hillestad nomads

New Painting

2008-08-22T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hi friends, I have had some time lately to create my own paintings. Here is one that I will be leaving here. It started out as a image for a line Joanna Newsom's song "Monkey and Bear", but has since taken on a life of it's own.

2008-08-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

Another painter I've had the privilege of working with -Maria Kreyn

2008-08-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here's another new friend - Joakim
- who's paintings I love

A Mirror to the People (part 2)

2008-08-08T15:14:00.000-07:00

In the evening of the first day we arrived at Mirror, there was already something exciting to take part in. P. Aye told us that a man in a neighboring Akha village had just completed the building of his new house, and there would be an important home-blessing party, as is hillltribe custom, to bring luck to the household. P. Aye encouraged the volunteers to make an appearance, an important symbol of a bond of friendship between the Mirror group and their neighboring tribes. We met together with the other volunteers to pool together a little money, which is customary to present to the family of the new home. We tried to think of other gifts to present to honor this important occasion, and someone managed to come up with a bottle of cheap, nasty hilltribe whiskey, which we presented to our host with red faces and stifled giggles. It was the best we could come up with, as the nearest shop was miles away and we didn’t have much warning in advance. Our host accepted the gift courteously with feigned enthusiasm, clearly a whisky snob like many of the hilltribe men.

My first exposure to a hilltribe village had me pinching myself to check if I was actually there living it for real, not watching a PBS series. Small bamboo huts perched on stilts above my head; packs of children wearing filthy, oversized tee shirts worn like dresses, and colorful blessing threads wrapped around their tiny wrists and necks; water buffalo grazing near by- it was so surreal. The entire small village was outdoors that night, drinking, and sharing food and laughter, glad for the excitement and the excuse for a celebration. The hilltribe people’s faces were dark and striking with high cheekbones and strong features hinting at the Tibetan origin of their ancestry. Their well-worn clothing was a mixture of traditional hilltribe jackets and pants, colorful Thai skirts, and some cheaply-made western-style tees and pieces that somehow found their way to this remote mountain village from a factory in China.

It’s amazing how one’s appetite can go completely away when in a third world country. Luke and I and the other volunteers politely nibbled at the feast that our honored host had spread out on the floor of his new house for us, his guests. We took delicate sips of the brain soup, munched on the raw stalks of some flowers, and gratefully washed the unique flavors down with some Beer Chang that had been specially provided for the occasion.

Later in the week as I sat in the main office on my computer, researching and writing grants for several of Mirror’s initiatives, I forced myself to come to grips with the fact that on this particular trip, the people of Mirror group and the hilltribes would be teaching and helping me more than I would be helping them. Hopefully some benefit could come to them despite the limited amount of time Luke and I could spend with them, but it is I who would benefit the most from this particular visit.

Before we can begin to serve and help the people who’s lives we want to effect and improve, we have to first take time to listen with a closed mouth, to watch with open eyes and hearts, to learn and to understand. Then hopefully in the future, the learning of a culture and understanding of ways that I began on this trip, will enable me to work towards lasting change.

August Mix

2008-08-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Here's the second installment of paintings honoring Ryan's "that time of the month mix". Some of these works were my favorites before our trip to Norway. While some of these paintings I've only discovered since being here. Nevertheless, they are among my favorites.

1. Saint Ana, the Virgen , the son and Saint John - Leonardo da Vinci (1498) - London National Gallery
2. Portrait of Paul Verlain - Carriére (1891) - Musee d'Orsay, Paris
3. (Girl Bathing) Odd Nerdrum (21st Century)
4. Gamle furutrer- Hertervig (1865) - Stavanger, Norway
5. Perseus and Andromeda - Titian (1553/62) - Wallace Collection, London
6. Self Portrait with Dr. Arrieta - Goya (1820) - MIA, Minneapolis
7. Saint Onufri - Ribera (1637) - Hermatige, St. Petersburg
8. Self Portrait as Munch - Helene Knoop (21st Century)
9. The Knight with the Falcoln - Rembrandt (1660's) - Gothenburg Museum, Sweden

A Mirror to the People (part 1)

2008-07-31T16:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.mirrorartgroup.org/

The most hope-giving and inspirational experience of our Thailand journey, was the week we spent high up in the mountains, where northern thailand meets Burma. When doing research on anti-human trafficking NGOs during my year of preparation leading up to our trip, I was struck by the artful and imaginative website of the Mirror Foundation. It stood out to me as an organization that, very grassroots and holistically, lived and worked among the hill tribe people they are advocating for. I was pleased to later learn that most of their prominent roles are filled by hilltribe people and Thais, rather then imported western foreigners like many of the other anti-trafficking organizations in Thailand. Then when I found out that Heidi Tungseth from Solomon’s Porch was considering spending time with them as well, my mind was made up that Mirror was indeed the right group with which to spend my energy on this trip.

I’m not sure how the name “Mirror Foundation” was chosen, or what it signified to the students and artists who initiated it in 1991, but in my mind it represents a mirror that reflects back to the tribal people of the Mae Yao region, the unique beauty of their culture and people. A mirror to inspire these proud and independent people to continue to look inward- inside their rich heritage, rather than giving in to the increasing pressure to look outward toward mainstream Thai culture.
The prospect of keeping alive each tribe’s distinct cultural traditions, livelihood, and language, is looking less and less optimistic, as tribes are forced by the Thai government to relocate down into the cities from high up in their beloved mountain dwellings.

But the most critical issue facing displaced hilltribe people, is that increasing poverty and vulnerability is causing a rapid increase in their women and children being trafficked into the big cities and sold for prostitution. Mirror Foundation has made a bold choice to do the most difficult but most effective kind of anti-trafficking work. They have chosen to live and work intimately with the hilltribe people, locating their headquarters among their villages and sharing day to day life with them. In this way, Mirror has grown to understand the intricacies of tribal life and what role they can play in preventing the villages’ young girls from straying away from the life they know and becoming prey to traffickers.

Butterflies bounced and jostled in my stomache as an open-backed songtaew transported us from the Chiang Rai bus station, up a steep mountain path towards the Mirror community. It thumped over rocks the size of coconuts, and swerved threateningly around sharp curves. I was nervous, feeling intimidated by the unknown, and very much aware of the dozens of hilltribe faces gawking at us as we rumbled past their roadside markets and houses. Trying to keep our gigantic 6 month-suitcases, which were large enough to stow a small human body or two, from sliding uncontrollably towards the open back of the truck did nothing to calm my nerves.

Finally we found our way through the lush green hills and forest to the Mirror grounds, and pulled up to her main “office,” a small, cozy bamboo hut on stilts. Friendly faces, mostly Japanese, Thai, and Hilltribe (plus one awesome American named Alex) greeted us. Along with one, very frantic, intimidating woman called P. Aye.

The Mirror Foundation is actually a community of students, artists, and activists who live together in an intimate paradise of traditional hilltribe-style houses tucked into wooded groves and bamboo. Feels more like a peaceful commune than an organization of human-rights activists. But, boy do they keep busy, as we soon found out, with dozens of projects and a constant stream of new ideas to improve the lives of their neighbors. We wandered around the grounds where we discovered a small clay shop where hilltribe women make little clay birds and whistles to sell. There is a music studio for recording traditional hilltribe music to share with the rest of the world, and a radio/tv station for broadcasting hilltribe-pertinent news and information to the surrounding villages. There is a community kitchen and outdoors dining platform where all the volunteers cook and eat meals together, and where they compost their leftover food for gardening usage.

Right away we felt at home and at peace, with the hard-working but easy-going, environmentally-conscious, genuine people that live and work at Mirror Foundation. P. Aye took some getting used to with her intensity and almost bossy-ness, but I quickly saw that her drive and passion, coupled with task and detail-orientation are a huge part of what keeps Mirror so successful in accomplishing their dreams. These people are seriously some of the most hard-working activists I’ve met. They will the change they want to happen, with every activity of each day. On an average day with Mirror, we:

- mixed buckets of concrete to build a students house
- helped design a logo for their new eco-friendly hemp bag
- taught an English lesson to the hilltribe guides
- had a Thai lesson
- cooked a meal together
and met together to discuss the multitude of other projects that were being worked on in the community.

In addition to all the business of our days there, a thick solemnity and despair hung in the air as people frantically sent emails, made phone calls, and discussed arrangements to try and help their Burmese neighbors just over the mountains, who had been struck and shattered by cyclone Nargis just days earlier.

...story to be continued ;)

Sacred Grass

2008-07-26T18:01:00.000-07:00

What is becoming trendy as an environmentally sustainable and “green” commodity nowadays, the Lahu tribe of Northern Thailand have known about and used for centuries. Bamboooooo!
To the Lahu, bamboo is a trusty old friend. Their daily life involves living intimately with it, depending on it for many practical daily uses. We could sense the deep respect that the Lahu people we stayed with on our village stay, had for this miraculous plant, which is very much a part of their cultural identity. Spending just three days with our guide Ja Ha and his family in the hill tribe villages, and we witnessed the multitude of ways that bamboo can be used, though it has been documented that there are actually a thousand known uses for it!

Va is the general Lahu word for bamboo, but there are dozens of other respective names given to bamboo determined by what the Lahu use it for. For instance, to refer to the bamboo used to cook rice when talking about the bamboo used to build a house would cause great amusement for a Lahu! The Lahu are so familiar with the many different species of bamboo that they employ, that most can identify the species of bamboo being cut down, simply by listening to the sound it makes. Incredible!

The Lahu village of Ban Yafu, where we stayed for 2 days, is the most beautiful, natural living environment I have ever seen. We came to the village by hiking up steep, arduous mountain, following our guide Ja Ha as he followed a trail that was either in his imagination, or marked by little plants that he recognized- I don’t know, but there was definitely NO PATH to be followed. When we arrived at the hill overlook above the small village, we stopped to just take it all in. Miles of lush green hills, not a power line or paved road in sight. And all the homes and buildings were constructed almost entirely of bamboo! The traditional Lahu home is built on stilts, and its floors and walls are bamboo with thatched roof. The steps or latter up to the first landing (or deck if you will) of the home are made of bamboo. We took our shoes off before entering the home, which is proper in Thai culture, and the light, springy bamboo floor boards under my feet felt amazing. We slept on blankets that night, that had been carefully laid out on the floor by our host family. The bamboo floor was so comfortable to sleep on! It felt like we were suspended in air all night!

After the end of each meal with Ja Ha and his family, Ja Ha would pour steaming herbal tea made of some smoky, earthy flavored leaves into cups he had carved out of a bamboo stalk. Looking around the village, we could see that the aqueducts and pipes were made entirely of bamboo. We also ate bamboo shoots with one of our meals. The best example of the Lahu’s efficient use of bamboo though, was one afternoon when Ja Ha led us up a steep mountain path, along with his 14 year old son and adorable little daughter, to the highest peak in the village. On the way up, Ja Ha stopped to cut down a couple bamboo stalks and when we got to the top he informed us that we would cook our lunch inside of the bamboo. He cut and hollowed out long pieces of the bamboo, then we stuffed them with rice, chili paste and vegetables and cooked them over the fire. I will never forget the smoky taste of that delicious meal.

On our hike out of Yafu village, at one point Ja Ha stopped to cut some bamboo to make us walking sticks. Then he amazed us by quickly carving a rough flute out of bamboo, and proceeded to play it, getting a good few notes out of the thing! It was fascinating and delightful to me to see the multitude of wonderful ways in which this nature abiding people incorporate bamboo into their daily lives. It gave me a greater appreciation for this important natural resource too!

Here are some interesting facts about BAMBOO

• An enduring, fast growing and truly renewable resource, it needs no replanting.
• A high-yielding, viable replacement for wood and petroleum based products.
• Important economic and ecological benefits including soil and water conservation, jobs, numerous product applications and food- more then 1000 documented uses.
• Amazingly short growth cycle, it can be harvested in 3-5 years versus 15-20, typical for many hardwoods.
• The fastest growing plant on the planet, some species can grow up to 1 meter or 3 feet per day.
• A critical element in the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• A renewable alternative resource for agro-forestry production.
• Bamboo shoots provide a nutritional source of food which can be made into bread, cakes scones and cookies.
• Environmentally friendly reduction of pressure on forests through wood substitution.
• Products can be made in rural environments, reducing industrial and urbanization impacts.
Bamboo is durable, sturdy and strong - harder than Red Oak and Maple.

Teresa Oaxaca

2008-07-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another wonderful painter with whom Michelle and I have become friends. Here is her website: http://www.teresaoaxaca.com/

July Mix

2008-07-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

In honor of Pitty's 'that time of the month' music mix, I'll try my hand at paintings.

1. Jacob Blessing the Sons - Rembrandt - 1656
2. Isle of the Dead - Arnond Böcklin -1886
3. Young Mothers - Eugéne Carriére - 1906
4. Lady of Shallot - JW Waterhouse - 1888
5. Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom - Repin - 1876
6. The Calling of St Matthew - Caravaggio - 1600
7. The Messenger - Odd Nerdrum - 2008
8. Sisyphus - Titian - 1549
9. Hope - Watts - 1885

Leonardo Marinucci

2008-06-27T16:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a drawing of a friend that I met in Norway named Leo. His paintings drawings are fantastic

the Children of Blessing: Lahu tribe

2008-06-16T12:04:00.000-07:00

*note: the following pictures are ones I've collected, but did not take myself. those will come later!

The Lahu are a strong and proud people, slow to trust other tribes, and dedicated to maintaining their unique ways of life. For this reason, they choose to settle their villages high up in the mountains, removed from towns and roads. Hilltribe history and lore paints them as famously fine hunters, and they live intimately and harmoniously with nature. This is one of the things that stood out to me the most, in the time we spent with the Lahu of Ban Yafu village. As we trekked through the forests and hills, our guide and new friend Ja Ha, was constantly stopping to point out plants and herbs that had medicinal properties or other uses for the Lahu. He was so full of knowledge of the land, which is sacred and deeply spirit-filled to the Lahu.

The Lahu were originally from Tibet and the Tibetan plateau area of China and have been migrating to bordering countries for the past 200 yrs. As an ethnic group, they number about 60,000 in Thailand, located primarly in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces. They are complex and diverse ethnically. In Thailand there are no fewer than six different Lahu tribes, some of whose languages are not mutually intelligible. The majority of Lahus in Thailand are Red Lahu, which is what the people of Ban Yafu, where we stayed, were. Red Lahu are pantheistic animists who follow a Dtobo, a messianic leader. There are also a significant number of Black, Yellow and Shehleh Lahus in Thailand, many of whom have been Christian for nearly one hundred years, after being converted by missionaries. Black Lahu are the most populous throughout Southeast Asia and theirs is considered to be the standard Lahu dialect.

Lahu are primarily subsistence farmers, growing rice and corn for their own consumption. While so many of the villages of other hilltribes in Thailand are becoming strongly influenced by Thai urban culture, the Lahu remain a strict, serious people governed by strong principles of right and wrong, every individual in the village answering to the common will of the elders. While less importance is placed on the extended family than in other hill tribe communities, the Lahu are still strongly committed to principles of unity and working together for survival. There was a strong tribal feel among the Lahu of Ban Yafu, and it seemed like most every person in the village, young and old, had a specific role. Some were tribal council and elders. Some were representatives of the village. there was a kind of witch doctor or spirit doctor, and spiritual leaders.

An interesting observance- Lahus "may have the most gender-equitable society in the world." This is something that definitely stood out to Luke and me during the time we spent in Ban Yafu. Ja ha was most often the one taking care of the kids while his wife was in the fields doing physical labor. Ja Ha’s son helped to cook the meals and clean the dishes. All of the daily activities are shared. The Lahu have a motto regarding gender equality, which states that “chopsticks only work in pairs.” This was a shocking and very welcome change to come upon, after so much time spent in mainstream Thai culture where women have a very specific and less-respected role in society (I’ll expound on this later )

The Lahu language comes from the Tibeto-Burman family and has no traditional written form, though missionaries have tried to create a Romanized transcription. They call themselves the “children of blessing.”
The concept of “blessings” is an integral part of Lahu daily life, rituals, spirituality and folklore, and manifests in the forms of successful hunting, bountiful harvest and long life. The Lahu look to many sources for these blessings, the main two of which are their ancestors and their God of creation, G'ui sha, who controls all other spirits.

Well, there is so much more for me to learn and write and share with you about the Lahu and our short but impactful experience with them, and I will try to do that more vigilantly. Next, I will write about two sacred and amazing gifts of nature to the Lahu: bamboo and rice, and the amazing stories they created for us.

Hilltribes Part I

2008-06-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since we last posted.
We've been in Norway for the past two weeks, and have been busy painting (Luke) and writing (me.) It is just beginning to be summertime here, and we are living on a small farm right next to the sea, so the weather and landscape are ravishingly beautiful!

There is still a lot to tell about Thailand. I am missing it already, and of course, it didn't feel like we had enough time there or were able to accomplish enough. There's so much need and so much beauty. I feel drawn to live there for a longer amount of time, and hope that that can happen at some point.

We spent our last week with an NGO called the Mirror Foundation where I drafted up some grant proposals and we did home-stays in hilltribe villages, and I have come away from the experience with hopefulness and energy. I really believe in the work Mirror is doing and its effectiveness. They are a small, grassroots, very organic non-profit started by a group of Thai students, artists, and political activists. I was initially drawn to Mirror because it was started and is run by native Thais (not European/American transplants) who live among the people they are trying to help. Mirror's focus is on the hilltribe people of the Mae Yao sub-district of N Thailand.

For those of you who aren't aware, there are many tribes living in the "golden triangle" region of N Thailand, Burma, and Laos- unique ethnic groups with their own individual cultures and languages. These peoples immigrated to Thailand (etc.) throughout the 19th and 20th centuries from Tibet and China, have been traditionally nomadic and are therefore not Thai citizens. The term "hilltribe" includes the tribes of Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Karen, Mien and Hmong; also Paduang (Kaya- the "long neck women") I think, but I'm not positive. There is some fantastic artistry, craftsmanship and beauty within these cultures, which I hope to help expose you all to, and I will write and post more about them over time, but first I will tell you about the 2 groups whose villages we stayed in during our time with Mirror.

Traditionally, these tribes have based their livelihood on farming in the slash and burn technique, opium poppies being their main source of income, until recently when the Thai government cracked down hard on the drug trade and on slash and burn farming (in this case viewed as environmentally harmful.) The government has forced many of the hilltribe villages to relocate out of the mountains down to the foothills and closer to the cities. This forced relocation and change in traditional farming, in addition to the fact that statelessness means they don't qualify for the benefits of state education and healthcare, have created a huge problem of poverty for the hilltribe people. Their young women and children are extremely vulnerable to being trafficked into the bigger cities for prostitution.

The Not for Sale campaign states "the hill tribe people are the most trafficked native population in Thailand."
Mirror foundation has a lot of great initiatives to prevent trafficking and to encourage sustainable income and agriculture in their surrounding hilltribe villages of the Mae Yao area. Mirror is doing work on the preventative end of the sex-trade issue; the kind of work whose success is the least visible/measurable, but is the most important aspect of the fight to end trafficking. I just found out the other day that the Not for Sale Campaign, which is one of the most notable forces in the abolitionist movement, has decided to partner with Mirror. This is so exciting!!! I am really excited about the possibility of Solomon's Porch partnering with Mirror too, and maybe doing yearly trips to volunteer there, like with Guatemala.

alright. that's all for now, but soon I'll post photos and stories from the hilltribe villages, as well as more info about the individual tribes.

2008-05-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

I look up into the hills just past Mirror Foundation where we are working. I look up and know that Burma is just over those hills a little way. So close, and yet so very very far away from being able to do anything.
it makes my heart heavy, and it's hard to concentrate on much else.

words can't begin to express the horror...

Right now I am working on some grant proposals for Mirror, who has really creative, effective projects to help the Hilltribe peoples of the Mae Yao area with the issues that they face as stateless, semi-nomadic tribes, such as human-trafficking prevention and awareness, Thai citizenship process, missing persons locator, and sustainable agricultural life.I willl tell you more about these projects when time, or you can check out their great site (see Thailand links.)

Day after tomorrow we trek to a Lahu and Akha village where we will stay in villager's homes and learn their unique and beautiful ways.

5.13.08 - Kitsch in Chiang Mai

2008-05-13T02:55:00.000-07:00

Word on the street was that there was some underground scene of painters and drawers in Chiang Mai. Well, we found them - and they really were under ground. Last Saturday, while searching around night markets, we found about 30 very talented creators that worked out of a basement of a market. Nearly everything that they were selling were drawings (almost no prints). Everyone of them uses their gallery as a studio -or maybe vise versa- but essentially there was no difference. They seemed to be in groups of 3 to 6 people. They weren't creating work as nameless massproducers, yet they seemed to share in each other's success. One of the guys seemed quite happy to sell me a drawing made by his friend, and after I bought it, 4 of them abandoned their easels to help take it out of it's display frame to pack it up. It looked like such a beautiful way to work.

As many of you know, the Master Painter I am apprenticing is a leader in a movement to define a stream of painting under the Superstructure of the term Kitsch. He has done a lot to reorient people's thinking of that term to not only include pink lawn flamingos, precious moments dolls, and a picture of a moose by a lake, but also "high kitsch" - including painters like Rembrandt, Waterhouse, and, well, himself. With this philosophy, Kitsch is concerned with pathos, the eternal, and the intimate, while Art is concerned with irony and originality.

I could go on with these ideas, but instead, I'll direct anyone interested to some writings by Jan-Ove Tuv and Odd Nerdrum.

http://janovetuv.com/bruker/articles/Manifest_E%207.pdf
http://janovetuv.com/bruker/articles/confused_about_kitsch.pdf
http://janovetuv.com/bruker/articles/kitsch_and_irony.pdf
http://www.kitschforum.com/
"On Kitsch" by Odd Nerdrum et. al. Published by Kagge Forlag

I was quite happy to find these Thai "Kitschists".

5.12.08 - Reflection on Chiang Mai

2008-05-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

We've left our precious friends at Agape. They are so dear, so thoughtful and so talented.

Our last day there was beautiful and challenging. I had frequently drawn copies of photos that the kids and Nannies brought me, but the last day after class, a few kids bought me photos of their families. My heart ached drawing these images.

One of the photos looked like it was taken only months ago, for the girl was in the photo with the family. Her eyes were red and worn, apparently from crying. Her dad was sitting to her right with his hands in his own lap, her mom was to the right with her hands in her own lap, and further to the right was the grandmother with a hand reaching over the mom to touch this girl on the knee. It was a loaded image.

Another girl had me draw a wallet size photo of her dad.

Michelle's group performed their dance brilliantly. It was so entertaining and attractive that even some of the boys joined in at the end. But I will let Michelle tell you more about it.

Early Sunday Morning our gracious and generous hosts helped us to the train station. And here we are now in Chiang Rai. But our adventures here will be left for a different post.

Until then,

Luke

P.S. the photo of the kids drawing that bearded guy is them doing my portrait. so great. In Thai the band's name, on my shirt, is pronounced "pedraladalalalada". (smile)

the shape of things to come

2008-05-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow

Next Week

Today is Our Last Day at Agape

2008-05-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day with the beautiful kids at the orphanage, but you can bet the stories and pictures of them will keep coming, because there is so much we haven't had a chance to share yet. The girls have been working on a dance we made up to a Psalters song, which they will hopefully get to perform for the nannies and other children. They love it! They love to perform, and are so proud when it all comes together.
The kids have also enjoyed designing and drawing their own superheroes with Luke!

We've had a wonderful experience at Agape and will be sad to leave these very important children and the reality that they let us experience with them for 2 weeks. But we are really looking forward to moving 3 hrs. North to Chiang Rai where we will be spending time in Akha and Lahu hill tribe villages, and helping out at Mirror Foundation, which works on the prevention side of the human=trafficking issue among hill tribe women and girls.

The most important part of what I have to say is that (I'm sure most all of you have heard)last weekend Thailand's neighboring Burma (Myanmar)was hit with a category 4 cyclone which had destroyed entire villages and killed AT LEAST 22,000 people, with 60,000 reported still missing.
This is a horrifying tragedy for any country to experience, but what makes this case particularly desperate is that the Burmese military junta (government) is one of the most horribly corrupt and human rights- abusing in the world right now, and they're denying aid into the country, and dragging their feet in meeting the emergency needs of their people. Among the areas that were hit were the Kareni and Mon states. Karen and Mon are minority hill tribes, and I imagine that this disaster will make an already vulnerable group of people, more vulnerable to the lure of human-trafficking in their state of desperation.
I urge our friends and family to pay attention to this issue, though it is hard to know how to help right now.

Blessings and love to all of you!

Wat U Mong & Old City

2008-05-07T10:55:00.001-07:00

Tuk Tuk

monk's laundry at Wat U Mong

monks' art from the 60's

We had some free time over the weekend so, on Sunday we took a tuk tuk (3 wheeled motor cart awesomeness!) to Wat U Mong (the forest temple) on the outskirts of Chiang Mai city. I have been wanting to visit this special wat since reading about how it is tucked away in a cave among trees! I don't think many tourists visit this wat- we were the only farangs when we visited. Wat U Mong was first used during King Mengrai’s rule in the 14th century. Tunnels in the cave were built around 1380 as meditation cells for the clairyoyant monk Thera Jan. Later,the monastery was abandoned, then re-inhabited in the 60's when Ajaan Buddhadasa, a well known monk and teacher at S Thailand’s Wat Suanmok, sent several monks to re-establish a Sangha (Buddhist brother hood) there. The monks in the 60's made awesome paintings and illuminations of Buddhist and Biblical texts on walls of one of the building (see pictures). SO awesome!

The feeling on the wat grounds was one of ancient sacredness and lush, green,humid serenity. We were quiet, and listened to sacred chanting of scripture by the monks who live there. There were incredible ruins in every nook and cove to be discovered. There is a gold Buddha deep inside one of the caves, and a large statue of the fasting Buddha (not a common image) elsewhere on the grounds.

Then we rode into the Old City (moated center part of Chiang Mai) and visited the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural museum, which was neat but I was itching to get back out on the street and to learn about Chiang Mai by experiencing it! We wandered around, ate at a noodle shop, then found ourselves in the thick of the Sunday Walking Market, where 5 or so blocks are taken up by vendors peddling their goods old school-style on mats laid on the road. Fascinating! The most fun part was just watching all the people. And we did a little bargaining for some hilltribe goods as well ;)

5 Favorite Things about Thailand (so far...)

1. Cheap, delicious Thai food- on average, $3 total for a meal for 2 persons!!
2. Recycled water- what you wash with is what you flush with. brilliant! (I think we call it "Grey Water"?)
3. The scent of Jasmine everywhere- the first time I've smelled real jasmine that wasn't in a tea or candle.
4. Monks in beautiful saffron and bright orange colored robes are everywhere
5. A bidet hose in every bathroom! hooray for clean butts ;)

- Michelle

Chiang Mai Arts & Culture museum

puppies sleeping on side of street at market

scary "lady boy" performer

barbecued octopus tentacles anyone?

weird "Miss Piggy's Mini Pork Balls" mobile playing Elton John tunes and rolling around the city! We saw her the next day too, miles away.

(posted by Michelle)

5.6.08 - Tuesday - Chiang Mai

2008-05-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello family and friends,
We haven't posted in a bit. We're having trouble uploading photos.
Some people have asked if we've experienced any of the weather that hit Burma. We'll, it's been pretty rainy here, but nothing even close to the tragedy across the border. So, we're fine.

The work with the kids is going well. Michelle and the girls look beautiful doing her choreographed dance. I think they're planning on performing this Friday. We have three more days left of classes. Our newness has definitely worn off, and the kids are starting to treat us like family - with all the smiles, hugs, and occasional disrespect that comes with it. I'm going to miss these guys.

We ran into a couple of the girls at the market yesterday. It was kind of a shock seeing them in a different environment. I know they were being monitored pretty closely, but it was so good to see them out and around. I guess some of them also went camping this last weekend. Michelle and I talked about their futures today. How on earth will life work for them? Boyfriends... Marriage?

I'm hopeful to hear some of their stories in 5 to 10 years.

I'll keep this one short - and talk to you soon.
and wishes of clarity to all you Indiana and NC Democrat voters out there...!

Luke

5.3.08 - Saturday - Chiang Mai City

2008-05-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

So today the kids got a break from their rigorous art and dance training and Michelle and I spent some time in "downtown" Chiang Mai. We got a late start to the day, but it turned out to be really enjoyable.

Much of the main city area is surrounded by a moat, which used to be the boundary of Chiang Mai. Although now there is little difference between the areas inside and out of the square city.

We sectioned off a third of the square that we planned to walk and we finished it in about 5 hours. While going in and out of alleyways and shops, Michelle and I mostly talked about Lost theories, painting philosophy, and the kids at Agape. We helped each other remember the kids' names and told each other our own little stories that we've gathered about them.
For lunch Michelle had a yellow curry and I had a "jungle" curry, all for about $3 - man, I'm really loving this stuff!

We also found some great batik work. It is done on thin fabric - so we may be able to pack one in our luggage.

We poked our head into a couple of the many "Wats" (temples) that are in the city. Some are more than 700 years old and they are a bit intimidating, but one of the monks quickly greeted us and spent 10 minutes practicing his english.

We ended the night at one of the only little restaurants open past 9pm. There were about 6 older British guys there, flipping between about 6 football matches on the TV. We shared a super soup called Tom Kha.

We got a Tuk Tuk (3 wheeled taxi) ride home. Our friends had told us that we could barter with the drivers, but one attempt and one disgusted look from the driver later - I quickly reverted to his extremely reasonable first offer! It is really quite an experience trying to barter with prices that are already less than 1/5 of what one would pay in the States. Here's an earlier photo of a Tuk Tuk -

So we're at the apartment now, listening to the rain that has been going most of the day. Here's an earlier photo of our room -

In order to get a wifi connection, I must sit where that chair is - with my computer against the corner. (sometimes we can get it where Michelle is sitting!) We're actually really lucky.

Oh, by the way, any beauty that comes through in these photos is with great thanks to Amy for helping me pick out a great used camera and letting us borrow a nice lens. (and any blurriness is completely due to our inexperience with SLRs!)

Have a great weekend, talk to you soon.

Luke

Friday in Chiang Mai

2008-05-02T08:20:00.001-07:00

The bike ride from our moo baan (small neighborhood) to the Agape home is like something out of National Geographic; fluorescent-green rice paddies with silhouettes of purple mountain as backdrop. huge white cows with skin hanging in folds off of angular bones (looks like India :) graze by the side of the road 5 ft away from us. small rusted tin shacks glint in the afternoon sunlight which peeks through dark, threatening clouds. there are beautiful homes in the Lanna Thai style of architecture, made of rich dark wood, whose roofs come to a temple-style point. there are tropical flowers in varying shades of electric purple, whose scent mixes in with the smell of soggy garbage and rotten fruit. there are chickens running around all over the place, and water buffalo! Mangy stray dogs chase us, growling and nipping at my ankles. Motorbikes zoom past us with entire families hanging off the sides, and small pick up trucks with 10 people squished into the back, who stare and laugh at us because I'm sitting on the small back seat of the bike (which I guess is usually used for children.) I savor these mid-morning and late-afternoon bicycle rides (mostly because I'm not the one peddling 2 persons' body weight.) They're so romantic- especially when there's a sudden monsoonal downpour in the middle of the ride ;)

Our classes with the kids have been going well. The kids have really short attention spans and lose interest quickly, but it's fun to see the little girls practicing the dance moves on their free time, and there's nothing better than the pride shining in their eyes when Luke presents them with the portrait he's drawn of them. When you are one child in a family of 70, it is really important to feel unique and special, and I think Luke's portraits give the kids that gift.

Right now we are chilling in front of the fan. There is a lizard somewhere in the house that keeps saying cleck cleck cleck! really loudly. There is a cockroach the length of my middle finger, who this morning was perched on the wall above our bed, but whose location is now unknown. shudder.

5.1.08 - Thursday - Chiang Mai

2008-05-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Today was great. I am getting familiar with the lay of the land and getting better at the two-seater bike with Michelle. This morning I woke up from a dream about an old music teacher named Dr. P, Ryan, and Nerdrum. I’ve been dreaming a lot lately – I guess that’s pretty normal when in a new place. For breakfast I ate a mangosteen, the second to last piece of rye bread, and a couple Pringles - and then got to work preparing for drawing classes.

Monday I had the kids draw their Thai names into the drawing pads we hauled over from the Hiawatha Target. (I’ll be glad not to travel with those anymore!). After they thoroughly decorated that page, I had each class draw a friend. Yesterday I had the kids draw animals. I made 4-step instructions, starting with a circle or square and ending with a dog, butterfly, lizard, elephant, etc. – making sure they look somewhat Thai and not so American or African.

That worked pretty well, so today I had them draw cartoons. They included Mickey, Nemo, Pikachu, Batman and this funny character named Ultraman. This little dude was the print on the curtains of our Ton Sai bungalow – which were, no doubt, cut from kids’ bed sheets. I had never heard of him, but the kids knew him. And he only consisted of a few ovals, so he was easy to draw. The final image and the four steps below it were drawn on flimsy graph paper. I was pretty worried that the kids would tear them to shreds, the way any rowdy 10 year-old might handle something, but I was lucky to remember the clear plastic sheets that Michelle and I kept our important documents in. 10 sheets… perfect! I’ll reorganize those documents later.

It was pretty interesting seeing the different ways the kids handled the assignment. Some traced the final image into their drawing pads, some asked for help, and some plugged away through every step. Some smiled when I congratulated them and some played too cool (or didn’t understand me!) Some drew all 10 of the cartoons and some only a couple.

During the second half of each class, while the rest of the kids continue with the “lesson”, I draw a couple of the kids’ portraits. The kids are surprisingly patient for this and sit quite still. By now I’ve noticed some pretty characteristically Thai features, which makes it easier to complete the portraits in time. But one of the greatest things for me, is realizing that I see the kids so much differently after having completed their portraits. What was once (three days ago) a sea of (ok maybe getting politically incorrect) identical, storyless, little Thai kids, is now a group of fantastically unique children. I guess this might happen with any stranger you stare at for 20 minutes. Come to think of it, I recommend anyone give that a try (at their own risk, I suppose).

After class I hung out with some younger boys. Some were eating a snack of rambutans. It was amazing how fast they peeled and ate those spiny and pity things. After we played this game with little plastic chains – it was like jax. Then we did piggyback rides for a while.

After Michelle and I finished our 25 minute bike ride to the apartment and took a shower, we walked over to the neighborhood restaurant. Yesterday I had a great coconut cream red curry there and Michelle had Pud Thai. Today Michelle had green curry spaghetti (pronounced by the server as “sa-pa-ge-he-ti”) and I ordered a soup with vegetables. I didn’t recognize most of the veggies, but I noticed it had “green peppers”. Well, they weren’t American “green peppers” and it took about 40 minutes and an extra “bea leo” (beer) to finish it – it was so spicy.

After dinner we biked to the Supermarket about a mile or two away to get candy and breakfast. Michelle stayed with the bike outside because we had been told of a lot of bike theft. I think Michelle mostly wanted to stay outside to continue watching a most bizarre scene of about fifteen adults JAZZERCIZING in the parking lot! So, I went in to get the goods. First was some more rambutans, but then I spotted a big dragonfruit; next an Apple that was at least twice the size of a big Cub apple. I got some funny Thai candy all for about 50 cents- Yupi gummies, green tea flavored hard candy, and coffee candy. It’s almost impossible to find any real coffee here and I was craving the taste. When I got to the register, the woman rang everything up accept the produce. She gave me a frustrated laugh and pointed towards the produce. My confusion eventually turned into realization that there is a separate person for pricing produce! So there and back again I went, before I could finish my purchase.

Across from the grocery store was a little movie rental place. I wasn’t sure if last week’s Lost had finished loading (even after 44 hours!) so I bought a (no doubt) ripped Thai version of Balls of Fury for 45 baht (about $1.36) in the discount bin. Hey, there’s only so much reading a guy can do before he needs to experience some REAL literature!! And Christopher Walken is one of the greatest actors of our time – so what the heck.
Well, we got home to find that after 54 hours, the “little engine that could” - wireless connection we found, successfully downloaded the “Lost” episode.

After watching that brilliant masterpiece of a show, Michelle fell asleep and I decided to write a blog entry. Now I’m beginning to think of tomorrow’s class. What should I have the kid’s draw? More cartoons? I think I might have them draw each other again, but this time, without looking down at their paper. That should provide some laughs. I wonder if I can communicate the idea to the kids?

It’s about 1am, so my thoughts are becoming more weighty. I wonder about how to interact with the children. I wonder how much steering and “correcting” is helpful for them. While anytime I teach kids there are showers of praise – I wonder if here, I should limit my actions to that. It’s hard to try to think long term with these kids. Most of them look quite healthy, but every 5 minutes or so the phrase “these kids have HIV” races through my mind.

For years this orphanage could see 2-3 deaths in a week. Then in 2004 the Thai government released an almost magic potion called AIV. Before this, 5 years was considered old – now they have a 16 year old. These kids take the vaccine twice a day – 7am and 7pm. Any missed doses could prove to be detrimental, as the virus would overcome. The three hard working nurses have done a brilliant job keeping everyone vaccinated, but they are concerned. For in two years the kids will become adults and they will not be forced to live there any longer. One of the most important missions of the orphanage is to engrain in the kids’ minds and muscle memory the importance of this vaccination. While the thought of the kids turning 18 is a great worry of many, it is also an extraordinary dream.

A couple days ago one of the founders was recalling the time before 2004, “it was an incredible way to live – a funeral in the morning and a birthday party in the afternoon”. I could tell she had said that phrase a thousand times before to other family, friends, and volunteers, but it was still poignant.

So I wonder. Without many thoughts that I can write – I wonder about teaching and training, and helping and loving these children.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Well, those last few paragraphs took a half an hour to write – so I guess I’m slowing down. Maybe time to go to bed. All the best to anyone reading, and we’d love to hear from you. Talk to you soon.

Luke

Chiang Mai Arrival

2008-04-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

" The body is a multilingual being. It speaks through its color and its temperature, the flush of recognition, the glow of love, the ash of pain, the heat of arousal, the coldness of nonconviction. It speaks through its constant tiny dance, sometimes swaying, sometimes a-jitter, sometimes trembling. It speaks through the leaping of the heart, the falling of the spirit, the pit at the center, and rising hope."
- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "Women Who Run with the Wolves"

We are in Chiang Mai now, learning to speak with hearts, eyes, pictures and movement when our words don't work. These languages work no matter where you go in the world.

Today was day 2 of our work at Agape Home orphanage for HIV/AIDS children, located in an outer district of Chiang Mai. Agape was started by a Canadian woman who, while working in a hospital in Thailand, fell in love with an HIV positive baby girl that the hospital had left in a bed to die. Her dream was to start a home and a family for the little children that the Thai government orphanages rejected as being hopeless cases. She wanted to make sure that, though these children's lives would be very short, while they lived they would know the love of a family and the joy of living. There are now 70 children at Agape, and they are doing very well and are VERY energetic!

Luke and I have a group of girls aged 10-13 that we both teach dance and art activities to, I have another group of 13-16 yr. olds for dance, and Luke has a group of 10-13 yr. old boys for art as well. Because of advances in AIDS medical technologies, the children are living longer and Agape (as first time parents of teenagers ;) is trying to adjust to the growing pangs! We are attempting to bring them joy, creativity, and healing as we lead them in dance and art activities while they are on their "hot season" holiday from school. We will be with them every day for another week and a half.
The kids are really precious! They are sweet and enthusiastic, and on the outside, look like normal healthy kids. There are obviously some additional challenges. Some of the girls have extra physical challenges, and some get worn out more quickly, but they look like they're trying so hard! It's so fun to watch them get into the dance moves!

Agape also has a separate home for mothers who are dying of AIDS, where they can stay with their children for as long as they live while Agape helps care for them and transition their children into the Agape family. We haven't had any interactions with this home yet, but I think it is such an important part of the work they are doing. Agape seems like a really amazing organization, and really does feel like a family as opposed to an institution. They are doing a lot to help families dealing with AIDS, in furthering education and options for women and children, and in preparing a new generation of HIV positive Thais to live normal lives in Thai society.

So, we're settling in at our narrow little , 2-story apartment in a row on Soi 3 (alleyway/street.) It has flickering flourescent lights, no furniture except beds and a table, and lizards going up and down the walls ALL the time. It is great and we are so happy to be settled after riding buses for 30 hours straight over the weekend! Last night we bought a bike (which we'll donate to Agape) to get us around town and to and from Agape which is about a 25 min. ride. We bought some groceries- bananas, rambutans, mangosteens, kiwi, grapes, bread and pringles!!! Thai fruit is delicious and so cheap. Also, tonight we had a delicious dinner of pad thai, red curry soup, and a large bottle of Singa beer- all for under 4 US dollars!! exciting!
I need to go to bed now, but we'll try to post as often as possible. Love you all!

Ton Sai

2008-04-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

It’s been a whirlwind adventure of a past two weeks! Sorry not much communication- we’ve been on the road A LOT, and in tiny jungle villages with intermittent internet ;)

✈ Arrival

We arrived in Thailand late Friday night- same day as the Olympic torch. We stayed in Bangkok for just a day (and a day was plenty!) and then hopped a bus 12 hrs. south to Krabi province. We had some R&R time for a week before coming up to Chiang Mai to start work at the orphanage. At the recommendation of several friends and a backpacker’s guidebook, we sought out the small bay of Ton Sai, and found paradise there.
Before I sing its praises I’ll tell you a little about the South of Thailand. There are many small islands off the coasts (Gulf of Thailand on the E side, and Andaman Sea on the Indian ocean side) which are amazing and pristine, and have some of the most beautiful reefs and crystal-clear water. It is hot, sunny, and tropical at this time of year. The Thais in the South are mostly Muslim- interesting to observe women in head coverings driving motorcycles, along side of bikini-clad European tourists!
There are many spots in the S that are getting extremely touristy (ex. Ko Phangan and the Phi Phi islands featured in the Leo DiCaprio movie The Beach), and we tried to avoid those places, seeking some untouched nature and some peace and quiet.

☼ Ton Sai

The only way to get to Ao Ton Sai is by a steep climb through mountain, or by longtail boat- traditional Thai wooden boats whose prow is hung with flower garlands and bright fabric, and which run from a recycled car engine. So Ton Sai is pretty secluded. The view is straight out of my wildest dreams- giant karst rock formations jutting straight up out of the Andaman sea, crystal clear water.
The vibe there is dreamy. Bob Marley is the patron saint of Ton Sai- his image is painted on signs everywhere, and there are plenty of little reggae bars that play Legend all night. Thai Rasta boys with dreads down to their waists walk around saying “ don’t worry be happy” and “keep it real.” I wonder which came first- the backpackers and climbers who populate Ton Sai because it's the cheapest place to stay, or the Rasta vibe? ;)

☝ Day 1 of Ton Sai

We climb out of the long tail boat and wade to shore, our 6 mo.-luggage piled on our heads and shoulders. Hike into the jungle to find a cheap hut, interrupted by gigantic iguana thing (as big as a cat!) that scrambles out into the path in front of me. shriek! Find small one-room wood/bamboo hut on stilts with aqua blue mosquito net, fan, cold, open-roofed shower, Thai toilet (flushes with scooped water collected from your shower.) Cracks in floorboards are so big that a snake could get in if it wanted to. Perfect! We’ll take it!

There is electricity for parts of the day. It is extremely humid -nothing ever dries here, always mushy, soggy, damp. Smells like fruit rot. There’s motion and energy at every turn here- lizards constantly scampering up walls and ceilings, wild chickens run around, goats charge out of the jungle making me jump. Monkeys!!!

✌ Day 2 of Ton Sai

I am wide awake at 4 am. I listen to my ipod for several hours before the sun rises (weird to be able to listen to an ipod when you’re in a hut in the jungle ;) I listen to James Taylor and miss Rachel- is our 3rd day here to early to open your first letter, Rachie? ;) Then I listen to Bon Iver. He’s fantastic-thanks Dan! Sun rises. We sit on a strip of sand and watch water. Eat breakfast of banana pancake and plate of fruit. Swim. Explore. Chill out on beach as sunsets. Chili Peppers music coming from bar to my left, Damian Marley being played to my right. Um, I could live here forever maybe?

♡ Rest of the days at Ton Sai

There’s too many stories to write about at this time, so let me try to boil it down to the important stuff; some inspiring new friends, and a list of top five adventures over the past week.

First, the small village of Ton Sai. The people there treat us like human beings instead of tourists, like we’ve been treated everywhere else we’ve stopped in Thailand. Luke and I became fast friends with a group of the Thai “Rasta boys.” There is a group of about 6 of them who are amazing football (soccer) players, and work at the “Chill Out” bar during the high season, though their home is close to the Malaysia border. They have all grown up together, and work on a farm together when they’re not at Ton Sai. They are the best of friends- each other’s soul mates, and a true lesson in loyalty and hospitality to me.
First we met “Rain.” He walked past me and asked “how are you doing today?” I said that I was well, and asked how he was doing. He replied “medium” and kept walking down the path, laughing all the way. To be in Rainy’s presence is to be always laughing and joyful. He is small and dark with crimpy hair down to his waist, and usually wears a tye-dyed tank top that says Ben & Jerry’s on the front, and bright pink fisherman pants. He is quick, witty, and wicked at Connect Four.
Then there is Chirro- proud, shy, beautiful. He looks like the illegitimate Thai son of Bob Marley. Tom is a batik artist. Anand is quiet and has sweet dimples. Then there are a few others whose names I didn’t learn, and these guys do everything together, including play on their own title-winning football team barefoot on the beach, and walk around as a unit all the time. These guys’ care for and loyalty to each other inspires me to live that closely with my own community of friends.
Lucky for us, they invited Luke and I into their family, and the best night of our trip so far happened behind a hut in the jungle where we all sat in a circle on a bamboo mat around a small fire, and sang our hearts and guitars out to Bob Marley songs in broken English under the stars. There was real love that night!♥

☠ 5 Best Adventures of First Week!

1. Day trip Sea diving at 4 islands and Sea Gypsy curry on the beach
2. Climbing slippery rocks in rainstorm on Railay beach. Lots of cuts and curses!
3. when our new friend Rain saved us from foot-long, red, poisonous centipede
4. Rasta boys football team wins local beach championship and we celebrate with them Thai Rasta boy-style ☺
5. Fire dancing festival at which 11 yr. old Thai boy spins fire and shakes banana leaf-clad butt to “the roof, the roof, the roof is on fire, we don’t need no water let that (expletives) burn!”

we're here!

2008-04-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Bangkok safely. more to come soon...!

2008-02-27T18:44:00.001-08:00

hi friends!
this is where we will hopefully post musings along the way of our travels- if we can find time and internet services, that is :) at this point, we are planning to depart for Chiang Mai Thailand in mid to late April. only 2 months from now!!! we will spend a month working in an orphanage for HIV/AIDS children, and researching the Thai Hill Tribe people and ways to prevent the spread of human-trafficking of their young girls. then it's off to Stavern, Norway to live on a communal farm of artists on the North Sea, where Luke will be apprenticing the painter Odd Nerdrum, and I will be, um, grinding berries for paint, maybe? doing some solo camping? learning how to sail? the possibilities are as endless as the cornflower-blue Norwegian summer sky!

so, keep an eye on this blog... and we are still looking for friends or acquaintances who are interested in renting our house.