The Netherlands

 I love this photo. It is an ordinary day for a Muslim who is not blowing things up.  Terrorists create terror. This is a girl who is smelling the tulips, just like everyone else. People told me it was not safe to travel, that people are out to get Americans, that ISIS wants to get me. Yes, there are dangerous parts of the world, and there are extremists everywhere. However, let us not forget an extremist is just that- it doesn’t matter which religion is followed.  I have heard a lot of remarks regarding “all” or “none” of a certain religion yet did not see a bomb anywhere, nor were there any other problems.

Who are these people that I keep getting warned about? Who are these people that some of my countrymen believe are “out to get us”? Perhaps we should meet those who are different than us, get to know them personally, and then develop an opinion.

 

Dealing with Vendors and Beggars

In Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, formerly  called Rhodesia ( An interesting topic  that helps explain Africa  http://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Zimbabwe) my friend and I were walking alongside a flat, wide paved road to see Victoria Falls.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

The monkeys are not afraid of humans. They are faster and stronger than people. This one crossed my path,  choosing to ignore me. They do not make good pets. They change their mind quickly and may decide to snatch something from you. Monkeys are like greedy little children with no manners.

This main road was in good repair.  Everyone uses it: trucks, pedestrians, tourists, monkeys. You never know what might happen; sometimes elephants amble through town. The monkey on the left is licking a melted ice cream cone.

As we walked along the roadside, a young man strode up from behind us, quickly matching his strides to our pace of walking. He looked about 20 years old, young and energetic but with a quiet desperation. This thin, tall man wearing dusty, dirty flip-flops said in English to my friend, “I would like to exchange shoes with you”. She was wearing sturdy sneakers for the 9-day camping trip.

Laura had the perfect response and was totally non-committal. She stated the facts “But, I am wearing them” and continued walking.

He responded with the facts as well. He said “I know. Those are nice shoes. I would like shoes like that.”

“Then what would I wear?” Laura redirected with another question.

The young man replied “I will give you these shoes.” He points down to his feet, half covered with sandy and well-worn flip-flops. It is clearly not an even trade, his shoes are made of plastic and are probably the only shoes he owns.

Laura responds, not acknowledging the huge differences of economic disparity between us. “But I like my shoes. I don’t want to trade.”

He accepted that for an answer and veered away, going about his business of living another day, and potentially trading his flip-flops for something better to someone else.

His presence was immediately replaced with another person selling a small souvenir ,a fist-sized, wooden, hand-carved elephants.  When that person was finally convinced that we were not going to buy anything, he gave up made by his uncle, he stopped walking with us,, left our sides and went off to do whatever it was he was doing before we crossed paths, to be replaced by a new, different person trying to persuade that that he not only had elephant carvings, he also had wood carvings of rhinos and walked with us while showing us the beaded jewelry his wife has made, and after him, another vendor with other trinkets he was selling. They were not working together, they just hoped that one of us would buy something, anything. Each person walked along with us for a short while until they were replaced by another person selling something else, beads, ice cream, wood carvings.

This is a country where there was no respite from the onslaught of desperately poor people who live under a dictator. This is a country that used to be the bread-basket of Africa, feeding the nation. Now, they import food.

As I walked, another vendor replaced the one who had just left.

Local women balancing and carrying items on their heads.

My energy drained. The word that perfectly describes my feeling was one of being worn out. It was wearing that there was a continuous approach of someone wanting something from me (money). I felt like a walking ATM . Each person who approached me still had hope and a renewed sense of energy to make a sale.  Each was eager and excited when they saw a tourist.

I picked up the pace so it was difficult to carry a conversation with me.  Each person has a different way of dealing with the vendors and this is my tact.

The people didn’t want my time, they just needed resources. The people who approached us never ended.

It is not because these people want a handout. They had been working people, many were farmers. To make a long, complicated, interesting story short; A new government took over and changed the currency to American Dollars. The trillions (yes, there was lots of currency with that many zeros, because an earlier decision was made to print more money) were worthless, as was all the other money anyone had. All cash was worthless.  Oh, and the farms where many people worked were closed down and the tractors and equipment was sold so the elite class could live a lavish lifestyle.

As each vendor walked away, I felt a pang of guilt like leaving an animal shelter, knowing there was little hope for the ones left behind. Each spirit looking at you with hope that you would pick them out of the shelter and help them to have a better life, only asking for some food and shelter, or in this case, American dollars.

One vendor said / begged to another friend “Please buy something, anything. I haven’t had a sale in 3 days and I am supporting a family of 11 people” His items cost two or three dollars.

A hand-carved elephant cost $1. If a person bought more than one, that vendor would have an wonderful day. By selling one elephant trinket, he would have enough money to buy “Pac”.

A Typical meal, “Pac” is the staple (made from maize). No utensils are used to eat the food.

Pac is a fine, white, coarse powder that is made from maize. It looks like cornmeal. It is added to boiling water to thicken. This would feed the entire family. For a family of eleven, six who are children, that dollar could probably feed all of them for several meals. The family supplements Pac with what was grown in the garden. If a family owned a chicken and it laid an egg, they might add that too. Or trade the egg for some something else – maybe even a pair of flip-flops.

 

Attacked by a Polar Bear!

Meet Erin, a 33 yr. Canadian woman who was attacked by a Polar Bear 2 years ago. We met in Hawaii which is about as far as you can get from Churchill, Manitoba Canada , Polar Bear Capital of the World.

In October and November the Polar Bears are waiting for the Hudson Bay to freeze so they can hunt seals from the ice. This is the best time to see them in the wild and there is a whole tourist market regarding these massive animals at the top of the food chain.  Polar Bears are known to hunt people, so the residents take precautions.

Erin was attacked by a Polar Bear and remembers the bear slamming her into a wall and biting her head and arms. She still has tooth and claw scars, and lived to tell about the experience.

Churchill is a small town, less than 1,000 people so it is not unusual for wildlife  to wander in town.

At 5:30 am, Erin decided to leave a friends house and go back to her own home. There had been a Halloween party and she needed to sleep before she went to work later that day. Two friends insisted on walking the one block to her home with her, even though she had her bear bangs in one pocket and bear spray in another.

(Bear bangs are loud noisemakers used to scare off bears, if one happens to meet a bear. I imagine before walking out the door, one  double-checks for their hat, gloves, boots, scarf, wallet, keys, phone, bear bangs and bear spray).

Posted by West Coast Native News .  This is the size of a Grizzly Bear paw which is smaller than a Polar Bear.

The group was nearing her home when one of her friends turned  his head and saw a Polar Bear headed towards them and screamed “Run!”. The other friend fell while scrambling to get away and the bear lunged passed to grab the prey he targeted.

It was Erin.

Erin half-turned and saw the polar bear, his eyes focused on her. In three strides, before her feet could take action, the Polar Bear attacked and was on top of her. She tried to fight it, punching it in the head. It closed its mouth around her, picked her up and shook her like a rag doll. She felt her scalp ripped from her skull.

Erin was aware the whole time although she was not in pain.

Erin and her friends were shouting. People were getting ready for work and heard the noise. Bill Ayotte, preparing for work, looked out the window, saw a person being attacked, opened his door and ran through it, grabbing the closest weapon, a snow shovel. He clubbed the bear on the head. The bear dropped Erin  from his mouth,  4 feet off the ground and grabbed her savior.

Erin spotted the open door and ran into the stranger’s house. With one hand she was holding her scalp onto her head and bleeding profusely all over his home. The other hand was dialing 911 and shouting  that she “couldn’t stay calm, a man was being attacked by a Polar Bear and to send an ambulance immediately.”

While Erin was shouting at the emergency operator, the water in the upstairs shower stopped, and a woman wrapped in a towel appeared at the top of the stairs.

“What the Fuck is going on?!” yelled the woman. Erin was bleeding  profusely on the carpet and blood was on the house phone.

Blood was everywhere. Gunshots added to the confusion.

Erin responded in a daze that she was attacked by a Polar Bear.

The woman led Erin into the bathroom and told her to take her hand off her head so she could see how bad it was. Erin said “No, I have to hold my head on. ” The woman identified herself as a nurse, and told her it was going to be ok, calming Erin so she could see how bad it was. Erin removed her hand from her head, her scalp peeled nearly off, and blood spurted everywhere. The nurse whipped off the towel wrapped around her body and wrapped it around Erin’s head to slow the streaming blood.

What a morning!

Erin is a yoga practitioner and instructor. She says that had her spine and rest of body not been so flexible, this attack probably would have killed her.

The bear did not give up easily. Another neighbor fired cracker shells and jumped in his car, honking and flashing headlights driving to 5 feet from the bear before it got off of Bill and ran away.

Erin recovered and her savior, Bill Ayotte recently accepted the Star of Courage award, the 2nd highest award in Canada. To see more, clickhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2486977/Polar-bear-attack-Hero-neighbors-save-man-woman-Churchill-Manitoba.html

Have you ever been so scared or worried that you blurt things out?

After Erin was taken to the local hospital and stabilized, she needed to be transported to a larger city with more resources to treat her. She had lost a lot of blood, and the doctors were unsure if she was going to survive. The hospital insisted in calling her mother.  The hospital staff told her that her daughter had been attacked by a polar bear, and she was stable… for now.

The mom wanted to speak to Erin.

The first words out of Mom’s mouth were ” I hope you are happy. You moved from Montreal to the Polar Bear capital of the world, and now you got attacked by a Polar Bear. What did you think was going to happen? I hope you are happy.”

What struck me about Erin, was the strength she has in adversity. She researched PTSD and how to avoid it after a traumatic event. One way is to talk about it. She signed up for counseling and talked about the experience a lot- she was invited on talk shows. Once she discovered that the Canadian health care system did not cover emergency transportation from one province to another and received a $12k bill, she was invited on the talk show circuit again / She spoke of the loophole in the health coverage and to get travel insurance when leaving the province.

As shocking as this story is, I found even more surprising the negative feedback she got. One woman even said that she would never hire someone someone so irresponsible.

Whaaaaaatt?

Erin’s philosophy is of forgiveness. She believes even though that person had never met her, it may have been the only way that mother could look at her own children and not fear for their lives walking home from school. After all, if someone “asks for it”, then the mother could rest assured that her children were not going to become the next meal for a Polar Bear.

 

Rome, Italy

I felt honored that two friends of mine, a father and daughter joined me for a long weekend to explore Rome.

We have very different religious views and their traditions are much more formal and conservative than mine. It was interesting to hear their perspectives without feeling as though someone was trying to convert me.

Since Rome is such a historically religious area, we decided to stay in a convent.

We stayed on the top floor of a convent in the historic area of Rome.

The location was only a 10 minute walk from the Colosseum and was in the historic center of Rome. The convent had a curfew; guests must agree to be in by 11:00 pm when the front door was locked. It was no problem for us after all the walking we did. We were exhausted well before ever having to worry about curfew.

I was surprised at how friendly all the nuns were. They would come into the breakfast room, say “Good Morning” and inquire about how we slept, genuinely caring. I got to practice my Spanish with one of the old nuns who did not speak Italian. She was from South America and spoke Spanish. We chatted.

Hallway of the convent where are rooms were. The convent was very clean.

My sparse room at the convent in Italy. There was an attached bathroom as well as a small desk. It was neat and clean, although simple.

Rome is an ancient city that has been inhabited for over 2,000 years and was considered to be the capital of the WORLD in ancient Roman culture.

People came to Rome from all over Europe, this is where things got done and business was completed.

Rome is where the leaders made deals and business transactions.

Back then, the center of the historic area was where the rich and famous people lived; the important people, those with indoor thermal pools and lots of servants. These were where important people entertained.

One of the best tours I went on used modern technology to show us what life was like back then. Researchers used a broken piece of tile and with computer technology expanded it to cover the entire floor to give us an idea of what a room may have looked like. They used creativity to make the rooms come alive for us. It added so much to the tour. It cost about $10 and was easily worth $20. Groups are limited to about 12 people, and reservations are a must. This museum had opened recently, and although not many people knew about it yet, the spots filled up quickly.

Palazzo Valentini was one of the best museums I toured. It is a must see” for someone visiting Rome. Holograms are used to show what rooms may have looked like.

These were lavish homes, with imported stone, marble, and indoor steam rooms. These homes had many rooms and several entrances (I could easily visualize the mistress of a politician leaving by the back door as his wife unexpectedly arrives). Fountains and sculptures are common in this area of Rome.

Radiating out from this area lived the less wealthy and important people . The theater known as the Colosseum was located in this area.

2000 years later, nearly 3 million ordinary people live nearby,  The Colosseum is right in the middle of the city.

The Colosseum, view from a nearby street.

In the last few years the Italian government put a subway stop in the heart of this area. It cost much more than expected, because the project was paused repeatedly when unexpected  archeological objects were found. The history of ancient Rome exists nowhere else in the world, so the project was stopped while the archeologists did their job.

The Colosseum could hold over 50,000 people and was used as a theater. Even thousands of years ago, the creativity of the artists was noteworthy.

Inside the Colosseum. The lowest section was covered by a floor, and these were the halls / tunnels behind the stage,. The animals were kept here (can’t have lions running around freely), the gladiators lived nearby and the lowest portion was where the “behind the scenes” preparations took place.

People would come to Rome from all over the region, and when in they city, would see a play.

One time, a dead whale washed up on the nearby sea-shore. The scenery designers created a background of a whale, and 50 bears came running out of the whales’ mouth. This gave scale and was used to show how big the whale was; remember back in those days, most people had never seen a whale, or live bears.  A whale washing up on shore was such an unusual occurrence, probably lots of people came to that particular show.

Learning more about the background and uses of these well known icons made things come to life. If you go to Rome, I highly recommend you go to the museum I mentioned earlier. It added to much enrichment to the rest of my days staying in Rome.

Cultural Exchange

About a week ago I got to host my first visitor from my Round The World journey. We had never met, but I stayed with her sister and parents in their German home, and was thrilled to return the cultural exchange. She is a very pretty, 22 yr. old German girl. Like most Germans, her English was excellent and I got to teach her slang words, many inadvertently (Go ahead, We’ll figure it out etc). I didn’t realize how much of our everyday language is slang.

The Nazis left so many everlasting details that will effect centuries of the population in the future. The Germans, as a people are very attractive. There bone structure has a lot of symmetry, and they look strong and healthy. Or, at least those are common characteristics of people I have met. I noticed this in several countries that had been occupied by the Nazis.

It reminds me of Los Angeles, where the “beautiful people” live. So many good looking people relocate there hoping to make it in acting, and then they settle down, have families, and pass on their genes to the next generation.

It was fun to experience again all the great things we have to do locally, including visiting a family owned aquarium to feed stingrays and sharks, touch snakes and hold a small alligator. Germany is starting autumn, and it has no seashore, so spending time at the Florida beaches over a 3 day weekend was exciting for her, and a reminder of why we like Tampa so much.

She also got to experience everyday life. She became ill while here and got to experience our health care system. It was an eye opener for me too. She went into a walk in clinic with a fever that had been as high as 103.

The clinic gave an estimate of the cost of seeing the doctor, and we were required to sign that we will pay it before the doctor will see her. It didn’t matter what kind of insurance she had, they would only take payment immediately. The estimate suggested that the cost would be $120 to see the doctor.

They ask for a detailed history of her health (excellent), the Dr. took vitals, had her pee in a cup, jammed a 8 inch Q-tip up her nose (which was a real surprise because we had not understood what they were going to do. It happened so fast. The technician was doing her job without a lot of enjoyment and was difficult to understand because she mumbled).

We received the results in 15 minutes, and the bill was $170. Apparently, each test they give costs about $25, and apparently, every female gets a pregnancy test after peeing in the cup, whether she needs it or not.

I wonder who decided it was better/more economical/more profitable to test all females for pregnancy and demand payment? I have heard of some places that test for pregnancy, even though a hysterectomy had been performed years before. And the woman must pay for it.

Then we went to the pharmacy located inside the local grocery store. They do not charge for antibiotics and I wanted to save my guest money, since she just spent nearly $200 dollars that was not budgeted.

In Germany, when a person has a prescription for a common antibiotic, the pharmacist hands over the supply of antibiotics that was ordered and the transaction takes less than 5 minutes.

At Publix grocery store in the USA, she had to fill out lots of information, name, address, phone, e-mail etc. When my guest asked why she had to fill out her e-mail and my phone number, I did not have a good answer for her.

There was no one in line, so when we dropped off the prescription, I thought they would fill it immediately. After all, she was sick, in their store, and potentially spreading germs. The pharmacy informed us that it would take about 45 minutes to an hour to fill.

What?!

They said they had many other prescriptions to fill after the weekend.

I took my sick guest home and went back to the pharmacy 45 minutes later. It was still not ready, and I waited another 45 minutes, sitting in the chair next to the pick-up window, where they suggested I wait. After 45 minutes, I decided to ask how much longer, and the girl retrieved it from the space where it had been waiting to be picked up.

I am not sure if this was poor customer service, or normal routine, but I was certainly not impressed.

Our health care system is certainly broken, when a woman is required to pay for a (pregnancy) test she does not need, and then wait nearly 2 hours to receive a common antibiotic.

Since this was her first time visiting the USA, the questions she asked show the perceptions that others have of the U.S. She asked why so many of our popular TV shows and story lines use guns (NCIS, CSI, movies).

One of the positive adventures we had was eating Grouper (fish) from a local restaurant in an ethnic part of town. So many people  were welcoming to a foreign guest! We met a some locals in a Greek area who talked about life as a sponge fisherman, and had lunch with a Latina who had just gotten back from Europe. We lived each day, and enjoyed our time together.

I wish people who are afraid of foreigners could have spent time with such a kind, curious, smart and now, my new friend. The world is filled with people like this if we take the time to turn off the television and get out there and meet them.

A Disturbing Reality in Italy

While traveling through Naples, Italy in November 2014 I saw a disturbing example of a woman who had planned her day differently than the way it unfolded.

A Metro Station in Italy

I was standing at the train platform, waiting patiently and quietly with 20-30 other passengers, for the train that was supposed to arrive in the next few minutes. Unexpectedly, there was a commotion, and although I was not sure what was happening, people were talking loudly and excitedly, and then people started milling toward a direction 10-15 feet away.

At first I thought our train must be arriving and the people were moving toward where they thought the entrance doors would be. I walked a few steps in the same direction. A lady standing beside me must have seen my puzzled look when no train appeared, and remarked to me “The lady does not feel good” in her broken English.

I looked through the legs of the crowd of people, and there was a woman, probably 20 years older than me, laying on her back on the dirty concrete floor, with a small, dark-haired man about my age kneeling over her giving her chest compressions. Her large handbag was standing at attention next to her, waiting for her to get up and go about her business.

After everything I had heard about Naples being a dangerous city, my first thought, although unhelpful, was “who is going to take care of her purse?” Of course, that was the least of her problems.

Crowd behavior seems to be the same all over the world. The man doing the chest compressions shouted for someone to call an ambulance. I was no help at all.

Even if I could find a policeman, I did not know the language to tell him what was the problem, nor the expertise to direct them back to the location of the unconscious lady. I may have been able to use hand gestures and excitement to try to tell them what was happening, but let’s be real, I would have probably wasted more time trying to explain than letting someone else go get help. I did see a young man run off towards the main area, so I presume he went to get help. All the others stood around observing.

Back in school we were taught CPR and to shout to someone specific “go get help” otherwise everyone thinks someone else will get help. In Italy, the reaction was the same as if this had happened in the USA. The people looked shocked with disbelief that this was happening right there. I probably had the same look on my face. I imagine that no one was more surprised at these events than the lady laying on the concrete.

A few minutes later, the train pulled into the station, most of the waiting passengers boarded, and the train pulled back out of the station.

I don’t know what happened to this lady. It certainly reminded me of why I was taking the trip and that life is too short to waste. We never know when will be our last day on this earth. (It sure would make it easier to plan though, wouldn’t it)? I wondered about her life and what she would have done differently that day if she knew it was to be her last day.

Hardest Working Man in the World- in Turkey

While sitting on a flat rooftop and eating lunch, we saw a man digging up a stone wall. This wall was probably hundreds of years old and was partially covered by dirt as the decades, and centuries passed, and this man needed those stones for a new project.

This must be the hardest working man in town. He was digging up stones from an ancient stone wall, and chiseling them into a new shape to sell (from rounded to rectangular)

The man used a hand chisel and some kind of hammer to shape the rounded stones into a rectangular block shape, with flat edges to use for a new, modern project.

An Archaeologist would probably have a heart attack!

It was really hot, and as much as we were complaining about the heat, at least we were feeling a gentle breeze since we were on the roof.

He sat on the ground, and chiseled 3-4 big rocks over about an hour and a half. Can you imagine sitting outside in a scorching hot sun for hours, and using a chisel and some kind of hammer to shape large, heavy stones?

Daily life moves at a slower pace here.

In the USA we live life according to the schedule on the calendar; Boy Scouts meeting on Tuesday, book club on Thursday etc. We don’t have a lot of changes. Even our environment is stable- the weather is 78 degrees in the office, 78 degrees at home, we have air-conditioning in the car, and plenty of options when the weather changes.

In developing countries, life is more dependent on local life; weather, and what is happening in a village.

Real Life Shepherds!

While riding down the 4 lane country highway on a gloomy, cloudy, rainy day in the countryside of Turkey, I was reminded of how lucky I am to be born in a country where ambition and intelligence can take a person a long way, and dreams can come true.

In many countries, dreams will always remain dreams.

The grey sky was filled with angry-looking dark, tumultuous clouds. They looked as heavy and pregnant as a woman about to give birth. The road looked like a any country road in the USA except there were no fences lining the sides, nor were there any billboards. We were in an area with few tourists, driving 6 hours to our destination. We were traveling about 50 mph, when we spotted the first shepherd in the distance.

The daily life of a Shepherd looks easy and simple, but when I really thought about it, this is another job I would not relish. The shepherds I saw were continuously on the move. After all, where would a person sit down when everything has been rained on for the past few hours? Nothing was dry, and there was no shelter.

Sheep being herded down the main street of a small village

It appeared to be a lonely life. Some shepherds may herd their animals to a remote area and be gone for months at a time. Others may graze the animals only for a day or two before returning to the village. No matter how long someone spends with their animals, there was a lot of time with no one to talk to.

Old home made of stone

Dung is dried and used as fuel

Some of the shepherds looked like bible pictures I saw when I was a kid. One in particular stood out to me. He was wearing some kind of blanket over his clothing. It had been raining all morning, alternating between a sprinkle of water to pouring sheets of rain, and everything was sopping wet – including the shepherd.

Typically, the shepherd’s herd consisted of 6-20 cows or dozens of sheep / goats. I am told that often one shepherd is in charge of the entire village’s cattle. There were no fences to be seen for miles and miles, and the cows were loosely scattered on one side of the road. The cows were contentedly enjoying chomping whatever sparse grass or other green vegetation they could graze, barely aware of the cold drops falling on their warm bodies.

The shepherd though, looked wet. Really wet. Probably sopping wet and dripping by our standards. The temperature was cool enough that we were wearing fleece jackets, so I imagine that he was cold, even if the blanket he was wearing was wool.

Even a stone house has solar water heating

I was not able to get a picture of a shepherd with cattle- we were driving by at 50 mph, and they were in the distance. However, once we were sitting down for a cup of tea in a small village, a shepherd with sheep and goats came right through the middle of town. He was dressed in jeans, and probably brought the flock home at night.

Sheep being herded down the main street of a small village

I think it would be interesting to interview a shepherd. I wonder if he had ever set foot in a classroom? I bet mothers use shepherds as an example as what happens if you don’t do well in school. I suspect that he has no opportunities to do anything different if he wanted to. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of career potential. Yes, we are fortunate to live in a country where there really is the opportunity to go for what you want to do or be in this life.

30 Days Home

Today I am angry and disappointed in myself. I let myself down- I did not work on writing these last few days, nor anything else regarding documenting the RTW trip.

I have these wonderful dreams- write a book, it becomes a best seller, a movie is made from it, I become fabulously wealthy, the movie wins awards, I attend the awards shows and get to meet my favorite celebrities. My career changes as I hit the talk show circuit, and am given the opportunity to host my own talk show, meeting more interesting people.

Rubber Tree Plantation

Have you ever wondered how sap from a tree becomes rubber?

While in Southern Thailand, I had the chance to see a plantation of rubber trees.

It was early afternoon on Sunday, when we arrived at the plantation. The barefoot men had been working since 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, making the sap from the rubber trees into slabs of rubber to be sold to a middleman. Their workplace is an open air shack with a roof and a cement floor.

First, the trees are tapped for their sap. The bark is slashed about 6 inches wide and about ¼ inch deep- it looks like a skin graft area. Each stripped area of bark collects sap for about a month.

At the bottom of the slash is a thin trench that runs into a spout which drips the sap into a small cup-like container. Traditionally, a coconut shell was used, but in this case, plastic cups were used.

The sap is mixed with a chemical that thickens and binds .

After the sap had “set” and thickened, a man dumped the rubber onto a piece of plastic covering the cement floor. The rubber starts as a square of material about 2 feet long and 18 inches wide. The worker used a heavy metal pipe to beat it and roll it into a thinner piece so it would fit through the machine. He used his body weight to press it down, and also rolled the metal pipe a bit, like a rolling-pin to stretch it and make it thinner.

Then a second man put the now thinner rubber into a machine similar to an old-fashioned washing machine or a pasta maker.

Then this rubber was put through a second machine that thinned it some more, and pressed a design. The final result was a slab of rubber about 4 feet long by 2 feet wide. It looked like the rubber backing of a bathroom throw rug, but thicker.

These particular pieces would be turned into tires, or floor mats for a car, or for condoms. My oh my, the variety of uses from the sap of one simple plant!

This is considered a very lowly job. As a matter of fact, the workers were shocked that we gave them respect. In this case, respect came from asking them if I could take pictures and asking if I could touch the product.

The workers were from Burma (a neighboring country now called Myanmar), although the people are still called Burmese. The raw rubber used to be sold for 180 baht (about $11.50) per kilo. (2.2 pounds). Now the raw rubber sells for about $1.75 per kilo. 50% of the profit goes to the landowner, and 50% goes to the workers. One of these guys earns about $15 per day. Probably, most of the money earned is sent home to the family in Burma. This is a lot of money for the people there, but not much to live on in Thailand.

Thank goodness for people like these hard workers who are willing to make rubber for the rest of us. This is another job that I am glad I do not have.