I have a shiny blue bicycle with a basket :)

Hi everybody!

So, I am now moved in to a little house in Mae Sai. I'm currently living with an American named Sarah, but I think maybe after a couple weeks or a month we'll talk and see if it's working or not, etc. Right now I am loving having a fridge, a hot water heater for the shower (luxurious!), and my own room. I feel so spoiled :). It is in a little compound of three houses, owned by the landlady that lives in the front little house. Our house has two bedrooms, a little living room, a little kitchen, and a little bathroom. It's very little. But I like it. The sun streams through my bedroom window in the morning, along with noisy roosters (note: in Thai they don't have a word for a male chicken. They just call it chicken. I think if I couldn't sleep every morning because of male chickens, I would definitely name the dang thing... anyway),and Thai music. And. DEPDC lent me my very own bicycle to ride around town! It has one gear, big handle bars, and a big basket on the front--- oh! And a second seat on the back for a passenger! So if you come to visit... I've got transportation, hehe. It is my pride and joy... seriously ;). I arrived on Friday, had an all-day meeting on Saturday, a birthday party for a volunteer on Saturday night, I taught my first english lesson last night, and today I am writing for the 'foreign department' in the office. Classes start today officially, but I will start teaching tomorrow. I'm so excited!!

I also wrote because I wanted to share a newspaper article on the conflicts/potential conflicts in Myanmar. If the conflict between the Wa tribe and the Military (and anyone else who cares to join) go ahead (which undoubtedly will happen), there will be a lot of repercussions. It borders on sensationalizing, and it seems to worry more about what will happen to the availability of drugs more than anything-- but it's a great article to get an overview of what's happening on my side of the world right now.
You can find it at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/06/world/asia/06myanmar.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Alright! Hope you're all well. Thinking about you,
Nicola