000 people have died. Many of them died after the Storm had passed due to lack of care, access to resources because the regime provided no aid themselves and denied foreign aid relief to enter the country in the first month or so after the storm, when it was needed most. When the aid was allowed to arrive, the regime sometimes stole resources for themselves or to sell on the black market. They have sometimes restricted NGOs access to certain areas especially ethnic areas. Some of the Burmese volunteers who went to aid the delta region where thrown in prison sometimes simply for burying the dead bodies. Others were jailed for reported information to foreign media which is a crime in Burma.

At the commemoration some of the students at Agape and CDC sang some songs about the cyclone. Some of those students were effected by the cyclone (family members died, being uprooted from their homes). Right around this time much more media has been focused on the cyclone and how the people are fairing currently. A report by John Hopkins University and MTC denouncing the regime and their poor response to the cyclone came into the political spectrum. It was pretty controversial because it was not a well rounded research paper and it's scope was too broad for its tiny sample size and large premise. They also suggested to have less NGO support inside Burma because it appeared that they had to work too much with the junta and some of the supplies we funneled through them instead of going to the victims. The NGOS had a mildly heated response mostly appearing fearful of losing funding and reporting they thought the report was erroneous on several levels. It was interesting. Just showing more of the dynamics on the border :)

There has been lots of media on Thailand lately around the Thai government protests,the Burma International Criminal Court meeting in Bangkok this past week, etc. Not to worry, not too much happening here in Mae Sot. There has been some fighting that has broken out about an hour south of us. The Buddhist Karen group has begun to sneak into Thailand to attempt to circle the KNLA camp located on the Thai-Burma border from behind and to surround them. Two Thai police were shot and a Thai civilian was wounded by a mortar when they were caught in the crossfire.

(Moms, we are completely safe here in Mae Sot, not to worry).

We have only one more border crossing to do in Mae Sot. Our last one went well. They had not gotten the thermo machines to check body temperature for the swine flu at this point, but we heard about them later from another volunteer. She had a fever, but they let her go anyway. We have a Thai border guard friend. We chatted with him a bit. He drilled us a little on where we work and we got a bit nervous at first, but he was really friendly and wanted us to teach him English. This second time through, he got on the phone and called someone and told them that he had a problem with some Americans... He handed the phone over to Ben and Ben discovered it was the border patrols past English teacher who lives in Chaing Mai Thailand who happened to also be from North Carolina. They chatted for a little bit and we were on our way.

Ben and I have been helping Aung Khine develop a social studies curriculum for the whole migrant community of Mae Sot (which includes around 60 schools and around 15,000 students of many ethnicity, religions, and varying level of resources). Aung Khine has been feeling stressed because he feels responsible for the future of the students and the community as a whole. He wants to break down isolating barriers and prejudices starting within the classroom, moving to the student's families, their communities, and finally uniting the Burmese migrant community as a whole. His main focus is centered around helping the children be prepared for democracy when the time comes. Often now many of the students of this generation are not aware of what it is like to have a democracy. It was been one of the most interesting projects we've worked on here. We've met some great people. The teachers want to foster a sense of responsibility and rights within the students by helping them become self aware, aware of others, and knowing their role within the community. The curriculum is including democracy, citizenship (which is a controversial topic in eastern countries, they feel that individualism is closely related to this idea and that that may lead to opposition and aggression in the community. We've been doing a lot of adjustment of words due to connotations), role models, advocacy, characteristics of a leader, moral development (another controversial topic), and a few other things. It's been a little flattering and a bit intimidating because much of Ben and my input has been included in their outlines. Aung Khine also develops a history outline which is also another touchy situation in light of the community being in the middle of conflict and the dynamics between ethnic minorities and the Burman majority, etc. Also they have to balance the Thai education requirements with their own Burmese ideas. We absolutely loving working on this project. We feel so privileged to be a part of it.

Ben and I also finally made it to our waterfall. 3rd attempt was a success. It was worth it for the views of the valleys from the mountain top, the butterflies, the vegetation, and of course the water fall. The hike to it was actually a bit long. Only 3 km but on a nearly vertical mountain path along the ridge line that had not been used a lot lately, so there were downed trees and slippery slopes. We walked along the creek bed until you get to the rocks and falls. It was so secluded and peaceful.

We've been enjoying our time getting to know volunteers and some of our local friends. We had a fun birthday party for a really nice friend. We ended up with cheesecake everywhere. That is now my new nickname since I started it. I can think of worse names.

I've made friends with a Burmese couple who will relocate to US in a couple months. He is a former political prisoner (he's very young) and she helps me translate and transcribe for SAW. They asks us last week to help them because one of their friends was in jail. There had been a miscommunication at the border market between a Thai shop owner and themselves. The police were called. The wife was jailed. The husband returned with a Thai speaker to explain the situation to the shop owner, but the shop keeper did not care, she just wanted money. She said she would drop the charges if they paid ten times what the DVD player was sold for. This was communicated through the police, so extortion of Burmsese by Thais is an excepted way of life here. We had to attend with them to the police station, with the store owner, and court to reduce their chances of getting taken advantaged of (they might be more ethical with a foreign face around). It was annoying since the police were actually being pretty fair: only charging her a fine of 6,000 Bhat, while the store owner kept charging 50,000 (more money than renting a place for a year) to drop charges. It was interesting to see the police and court system. The girl was really young and scared. Her husband was so worried. The owner went down to 25,000 baht but would not budge from that. Anyway I gave the husband some blankets and a little fake flower thing Ben had given me for Valentines day that said I love you for him to give to her and she started to cry. The police and the shop owner felt bad and the shop owner then decided to not testify against her. So Wednesday she had court and all went well.

Dinner time is a fun occasion here. We usually go out for dinner (its cheaper than cooking. a meal costs less than a dollar. boy and we going to miss the food!!!) with our friends and dinner has always been a really nice social/ community time here in Mae Sot. Our house is the central location and people like to drop by and visit when ever. It will be difficult to leave Mae Sot in a few weeks (although I can't wait to travel!!!)

Last night we went to AAPP for a celebration. Maggie Q from Mission Impossible 3(I don't remember the movie, but Ben said he could) and some others from the US Campaign for Burma came to visit Mae Sot. I always love to go to AAPP for a celebrations because the guys are so friendly and can be so talkative. I feel like I learn so much from them. They are interesting people. Ben and I are thinking about contacting the US Campaign for Burma when we get back to help maybe open a new chapter or to contribute to the campaign to free Burma when we return home. It would feel good to continue to work on this. I think it is going to be really hard to leave and to disengage. There is only one chapter in MN at Carlson business arena. I'd like to focus on St. Paul where most of the Karen live.

Water Festival (Songkran- Thai, Thingyon- Burma)

Water Fest is every child's dream come true: a week long, country-wide, all ages all out water fight! It was fabulous. It was one of the most fun weeks I have ever had. Plus it was dog hot and kept life bearable. It started out simple and easy going. Just some kids with water guns sitting by the street outside there house squirting people as they drove by. It progressed into this really elaborate thing as the days went on. It started from sun up and did not stop until sun down. People all lined the streets outside their houses or businesses with huge containers of water and plastic scoops (like the ones you use to flush the toilet). And the other people get in trucks, motorbikes, bikes and drive by almost like in parade as you all wage water war on each other. People started to get tricky and got ice water. Some other people get baby powder and wipe it all over your face, arms. (all of this is in theme of the new year and giving well wishes to the person you splash in the face or wipe goo on them). The locals especially love to bless the furangs. I ended up throughout the week every color of the rainbow (they must use chalk or food coloring for the baby powder). My face did not get sun burnt at least since I always had a huge coat of powder on it. The rest of the body was not so lucky. I did not get the kind of sunscreen that is water fest proof only sweat and water proof. I'll know for next time :) Some of the people even had baby powder that actually felt more like athlete's foot powder due to the stinging of our faces.

Most of the time we camped out at a restaurant called Ayia's (a Burmese local rest that all the former political prisoners hang out and a place that donates much of the money to local Burmese programs). They invited us and our friends to join them. We danced, threw water, attacked the other people around the other restaurants, ate some good food, and the time past so fast everyday). Even got some of the shy people to dance (my favorite pass time).
We even saw a dog getting into the fun.
We saw some Thai- Burmese kicking boxing. No gloves. Pretty intense.
It was intense to get there also (my bike had broken...again) so Aung Khine, myself and another Burmese man all piled onto a motorbike and drove through town being attacked by people, water splashed in our faces, eyes, noses, baby powder goo wiped all over our faces. We did not crash though. (About 5 people die each year at water fest).

One day we went with AAPP to the waterfalls in the area. We stopped at the tiered one first. This was more intense because when you got water thrown on you from the street to a fast moving car the water stung! I guess a good physics lesson. At one stop, Ben got marshmellow gooed, Danny got completely doused iin Thai whiskey and I got shrimped. A woman put some things in my mouth that at first looked like worms. I gaged and tried to politely spit them out, but instead she washed it down with a gallon of Thai whiskey. I saw one on the floor and realized it was raw shrimp she had feed me. Thank you. (I did get sick later that week, but who knows from what ).

The next water fall we stopped at was this tall one that you can see form the road on top of a mountain, lush green with a pagoda sitting next to it. Really pretty. Shortly after arriving. One of the AAPP guys motions to me to look at the kickboxing ring. There was Ben standing in the ring and soon Danny jumps up to join him. Pretty soon the Thai announcer is screaming to all the spectators to gather around and Ben and Danny give a performance. After the left the ring, many Thai men came up to congratulate them and wipe baby powder on their faces. It was as if they were famous from that point on and they and the rest of us Furang like people got bombarded with water, goo, and even got some kisses form the men and women. At one point some of the locals got a little carried away and happy and went a bit too far with myself. I got grouped and tongued. That was enough for me.
When we reached the top of the water fall there were drunk people dancing, running, jumping all along the top. I kept picturing someone diving headfirst to the bottom, but luckily while we were there no one got hurt. It was funny to see us scoot across the rocks and water while the Thais run and jumped. We got to go up into the back of the water. It was really beautiful.

Out last stop was the border and the Moei River. There were hundreds of people wading in the water, some of the AAPP guys stated how happy they were to be looking at Burma and how much they missed home. Ben and Will jumped in the filthy water and danced and swam along with the rest of everyone.




The last day there was a parade of sorts. Floats with pretty Thai girls, lots of really loud music and random weird art work slowly made their way by Ayia's all morning. There were tons of older Thai's dancing in the streets along with the float. It took Ben and I about 45 minutes to get to Ayia (usually less than 5 minutes) due to the constant demands to dance, drink whiskey, drink other weird things that we pretended to drink but threw away, and to eat food. The older Thais women loved me and the lady boys. At one point I got carried away with them and had to kind of duck away and run.

Every afternoon everyone would begin to dance; however, one afternoon a young Thai girl became upset because one of the Burmese people had thrown water on her. She said some pretty ignorant angry things (surprising because usually everyone just smiles here) This set a sour mood on the whole thing for the Burmese and I saw lots of sad looks and lots of words muttered about this was not their land that she was right. We tried to cheer them up, but for some it is just too painful to be away from their home.

Anyway, I hope that when I get back we can simulate a little bit of this water fest in MN over the summer. I'm thinking mid-August. So watch out if you come near me around that time your getting drenched!

Sukhothai

A group of us decided to visit Sukhothai . Sukhothai is one of Thailand’s ancient capitals. Like most of these former capitals it is plush with ancient ruins of beautiful temples and tons of historical sites. Steff, I and a group of friends from Mae Sot decided to bus down there and rent some motorbikes and take in the sites. If we thought riding a bicycle through Mae Sot was hair raising, then we found driving a motorcycle through a busy tourist city to be just plain dangerous (but fun).
We drove to the Sukhothai main ruin and explored. Steff found a tiny cave where she hide out waiting to scare us as we passed by. However, she did not manage to scare one of us, but rather a random Thai tourist. Within minutes we were dripping sweat and began to miss the “cool” climate of Mae Sot up in the mountains. We could only handle a couple hours in the mid-day heat before we found some shade and cold beer. But before we could leave, Steff got her first taste of motorbike driving (around a moat). She managed not to fall in.

Later that night we returned for an awesome light show at the light-up ruins. There were glowing Buddhas and stone buildings. So beautiful looking at night. We happening upon a traditional Thai dance, music show. Where we saw dozens of these large floating candle lanterns released into the sky in intervals to create this glowing star-like pattern as they floated off into the night sky.
We capped off the night by eating at the Poo restaurant haha. We befriended a Thai ladyboy and had some interesting chats about the Indian caste system with our northern Indian friend.

The next day we drove about an hour outside of town to see some more ruins. Steff and I really just wanted to drive motorbikes. I rode on the back of the bike for the first time with Steff the whole way home (her first time going over 2nd gear). I was scared at first, we did almost get bucked off the bike the first steep hill we went up, but then she started to get the hang of it and is a motorbike natural.

On our way home we piled into a small, old, rusty van. We got about 10 meters before the van died. The next hour was spent watching the driver kicking and cursing at the engine trying to get it started again. We were unsure that this old bucket of bolts would get us up the mountains to Mae Sot, sure enough an hour up the mountain the van started to shake and make some crazy noises and some strange smells and died again on the side of a steep mountain. Luckily the van that jumped us early followed us the whole way (sometimes positioning themselves behind us to break our roll if we did not make it up the mountain). Luckily we broke down near a mechanic. The van was beyond repair, so they called another van from Mae Sot to pick us up. It was dark by then. As we waited we noticed a small stall a few feet down the road where we purchased some cold drinks. The husband came out and started to dance with us and the wife animatedly with gestures asked Nikki if she was a prostitute and kept hugging her repeatedly. Quite a strange moment.Finally the new van arrived. This van defiantly was not a bucket of bolts (we even had air con). This driver however, seemed to be a professional drag racer and scared the shit out of us by driving up the mo