I have spent almost 2 weeks with Anne-E. We spent just a couple of days in Bangkok and almost a full week in Phuket and we've been back in Mae Sai for four days. Anne-E has lived in San Fransisco for about 6 years now, so even when I was in the States, I've rarely had the chance to hang out with her outside of Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's been so much fun! And I was sad when she left to go to Chiang Mai yesterday. I couldn't go with her because I'd already taken a full week off...even though evidently the organization shut down for three days when the coup started.

The border entrance into Myanmar shut down, which made me panic a little bit because I have to leave the country once a month on this tourist visa (my O type visa expired in May), but it just opened up again yesterday, so I'm in the clear.
While Anne-E and I were travelling in Phuket, there was a giant rainstorm in Mae Sai...and I mean it must have been bigger than a normal monsoon, because it's rained hard regularly for the last 5 months, and this last rain storm made the Mae Sai river overflow three feet deep into people's homes. I'm glad I don't live so close to the border anymore!

As far as the developments of the coup go, I have to say I haven't really noticed much change in daily life around here. Not to mention the fact that I've been in three major cities of the country since the coup started and haven't seen any military activity. At least none aside from the police check points into Mae Sai, where they've always been deployed. Our radio was shut down again because evidently all community radios have been shut down since the coup. We're not exactly sure why, but I have to say that quality of life has been about 5% more relaxed because "The Morning Show" and "Easy English" have both gone on hiaitus. But no, this doesn't mean that the community radio megaphone outside my house has stopped broadcasting. I'm still biding my time before I climb the telephone pole with wire clippers and a sludge hammer to destroy it. It'll probably take about 2 more broadcasts before 7am, then it'll be over.

I am going home! I finish working here before the 12th and my flight leaves on the 14th, arrives in New York on the 15th. It'll be a weird good-bye, but at the moment, I'm just very excited.