We left Chiang Mai for Mae Sot, a small town on the Thai side of the Thai-Burmese border.Official purpose: attend a wedding of our wonderful friends, Niamh (from Ireland) and Jack (a refugee from Burma living in Thailand)
Unofficial purpose: give Susan an opportunity to impress Josh with her vast knowledge and experience gained working on the border with the refugees.
The plan: The night before the wedding, Josh went with all the guys from the wedding party to spend the night in the refugee camp. Susan stayed in town with the gals and got a massage. Susan's knowledge and experience has already come into play--stay in town if you want a good massage.
Josh's experience at the 'bachelor party': The bride is Irish and the groom is Karen (Burmese ethnic minority). The resulting party at the refugee camp was an interesting mix of Irish and Karen folk music, tons of whiskey and cigarettes and a huge picture of Angelina Jolie tacked to the inside of the camp hut wall. The fellas were treated like kings by the groom's family and served traditional Karen food in a traditional Karen teak/bamboo/leaf hut with tons of goats, chickens and small, incredibly adorable and sweet Karen children wandering around/through the place. We slept on bamboo mats in the common room. Amazing experience.
Susan's experience: The shower/bachelorette party in town was pretty much a chance for all of us to give the bride, Niamh, a chance to hear how much we admire her. Her friends from all over the world -- Australia, Ireland, US, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, etc. -- had plenty to say on this subject.
We also wrote down some advice for her on little pieces of paper which we then read aloud. My favorite comments were:
"Love him, but don't trust him TOO much."
"Don't argue, manipulate"
and, my all time favorite:
"Make sure you keep his plate full and his balls empty."
Josh will NOT stop talking about this last one.
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