Biking to the Top of the World!

I'm still shaking, just starting to feel the sunburn and not yet totally rehydrated, but I want to tell you all about the motorbike ride that I took today while the adrenaline is still pumping.

A bunch of us decided we would rent motorbikes and take a long ride through the mountains beyond Mae Sai. Danielle graciously said I could ride on the back of her motorbike. I know we both regretted that offer many times before we returned to Mae Sai four hours later.

First, as soon as I hopped on behind Danielle, we hit some gravel and skidded out, both of us splayed out on the street with our water bottles flying everywhere. (The laughter coming from the kids across the street was not appreciated!) Great way to start out the trip, right? So, I'm shaking with anxiety (thought not at all injured) as soon as we begin the trip. To make matters worse, I witnessed Danielle doing the same thing going up a hill the other day because she had to switch from first to second in the middle of the hill, and she lost control of the bike. So, already I'm thinking it's insane to go on a long ride through the hills, but the beauty of the mountains and the warm sun is far to enticing to give up now.

Almost immediately, we are faced with very intense hills. We were on a little motorbike, so the bike really had to work hard in first gear to be able to get up the hills. Twice I had to jump off the back of the slow-moving bike so that it'd be able to get up ok. What makes matters worse, the turns were sharp and winding. So, not only are we stressed about being able to get up these steep slopes, but we have to make sharp turns at a slow speed so that we don't tumble off the side of the mountain. The ride to the top was about two hours, and I really couldn't relax the entire time. Danielle, too, was very stressed about the situation.

All of that was worth it, though, when we reached the very top. Seriously, the very top. We could see down for miles around on both sides, and the road only went down behind us and in front of us. It was spectacular.

But, heading back and going back down seemed even more daunting than going up. Some of those slopes were so steep, I think even a car would have difficulty, not to mention the winding roads. But, we took it really slow going down (as Thai people are speeding past, waving). In fact, we took it so slow, that perhaps one of the worst imaginable things that could have happened did in fact happen....Yes, that's right...the breaks went out.

Now, it sounds far more dramatic than it was in actuality. First, we happened to be going down a comparably gentle slope. Second, there is a secondary foot break, so we were able to come to a gentle stop immediately. But still, the breaks gave out!

We flagged down three young Thai guys and mimed our situation to them. They immediately knew what the problem was and rode off to get some water in order to cool off the brakes. Apparently, we had overheated the breaks, causing them to fail. So, after about ten minutes, we were once again a bit shaken, but we had no choice but to continue (actually, at one point, we considered stopping one of the infrequent pickup trucks going by and hitching a ride with the bike in back, but the opportunity never came along). Yes, mom, we made it home safely without a scratch or a broken neck.

The trip down was actually much less nerve-wracking than the trip up, and I was able to enjoy myself more. However, I'm not going up into those mountains by bike again! In fact, I may be taking a break from the motorbikes in general for a while. After all, Zakcq is expecting me to come home in one piece in a month.

Mae Sai, Thailand

So after four flights, three (long!) layovers and a one hour bus ride, I made it to Mae Sai, finally! The town of Mae Sai is the northernmost city in Thailand, on the border of Burma. But, saying it's on the border of Burma really doesn't convey how close it is to Burma. Just a small river separates the two countries, and most of the town lies right on that river. I can see Burma from my hotel window and I walk past the border crossing on the way to the internet cafe. I still can't get over how so little separates the two countries. People even desperately swim across the river to Thailand in order to enter Mae Sai. Because of that, there are road blocks set up outside of Mae Sai to check the immigration status of all who want to leave the Mae Sai area. Also, I'm starting to realize how much Mae Sai's economy depends on the Burmese who cross the border (legally or illegally) everyday. For example, the street that my hotel is on contains a large, bustling market. However, by five o'clock in the evening, the market is absolutely dead. This is because the border closes at 5:30 and the workers all need to return to their homes by this time. Also, most (if not all) of the beggars in Mae Sai are Burmese who cross the border just for the day. In addition, goods are brought back and forth the border to sell at the markets. National borders always look so important marked by a big fat line on a world map, but in reality they are porous and can be almost irrelevant; people use them and live around them as though they do not hardly exist.

Now that I've said a bit about the town where I am living and working, I'll tell you a bit about what I am doing and the organization I am working with. I am here as a professor's assistant. There are nineteen students from Northeastern University and five students from Rutgers University in New Jersey who are earning university credits for the work they are doing here in Mae Sai. In addition, there are twenty-three women from all over Southeast Asia including Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam who are in the beginning of a three year program called Mekong Youth Net. These women spend the first year of their program at DEPDC (the organization we are working at) studying Thai or English and learning about issues related to human trafficking and the prevention thereof. During the second year they will go back to their home countries to do an internship with their sponsoring organization and to conduct research on a project. During the third year, they will write a report based on their research and they will report back to DEPDC periodically to touch base with this organization. These women were chosen because they are extremely intelligent and driven. They will be the future leaders of their communities and will be able to carry DEPDC's mission to prevent human trafficking back to their communities.

So, what are all these American's doing here? Well, a professor at Rutgers University started an organization called Global PACT a few years back. The mission of that organization is to teach young people to combat problems in their own communities. The Global PACT training involves intense small group work where the students actually develop an organization that works to combat a real problem. Global PACT's training fits in perfectly with the Mekong Youth Net's mission, so the two organizations decided to do the Global PACT training together. This is a very brief description, and I'll be sure to talk more about the training in later posts.

There have been many hurdles and barriers in the training so far, but it has been very rewarding, also. More on the trials and joys later. I am happy and healthy and loving Thailand and all of the people I have met. Cheers.

Testing, Testing...

...it's back