My name is Pah Palay and I was born in (Mae Pu Ta) Burma. I was raised in a city called (Wae Ta Gue Yay Go) and everything surrounding me was buildings. The people were really nice whether they were Karenor Burmese. When I was 10 years old, I went to live with my aunt and uncle. The reason I went to live with them, was because they were sending me to school. My education was over in 7th grade. Later on, after accomplishing 7th grade, I got married. I left school in 1970 and got engaged in 1971. My aunt and uncle’s house was made out of wood and the roof was (Gar pa). I have two sisters and two brothers, and I am the youngest one. Three of my siblings passed away and one is still living, but lives in Burma right now. All of my siblings were nice to me and the one who is still alive  asked me to sent  him money and help him out because he is now old and he cannot  do much.

Both of my parents were farmers and their daily lives consisted of harvesting garden vegetables, and grinding rice. I did not get the chance to help my parents with anything because I left my hometown at age 10. While I was young I never had to cook. My aunt was the only one who did it, because I was at school. Going to school was really fun for me and it was a nice school too. My aunt never let me cook until I was adult, then I started to learn how. We ate our traditional food everyday, in the house it was beef, pork, and chicken curry with rice. My aunt would only made good food, fancier food, not including fish paste. There was nothing that passed down from generation to generation that I was able to keep, but there was clothes that my aunt bought for me. There were no Karen traditional clothes that I received from my mom, because she passed away when I was really young. On the other hand I barely knew my dad. He sent me to stay with my aunt and uncle. Now my dad has passed away as well.

When I left school to work, I was around 18 or 19 years old. I got married at 20 years old. To support my family, aunt and uncle, I worked and I would earn $100 in Burmese money in a week. I would give all the money to them. I worked in  construction to build houses and buildings. I started at 7 a.m and would end at night time and we would only get one hour of break. I never dated, and did not know how. When I was around 19 years old, my aunt arranged for me to meet a girl, we did not get the chance to do couple things because we lived far from each other. She used to live in (Pyi) and I lived in (Asi). We got married when I was 20 years old. I think all girls are beautiful, and my wife was one of them. My parents, aunt or uncle, never told me about relationships. One day, when I was writing a love letter, my aunt caught me and asked me what I was doing. I told her I was doing my homework. Back in the day if you liked someone, you would write love letters to one another.

After marriage, my wife and I lived with my aunt. All of the money that I earned from work, would to my aunt. There is nothing that I can complain about my marriage. I have two kids, one boy and one girl. I never heard of or celebrated Christmas and Birthdays. My religion is Buddhism. When I was a little boy, I had a few friends, but we did not do much other than playing with balls. At a young age, I did not think about what I would like to do as a career. I went to school up to 7th grade.

My brothers and sisters lived in my hometown (Mae Pu Ta). I would go visit them once a year with my aunt only when school breaks started. I got the chance to go visit big city called (Wid Ker Tha), and I watched a movie and it was an English movie. When I was young to an adult, there were no any hardship that I had to struggle. I got to live an easy life. I do not know much about Karen traditions, because I lived in the city and no one told me much about it. Living in a city is much better life than people who live in the village. My aunt was there to help me out whenever I needed help. We used to walk to go shopping, because it was really close. It took us only 10-15 minutes. One time, my friends and I stole a chicken in (Ta Soe Moe month). We got sent to an Elders, and then my aunt found out. When she got there, she started spanking us. She taught me not to ever steal again and she was really strict. Wherever I was going to a place I had to let her know. Not all my kids are with me, because they are living with my ex (pyi). We got separated when my son was 5 or 6 years old. I have two kids with her. I used to send money to my cousin, but I could not do it all the time. My aunt was willing to send me to  college level, if I could do it, but I was not smart enough. Girls and boys who are smart are good. While we were in school we did not think about much about dating. It was fun living in Burma at the time when I was young. In Burma there are groups of Karen people who live in (Asi), but where I was raised there were more Burmese people. I am not planning to go back to Burma, because I do not feeling like going back and I like it here.