We got up early, ate breakfast, shook hands with everyone and said “ta-bloo”.
Let me take a bit of a detour and tell you what “ta-bloo” means. It is the Karen word for “Thank you” but it also is the standard greeting. So it is a very useful word. We learned it fairly early in the trip. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for native English speakers to tell the difference between an Asian “b” and “p”. We also learned “ta-ploo” means “crazy”. “Ta-bloo” has a rising tone on the second half. It sounds like “ta-bloop” with the “p” only barely suppressed. “Ta-ploo” on the other hand has a falling tone on the second half.
While I’m on the subject, Karen shake hands as a matter of course. This is more familiar to us than the Thai bow. However, they grasp their right arm with their left hand right above the elbow when shaking hands. This is more polite than leaving their left hand at their side. Also, shaking with both hands is considered even more expressive of love, admiration, eagerness, and politeness.
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Pro-Burmese guerillas (DKBA – Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) shot this hole in the church in a cross-border raid
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We hopped back on the boat and went back to the big border village. We had an extra passenger for the ride back: a large snapping turtle one of the villagers had caught. They put it in the boat right beside me. It had ropes attached to its shell, but the ropes weren’t tied to anything. I was a bit surprised it didn’t take a hunk out of my leg, but not at all disappointed. They were taking the turtle to market to sell it for meat.
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Yours truly. I haven’t shaved on this trip because mirrors, much less stellar shaving facilities, are in short supply.
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We got back to the truck, repacked our things in our backpacks, and headed back toward the main road. Before we got there, we stopped at a Bible school. The Bible school is for Karen students to learn theology, Bible, English, and agriculture. They have a four year program. It is headed by a missionary couple from the UK that have been missionaries since the 70’s. They spent many years in Laos, Hong Kong, and Thailand. They have had this school for three years now. They have Karen professors and they teach as well. They also have short-term two week teams that come in from the UK to help out and expose the teams to missions. There is a large community of students and Christian families here centered around this school. It’s an awesome place! School is not in session right now, but will be in a month. We are staying at the missionaries’ house for the night. They have toilet seats with tanks and showerheads with hot water. It’s the first hot shower I have taken in two months! We had a wonderful time sitting in their living room talking with them about missions. Also, a young lady from PA had just arrived that very afternoon to teach English for several months. She had spent time before teaching at Grace International School in Chiang Mai, the place we go twice a week to play volleyball.
That evening after a lovely supper (with forks!) with the missionaries, we went to a Christian youth hostel several miles away. We spent the evening singing and doing skits. The kids were very much into it and we had a great time. After the service they all lined up to eagerly shake our hands. Two of the giggling seventeen year old girls that wanted to shake my hand both stuck their hands in at once and I had two hands in my hand! Most of the kids were in the 6-12 age range, but there were a number of high-school’ers as well. They left their parents in their village (which has no school) and come to live at the hostel. Six Christian staff take care of them. There is a “dad” and “mom” that are in charge of the hostel. They go to school each day, then come back to the hostel where they have study periods in which staff assist them in learning their homework. All but two of the students living at the hostel are Christians and come from Christian homes. However, students in the past that have come that aren’t Christians have gone home Christians. They have devotions and Bible studies on a regular basis. The parents mostly support the children, but Compassion International also pitches in support in cases where the parents can’t afford it.
One Response
September 14th, 2009 at 10:58 am
that very nice to be karen people in thailand. keep going guy i’m love u guy god blass u guy
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