Stephen & Kelli Spurlock

flight(s) to america: highs and lows.

January 15, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli Leave a Comment

Just a few notes as we make yet another trip around the globe.

Low: Yes, we started on a low that included four nights in a row of no more than four hours of sleep each. We packed our bags until just before we hopped on the bus. We initially told our friend we’d be at her house at 6pm so we could have a nice dinner together before our bus at 8pm; we ended up arriving to her about 7pm and grabbing very quick street food.

Low: Street food is not really a very good idea before getting on a bus.

Low: Our bus driver was terrifying.

High: We survived!

Low: We were told that the ride to Bangkok would be 7 hours, so we took the 8pm bus to arrive at 3am. That gave us two hours to catch a taxi to the airport, about an hour away. The bus was running late, though, and didn’t deliver us to the station until 4:30am. That gave us 30 minutes to grab a taxi and get to the airport to get checked in for an international flight. Just a smidge stressful.

High: We caught our first flight! And this is in spite of extra-heiytened security, which included four security checks in Bangkok alone. By the end of our trip, we will have been security screened seven times. If I have to pull out that bag o’ liquids or get patted down invasively again in the next few weeks, I might explode.

High: These are the lowest priced tickets we’ve found yet! They were on Delta, which we were a little nervous about since we love Korean so much. They also went through Narita, which is one of our least favorite airports after we were locked inside for 14 hours in 2009. These tickets were also very, very tight–we had a one-hour layover in Japan, a two-hour layover in Minneapolis (which included immigration & customs), and a then a 2.5 hour layover in Dallas (where we were required to get our luggage and re-check in with American Airlines). That said, we made {almost} every connection, and things went really smoothly.

Low: We missed our last connection in Dallas. Not only was our Delta flight moved later a few weeks ago, but then the flight was running late. We were also switching to American and learned you get your Delta baggage in a very, very different side of the airport than you check-in to American. Missing our flight means we’ll miss tonight with family and our big pick-up at the airport; the kids will all be asleep.

High: We are Advantage credit card owners this year, and this certainly benefited us. They moved our tickets to the next flight at no cost, checked our bag with 3 pounds overweight, and put us in priority boarding.

High: With such short layovers, we didn’t have any time to eat anywhere! Without eating airport food or exchanging money or having to pay for our missed flight, this was by far the cheapest we’ve been able to travel. This is such a blessing!

High: We did grab dinner in Dallas after we missed our flight, since we had a little while to wait and hadn’t eaten a non-air meal in 36 hours. A very, very kind gentleman in front of us asked where were coming from, was so interested in what we do, and then bought our meal for us. Really?!? We were like reeling in it for the next hour, trying to sort out the conversation–the English, the friendliness, the kindness; it was a little overwhelming for tired travelers that haven’t been in the South in awhile! It was really so, so kind though. And just a testimony to God looking out for us in the little things and from such unexpected places.

And so we’re here! Let the fun times begin!

love.

January 15, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house calls, kelli Leave a Comment

As I write this, we’re over the ocean and headed our way to the States for two months of time with friends and family.

This is the most unprepared I’ve been for a trip like this, I think.

The past week didn’t help us as we finished up projects and scrambled to put a few things in place for the community while we are away. We enjoyed meals with friends as we dreamed over what the future could hold in us serving together; we cherished meals with other friends as we face the sadness that they are moving back just two weeks after we return in March. We came home from one of these dinners around midnight Sunday night to find lots of blood on the street and driveway, see an exposed bone, and to then head off to the ER to get a neighbor stitched up. The following day, just thirty hours before we left, our car experienced a few more difficulties, and a friend came to the rescue and helped Stephen re-wire the car. This is the same friend who will be moving back in March; he’ll be missed for his friendship as well as his oh-so-helpful skills that have gotten us out of many a pickle.

We frantically packed on Tuesday to catch the bus at 8pm, and then had a small panic when our bus arrived 1.5 hours late to Bangkok. We managed to catch our first flight, despite the four security checkpoints, and have even now caught two of four flights and are considering that no small feat.

But for some reason, with bags packed and planes caught and friends helping in the community and even a little home procured for our little bunny while we’re away—I’m not ready.

______________

We went to Burmese church on Sunday with eight kids in tow. Five of these were teenagers, which we were really excited about. We arrived thirty minutes late and tried to sneak into our seats quietly when the teenage boy with us was called up on stage. Within minutes of us arriving, he was standing with a group of kids from the community—ones we hadn’t even brought—and they were reciting their bible verses from the Saturday program.

Even though the church had picked up some of the neighbor kids for this special week, they were now with us. There were little whispers and an occasional shout for Stephen & Kelli as the kids realized we were there, and it would certainly be an exciting ride home as we fit seventeen of us in the car to go home—Stephen & I, six teenagers, and nine kids. I had two ten-year-old girls on my lap.

But before that, as we sat listening to the sermon, one of the little girls peered over at me from the kid’s area and asked if she could come sit with me. I nodded yes, and she quietly padded over and climbed into my lap.

She’s ten, and she didn’t really fit. She has been one of the primary care givers for her eighteen-month-old nephew or cousin—there is a whole lot of confusion about who lives in the home—since he was an infant. Watching her cook, clean, and care for a young baby, I have wondered if she carries more responsibility than I do.

I hugged her close and put my cheek against hers as she cuddled up into my lap; she was certainly trying to be small again. Tears sprung to my eyes, and I realized two things. First, I hugged her like my mom used to hug me: so tight with her teeth clenched. Physical touch is near the bottom of my love language list, so a whole lot of me wanted to pull away. But I really knew she loved me, and she held me so tight because she loved me so tight.

Second, I knew I really, really loved this little girl.

And I guess it surprised me. Perhaps first because—and I mean this in the kindest way possible—she isn’t my favorite. I know we aren’t supposed to have favorites (although where does that come from?); perhaps I shouldn’t think that or at least not say it? But I’m human; I do. And she isn’t one of them.

But I love her. And as I looked at the kids sitting beside me…
a teenage boy who is just figuring himself out and growing in confidence, whether its in English class or Scripture memory or football

a teenage girl who limped to us this morning because her father beat her yesterday; who we really pray for and love and try to look out for; who we’ve gone out of our way for; who we’ve cried for

the girl beside her, whose wounds from her own father I’ve bandaged more times than I could count; who has stolen from us and given us a very real chance to show her grace and redemption

the young girl beside her, who has an incredibly healthy little home, but still carries the burden of helping care for the four siblings younger than her; who just loves to have a chance to have fun or get special treatment; who just delights in a bottle of hand sanitizer more than anyone I know

My mind raced to the kids that are often heavy on my heart: those in abusive homes, those who we’ve been offered to adopt on multiple occasions, those who come looking for a meal.

I realized how many of them I really, really love.

It reminds me of when I was falling in love with Stephen in university. With family, you grow up learning to love them. The love is there, and you learn to identify it. But with Stephen, it was like I was discovering it come on me. I would suddenly realize how much I loved him, and then be shocked when it continued to grow. Even now in marriage and hopefully until we die, I continue to be amazed at what that love becomes. It is still moulding. It feels more new because I know where it started—at nothing; as strangers. And perhaps this is the significance of loving your own child to, as you discover the amount of love you can have for something that didn’t exist until recently, and before long will be walking around as an individual beyond your reach. You actually experience the love growing.

This is what i see in the community. I see the growth of love.

But then I also see that they go home each night. They are separate family identities, however broken or splintered, and that love goes with them. It’s vulnerable.

And it’s often the bloodiest events that remind me of this, or perhaps those involving arrests.

And even in us leaving, I realize the vulnerability of loving on two different continents. Or loving children that don’t really come with you.

I find myself thinking that it would be easier if this were a job; if I could leave an away message and a stack of papers on the side of my desk. It would be easier if it were a task or a project; a ministry that is separate from my life and my family.

We took a different road than that, though.

This is the first trip back to America when our whole lives have been wrapped up in these relationships. Maybe that is the difference; I’m not really sure. I’ve never been one to conclude.

______________

As we’ve entered in fully to the community around us, we’ve been working on establishing who we are, what we do, and why we do what we do. We’ve been praying through our vision and goals.

Some days I think this is the only way missions should be done: relationally. I try to catch myself quickly, since we serve a big God and I am not him; who am I to determine the best way? We also previously worked for an organization that was more project-oriented, if you will, and this was an area of disagreement; but I’m working to limit my swing.

Other days, I wouldn’t wish this on a single soul. I question how we got here, how it destroying us, and if we’ll make it one more day.

{If it isn’t obvious yet, I have a difficult time taking today as today and not as forever…}

On these days and all those in between, and especially on the days when Stephen reminds me that this isn’t forever; this is just in fact where we are now. I’m thankful that it is just that. I’m thankful we’re not all called to the same thing. I am also thankful that he called me to this thing right now! I am thankful that God has ordained so many things to bring us here. I am thankful that our lives—particularly in the last year—have been littered with God’s faithfulness. I am thankful that this is where he has called us today and where he’ll provide & equip us. I’m thankful that I can rest in a peace that passes all understanding.

And I’m really thankful that I can fly from one loving community into another loving community, sitting beside my favorite love, and being carried by Love.

languages schlanguages: back to the start.

January 11, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli Leave a Comment

So we have lived in Mae Sot for four years now. It’s in Thailand, but on the border of Burma. The culture of the town is very strongly Burmese, with Thai, Western, and Chinese influences.

We initially were working with the Karen people of Burma. We worked with the Karen in America and at Partners, and we were excited to learn Karen.

But our neighborhood–as a very rough estimate–is about 40% Karen, 50% Burmese, and 10% other ethnicities. However, most of the Karen in our neighborhood do not speak Karen since they have not lived in primarily Karen areas most of their lives. Burmese is the common language: most Karen people speak Karen & Burmese, most Burmese people only speak Burmese.

We have picked up very minimal Thai: greetings, thank yous, apologies, prices, and food items. And the oh-so-important, No problem.

A little while back, as we were getting more and more involved in our community, we decided to tag team. We are a little bit slow on the language learning, so I continued in Karen and Stephen began studying Burmese. He has a foundation in Karen, but now is much more advanced in Burmese. He can read, write, and type easily, and is expanding his vocabulary and learning grammar. He was also complimented by his teacher that he’s the hardest working student he’s ever had!

I have continued in Karen for awhile now, and to be honest, I’m getting it. We have four or five Karen translators in the neighborhood that I use Karen with and they translate to Burmese, and we have learned to make our way. I can make my way around most conversations at least enough to use questions or roundabout descriptions to get to where we need to go. I probably communicate as an elementary student.

So fluent? No, I wouldn’t jump to that. However, we realized I have reached a small dilemma: the Karen translators we use aren’t really so great at their Karen either. Unless I am around regular Karen speakers, I can’t continue to improve: I tend to know more Karen than those in our neighborhood.

We had a choice: I could continue studying Karen outside of the community, and it would be of use outside of the community. Or I can continue to use it as I do–at the Karen clinic, for translation in the community, and various Karen places around town–and begin learning Burmese to use more readily in the community.

We chose Option #2.

So this week, I went back to the start and spent five hours in lessons learning the Burmese alphabet–consonants, vowels, tones, final consonants, consonant clusters, and special combinations–so I can attempt to memorize them while we’re stateside.

While Burmese and Karen have relatively little in common, they look very similar.

So all the little swirls I memorized to mean this now need to be relearned to mean that, while still meaning this, and really, in the back of my mind I know full well that’s just a O! Or a backwards 3. Or, one of the Burmese letters I think looks very much like a drawing of a uterus.

The good news: As a relatively unambitious non-goal-setter, I have only three things on my bucket list; and two of them are learning Karen & Burmese before I am thirty. I am on my way to this!

The bad news: languages have the potential to make you insane. I am not really sure what my brain is capable of, but languages seem to protest logic.

More good news: as we have been making this decision and considering if I really do know enough Karen to remain comfortable with it alongside Burmese study, God sent some great little opportunities my way to encourage me. In the past week or so, two doctors at the Karen clinic have chatted with me for awhile about what Stephen and I do, how long we’ve lived here, & what languages we’ve studied; and then told me I was doing great at Karen and it was a good idea to start learning Burmese. I have also been called to at the clinic, “Teacher, you’re the one who speaks Karen, right?”

And lastly, in the market last week, I walked into a shop as a nearby seller called out in Karen to the owner, “A white woman is coming in!” I turned to the owner and casually asked in Karen, “Oh! You speak Karen?” She blushed and smiled over at the other seller, who was also blushing. I love being able to catch people in their comments when they don’t expect it!

Anyway, here goes nothing but a full realization that this is way beyond our abilities. Language is a mess, and we need all the prayers and hope we can get! Please do keep praying for understanding, memorization, recall, and patience to keep studying for both Stephen & I!

the calm between the storms.

January 10, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos Leave a Comment

In between Christmas and heading back to a couple months stateside, we were looking for a little piece of calm. Really, just in the midst of our day to day we look for that! And so we went camping for a couple days earlier this week!

Thailand has a number of national parks, and at least for this visit, it was free for us to camp! We also have been collecting some camping gear that we’ve found on sale, including a $10 tent and $10 camping stove. And so off we went. Being cold season here, the weather was absolutely perfect–chilly enough at night to love our double sleeping bag and wear sweatshirts, and never too hot during the day.

It was right up in the mountains, just about an hour from our house. There were stunning views in every direction.

Our little spot was tucked up perfectly in the trees.

With all of it’s flaws, our car is perfect for us and very, very perfect for camping adventures.

We read a lot. We have been reading Pride & Prejudice aloud together for many months and managed to finally finish! Stephen also finished the entire Hobbit & Lord of the Rings series. I am still making my way through Come Be My Light, a collection of Mother Teresa’s personal writings and letters, but absolutely loving it. It has been a refreshing read.

We headed off on a hike one day, and wound our way through the jungle. In addition to spotting a monkey in the trees, we discovered that there is a caged bear in the national park, not a great distance from where we were sleeping. It was an odd thing to have in a national park, but he was big and interesting to look at I guess. We did discover that his door had holes large enough to allow my whole arm through, and likely his arm and or nose; so it might not be the safest. We tested this while he was lazily on the other side of the enclosure, if you were curious.

The hike was advertising the largest Krabak tree in Thailand. While large–16.1 meters around and over 50 meters high–it was kind of unimpressive. But the hike was nice!

I was far more impressed by the less giant Krabak tree that had fallen across the trail and through half of the jungle. Whoa.

It was pretty lovely. We are hoping this is a regular adventure plan for us to rest away from our house (since our house sometimes isn’t very restful) and explore more of Thailand’s national parks!

a notable evening.

January 10, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli Leave a Comment

We are headed back to the States in just four days, and that means there are lists, lists, lists everywhere. It’s kind of difficult to live and love on two different continents, but that is another post for another day. Or probably just the heart of every day & every post.

But in the middle of all this, there are some really lovely things on that are worth noting. Last Saturday, we had nothing significant on the schedule. I had soup in the crockpot and was working on a few odd tasks while Stephen was putting the finishing touches on a video project; and there was a greeting at the door.

Kyaw Htet & Nyein Nyein are a young couple in the neighborhood. They are 19 have been married about a year. They have been joining us at the tea shop some weeks, they helped us coordinate the Christmas lists, and Stephen has all sorts of schemes of how he would like to hire Kyaw Htet in the future. They are full of potential and just really lovely.

And they invited us to dinner!

We weren’t really sure what we were invited to at first. It seemed like they wanted to go out, so we agreed and climbed into the car, kind of unsure if we were the ride, invited along, or maybe if they just wanted us to treat them to dinner? We went for it anyway, because sometimes we do just that.

They ended up directing us to a little grocery store, where they picked out a variety of items and declined our splitting the bill. After we got home, they said to wait a little while and they’d come get us.

And then we were treated to dinner at their house, where they had set out places for us and cooked up suki–a spicy Chinese noodle soup with vegetables, chicken, tofu, & crab. We chatted over our noodles in broken English, Burmese, and Karen, because really, that’s how we do life these days!

And that was our notable evening. Though we’ve been invited over to many neighbors homes, it is usually for big parties and events. This was our first double date in the neighborhood, if you will! It was also completely on them and up to them, just to treat us.

It’s always hard to leave, when you feel you are a part of a group here. It feels unfair that just two members of the group have special privileges to fly and see family and eat delicious food and sleep in comfortable beds.

But it also makes us so thankful for these friendships and so excited to return! It is such an honor that God has given us such a time as this to simply be in this community. It such a gift that we can slip into a community so unlike us, and still return to a community that knows our roots and the weird reasons we wear pajamas {another blog post for another day}. It is such a gift to have notable evenings with such exceptional friends!

community christmas.

January 3, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, on the house, stephen Leave a Comment

Because Stephen is pretty incredible, he’s put together a fun little video of our Community Christmas this year! It is so fun to see the relationships grow each year, as we give more specialized presents and know more names and stories.

A special thanks to our home church, Celebration Christian Fellowship, who made the Christmas meal and presents possible. We are also so thankful for the many people who support us month after month and allow us to build relationships in this lovely little community!

small things, great love.

January 2, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house calls, housewares, kelli, playhouse 2 Comments

Today, like every other Friday, I woke up and went to deliver flowers with a friend. Instead of it being with San Aye, who has been delivering flowers for the past six months, it was with her mother-in-law, Daw Ma Oo.

Because in short, life is messy. San Aye had been helping Daw Ma Oo with her flower business; Daw Ma Oo went to the market each day and San Aye sold locally and made deliveries on Fridays. But as family dynamics shifted and life stories unfolded, we learned this wasn’t the best for everyone.

San Aye now has a little restaurant stand outside of her house. She sells a variety of pork and tofu items, and we can always swing by for a little snack and chatting with friends.

Daw Ma Oo now sells flowers each week. We load up flowers into Zuk and drive off to a number of houses around Mae Sot, allowing her to sell nearly double her regular sales in just a couple hours.

On the way to our first flower delivery, we stopped at the hospital. Because like so many other days, someone is sick and needs to see a doctor and get some medicine.

And then today, five girls sat outside of our door playing Memory and four toddlers ran in and out of the house. I gave one of the little guys a hug, because he just always wants one.

He was actually offered to us last week to adopt, by his grandmother who he lives with, because life is complicated, and families are complicated. For now, he’s not really adoptable, and it really isn’t a healthy solution. But we can encourage them, help them, give him hugs and tell him he’s special whenever we get the chance.

One of the more well-known quotes of Mother Teresa is, “Don’t look for big things, just do small things with great love…The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love.”

This is what I was thinking about as I drove this morning. I know delivering flowers is a small thing, as well as a ride to the hospital and $3 Christmas present.

How do I love well in these moments? It usually involves a smile. It usually involves a hug or a high five or a touch on the arm. It usually involves just seeing the person in front of me as a story: a family, a home, laughter and tears, with a past and a future.

You see, we are doing a lot of very little things.

We are working in a very small community in a big border town. We are working on just a few streets with some families. We are impacting these homes in very little ways.

They are still in poverty, they are still paperless, they still have big questions. There are still systemic problems that place them into widespread statistics.

Some days I’m sure this is where we are supposed to be. I can’t imagine anything different, really. I see change coming. I am hopeful that maybe, just maybe, we are planting seeds and watering them. I am hopeful that maybe, just maybe, God is making them grow.

Other times, I wonder if what I do truly means anything. Does it matter if we deliver flowers again? Am I helping by simply driving someone to the hospital? Does it matter that we celebrate Christmas and wrap a bajillion Christmas gifts and share the Christmas story, and then someone invites us to the temple the next day?

And as we look ahead to a very near trip back to the States, I wonder if I should keep flying back and forth. Should churches and individuals keep sacrificing and giving to us, month after month and year after year, to make this possible?

It is so many little things: a ride to the hospital, an English class, a piece of candy, a smile and greeting. Or perhaps answering the door for the umpteenth time for a little girl to give me a flower.
And then come back for a high five.
And then decide she would like a glass of water.
{This was my last thirty minutes.}

Are these little things worth it?

I’m not sure it’s mine to say. I think it is mine to do small things in great love, to plant the tiniest little mustard seeds and water them. I think it is mine to pray for big things, to pray without ceasing, to wait faithfully for when the Son of Man comes. I think it is mine to hope, hope, hope.

Sin & err
Fear & hurt
Tears, questions
Nothing left
But a kiss on the forehead
Hope for tomorrow
Peace for today
Love for the moment

the uneventful new years eve.

January 2, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: house calls, kelli Leave a Comment

We decided for an uneventful New Year’s Eve this year. We stayed home, worked on a few projects, and hoped to sleep long before the fireworks started.

Very little seems to go by uneventfully for us, though!

A neighbor and our most-often-used Karen translator came to the door about 10pm to say that someone had a stomachache. She said she didn’t know the person, but they needed to go to the clinic.

To be honest, I was skeptical. It was New Year’s Eve, and the clinic probably wasn’t interested in helping give out ORS for stomachaches. I would guess the hospital was ready for accidents and stomach pumping, but probably not stomachaches either.

And for me, I was really enjoying the uneventful evening, looking forward to sleep, and kind of hopeful to avoid stomach pumping as well.

I asked if I could go see first before we just headed off to the clinic, and they agreed.

What they didn’t mention is that she lived about a kilometer away, so we trudge down roads by fireworks and drunken gatherings, while I wished I had brought Stephen along and a sweater. On the way I asked if it was a child, to which she gave a shocking no! I wasn’t sure why it would be so absurd for a child to have a stomachache, but I asked if it was a man or woman. Again, she answered very emphatically that it was a woman, and I was quite confused why she thought these questions were so silly.

I walked into the house to see a very, very pregnant woman lying on the ground. I turned to the Karen translator and said in Karen, “Oh! She’s pregnant! How far along is she? Is she in labor?”

With a similar tone, she replied in Karen, “Yes, the baby is down and is coming. She has a stomachache.”

I’m still not sure why she kept using the term for stomachache rather than clearly saying that the woman was in labor, but whatever! I trekked back to the house as quickly as I could to grab the car, and drove back to the woman’s home.

When I opened the door for her, a whole lot of people climbed in the car. I’m not really sure why or who any of them were; we haven’t met this woman before. I would just much rather drive her to hospital in a vehicle than have her get on the back of a motorcycle taxi in labor. I tried to encourage less people, but they seemed disappointed even at the “few” who could fit. I particularly tried to discourage the drunk man, but wasn’t sure if he was the father, so he came along, too.

As I pulled away, we had about ten of us in the car, but I’m not really sure. I didn’t think anything of it until we hit the center of town and came upon an increased number of police. They had set up a checkpoint, likely to stop drunk drivers.

This is the first time I have actually been stopped by police with illegals in the car with me, but it was a pretty unfortunate situation with there being about ten of us in our four-person vehicle, the back open, the drunk man…But I trudged toward them with no way to go around & me as the only legal thing happening. I rolled down my window and said, “Baby! Baby!” before they could ask any questions. They shooed us away pretty quickly, probably not wanting to deliver a baby anymore than I did.

By God’s grace, we made it to the hospital before the baby was born, and trekked home with about half as many people and (thankfully) no additional police stops.

Maybe we’ll try again for an uneventful New Year’s next year!

my husband is awesome.

January 2, 2015 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos Leave a Comment

Stephen has been so busy recently as he tries to get four projects finished before we head back to the States in just weeks.

The first one is complete: a cajon he built himself! He and a friend have been busy building a number of cajons from local materials, one of which was for Stephen’s birthday gift this year.

I mean, the guy can play every instrument he touches, and now he can add this to the list of instruments he’s built!

at the tea shop: part three.

December 28, 2014 by Stephen & Kelli Spurlock Filed Under: kelli, photos Leave a Comment

Today we took our usual trip to the tea shop, and here are a few highlights!

First, it was so fun to see everyone utilizing Christmas gifts we gave them! This hair clip and purse were a part of her gift, and two other women had little purses with them we had given. So glad they are enjoying these little gifts!

We had two little three-year-olds with us. Nothing like sugaring up the kids with tea at 8am! This one crashed on my shoulder within the hour.

Stephen taught the kids to clink their tea mugs! He is so good at making situations fun and/or funny, with or without language!

Pyint Soe loves vegetables, and it’s amazing! He finished my salad for me, even after the mothers all declared it gross and too sour.

After our tea shop stop, we headed off to the market. Per usual, everyone goes in a different direction and Stephen and I frantically try not to lose anyone. This is our only goal for the market: leave with the same number of people you came with.

It is much more difficult than you’d think.

San Aye has a new little pork shop on the street, so she was purchasing items for that. In addition to garlic and chili sauce and little stools, she bought a lot of pork. It was at the pork shop that Na Leh Ton fell asleep on my shoulder waiting for his mom to buy kilos upon kilos of pork parts.

{Side note: One of the things she purchased is a pig head skin–they often sell the whole pig head here, but this was the just the skin off the head. It was whole ears and a whole nose connected by floppy skin. I didn’t even know this was purchase-able, and it was disgusting. I’m also confused as to what you use from this? Is facial skin more tasty than back skin? Meat here is just one discovery after another.}

It was also about this time, as Na Leh Ton was sleeping, that I was feeling very faint. I have been sick for the past couple days and am currently on medicine, so this isn’t abnormal, just unfortunate.

San Aye & I walked back to the main market area where I sat on her newly-purchased stools where her mother-in-law sells flowers. I sat with the many kilos of pork, tofu, and chili sauce already purchased while she went to get the rest.

I was sitting where the sellers sit–a Burmese job–and holding a little Burmese baby in the middle of the Burmese market. The only white girl in sight.

I was asked many times if it was my baby. I was stared at even more times than that. This is probably the only situation yet where I have received that many stares.

But it’s worth it. It’s so fun to hear strangers ask the neighbors who we are, and for them to respond that we are friends, that we live in the same neighborhood, that we are learning language. To hear someone defend you and speak highly of you to others is a wonderful thing to hear, even if you only understand bits and pieces of it!