I met James for brunch Sunday, the rest of the crew was unavailable. He and I recapped our crazy night filled with a few regrets but many more fun memories! He had to get up at 7 am and work. I was so glad that was not me. I love my one- on- one time with friends. We basically solved the world’s problems and a few of our own, then parted ways.

I told Rebecca I would text her if I was ever in the area where she lived. So after brunch I reached out to see if she was available for me to say hello. When I heard back from her I was not far from her house, so I decided to swing by. I’d never been there before. When I pulled up to the place she pinned, Lesley came out from her house and greeted me. Seeing her was a bonus I didn’t expect.

I found out Rebecca is in the midst of moving to live right across the street from Lesley and Sunil. What a fun neighborhood! It was great for me to get the tour of their houses. I’d never really gotten to see the inside of a neighborhood like theirs. The houses had plenty of space, quiet streets, gardens and patios, was located close to beaches and shopping and totally affordable. They pay less than I do for a 3 bedroom house!

It was interesting to see how they remove all the landscaping that they added to their houses when they move. They literally dug them out of the old yard to replant them into the new place. That was a bit different from the USA. We would never plant anything and then remove it.

It was also really cool to see how the neighbors all have gardens and grow a lot of their own fruits. From what Rebecca explained they all share them up and down the street.

You could tell which houses were owned vs rented by the upkeep but also some of the owned houses were painted a unique color like purple, pink and blue. I wanted to live in one of those! I loved the colors.

Many houses were empty and available to rent. Would definitely consider moving here if the time was right. Until then- – – – – –

The longer I am here, the more I witness dynamics of the culture and the underlying prejudices/inequalities that exist. It’s always easier to just scrape the surface while visiting and embrace the differences. Reality is always much harsher and more difficult to comprehend, usually embedded in historical roots. This is the case with the immigrant workers in Phuket. They are treated differently in many ways.

When speaking with my Asian Cambly students, I’ve noticed that they really don’t understand prejudice or the divides against a race that we face in the USA. Their culture is not separated by religion or different ethnicities. The only examples they can discuss are the divides between male and female.

Recently one of my Taiwanese students mentioned that they have migrant workers from Vietnam, Burma and the Philippines and she is naturally scared of them when she sees them grouped together on the streets. It seems we are always nervous about cultures we don’t understand or people that may not look like us.

Knowing Mimi now for over a year and observing her slave like behavior at the Art C, (Tiffani will recall how she is constantly in work mode) I am seeing some of the economic divides and dominance between immigrants from Burma and the Thais.

Before the pandemic hit, Mimi had planned to go back to Burma to visit, knowing the hotel was going to close it doors to business. The Covid lockdown in Thailand started much sooner than her travel plans and the borders of neighboring countries were then closed.

Luckily she was able to continue living at the hotel but has since not been able to escape it. She is one of many Burmese workers who are stuck without work permits or any jobs to be had. The Thai owner of the Art C has since purchased an oven and has put Mimi to work making pizzas everyday to feed his family and start up a new business.

Mimi has not been paid even though she is told to cook and keep experimenting with recipes for the business. She spent 4 hours working up a sauce. She has zero experience cooking pizza and doesn’t want or enjoy doing it, but feels obligated even though she is not getting paid anything. The Thai government gave money for hotel workers to be allocated now that they are unemployed but she has seen nothing. Whenever she inquires about getting paid, or the government money promised, she is told that “they are also having a tough time, and she needs to be patient.”

I can’t imagine how trapped she must feel living in a vacant hotel with an owner than comes everyday demanding she work on his business with false promises of a future. But she feels she has no other choice at this time. She cannot travel anywhere, nor find work. She wants to move but has no alternative options.

She wanted to cook me some traditional Burmese cuisine. She hasn’t had a day off and was looking forward to having me visit. I headed to the Art C, worried about my inability to try new foods, but because I love and adore her, did my best to not gag and smile as I tried her ethnic dishes. I wished my daughters would have been there with me, as they love trying new things and it would’ve been a great experience.

Mimi is by far one of the kindest humans and that is probably the reason she is taken advantage of so often. From knowing her I have learned so much about the Burmese history, culture, her life stories of love and loss, but mostly, what it means to have humanity. She is always giving and even loaned money to Thais in need knowing she would never see it returned.

I wish I could help find solutions to her problems to enable her a life she deserves. But so often these issues run much deeper and are too complicated to resolve. Offering my friendship is all I can do. We are both thankful to have each other. I am wiser for having known her.