A few photos

So I was on the phone with my mom this morning and she told me that it "sure had been a while since I had posted any photos." I am not new to this technique employed by mothers around the world – this subtle hinting at what they would really like to happen. And so, as I’m learning here about Thai culture, Mama gets what Mama wants.

I have this little hard drive I carry in my camera bag that I dump my memory cards on when they’re full - kind of a poor man’s way around buying more memory cards. I’ve pulled a few photos off of that drive to try giving you more visual examples of what this place is. (You can click them for a larger version).

This is a Karen woman weaving a skirt like the one she is wearing. It’s an incredibly complex process, and suddenly made the boxers I sewed in Junior High Hom-Ec seem severely less impressive an accomplishment.

Rice paddies. There are a whole lot of these around here. I'm going to try to learn how to pick rice before I leave. I hear the paddies have lots of leaches ... so that will be fun.

I was walking out of a tribal village one day when I came upon a big group of people, mostly women, using pick axe-type tools to dig a new road. I saw a few women with baskets slung over their shoulders about the size of small laundry hampers. I didn’t think much of them until one of the natives with me said “Baby” and pointed at the basket. The woman then stopped swinging her tool and pulled back the cloth over the basket to reveal a little, chubby face, fast asleep inside.

This boy is of the Mien hilltribe. How could you not love those hats?

A boy at a small, discrete school attended by the children of migrant workers.