Lagging behind

I hate it when i've just typed a huge post and then when i want to send it, the page just deosn't want to go trough. And of course i handn't paid attention and missed that there were no drafts either... So i have to do it all again. It'll probably be shorter this time.....

Kyaw Kyaw is in Bagan (or actually in Nyaung-U which is literally next door to Bagan). He needs 1 paper for his passport extension (yes here in Burma you can get a passport extension!Then again, a passport is valid for only 3 years). even though he hasn't lived in his village or Nyaung-U for over 15 years, he still needs to go there to get this one paper. Or pay an exhorbitantly high fee to have someone else arrange it for him. Even family isn't authorized to do it except when they pay a lot. Anyway, on the bright side, he visited his family yesterday so that was nice. He had troubel (again!) on the way up there. Apparently he and his fellow passengers slept alongside the road becasue the bus broke down. He arrived in Bagan 24 hours after he'd left Yangon. Even though it is normally 15-16 hours. And it has been like that for the last 3 times that he went there. So he wasn't all that happy since he had planned to get the paper he needed on wednesday which would allow for an extra day if need be. Now he can only hope that it can be done in one day otherwise he'll probably need to stay the whole weekend.

Me, i spend my time in a whole different manner. Yesterday i had a lovely day alone with Xenne. Even the maid had a day off which both she and i enjoyed. The only drawback was that we didn't eat pasta yesterday as i had planned. Xenne wanted to be held all teh time yesterday evening. And since he was ill last week i couldn't deny him that. But cooking AND carrying a toddler at the same time does't work very well. So i ordered in some fried rice. He only wants to eat whatever i eat anyways now. I had made him some nice porridge and yoghurt yesterday but when we were at the teashop he wouldn't eat anything else than my noodlesalad. No matter that the salad was medium spicy... And this morning it was no different, though i was prepared this time and asked them not to but in any chilli.....

Wednesday we had our annual sportsday at school. Well, sportsday.. More fun-and-games day. Coconut shell relay (where the kids walk on coconut shells cut in half), sponge toss, banana relay (which involves blindfolds and unpeeled bananas), water balloon toss, golden coin relay (with the attributes of bowls of flour), tug-of-wars etc..... Much fun. But i think we should have some more water-based games next time. Even though it wasn't extremely hot yet, being out in the sun all day just asks for a waterfight.....

Ok, let's see if i can post this....

Somepictures from our trip to Moulemein/Hpa-an

Sunset seen from our ferry

A beautiful river trip it is

This is the way we use the buggy in Burma ;-)

Xenne, being his usual happy self. I think he likes to travel.

Saturday the 31st

Slowly I’m getting behind on this blog too… But I’m trying, really I am. But it is a bit harder since Xenne got his hands on the laptop again. Now we’re not only missing the ‘D’ but the spacebar is not working very well either. I know that we have to get the laptop to the repair shop but somehow it is never the right time even though I haven’t used it much in the past weeks…

As I wrote last time in my quick update, school has started again. And my class is much smaller. Now I have only 11 kids. The brothers are back in Malaysia, their father was transferred back there. And another boy now lives in Singapore. It makes huge difference 11 or 14 kids. Actually 14 or 10 kids since one of the girls only comes back from holiday this week. She didn’t show after the holidays so we called to check up and her aunt told us that the family was away and wouldn’t be back until after Chinese New Year. No message was given to the school and I doubt there’ll be an excuse apology either. But it does mean a lot of extra work for me since she has to catch up of course. It is so funny, many parents here take their kids out of school during the term for a holiday. Sometimes we’re told, sometimes, like now, we find out later. But the parents still expect their kids to be top of the class and sometimes blame the teacher for their kid’s lower scores…. Like we’re magicians!

It is the end of January and I have the feeling that the temperatures outside are already rising again. March and April are the scorching months here, summer they call it. I’ll probably think with nostalgia and regret of these past 2 months when, on occasion, I had to cover myself with a shawl because it was a bit chilly. And the last few days we’ve had thick, all-covering mist in the very early morning. So much that it almost looked like it had rained. But now it is nice. The windows are open, there is a nice, light breeze and I’m looking at Inya Lake and kids playing football outside.

Alright, I’m of to play a bit with Xenne…..