19 DEC 2010

BACK IN CHIANGMAI (NEW HOME)

It is good to be back in Chiangmai again after all these years.

As I stepped out of the plane and see the mountains surround Chiangmai, memories of my first trip way back in 1986 came flooding through my mind, especially moments spent on those mountains with the hill tribes and mountain communities.  It was that trip which changed my life and set a new direction, completely altering my ambition to live and serve the poor.

I am here with a team of 20 student leaders on a service-learning trip to live and serve in a Karen tribal children hostel for a week and less.  I wonder if this trip will touch some hearts and transform some destinies of youths and children alike.  I trust it will.  It always does, even in simple ways.  

 That’s the value and beauty of such learning journeys, when we open hearts, open eyes and raise pertinent questions on life and community and meaning of being.

The team arrived at the airport and are checked into a local guest house on the edge of the Mae Ping river, complete with huge elephant keychains to their rooms. After a dinner at a halal Thai restaurant in Anusarn Market, I unleashed them onto the Night Bazaar to see the sights and lights of the local “pasar malam” with pushcarts lining the main street of Changkhlan road.  

The youths will immediately begin their bargain hunting and buy their souvenirs in haste to regret immediately when they discover their new acquisitions are in abundance along the street, available at even greater discounts.  They will wise up to the reality that we in life, we can get what we bargain for.  We also realize that our restless hearts and insatiable desires are always craving for another new thing we want to possess.  We become sensible when we realize our wallets are limited and out time is up.  Hence we might cease fire, to retreat to fight another day.  

The consumer in us never ceases as we lick our lips and cast another wandering eye at another new lovely thing.  Such are the temptations along the streets of the night market.  We discuss afterwards that in life, we usually get what we think we want and what we negotiate for.  It is scary and we are better off being more thoughtful and considerate of what is it that we truly want with our limited resources and time.  A great learning point for day one.