I'm sweaty.

I read teh weirdest little kid english book today, to a group of kids just hanging out in the library. The point was, this boy and his little sister were arguing about if it was ever okay to lie, and she said No! and so he made her go tell this witch (but they didn't know she was a witch at this point) that her hat was ugly, and so the witch cursed her, and then the next day the boy had to tell 200 lies to get uncursed. I don't really know what the moral is, but I think keeping silent is different than lying, and it was quite a strange story. Although, the kids didn't really understand anyways.

I went in the morning with lang no (???) the girl who basically lives in Sai Oo's extra room with me, to the market in Piang Luong in the morning, where I only bought a neat little treat, that Sai Oo called a japanese cake. Its kinda like pancake batter, spread very thin over a circular skillet, and then you pick a few candies ( I did oreos and gummy circles, with a chocolate and milk drizzle, while my pal did a spicy chili spread, then something salty and fuzzy, with chocolate and milk drizzle) and then they fold it a few time and put it in a paper sleeve. Sweet breakfast at about 8. we went down to the next market a little further, adn then returned to PL, where she printed some photos of a festival she danced at, then we went back and I ate breakfast again with Sai Oo.
Sai Oo and I went back into PL (it only takes a few minutes) and met Mary, who runs an orphanage there. I"m not sure what the point was, but they've been talking about it for a few days so I learned how taht one works. I don't think Astra would like it- their free time is spent mostly weaving adn sewing which they sell to pay for things like thier school uniforms, and the also grow their own small garden. We then went to the border between burma and thailand, and I saw the Thai military camp on one side of the ravine, with the Burmese one on the other. We visited the temple & pagoda there, saw the rusted gate that used to be frequently used between the two countries, and I learned more of the history as we also visited the tomb or memorial of the old Shan leader, who actually had a separate Shan state for a period of time before they left Burma altogether.

The villages here are all on top of hills, so when you are in one you can just look over and see the other in it's entirety. If it was flat, you'd have a city, becuase they'd all connect, but instead, it's just small establishments. On our way back, we stopped at the very large buddha statue that is being built. it's enormous. I have a picture, with me in it, looking quite plump. Yuck. The british girls I met a few weeks back had all put on weight they said.. the rice get you. And I thought I was being way healthier, honestly. But hopefully playing with the kids will get me active. Sai Oo also let me drive a bit, which was fun. Love those bikes.

I played more keep away with the kids, with this fun bouncy ball we used last night, and a little barefoot football but the ground was so hot my soles were burning up, and I bailed pretty quick, moving on to cards with some older girls and reading later. I'm feeling good about that. and I"ll help Sai Oo write an example essay tonight or tomorrow about what I would do if I had 100.000.000 baht to use. interesting..

Mom was confused on the basics so here they are-
I'm in a Shan camp, shan being an ethnic group from Burma but also in Thailand. They are all refugees, and have been here about 7 years. The camp is unofficial, meaning there is no fence or guards around the outskirts, but since they are undocumented people, without Thai citizen ship, they cannot go very far, and would be arrested at police checkpoints for being out of the camp. When Sai Oo goes to Chiang Mai to take exams for his university, he has to pay a man a lot of money and sneak in. Sai Lang leaves a few times a year for meetings, legally, because his family has some documentation. There are about 580 people here, families, adn the boarding house has 16 children taht are here without families, one cook and one caretaking, as well as a director, but Astra, who set up this project and got it funded privately, isn't happy with the way the kids are taken care of and I'm trying to spend time with them, playing and interacting and getting them to do things besides work and study. Most of the kids go to the Thai school during the day, but have Thai, English, or SHan lessons here at the camp depending on the time of year. (Shan school is in the summer.)
Thai law doesn't allow foriengers overnight in the camp, so Sai Oo's house is RIGHT outside the line ( I didn't know it was until he told me, it's feasibly with in the camp to my eyes) and that's where I live.

It was really, really hot today. Whew.