Photographer: Phil Borges

Pao has lived in Thailand for nearly 25 years as a refugee from the civil war in Burma. She lost her husband in the fighting while fleeing her homeland. Many people in her new village have resorted to growing opium poppies in order to survive. She invited me into her one-room bamboo hut and graciously offered me a plate of very large fried beetles. I cautiously nibbled on one beetle, then enjoyed many more.