Bittersweet

Today was the bittersweet last day at the refugee camp. It has been utterly exhausting! At the same time though I have enjoyed getting to know our training group and working with my team. Today we had a couple more presentations and Dane and I played charades with the group to help teach communication skills. It was so interesting, because the first round we had them write down emotions so that they could draw those out of a hat and act them out. Some of the emotions I barely saw a difference in the usual facial expression they made, but the rest of the group knew what they were portraying right away. Another interesting time was during the third round we were doing animals and one person had the word dog. All she did was press her fingers together and the group knew right away what it was. I on the other hand would have never guessed that. It really goes to show how the differences in culture can affect communication.

After lunch I left with Ryan to go get a herbal hot compress massage from the psychosocial clinic in the camp. It smelled great and it felt great, too. Ryan and Yvette went first so I talked to one of the coordinators who helped run the psychosocial clinic. She was Thai and she was from Chiang Mai. We talked about issues that were going on in the camp and the struggles they had in the psychosocial clinic. I brought up the fact that I was Hmong to compare some things the Hmong went through and what the Karenni are going through right now and she was so surprised that I was Hmong. She laughed when I told her I was America and called me Hmong America, which without context of how the conversation went, it's probably hard to understand why that's funny. She then proceeded to tell me that I looked Chinese and I didn't look Hmong. After the massage and feeling sooooo relaxed we drove back up to where the trainings were and I was able to make it just in time for the little graduation ceremony we were going to have for the training group. It was so great, because they were so grateful for the time we had together and I got a super cool I Love Karenni shirt that I really wanted. I can't wait to wear it around! After that we left the camp and headed back for our hotel. Ryan and I were able to figure out how to take money out of our credit union from here at the atm and we booked a tour tomorrow to go on a boat ride of the Pai River and then ride elephants (sorry, See, I don't know what type of elephant riding it is). I also met another Hmong girl who stayed with the Thai lady who ran the tour shop. She was only 13 & she was also Hmong Green -ugghhhh! Haha, it's not that disappointing, but I definitely haven't gotten used to the dialect difference. She was a cute little girl, but very quiet. I guess she goes to school in Mae Hong Son and the Thai lady helps take care of her while she goes to school since the village her parents are from is not very close. Actually, the Hmong lady told us we could go on one of the tours to meet her parents, but I just felt like that was really strange.

We had dinner together with everyone tonight (IRC & JRS) as a final celebration. It was a very entertaining and hilarious dinner with all the conversations going on. It was a great way to end the trip. I have enjoyed getting to know everyone and their passions. During dinner there was also these group of girls who came in wearing all of the different hill tribe clothes. There was even a girl dressed in Hmong clothes, but you could tell she wasn't Hmong and that she was Thai. People took pictures of them and then tipped them. It was interesting to see all of the different clothing, but also really odd to see the pretty much sacred traditional clothing I have at home out on display for tourist so that they could get tips. It's a mix of various feelings. Anyways, I'm still loving Mae Hong Son and so sad to be leaving already. I wish I could bring all of the friends I'm making along with me on the rest of my travels, but hopefully Facebook will be able to connect me to them even when I'm on the other side of the world.