Preamble: this is not to make fun of the Chinese, it's just the way I get my laughs sometimes.
Behold.......some of my students' (past, present and friends') English names:
*Goris (f) *Yoyo (f)
*Keamo (sabe?) (f) *Yojo (f)
*Neaco (f) *Beryl (is this a name I am unaware of? f)
*Kinky (f) *Shirely (subtley different from Shirley)
*Melons (m) *Gills (f)
*Crow (m) *Hebe (f)
*Resin (m) *Coco (m)
*Yane (f) (I think of Stephen F's Anchorman impressions everytime I say her name) * 2 Fanny's
*Jupiter *Snowball (m)
*Swig (f, she wanted her name to be Swallow, but she it was too long )
*Rainia (f) *Volcano (m)
*Jingle (m)
-courtsey of other teachers
*Grean (m)
*Uranus (m)
*Venus
*Anject (f)
*Snower (f)
Getting through roll without cracking a smile is generally seen as an accomplishment

know I complain a lot about China, so this blog is going to be 100%, totally and unequivocally dedicated to the things I love about living here::
*taxi drivers who continue to talk to you long after it has been established that you have no idea what they are saying
*the bird-man outside my apartment
*Chinese dumplings
*Chinese babies
*my students
*the gardens (especially the bamboo forest)
*people speaking at screaming volume level but just having regular conversations
*creative modes of transportation--especially regular bicycle riders holding on to the back someone else's moped (in order to arrive much more speedily) and homemade tractors
*tea houses
*public transportation
*recorded bird sounds playing on people's apartment balconies
*laundry hanging anywhere possible (phone wires, trees, tennis nets etc.)
*an addictive simplicity
*Lanzhou noodles
*West Lake in all of its newness blooming
*hiking in the mountains (hills?)
*canals
*merchants who smile when we are bargining
*the chaotic and overwhelming environment of the fruit and vegetable market
*ancient Chinese couples holding hands by the canal in front of my apartment or West Lake
*Engrish

Being that the majority of my week has occured on my bed, I will substitute requested pictures for boring stories:

My Elizabethian cat::


Me and my wheelchair. On the way home from the vet, Seth told everyone we passed that we'd been a car accident in Chinese. If it looks like I had had a bad day, I had:


My birthday cake(s), so yummy!

Happy Birthday Chris!!!!

I took my cat to get fixed this weekend and to be declawed. It didn't prove to be as blogable a story as I thought it would be. I took a student with me, and there were almost no understandings. Well, there was one initial misunderstanding when the vet thought I had come to be fixed.....but after that got cleared up..... And, I am sure that my student now thinks I am a psycho because I cried when I had to hold her and they put the shunt in and because I just dropped a whole month's Chinese's salary on a cat. But, I did some research and found out, apart from simply wanted to decrease the pet surplus population, that her yowling would go in cycles until WINTER unless I fixed or bred her. I love sleep too much for that and kittens are the last thing I need now. And though Seth said, "oh I'll fix 'er" I figured the money might be worth it.

I also got to take the motorized pedicab for handicap people home! Pedicabs are outlawed in my town except the kind that assist the handicapped. I've wanted to ride in one since September! YESSSSS. Saturday some of the teachers from Wenling came up and we enjoyed West Lake and the botanical gardens on a simply divine day, had an Indian supper and then went to karaoke to rock out. We joked the whole time because all of us felt like we were in some sort of Make-A-Wish-Foundation outing with my wheel chair and such a beautiful place. (not that we think Make-A-Wish-Foundation is funny....)

Today, my closest friends came to cook me a Chinese lunch for my birthday. It was so good. Sometimes I forget how wonderful they are and when everyone is in the same room it is almost too overwhelming. We laughed a lot and ate a lot of such good food. We are doing a cooking exchange. Once a month we take turns cooking Chinese/western. Its my turn next so toss out some ideas for some dishes that do not require baking, cheese, olives, tomato sauce, bread or meat. (please) I haven't enjoyed an afternoon that much in a long time.

Happy birthday week to: Jane (n/a), Rachel(n/a?), Chris (25), Beth FB (24), Sabrina (24), Kristin N (24)!

In honor of Amanda.....

(and all the rest who have been pestering me to update this)
This week's news:
*I was in bed more than I was out of it.
*Did some tricking.
*All most all 150 of my students signed the cast (with much wonderment, apparently that's just an American custom)
*Had (and still have) the suspicion my cat is going into heat.
*Did a one-legged anti-rain dance for Cyprus' forecast.
*Realized that the inside of bag I take everywhere smells like my mother's purse did when I
was a child (and still does) and started wondering what Freud would say about that. (smell==minty gum, tissue fluff, things that have been wet and then dry et. nauseam)
*Had a sandwich party
*Been an unusually ardent Chinese language student
*Missed home
*Played the nose trumpet
*Made too many promises to keep
*Practiced poetry with my students

(are you happy now A??)

Please open your.......

The hits keep coming.....I woke up today with the "getting-things-done" mind set. I started with checking my email (always a bad first choice). The American doc had emailed me to let me know the panel of obligatory blood tests he ran when I was in with my foot had come back and he was worried about some stuff and wanted to run a few more. So, instead of my to-do list, I went to the hospital for a little chat. He had noticed some things were up with my heart and liver function (weird, never been a problem ever before) and wanted to run some more blood tests, an EKG and a heart and liver ultrasound (I think everything is actually fine, that is not the point of the post).

Everything was going smoothly as we headed into the heart ultrasound. The Chinese doctor who was performing the tests couldn't speak English, so a Chinese nurse with less English than my students was translating for her. After the liver ultrasound, the doctor said "somethingsomethingsomething" and the nurse said, "lay on your side," so I did. And then the doctor said "somethingsomethingsomething" and the nurse said, "Now please open your Bible." "My what?" I asked surprised." "Your Bible, open your Bible." I was suddenly confused as to if I was at church or the hospital....or if the nurse was about to give me the last rites.......the bafflement on my face must have been a clue to her wrong vocabulary. "Your Bible," she said again, resorting to pantomiming and reaching behind to the middle of her back." "Oh!" the truth was dawning, "My bra! You want me to undo my bra!" I practically shouted, cracking up already. "Oh, bra......b..r...a...bbbuuurrr...aaaaaa.....aaaaa...bra......" she repeated. "Yes, bra." I confirmed. I continued to crack up for the rest of the examination, giving the oblivious doctor fits............open my bible......ha!

In my isolation, I have taken to stealing from others' blogs....today's winner is: Fellow English teacher, Erin in Wen Ling::

"Instructions on the back of the vegetable peeler I purchased (spelling errors included):
-Wash it with edible scour before using.
-Don't use it except vegitables aand fruits.
-Take care while using it.
-Don't use it when some dirty things on the holder.
-While use if on the small one,pleaase taake care of youfinger.
-Child can't use it himself, if use it, please under your
-If it is transformative, please don't use it.
-Don't use it unduly in order to prevent distortion.
-Don't use to cut hart things,it's easy to be bad.
-Don't put it near fire.
-After using it, please wash it and dry.
-Don't wash it with metal brush and hard clothes
.-parents reference."

The past two days, my second family here, has taken me out on the town in my wheelchair. Yesterday to dinner, today to buy some DVDs. Once again, if not already the center of attention as a foreigner when I walk down the street, I certainly am wheeling down the street. It doesn't help that Seth is general busting-a-gut laughing at the whole situation. Today, the caramelized-fruit-on-a-stick-seller even gave Jane and I free caramelized strawberries. As much as I get frustrated with Chinese sometimes, they really are so kind and concerned.

In retrospect, I realized I have NEVER seen an every-day Chinese person in a wheelchair, maybe once or twice someone begging, but never just someone going on with their daily life--never even an elderly person. And, I have only seen one person on crutches. It is all very weird beard. What do they do with all of the injured and feeble?

newly obsessed with Trespassers William....they are sort of like HEM meets Imogen Heap meets Sia. Love it!

Funny thing happened today. My ankle was still sort of killing whenever I......moved.....and I also needed to get some prescriptions renewed (which loyal readers will remember was an fiasco at the Chinese hospital back in the fall) so I decided to pay the only American doctor in Zhejiang province a visit. I wanted to hug him as soon as I saw him (though, he was missing almost all of his teeth and its not that I am prejudice against those with no teeth, it just made me a little nervous!). He was just so.....American...in a good way. He is also I psychologist (his main job here is to draw attention to mental health and modern resources to help) so we sat an talked for awhile about China, moving, adjusting, loneliness blah blah. When he finally got to looking at my ankle he said "G*dd*mn girl, you really bruised the hell out of it."

Upon examination of THE SAME x-rays from the Chinese hospital (where they told me no breaks, only injury to the soft tissue) he realized that I had fractured my foot in two places and torn a ligament and ripped the Achilles tendon. Well, shoot a monkey.
So, here I am.....cast.......crutches....and wheelchair for long distances. No weight may be applied for 3-4 weeks!!! BU HAO!

In line with misdiagnoses, two American friends from a wee city down south came up the past weekend because their hospital there had said they probably needed appendectomies, so they wanted a second opinion at a mildly more modern facility before going under the knife. In Hangzhou, they were told that they did not have appendicitis only severe constipation (excuse me for publicizing this girls). The only problem is that they went to the same Chinese hospital that misdiagnosed me....hmmmm...tricky.......Kristin, Brian and Audrey we need you HERE!!

(this was apparently saved as a "draft" instead of being right published..........)
I fell again today. I must be hitting a growth spurt (believe it or not). I fell off a curb at city center in the rain today. I was up, then I was definitely down and off the curb watching Seth (still talking to me) walk into the distance while forgetting the language to call him to help and Chinese people swarmed around, concerned. I was so embarrassed, first falling, then sitting in the rain in a puddle until we could hail a taxi in rush hour. Chinese people were staring at me like I had two heads. I am not the kind of person (I hope) that falls often and makes a large deal out of the attention, but it is really is pain like I haven't felt in a long long time, and hopping not walking, is the order of the day....or week/month etc.

Luckily, Seth realized I wasn't participating in the conversation and turned around to see me on the pavement, hailed a taxi and then took me to the hospital (no broken bones was the word) and then home. Most of all, it scared me--scared/scares me to think if I had been alone. I couldn't remember English, much less Chinese--and I don't even know "I've hurt my ankle!" I was/am so helpless.

I am definitely ok. Alive. But I might be in bed for the next year so please call/email me for my own entertainment. I am drunk on rum and filled with painkillers, so I will sleep now, but call if you have extra time!..........

toilet humor

I fell in my toilet today. It all happened so fast...I am not sure if I can accurately describe what went on. Anyone who has been to my apartment (I realize that this is a small portion of the reading audience, but still a significant percentage) may have noticed that when any amount of pressure is applied to my toilet seat, it becomes a volatile flying saucer which has more than once sent "users" sailing across the restroom (the sadistic side of me loves the sounds of surprise that emanate from the bathroom when new visitors experience flight). All things come full circle though. Over time, I have learned how to perch delicately enough to remain on the stool.....but my time away must have muddied my memory. The only electrical socket in my bathroom is about 5 inches down from the ceiling above the toilet. When I want to plug in my small heater to dry my clothes in the bathroom, I have to stand on tiptoe on the toilet seat to plug it in. Unfortunately, the day before I left, there was a small electrical fire involving the socket and the said heater which mangled the rubber and metal of the plug on the heater. Though the socket was replaced, I was having trouble fitting the mangled prongs in to the socket. While in the middle of this, I shifted my weight, and the toilet seat went airborne, cruising across the bathroom striking first the kitty litter and then the cat food---sending litter, food and water flying. Somehow, I must have jumped off the seat to avoid flight, throwing the heater into the living room to avoid electrocution, but then landed, two-footed, into the toilet bowl......jamming the toes of my left foot in the crook-part of the bowl and soaking myself silly.

I do so many ridiculous things while I am alone. Its a good things no one knows about them!

Up for a swim?

We found this sign on a beach in Hong Kong, I don't think I am alone when I say a shark bite is more than an inconvenience.....but thanks for the apology.....

I accidentally wore my pajama pants to teach class on Monday. It was my day of regretting the slimming tea. I had changed into black pants in the morning, but as I got sicker and sicker, I switched to my pajama pants to increase my comfort. I was on my way to class when I realized I forgot to change, and there was no time to go back. It is like those nightmares when you go to school naked....only not quite so bad. Anyway, let's hope that is not an indication of the rest of the school year!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement. It means so much to both me and Zheng Si Si. Thank you, really.

I am not sure how to approach this, but I just found out my dearest friend here, Zheng Si Si's father is dying from a stroke. She is a single mother, unemployed, looking after both her parents who are living with her and her 8 year-old daughter. In her free time, she basically looks out for the poor and underprivileged of this entire nation (mainly Tibet and Southern China, as well as local folks). She is completely reeling. I've never actually dealt with a crisis situation in China before. I never know what to say in America, much less when someone is hurting here. "Comforting" words hold even less meaning.
All this to say, I have to do something. Si Si is my entire lifeline here. /She helps me survive everyday though she has so many worries. I hate to ask this, but can anyone contribute any money? I have some to give, but it won't even come close to covering the cost. Among foreigners here, it is discouraged to just come to the rescue with cash......as it is dangerous to the social structure, personal development and responsibility, and international relations(mainly, westerns have the money, so let's just let them do it). But I don't have time ethical squabbles right now. If anyone reading this could just send 5 dollars to my parents home, they can deposit it in my account and I will withdraw it in kuai and give it to Si Si as a gift of love from my dear community. It is so little for us but so much for the Chinese (average employed wage is about 5 dollars a day) All I can do is give you my word that I will do with the money what I have promised and hope you will trust me.
And, if you are a praying person, please do that. Si Si has been a Christian for about 2 years and I am afraid I see rocky times ahead for her. If you are a praying person with a great phone plan (tel3advantage for example...specifically kt and chris, jane, kristin etc. etc. etc.) you could call her at 8613958014443 and pray for her in person (her English is great, but speak slowly with no special Christian language). She really gains strength through prayers spoken to her and I am unable to do that right now. Or, if you want, email her with a word of encouragement <sissy_zheng@hotmail.com> and just let her know you are a friend of mine and wanted her to know you were thinking/praying for her. I know it might be awkward, but all I can do is ask for some help. Please.
Thanks for listening and helping if you can. LOVE!
email me for my parents address if you need it cammiebrennan@gmail.com . i don't want to exploit their home on the internet.
ps the pic is of Si Si at my halloween party as a mummified chicken.......don't ask.....

confessions of a veggo

At heart I am a vegetarian. In theory too (I've been reading for Buddhist theories and Gandhi's take on the subject lately) but I had a break-down in Bangkok. I am not really sure what happened, and I was so nervous to tell the truth. I started feeling really bad...just lethargic and irritable. In the 7-Eleven, I passed the tuna. After I passed it, I couldn't stop thinking about it, it just sounded SO good . Two days later, I gave in and bought some. After that, there was no stopping me. I was out of control. Tuna everyday. I am done now. My holiday is over, and I must return to being an honest vegetarian. I just had to let you know.

I'm slowly transitioning into real China life....first Singapore (which was clean-out-of-control) and now Hong Kong. I could do without Singapore, nothing to fabulous there but a lot of laws...oh, but the merlions were great........and Hong Kong is wonderfully entertaining. I am also with 5 other aimless lower-twenties people and that is encouraging :) It feels strangely wonderful to be back in a smoke-choked net bar listening to the manufactured sounds of violence from the PC gaming and the blaring Chinese rap.

I am coming to the end of my rapidly fraying rope, mentally, physically, spiritually and ecumenically. (can anyone name the two movies I just quoted in that one sentence????) Cambodia makes me tired. I gave blood at a children's hospital today (which was another horror show of its own inside.....remind me never to get sick outside the united states). There is a Dengue Fever Epidemic and sort of a blood crisis. A Greek girl came in shortly after me and we were chatting it up as we reclined with needles in our arms (I must say, I have never started a friendship in a blood bank before, and on top of that, when it was all over, we found out we had the same blood type......fate.......). She told me she loved Cambodia to the point of obsession; the energy of the place she said. I almost fell off the blood donating table in disbelief. Maybe it is because I am tired of traveling, or maybe I just can't deal with the country, but I will be glad to get out of here on Tuesday. Glad I came, but glad to leave.

At some point this week I told Jane, ":I have to get out of here!" The oppression, pain and poverty are suffocating, every time you go out, people are literally pulling you in a million different directions at once. I mean, I have been to Third World countries before, I currently reside in one for that matter, but I have never seen such desperation. People pleading with you to separate with your money. I felt so trapped.

Jane reminded me that that is exactly the point, poverty is trapping. And how lucky are we to be able to escape it. I just can't take it.

Furthermore, every time I open up my email box I am driven to tears by either good news or awful news from my community. I loathe being away from it. How I ever managed to find such amazing amazing people is beyond me and I hate hearing of their hard times that I can't help them with. It also hurts to miss their celebrations as well.

I am finally out of Phnom Penh.....a place I never want to go back too....ever.......Jane and I visited a few typical tourist spots like the National Museum, the Silver Pagoda (the floor is all silver!) and the Royal palace, but we also made it too some horrific sights. With the Khmer Rouge reign in the 1970's over 2 million Cambodians (one in every 5) were executed in the name of fanatical communism. We went to an old high school that had been converted into a prison and torture center for Pol Pot's prisoners. Over 17,000 prisoners were taken to this center (called s-21 then, Toul Sleng now) and only 12 survived. The Khmer Rouge would arrest the entire family of a wanted "criminal"and then in due time, execute them all after several months of torture.

They documented every part of the process with written biographies of the prisoners, pictures of their arrival and then their deaths. The Khmer Rouge abandoned it quickly as when the regime came to an end in 1979 leaving evidence in abundance of their horrific crimes. The museum left everything almost exactly as it was.....chains, torture weapons, blood stains....and has also taken effort to display the pictures of every prisoner; man, woman and child. Pictures line room after room. Pictures of people alive, and pictures of people with their entire heads blown away, or bloated from being purposely drowned, or with bubbles coming out their nose from the acid poured down their throats.
I've never been to Germany, but I am sure the concentration camps must be like this too. We also went to a place outside of town known as the "Killing Fields"; acres of land filled with mass grave after mass grave of intellectuals, professionals, and enemies of Pol Pot where over 200,000 bodies of men, women and children where discovered. There is a stupa in the middle, filled with hundreds of thousands of skulls arranged by sex and age. In the sunken graves scattered across the field, bones and pieces of clothing still protrude from the ground.

Ironic, that these museums are made to honor the dead and to encourage the living to never let this happen again. Tourist file through and murmur their horror and shock, shaking their heads......and in a few decades, the same thing will repeat itself in areas like Sudan, Rwanda, and Bosnia....our children with file through the museums, murmur their horror and shock and shake their heads at the terrific tragedies that we are allowing in our current lifetime.
To see a better picture (and to be really depressed), rent the movie "The Killing Fields"

We left Phnom Penh by boat....roof of boat actually. We traveled up the Mekong River on the roof of a passenger boat with 50 of our closest Cambodian travel friends for 6 hours until we reached Siem Reap, the site of the largest worship complex in the world, Angkor Wat. Unfortunately, the sunburns Jane and I recieved yesterday are unforgiving and we decided to spend the day out of the sun and resting. Angkor Wat has waited for some 800 years, it can wait one more day.

I don't know what they are calling it these days. (I was going in a completely different direction, but when I typed that phrase, I thought of coming into our guesthouse last week and seeing a cluster of people around a ground floor window. They were looking at two people practicing massage on some mats and pillows..."I guess that's the activity room," said Jane....."'Activity,' eh? We call it something different these days," I replied.)

Anyway, I don't know what they are calling it these days, but Katie and Chris have decided to live their lives in way that is somewhat in communion with the poor. When they talk about it, I always think that it sounds so great, like something I want to do someday too.

I have changed my mind. I have no desire to ever live in poverty like they do. I know it is dreadful and selfish to say. If this trip has taught me anything, it is that I love my luxuries. I love my bed. I love having heat in the wintertime and a-con. in the summertime. I hate smelling myself and dirt-encrusted nails make me nervous after a few days. I like soap bubbles and I love hot water. I must floss before I go to bed and I secretly revel in getting to visit the dentist. I don't always have to have complex, expensive food......but I like organic and fresh, and sometimes I must have to have pizza or something ridiculously unhealthy and delicious and cheesy (mmmm, cheese). I long to have technology at my fingertips (with a diet coke on the desk). I am possessive of my free time, I like to have an aesthetic environment, and I think it is fun to put together weird clothing combinations. Travel makes me think, makes me smile, makes me hope; but it is such a luxury. So many of my students have never been out of their hometown, much less their province.

I am not saying that I would die without these, but I want them. I really really really want them. But maybe that is the point......that which we love becoming a distraction.

I don't know what the answer is.

Going to Cambodia tomorrow...another uplifting journey......for information on the recent reign of Pol Pot see http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/

"the elephants got out just in time"

I am entirely toooooo sleepy for my own good. All this good weather and smiling people can make me want to nap. I miss the nap. It was such a staple in my college life. This week, we went to the rainforest to ride elephants. Our elephant was most amiable and sooooo big. I was quite surprised. I guess from afar, they seemed much smaller.

We also went to the New Life Center here in Chiang Mai. The New Life Center is a shelter for girls that are either at risk for prostitution or are ex-prostitutes that have been taken/sold from their villages into brothels and then rescued by Thailand Social Services. At the Center, the learn a trade as well as an academic education and they are also protected from brothel owners/ fathers who want to get them back to their detriment. It was a good but really really hard visit. The manager of the Center gave us a tour. We got to meet the girls and she told us their stories. The stories where unimaginable.......families abandoning or selling their girls, the conditions in which the brothel owners kept the girls----having to service 30-40 men a day combined with very little food, sleeping on the floor and being abused. It seemed unbelievable that these girls were standing in front of me, strong and smiling. I can't imagine living through that pain (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional) and not simply dissolving into little disposable pieces in some dark corner and disappearing. It gave me a passion for wanting to work with those girls in the future (I have to get an emotional grip first).
for more infomation on the new life center see: http://www.newlifethailand.org

Don't tell my mom I went to Burma........

I went to Burma this weekend. One of my life-time goals has been to go to Burma. I may have only spent about 15 minutes there--but I was definitely there. Jane and I left Phuket for Bangkok and then took a night train to Chiang Mai. Jane has friends that are church planters in Chiang Mai who have been working with Hmong (sounds like "mung") minority people about six hours southwest of Chiang Mai. After a quick shower we piled into three trucks and took the long journey through the mountains to Mae Sot. It we spent three days in the tiny village that the government has set up for Burmese refugees.

The village was having its church-opening ceremony and a Hmong wedding. I loved it because we traveled with Hmong, Thai and Laotian students from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot and once we were there, they helped us meet the villagers and tour the village. The village (called "village 9) is located about 2 kilometers from the Burma boarder and you can see the majestic Burmese mountains towering in the not-so-far distance. It is saturated with Burmese, Hmong and Karen people who have fled the terror of the "State Peace and Development Council" ruling party. On Saturday, I piled in the back of a pick-up truck with 15 other Hmong and Thai students and we headed to the amazing waterfalls in surrounding mountains. We spend the day wading through the cold water, splashing each other and climbing the falls. (Thankfully, a 12 year-old Hmong girl attached herself to me and saved me from tumbling down the rocky falls to my watery grave multiple times.) Saturday, I also went to Burma with two other Americans who needed to renew their visas by re-entering the country.

On the day of the ceremonies, the village men slaughtered to cows for the communal lunch (I refrained), and over 400 people gathered to witness the goings-on. It was an absurdly wonderful trip, but also sickeningly difficult. It is hard for me to imagine the terror and suffering under which these people must have lived in Burma, their courage to slip over the boarder, and now the hardships which they deal with in their village (horrible water sources, rampant disease, exposure to the elements, discrimination by the Thai government...) We held a 2 hour "clinic" in the afternoon. Seeing villagers with health problems. There is a nurse from America who has also been working closely with Village 9. It just seemed so ridiculous. Malnourished children being giving 10 multivitamins. Women with wrists swollen with arthritis being given 5 Tylenol. The people here are doing everything in their power to relieve what suffering they can, but the options are so limited and temporary. Just a band-aid on a deep, festering wound. I am so overwhelmed with the futility of humanitarian efforts that I could scream....or just take a nap.

I was further frustrated by the ingrained sexism in the village. I don't know what my problem is. I consider myself an open-minded person...but when I see others' differences that I don't agree with I get so angry. So so angry. In Thailand men have a higher status, but in the village, the breach in status between women and men is extraordinary. Men get to sit while women stand. Men eat first always while women watch. Men are permitted to have multiple wives. I don't know if I feel frustrated because I am a women and therefore feel sympathetic, but if you could just see how hard these women work in these villages. Perhaps they marry at 16 or 17 and start having children right off (no birth control of course) until they have 8-10 children. They will carry one on their back, one on their front, one on their hip and have the hand of another. In this position,they will assist their husbands in the fields, be responsible for the sewing, cooking and cleaning as well as their millions of children. I am not saying the men don't work hard. I just feel frustrated that these amazingly capable, intelligent and gentle women see themselves as second-class...their value only seated in their childbearing capabilities.....I could just dig a hole and climb down in it--frustrated with people and myself; I don't know where the line is between tolerant and taking a moral stand.

check out http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107808.html for little summary-roo of Burma's government and geo-political relations

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Thursday, January 26, 2006
Back from the beautiful ocean. It would of course rain our first day in a resort town (when I went to Santorini, it snowed for the first time in 15 years) I suppose that is what makes my travels unconventional. Aside from the rain, I still got a sunburn, which I am loving in January and also got a lot of time to relax, read, and listen to music on the beach. I certainly can't complain!! I also learned a lot more about the destruction and terror during the tsunami. Due to my overdeveloped sense of motherness to the world's children, I spent much of the grieving for the children and families I didn't even know that must have suffered so much, I just can't imagine being responsible for a child in that situation, and being unable to hold on. I was glad to see that so much had improved in the past year (homes, business etc) but I know that in Pakistan, and even New Orleans, people are still suffering silently from natural disasters now that the media spotlight has shifted. It seems like such a hopeless situation.