We All Work for the Government

11/7/09

Just before we parted ways, Michael told me he'd call me around 7:00 if he was going to head to Sukothai since I was interested in tagging along with his refugee officer team. I woke up the following morning around 9:00 and no one had called. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to know more about him, his friends, and their job but I didn't sweat it. After I took a shower, I checked my phone once again and noticed a text message. It was Michael. They were going to leave for Sukothai around 1:00 if I wanted to join them for the weekend. This is the nice thing about open ended travel, you're not tied down by itineraries, schedules, and other business. If you wanna go north, you go north. If you wanna go east, you go east. I went east.

They picked me up a little after 1:30 and we drove the two hours to Sukothai, or rather we were driven to Sukothai, in an American embassy issued minivan - one of the nicest minivan's I've ever been in. Once in Sukothai we were dropped off at our guest house to check in and snag a quick shower before hitting the town for dinner and drinks.

Michael's team consists of five people. Michael and Jaquet, an African American Native American who served in Peace Corps Haiti, and who can still speak creole, are the two "senior" officers - both of whom are only 30 years old. They do all the interviewing, case review, and managing. Claire, an American born ethnically Belg (both her parents immigrated from Belgium) and Dianna, who served in Peace Corps Ukraine, are interviewer trainee's right below Michael and Jaquet. Finally, Anna does all the fingerprinting and processing. Together, they make an excellent team, nearing a family. We went to bed that night, after hours together talking and getting to know one another, and they made me feel like I was part of that family.

11/8/09

We woke up early to tour the old city of Sukothai which gives the city it's notoriety. The old city is beautiful, but a bit sterile. I felt like at any moment some anamatronic monks were going to pop out and start chanting in an ancient language; like Disneyland Thailand or something. You can tell that the money that the old city brings in is used to keep it looking nice but it's all just a bit too nice I feel.

I was the tour guide. My family watched in awe as I communicated with the Thais without hesitation or confusion. They were all impressed with my ability to engage the Thais. I had a lot of fun playing host.

We left the temple complex around 3:00 and headed back west towards Mae Sot. I got dropped off in Tak and said goodbye to the people who have been the highlight of my trip thus far. We exchanged emails, hugs, and pleasantries until the van motored away. I got on the next bus heading north to a small village called Baan Tak where my friend Stoney lives. The ride only took about 20 minutes.

Now, I just want to say, I find it incredibly interesting how the smallest factors during travel can have such large implications. Once I arrived at Stoney's house, I told him I wanted to do laundry. By this time, it was already almost dark and although I knew my clothes wouldn't dry over night, I figured they would be dry by noon the next day (the time in which I had to catch my next bus). So I proceed to do my laundry. I was ecstatic to finally get it all done - you know the feeling, when you've got five pounds of dirty clothes in your backpack just taking up room and making everything else stink and finally you relieve the pressure by washing them. I hung the clothes, Stoney and I watched some T.V., and then we went to bed.

11/9/09

The next morning, my clothes were almost as wet as they were the night before. I assumed because Thailand is so hot, even at night, that they'd dry at least a little bit. No, still wet. 10:00 rolls around and my clothes are only beginning to dry. At this point, I'm getting nervous because I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to catch my bus, so I start looking at other volunteers who live closer than the next one on my list six hours away. I'm frantically making phone calls trying to find someone who's around who will let me stay - plan B sort of stuff.

At 11:00, the temperature rose a good 15 degrees. It got so hot, my underwear became stiff like chip board. Had my clothes not dried, I'd be in a totally different part of Thailand right now, typing up a similar story. As it is, my clothes dried and I caught my bus. Right now I'm in Payao, waiting for my friend Eli to come pick me up from the bus station which was pretty much my original plan. Funny how things work, or don't work, out eh?