I'm back in Ranong for Sunday night, after having missed the Thai church service this morning due to torrential rains in the morning which prevented an early departure. Ranong is the rainyest province in Thailand (which is saying something), and I haven't seen straightup sunlight since I've been here. The hat I bought has been useful for the rain, though. The rains are torrential, though, and with the winds at times you can't hear people talking, especially if you're under an aluminum roof. But you sleep really well. Unless the aluminum roof isn't nailed down very well, and keeps banging against other aluminum roof panels. Then it might wake you up if it gets real windy.



When I went to Koh Hlao on Thursday afternoon I met a English(F)-Canadian(M) couple who were coming to visit the Moken. She evidently recently was awarded the British equivalent of a Fulbright, and they were here to see if this might be a good place to end up doing her project. She was interested in adult education, but they were also here to study how the different organizations were working together (or weren't) and whether that process of working with the Moken could be streamlined. He speaks great Thai from living in Isan for six years doing e development work (Canadian equivalent of Peace Corps) and she spoke none. We talked all about the situation and it was good getting a fresh perspective on everything. They were interested/concerned about the move to Elephant Island, so we went together just yesterday (Saturday).

When I got there I heard there were some Westerners up working on the church they were building on the Island so I went up to talk to them. It turns out the one guy (Rick) in charge knew my parents from back in the day and the whole project is being funded by Campus Crusade. The Thai leader of Campus Crusade (Mike Chr.) is actually also an old family friend. I guess this all isn't that surprising considering the heavy church involvement, though. The couple had some meetings with the men and woman about their needs on the Island (which involved the Moken drawing a picture of the island on a big sheet of paper that she brought), and whether they would want something like adult education, and it wasn't clear how useful it might be.

Despite what Naw (the woman I was staying with) said, the people on Elephant Island are actually very happy and say that they're going to stay there indefinitely. Moreover, I was talking to some of the Moken on Koh Hlao and they all say that if there were enough houses (there are only 30) they would also like to move to Elephant Island. This was a surprise to me since Naw, the woman I was staying with, had insisted that they weren't happy and they'd all move back. I said wait and see, and after seeing them and their houses I'm pretty skeptical. It does seem to me like the Moken have more autonomy and free.dom out there, and I think they'll stay. It would be nice if they could be one community, though, as they're divided right how and I think it's been hard for some of the families.

After going, I've also decided I'm going to spend at least next week on Elephant Island. There's a Thai(M)-Moken(F) couple who I know from last trip and who told me I was welcome to stay with them. Incidentally, this is the same woman who had a black eye last time and told me that it was because her husband beat her. Also the same couple who I told offhandedly during a dinnertime discussion that it wasn't right for a man to beat his wife (for those who I've told this story to). So it will be interesting to see their interractions. The man (Thep) generally seems a lot more easy going than he used to, so maybe he's had a change of heart. I am going to miss Naw's cooking, though.

One interesting little story is about the "chief" of the Moken on Koh Hlao (Sidit--he's on the hammock in the picture of four people talking), who has been really drunk the last few days, evidently because of the money I gave him for working as a consultant the first few days. I feel bad but he had complained to me how hard times were for him so I thought I'd use him for a few days at the beginning, even though he's basically a terrible consultant. I've come to the conclusion that he's a total alcoholic, which is just sad. The other Moken actually asked me (in Moken) not to give him any more money, which is basically the only thing they've ever asked me to do.

Speaking of Moken (the language), I'm getting semi-proficient. For the first time I've been stopping by different houses and actually having fledgling conversations with the Moken in Moken as opposed to just an exchange here or there. My grammar is really good, I really just need to start working on vocabulary on a daily basis. Doing this is really the difference between language learning and straightup fieldwork, as it's the kind of rote memorization that's you can't learn any language without doing. Anyways, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to hold a conversation by the time I leave.

The research is good, but I need to get to it. I hope everything's going well. Sorry about the really long post...