Almost weekend

The first week of summer school is over. It is always nice when everything is on track and working smoothly.

The last 3 days it has been raining almost constantly. The rainy season is definitely in full swing. It changes between a light drizzle to a full-on heavy downpour but precipitation is an almost constant companion at the moment.

Teething problems at home but it seems like our little girl has gotten over the worst of it. She managed to push through her 2 lower front teeth at the same time so it wasn't very strange she was a cranky and had a fever. You can really see the teeth well at the moment and last night was a\our first night of a decent amount of sleep.....

Under the Bridge

We moved house in march and of course you always have to adjust to the neighbourhood you are new to. We came from an area where most the people were fairly well to do. We were one of the very few houses that didn't own a car. Many neighbours owned more than one. Our street basically made a loop off the main road (Pyay Road, one of Yangon's main roads) and our daily routine was to cross the street to go to school and back. Pyay Road is not a street that invites for walks especially when you have young kids. Walking along a road 6-lanes wide is not my idea of a nice time.

Now that we've moved it is quite different. We still live in a neighbourhood where many people own cars but it is not as upmarket as the previous one (we had the one affordable house in that street. Fairly run down and ok but not great). Nowadays we do walk more and it is pleasant. Xenne can even cycle along several streets where there is traffic but not too much.

When we moved in, I saw that there were always people under the bridge. There is a teashop that opens very early and closes late. They have a few tables next to a pillar of the bridge. Taxi drivers and trishaw drivers often gather there waiting for customers who need a ride. They pass the time playing a sort of board game (I'll write about that some other time).

There are a few wooden houses/shacks next to the rail road and a huge amount of old tires between 2 pillars next to same rail road. So I didn't give the amount of people hanging out there much thought. Until recently that is, since a few families have moved under the bridge lately. The pillar that was used by the taxi and trishaw drivers as a place to play is now occupied on both sides by improvised wooden platforms. The pillars are sort of a triangular shape and the side of the triangle is now used by nursing mothers so sit on and chat.

Their husbands apparently work for the railway and from what I gathered they are allowed to live in one of the stations but prefer to live under the bridge. I think it must be pretty bad living in the station if you prefer living under a bridge. The new families all have babies and I wonder if that has something to do with it. Maybe the other families were not to keen on sharing their crowded space with babies who on occasion can be quite demanding in their needs. Maybe the families prefer the fresher air of the outdoors instead of the stale air in a crowded station. I have no idea.

I learned later that there are other families living between pillars and right next to the train tracks. They are  permanent dwellers there. The trishaw driver who we have hired to take our rubbish to the dump, lives there with 8 members of his family, including his baby granddaughter.

I have considered giving them the space above the garage to live in since it isn't used at the moment but 9 members of a family is just too much. The space is way to small for that.

We have given them all Eaindra's baby clothes for these families to share. I'd love to do more but  there are just too many of them. So , apart from the occasional small thing like passing on clothing, there is little we can do.I might have a word with school since we do charity drives on occasion and I think this would be a worthy cause.

In limbo

At the moment, we're preparing to fly back to Yangon later this afternoon. Eaindra is sleeping upstairs, Xenne is watching Kung Fu Panda. KK is babysitting .... 

I find this time always awkward. We were relatively late this morning so didn't have time to go anywhere. On occasion we go to the zoo on the last day since it isn't far and Xenne like sit very much. This time we were too late for that. Now we're stuck in some sort of limbo. It is too late to do something and too early to go to the airport.

Having had enough time to have a look around Soi Rambuttru and Kao San again, I have enough fodder for a fair few posts I'm sure. Now I just have to make time to write them. and this isn't the time. I've got juice to buy. The small cartons are about the same price as in Yangon but there is a much better selection here. Back home you have the choice between orange and apple (if there are any small containers). Here, there is so much more. Besides, we still have space in our suitcases..

Bangkok (again)

And as usual I have plans to really update my blog, get rid of years of backlog in my mail boxes and so an. As usual, I'm too busy with the kids. They are so happy to have me around all day and I'm happy if I can have a massage that is only interrupted every 5 minutes with a 'mama....' Although, this evening Xenne also wanted a half hour foot massage and even managed to 'sit it out'

Now, though, instead of writing something very witty and interesting about the differences between Bangkok and Yangon for example, I'm printing the Dutch passport application forms and that is where we'll be heading tomorrow morning. Today we spend a fair amount of time in the Burmese Embassy.... So, both kids are tired and who do they want then... right. MAMA. So up to the hotel room I'll go...

Presents

Last weekend we had that party of the little girl of one of KK's cousins. I did want to write about the presents after but with the last week of school and me taking my fourth graders for a sleepover at school, it just didn't happen...

Last week when we wanted to go to the party, I realized we did not have a present for her. And I thought we should have one. It was too late to go to the shops and buy something, not to mention that in general the quality of toys here is beyond appalling. Most of it is cheap junk from China.

I remembered that Xenne had a book in Myanmar that we happened to have twice. Both KK and I had bought it since it is such a nice book (translated of course without paying copyright but that'll be for another post). I wanted to pack the extra copy. KK said that he tho ought it wasn't a nice present. Parents here prefer clothes or cheap stuffed toys for their children. For me that was all the more reason to wrap the book. The girl might like to have a book, at least one, right.

Later that even in g I remembered we had had had a similar conversation before. That time I didn't give a but a small kitchen set for a 5 year old girl to play with at home when she went back to the village.

Now I am resolved to keep a small stack of suitable books on the side for whenever we need a present. If parents are reluctant to spend money on a book for a child then we should do so. A household without a book, as is very common here, just doesn't feel right. So, if I can remedy it a bit by giving a nice book for a present when appropriate.....

A birtday party

On Saturday we had a birthday party to go to. The daughter of one of Kyaw Kyaw's cousins. He owns a teashop across the river and I'd never been there before. It is pretty far and we really must decide to go there since we never have anything in that direction.

 I only learned about the party on Saturday morning. This in not unusual. We've even had an invitation once on Tuesday afternoon to come to a birthday party that evening. So when I arrived back from school it was to set of at once again after finding out we were expected and that they were even preparing food especially for me (being vegetarian). That time, like this Saturday, I actually had planned something else but everyone here wanted to go so go we did.

Luckily this was not one of those very early parties, like there are many around here where you are expected between 7 and 9 am. This was from 11 to 1 so a decent time but effectively  breaking up the day.

I'm always a bit apprehensive and this time was no exception. I had never visited their teashop before and did not know what to expect. Of course, there are many things I do know by now. There is usually an abundance of food like rice and chicken, something called 'butter rice' which is the Myanmar equivalent of Biryani rice, or fried rice with pork or chicken. I also know that I usually feel awkward. These places are often full of people who have never seen a westerner before. The open-mouthed stare is fairly uncommon but apart from that the whole gamma has passed. Most of the time people treat you like you are royalty who has condescended to have a meal with the proletariat. All the best food comes out, you need to sit in the most comfortable place (or space), and people ask you 500 times in half an hour if everything is ok.

This time was much better. The teashop was so crowded the parents of the little girl were so busy that they did not have the time to fuss too much. We were directed to a small room next to the open teashop part. It was probably their bedroom since there were bamboo mats on the floor, a small cupboard in one corner and clothes and things hanging off hooks everywhere.

We weren't the only ones sitting in there and it was a rather tight fit with 7 adults and a couple of kids. Right after we sat down on the mats, more food was brought to us than we could ever thing of eating. 3 plates with different kinds of cakes, several savoury dishes and things like roasted chicken feet. A couple of bottles of soda and glasses all around.

We sat there for a while chatting to the other people in that room, or better said, Kyaw Kyaw chatting since my Burmese is still sadly lacking any substance. We did do a useful job though and that was to pass the gifts and put them in a pile in a corner of the room. I did wonder if they would have enough space for all the stuffed toys this 6 or 7 year old girl was getting. There were heaps of those.

Eaindra was soon confiscated and shown around the teashop. Xenne found a space to sit next to the girl who was playing with her father's phone and they were playing together before long.

The parents wanted us to come to the teashop part and eat butter rice or rice and chicken. By that time a few of the adults had left the room and we were fairly ok in there. So the plates of food were brought to us. It was apparently good. Kyaw Kyaw ate 2 plates full and Ye'ko even managed to put away 3. Me, I just sipped from my cup of burmese tea.

Shortly after though, I thought we'd done our duty and since Eaindra was getting tired and I wanted to do something else with my Saturday, we left. After all, most people only stay as long as they need to eat and have a short chat with a few people. Often, people are in and out of a party like that in under an hour.

It is almost the end of the school year

Like everywhere else in the world, the end of school is usually anticipated eagerly by both students and teachers. Here it is equally so. This week and the coming week are the times when you wrap up, write report cards, do some last activities with the students and basically try to keep the attention on school things instead of already entering the holiday-mindset.

Next week the students will be in school for three days and have a final party on Friday morning. Teachers have the Thursday to clean up, get classrooms in order, and make sure everything is where it needs to be. For me, the cleaning up part is paramount since my desk has steadily been accumulating large amount of papers full of information I need to review, like to read up on, need to read to see if it is important, and some papers with ideas for activities with the students. Stacks and stacks of that. I'm convinced I can strike gold in there if I have enough time to sort things out.  And that is only my desk.

My cupboard looks incredibly well organised compared to my desk. I know how much of last year's desk-mountain went straight in there. And we've added a bit to that as well. Another area of great explorations where fantastic discoveries can be made. My cupboard now qualifies as uncharted  waters... 

Yep, I have my work cut out for me next week. And most of it I hope fervently to have done by the end of Thursday since we'll take our Grade 4's out to the movies and have a sleepover at school after. They have earned enough classroom points and this is the reward. Tiresome for the teachers but generally good fun.

Too busy

It is almost the end of the school year and I find that I'm absolutely running out of time every single day. I did promise Xenne we'd bake cookies today but no I doubt I have enough time to do so.

There's lots of social activities on the calendar too. Friday and Saturday I had to attend a wedding of a friend. Very nice but also very time consuming especially since another teacher and I decided we could do with 1 (one) more drink in the bar of the hotel where the wedding was...  It ended in a very late night with that teacher, me, but also bride, groom, groom's best man, and groom's good friends having had 1 too many...  (but still 1).

Tomorrow there is a birthday party, Friday school end-of-year dinner...

Not sure I'll have enough time to keep this updated this week.