First days in Thailand

After three days of travelling I've made it to Pai, where I will be teaching for three months.
Although I haven't met the students yet I wanted to share some photos and thoughts to provide some context to these next few months.

I spent two days getting over jet lag in my old stomping ground, Chiang Mai. The city has changed tremendously in ten years - with a host of new malls, endless congestion, and a sense of rush. But, it's still the same charming city that I loved as a teenager. Full of color, hidden temples, and beautiful architecture.

As I wandered I attempted to pull some basic Thai from my memory: and promptly failed. This is the first time I've experienced a country without a basic language background. It's alienating, but a true learning experience. As I stumbled through the embarrassment of my bare-bones Thai I couldn't help but think of my future students, and others who have resettled into foreign countries. What is it like to arrive in a new home and be unable to communicate? How do you cope in this new unknown world? I'm sure everyone has their own strategies and techniques, and I'm curious to learn more as my research continues.

I was happy to find two art stores that carried a lot of wonderful supplies. (See photos). But what was most exciting was meeting with Sarah Lovett, the director of Art Relief International , an art outreach Program in Chiang Mai. We met at The Free Bird Cafe, a non profit café that supports Thai Freedom House, which is an educational and cultural-preservation focused group that works with Shan refugees in Chiangmai. It was wonderful to chat with Sarah about her work with Thai Freedom House, and other groups including orphanages and juvenile detention centres in Chiang Mai. We are working on getting a team of ARI volunteers out here at some point in the summer to teach a workshop!

On Saturday I took the bus to Pai on the road with 726 curves ( yes someone counted!) and was immediately blown away by the beauty of the mountains and the landscape surrounding Pai. It's a small quiet town with only a few stoplights (maybe three), lots of Chinese tourists, a lovely Thai market with fresh fruit,  mountains all around, and rice fields by the calm Pai river. I'm excited to paint this awe inspiring landscape and to work with the students in thus setting.

This morning I met with my coteacher\boss to get a better sense of my role within Kwah Dao. The students have just returned from Summer break so it's apparently a nice breaking point for the start of a new program. I'll be teaching three different groups twice a week each,  for six days a week. I'll be focusing on English lessons during the week with arts integration, and the weekends will be art focused. The students are all Shan refugees who have settled in the villages surrounding Pai over a range of time. On a motorbike tour around town, my coworker told me that some students have grown up here while others have just recently arrived, fleeing from conflict in Burma.
A lot of the Thais in Pai are also Shan (the Shan lived in this area long before borders were established), but there can be some animosity towards the Burmese Shan. Some feel that the Burmese Shan are taking jobs that are meant to be for Thai's. I don't know much about this and am curious to learn more and perhaps use art to explore some of these issues.
I'll start on Wednesday and can't wait to meet the students and make some art with them!