My first impression of the camp already makes me feel more secure than I did at Saeree Wittaya. The van to Piang Loung was quite full after we picked up a few more passengers along the way. The woman next to me, a working woman as I judged from her cracked thumbnail and skin freckled from the sun, helf a small boy on her lap. The both fell asleep at one point, the woman's head falling over to rest on my shoulder, the boy cradled tightly in her arms and smelling slightly sweet and sour as babies tend to. They played 'A Man Apart', an often on tV vin Disel movie if you don't know, his deep rasp replaced with a quick Thai voice which I found a little funny. I nearly missed the village, unaware the bus continued on afterwards, so when I asked about Piang Luong they pointed backwards, and I quickly got off, waving away the motorcycle taxi, trying a pay phone that didn't work, and walking towards what I hoped was teh main area of the town where Sai Oo would meet me.
I saw a group of men and women eating outside a small store and after they said hello, I asked where the phone was, which didn't work either ( I have terrible luck with Thai pay phones) but when I walked back one offered me his cell phone and I was able to call and arrange to meet Sai Oo, hoping that I gave good enough directions that he would be able to find me. They then offered me some orange soda, a seat, and a little soup of sweet milk, food coloring, tapioca balls, bread, and some other stuff that is unidetified, but brightly colored. They knew a little English, I think, but were either uninterested or shy, and I was only asked a few questions. I appreciated their friendliness immensely, and Sai Oo arrived shortly to take me the quick 3km to the camp.
We went to the library first, a small room with a concrete floor, stacks of old National Geographics, Pride and Predjudice, Watership Down, The History of the Shan State 1 & 2, and more shelves with various English, Thai, and Shan books and magazines for all levels. Sai Oo went to give an English lesson to the monks, which he does daily, and I was left speaking to the director of the camp, a man who Astra had described as a big "teddy bear" and I already agreed with. We talked a bit, the easiest topics being the history and current state of the camp and Shan people, as well as my plan for being here, and the current English teaching schedule. I already felt more informed and involved. When Sai Oo returned, we went to his house, where I"ll be staying in the spare room, and then went to have dinner at the boarding house, where hopefully I"ll be spending time working with the children there, who are without their families, as well. The cook and the caretaker both seem very young, younger than me, and I can see how Astra was eager to get more people there helping, even if I'm not a social worker or a teacher.
I sat in on Sai Oo's lesson on essay writing, which mostly consisted of reading a handout about essay writing in english, then going over each sentence in Shan, focusing on the vocabulary, and then going over the whole paragraph in Shan before moving on to the next one, and ending by having them read some outloud in English. There were only 5 girls from both classes, which were combined tonight, because of a wedding I heard, and 2 were from out of the camp, and very social. They will "be my friends." and I'm glad for that. ( the next day they actually came to camp, picked me and another girl up, and we went to teh Chinese monastary adn then to the village for spicy papya salad and more pink soupy yum). We then went to a girl house, sat with her parents as she showered, and she adn the cook came back with me to Sai Oo's as he went to go study (he's enrolled in an online Australian university, part of why his english is so great) One of the girls, not the cook, has better English and was more forward in talking, then I read a bit and we all slept under the mosquito net in teh other room.
English here is more of a focus, as was explained to me before, and I am able to talk to the older and more dedicated students as well as Sai Oo and the head of the camp. The camp in uniform, all houses made the same, and not raised up like the thai homes for the most part, and seems cleaner and more aethetically pleasing for it's simplicity. They have one television, four computers and internet via. cell phone, and a small stand with snack foods. technically, the house that I stay at is outside the camp, right over the line, since foriegners cannot stay over night inside. This house is cement, with a small center room and then a bedroom to the right and left, the typical Thai bathroom outside, and although there are electric lights there is not hot water. At night, a small cart attatched to a three wheeled vehicle came by selling meats that are fried in a vat of oil, the kind that are on the streets every market I've been too. They are working on rebuilding and repairing the homes right now, so you hear chopping and banging of bamboo all day. It is smoky, but not as bad as mae hong son, and not too hot so far. People seem friendlier, perhaps they are more used to outsiders.
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