In Sleepless in Seattle Tom Hanks describes meeting his wife, “It was like coming home, only to no home I’d ever known before.” Really, I always thought this was a stretch of a line. What does that even mean?
A few weeks ago we went with friends to Hpa-an, the city that our friend Nu grew up in. It’s also in the same area as most of our neighbors are from in Burma, and a place we’ve wanted to visit for awhile.
We drove across the border here in Mae Sot and hired a car & driver (which cost $30 for all five of of us!) to take us the three hours to Hpa-an. And for the first few days, all I could think was, How does this feel like home? How does a place I’ve never been feel so much like home?
So it was like coming home, to no home we’d ever known before.
But a home where we could speak the language–and there was only really one, which is an indescribable treat coming from Mae Sot! We could read signs and follow conversations.
It was like our street and our neighborhood–our favorite place in Mae Sot–exploded into an entire city and country. And now, they even have stores and businesses and streets and cars and churches. They can travel freely, as legals, and we can visit places and go out to eat.
We spent much of the week with Nu’s family and friends. And in some ways, we were the poor ones. They were treating us to meals and taking us to nice restaurants; they organized a trip to the beach!
It was surreal in many ways, and in all ways it was just lovely.
Nu’s parents house was a beautiful, teak house, raised off the ground. The bottom level was dirt and for the practicalities of laundry; the top floor was for sleeping and cooking. While it was hot, we did have pretty consistent electricity and a fan.
We did have to work pretty hard for water: there was a well on the other side of the property, which I know in my head wasn’t really that far. In the morning and sometimes evening, I’d put on my sarong & Stephen his longyi or shorts, and we’d start carting water with buckets. We’d use a pulley and carrying two buckets at a time across the yard and through the trees to the house, filling two large storage buckets. After a number of trips, they were full; we’d start laundry. Laundry–by the inexperienced hand, at least–takes a whole lot of water. It also works up a sweat. And once you’ve finished laundry, you need to haul more water for showers. And then you shower, in your longyi, in the yard. It’s not easy.
But the well also becomes a sort of Burmese water cooler, where a lot of conversations seem to take place.
I also loved Nu’s great advice for us while we shower: Watch out for falling coconuts. When I asked how we should know they were coming, she said you can’t–they just fall quickly and randomly, and there’s really nothing you can do. I feel like it was really more of a vocalized waiver.
Another highlight was when her parents bought their first fridge. It was delivered to the house, where Stephen then strapped it on his back and carried it up the stairs. We were all impressed 🙂
We spent many days with Nu’s friends from university, and one of them had the cutest little son a little older than Esther. How cute is he taking her around on his bicycle?!
We enjoyed a few very Burmese-esque experiences, which we are adapting to very well, if I may say so myself.
Hpa-an was really beautiful. We loved going out in the mornings for a walk to the market and catch the sunrise along the rice paddies.
We had a few specific adventure days, so I’ll capture those in a few more posts!