Some procastination

I now have my own place and a bicycle (and a helmet,of course) making me as legal a resident of Mae Sot as most of the other inhabitants of this crazy city. I am still not sure what to make of this place, there seems far to much to take in. It will have to be captured in a different post. For now, a bit about the work I've been doing.
I am really enjoying the work I am doing. Yes, its only been a day, but if nothing else, it seems like it will be a great learning experience. As I think I have mentioned before, I am going to be writing a report on incidences of HIV/AIDS on the Burma border, especially in regards to women. The aims of the report are to highlight how Burma's goverment, the SPDC, so severly restricts human rights and economic opportunities, that women are often forced to choose sex work as there best option to sustain a livelyhood. As the government spends less than 1% on all health services, most women have little to no knowledge of HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. When finished, the report will be distributed to relevant departments of international organizations. Besides everything I'm learning, I am getting VERY excited about school. I see how much I've been missing research, especially on a topic I am so interested in! Also notably, as I've perused the online databases. Johns Hopkins School of Public Health shows up over and over again. So it looks like I will be in the right place come fall!
I am still waiting for the interviews that have been conducted to be translated in English. Although this should have already been done, the positive side of this delay is I will have the chance to add additional relevant questions.
I have more to write, but a lovely Burmese man just walked by and handed me two, fresh off the tree mangoes! They are tempting me, and eating them anywhere near my computer could be a fatal mistake!
I'll end this post on a rather somber note. I am not sure how much the recent re-imprisimonet of Nobel Peace Prize Laurette Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been covered in the media outside of Asia, but please take a few minutes to read about whats going on, and sign a petition. Needless to say, this has been the topic of most major talk here, and Yee and I spent some time yesterday drafting a press release. I will be sure to dedicate another post to explaining the signifigance of the Burmese goverment's latest ploy.
See here: http://burmapoint.com/index.php
or see, even CNN is covering it!
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/myanmar.suukyi/index.html