She introduced me to a girl my age, Zin, who was pregnant, and asked me to help answer some of her questions. The sweet girl and I talked and talked and I told her I would be back. I immediately wanted to help Jesi (my sister) out with the baby shower she was planning. From there I was hooked, and hopelessly in love with this family.
( ZinMarOo After her baby was born and before she moved to California )
My sister would be leaving on an LDS mission soon, and didn't want to leave her families, this one in particular, without someone to help them out. And she knew I would be just as in love with them as her. I soon started working with her at the English Language Center going into Burmese/Karen homes and teaching English to young children and their mothers.
( My sister Jesica and little Thuza at the ice rink )
All the kids I worked with I fell in love with and it was the most amazing experience, and I even got paid to do it for a while. A year later, and now I live two blocks away from my amazing Burmese family, I refer to them as my Burmese family because they all have last names, and, well, they are Burmese :)
Meet HteeTheLaySay and LayLianDoh! They just finished their reading goal and we celebrated with ice cream!
Here is EhDohDoh, and she is laying on some of the beautiful rugs they make, I really want to learn how!
Aung Naing Moe (cool name eh?)
Thuza and I, drastic colors, all these kids wash me out :) Thuza is my little sister, and I'd keep her at my house if I could. For one winter I woke up early and took Thuza to school so she didn't have to walk in the cold. As I dropped her off every morning I told her "Remember you are smart and beautiful". She would just say "lyndsie!" But one morning, we were so late and I dropped her off and as she was getting out of the car she said "what am I suppose to remember?" HA! I love it! Thuza and I can't get off the phone or leave each others homes without saying "I love you", and I really do love her! She is very smart and a huge help to her family by interpreting for me.
Ha San, first one of my students to graduate, it was a proud day for all of us!
Htoo Poe Sar, Here we went to her pre kinder day!
Don't they look like an odd but cute family?
One of my favorite days with them was when I was driving to Salt Lake City to take one of the boys (sha pwa ah) to the doctor there. Sha looks like a little punk, because he dresses like one, but he has the biggest heart and is the sweetest! Sha walks with a limp because one of his legs was injured when he was younger because someone tried to kill him! His leg became infected, and when they came to America, it was discovered there were bugs living in his leg! Ew, how horrible. Anyway, we are driving down to the doctor, with his mother, khin mar cho, his sister in law JanBi and our interpreter Mya Mya. We get there to find the doctor had already left because we were 5 mins late (only had a two hour drive jeez). So we decided to site see. I asked them if they wanted to see Temple square and they did. As soon as I suggested it I realized that it was a Muslim, a Buddhist, and a Christian all in one car (sounds like the start of a lame joke). But anyway, we went, and had such a cool time. We talked about my religion, there religion, and just noticed all the similarities we have. We all agreed that whether called God, Allah, or Buddha, we all have the same God. What a cool and fun day I tell you!
JanBi, this girl, my sister now, will brighten your day! She is my same age, and she loves life. She has the biggest smile, a great sense of humor, and loves to learn. One day I invited her over to my house and we were talking and making cake (she loves cake, the only American food besides pizza she will eat). I asked her about her family, "all dead" she said. I thought she may not have understood my question. But no, half of her family were killed in Burma and the other half died of sickness, which I have gathered to be Tuberculosis. She is without her mother, father, sisters, and little brother. We cried together, and I told her, she would always be my sister.
JanBi just had her baby last month, she called me at midnight and sounded like she was in pain, and I went and picked her up and a few hours later her beautiful baby boy RayBa was born. She wanted him to be named Ray like the sun. I held her hand for hours and every time she got scared she would look at me for reassurance. I tell you she is a tough girl, and not just for that night.
I asked Khin Mar Cho about her life and she told me about the wars in Burma, how she remembered all the soldiers and the bombs. She said they killed many people and burned down her house. Every time the soldiers would come she would hide with her young boys. She was married at the age of 16. I asked her about leaving Burma, she said they walked for 4 days and nights, they had to walk very quietly and could not take much with them, so they had little to no food and water. She had her small children with her, how absolutely terrifying. Khin Mar Cho is such a sweet mother, a worrier like most moms. She makes me Burmese clothing and always makes sure I eat when I am there. She always says thank you in English, though I know she hates speaking English, so I make sure to say "jayzutinay" to her to make her laugh, my Burmese words are horrid apparently.
I asked JanBi to tell me more about what she remembers in Burma and she said that soldiers would come and take her father away to work for them. She said they would hit her father when he was too slow or tired. And one day they took off his fingernails to punish him for asking for water. Her father died when she was eight. JanBi absolutely loves America, and her English is so amazing. She said when she went from Burma to Thailand, and she ran from gun shots, that Allah saved her and blessed her. She said when she went from Thailand to America, that Allah sent her the plane and saved her again.
I think it is so cool that my family is Muslim, because I can really learn about their culture and religion. Today they showed me how they pray, and I participated in their prayers, it was absolutely beautiful!
I asked Kaung Lay about his life as well, he is now 48, was married at 21. He said one day, the KNU (soldiers) came and told him to leave his house and village. They lived in the woods for a while with little food and water. He couldn't send his kids to school, and that made him sad. Later, soldiers came and took him away and made him carry supplies, those soldiers were headed to fight the KNU, but Kaung Lay was treated as a slave. They would march them 3 or 4 days without food. After a while of going hungry, some of them decided to make a run for it. He said most of the runners were killed, and Kaung Lay was shot in the leg. He has showed me the terrible scar before, but I was never sure what he was saying before to understand, plus he was always laughing when he was telling the story I assumed it was an accident. Anyway, he was shot and continued running, eventually some Burmese found him, fed him, took him to the hospital where they gave him Tylonel and sent him on his way! He returned home to find his family had fled it, and searched for them for three weeks. They built a house, and a few months later were forced to leave it. They moved in the mountains and found a friend who would guide them to Thailand, and that is where the story ties in with Khin Mar Cho, his wife, and they walked to Thailand.
I was just so sad to hear this, but so in awe of their attitudes now, when I met them, I never ever would have guessed they had a sad life before.
Khin Mar Cho's sister attempted to run away from Burma in 2006 and was never heard from again. Khin Mar Cho has 6 sister, which I can tell she misses so much. I love my sister so much, so I cannot imagine never seeing her again.
Kaung Lay told me today about his little brother. One day his brother was approached by the soldiers to take a letter to another city. His brother was quick to obey to avoid punishment, but upon his return was immediately shot in the street in front of Kaung Lay without a word from the soldiers.
Thuza said when her father (kaung lay) arrived in New York with them, that he made them stay inside a hotel for weeks, because he was so afraid the police would find them and kill them. I am so glad to have this family here, make sure they are taken care of and feel safe.
They have everything they need, not a lot, but a lot more than in Thailand. But they always manage to give me gifts and presents, they spoil me rotten. We have a lot of fun, they love how I try to act out words they don't know to help them understand or when I start using sign language (like that helps, jeez). They laugh when I say "ear" in Burmese instead of "fish", every time I am over they say "lyndsie, say gna" and laugh cause I refuse to even try anymore.I have had chickens killed in my honor, eaten things that were slimey and I swear, MOVING, ahaha. I have participated in a number of births, planned and carried out a Muslim wedding, etc. I am so lucky, I get to step into a new world every week and not leave my own town. They keep me busy, but I sure am glad!
Great story: SeeDarBe wanted to know about Christmas, so I think, lets use this time to share something I believe. So I start talking about baby Jesus, and how Gods greatest gift to us was his Son. The next day I return, and in all seriousness, SeeDarBe offers "I will have a baby for you", this family has taken my miscarriages VERY seriously, but I still wasn't sure if this was a joke or something. "huh?" I said. "I will be pregnant, and give you baby." I said "thanks, but no no no." She said she loved me and wanted to give me the greatest gift for Christmas. Love me was not an understatement. It was cute, and I love her too!
A story I remembered from last year. Jesi was telling Zin when she was pregnant she wanted to throw her a baby shower. Zin had a very concerned look on her face and said "no". Jesi didn't realize they were taking the word shower literally (as you would), and though jesi was going to be spraying a hose up her! hahaha. But she quickly explained it was a shower of baby presents!
