Standing in the hot sun, we looked out over the Mae Sot dump site.
"Unbelievable how people can live like this!" Geoffrey mumbled. It was my fourth time to Mae Sot, my colleague, Ryan's first time, and Geoffrey had been there countless times before. Still, the dump site village is a sight that you can never really get used to. I was surprised to see a brand-new Thai flag flying proudly over the dumpsite. I hadn't seen that before. It's amazing that the people seem grateful to be here in Thailand. It really makes me wonder what their life in Burma was like, that this is the preferable alternative.
Just then the wind began picking up. I was the first to notice that something strange was happening about 100 feet ahead.
A twister coming right for us!
It wasn't a big one, just some cardboard, paper, and plastic bags spinning overhead. It passed right over us, the wind hitting us a bit harder than before, and bits of rubbish spiraling around us. Then, it was gone. We dubbed it "Trashnado 2015."
Geoffrey, Ryan, and I had decided to skip work on Friday and drive to Mae Sot. It's lucky that we did, because it was the last day of final exams for the students at Sky Blue School, and we almost missed them. This time, Geoffrey brought a trunk-full (or a "boot-full") of shirts and some notebooks to donate. He gave us a bag of candy to pass around to the students.
One thing that has amazed me every time I've come to Mae Sot is how genuinely happy these kids seem. They live in a hopeless situation that I can't even imagine- refugees from their home (Burma), exiled to landfill with no money, no citizenship, and little chance of escaping the cycle... and yet the kids can run around, play, laugh, and smile.
I got a bit grumpy on my first trip to Mae Sot (but let's blame that on the Dengue...) when my shoes got ruined in the muddy landfill. Then I thought, "what right do I have to be upset when these kids can smile?" It's a lesson that I will always remember.
After a visit to the school and the dumpsite, it was lunchtime. We had been driving all morning, and except for a short stop for breakfast, had been on the go since before 5am. We took lunch at the Tesco Lotus food court, then headed out for some sightseeing.
The first stop was a hot spring resort. The water was way too hot to get in, but they had steam rooms you could rent. We just walked around and relaxed in the shade by a bubbling pool. The air up north in the countryside is so clean and fresh, and it was very quiet; such a nice break from the constant rush and pollution of Bangkok.
Next up, a stop as a national park to visit some waterfalls.
Sadly, "KFC" was closed for some sort of holiday. Instead, we went to another restaurant in town, a pub called "The Canadian", owned, appropriately enough, by a Canadian. The menu there was incredible! There must have been hundreds of menu items for such a small restaurant. I've talked many times before about how much I love breakfast food and how hard it is to get here. The Canadian had an all-day breakfast menu, and I was in heaven. I ordered a platter; bacon, sausage, fried eggs, fried potatoes, toast with jam, and baked beans. I don't regret it. I've dreamt about it since.
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