In Bangkok (Friday 19)

We've all arrived. It was a bit different than we'd planned since KK flew out this morning (no more tickets for Bangkok Airways so he flew Air Asia) and so Xenne went to school with me. The kids loved him (especially the girls) but it was quite exhausting for him. Or should i say for both of us since i has to keep things going AND keep and eye on Xenne. But we've all survived.

Yesterday's performances were great. I think my 2nd graders found their dance a bit boring since they willingly did all the moves of different songs but never the ones of their own dance. I MC'd and that didn't go too badly either apparently. Anyways, it was a big success so it was worth all the stress it brought about.

Exchanging recipes (Sunday 7-12)

It is kind of fun but with at least 2 people (true, WOMEN) I do exchange information on how to make things like yogurt, real juice, cheese, baby porridge etc. In this country it can be difficult to get your hands on things like that.Actually, it isn’t always very difficult but it can be quite expensive. So I started to make a few things myself, like cheese (a sort of cottage cheese it is). And Dina, one of my friends and mother of Xenne’s friend Joshua, talked to me about making her own yogurt ages ago. But I never tried it till today. It is remarkably easy (just like making the cheese) but it was just something I had to try one time in order to become a bit more confident. And I just managed to fill several small containers of excellent, soft flavoured yogurt. So I’m quite proud of myself. Especially since yesterday I made my own apple juice according to a tip from another friend who said that making your own juice was remarkably easy and a lot cheaper than buying it in the stores (where it is expensive and where there is very limited choice especially if you want juice without sugar). My bread adventure hasn’t progressed anywhere beyond the first experiment with the convector oven (a combi microwave –oven thingy) when I burned two small breads completely when I forgot about them (Xenne fell asleep in my arms while the bread was being baked). And today I asked Dina if she new a recipe for making baby porridge. It is rather expensive here and has always sucrose in it (or sugar depending on the cheaper or more expensive brands). She says it isn’t difficult at all. So I need to try that somewhere this week. She on the other hand had tried making my cheese this weekend with a fair amount of success after having tasted the cheese last week on our picnic trip. And I’ll have to teach her how to make fresh pasta. I think I’m turning into my mother who was always baking and making things…



Aweful (Wednesday 10-12)

For the last 5 days we’re almost continuously without power. And it isn’t only our quarter, it is all over Yangon. It started on Saturday with no electricity for most of the day. It came back on early evening. Sunday it was the same. We thought it was just a temporary thing but now with 5 days like that I’m not sure anymore. I hope, really hope, that it is a maintenance thing. But KK has heard in a teashop that it might be a more structural cut, down to about 5 hours a day. Now that would make living in Burma a lot harder. It is winter time and I don’t mind us not having aircon since it is quite cool at night. And I can live without TV but I do like light when it starts to get dark. And I really hate not having a working refrigerator. Yesterday and today the power came on at about 6 pm again. But by that time you can’t see much anymore without any artificial light. And on Monday we had visitors here who we entertained by candlelight since all lights switched off at about 7 pm. Of course we forgot to turn some off so in the middle of the night I woke up because suddenly our bedroom was flooded with lights.

What about the rest, well I’m terribly busy with the final tests and everything that goes with report cards and all that. I’ll loose three kids, 2 because their father has been reassigned to a post in Malaysia and one kid whose family will go to Singapore. It’ll be very different without them. And of course it is entirely possible that I will have some new kids when the new term starts. We’ll see. Too make everything even more busy, the whole school is geared towards Christmas; the holiday (of course) and the Christmas program.

Ok, back to correcting, checking, grading and all else I need to do.


Sinterklaas party (Friday 12-12)

Today it was the Sinterklaas party organized by the Dutch committee here in Yangon. Xenne and I actually missed Sinterklaas coming by boat over the lake but we did see him arrive at the area around the swimming pool. I don’t think Xenne was very impressed though the other children really had a good time. True, many of them didn’t really know what it all meant, not having had a Sinterklaas party before. But they surely adapted fast to it. Maybe the whole getting presents wasn’t such a difficult concept to grasp. Xenne didn’t sit on Sint’s lap as many other kids did. Sint’s beard didn’t look like it could survive a fast, exploratory grasp from Xenne’s hands so it thought I’d better safe him from the experience. The party was nice, we even had home-made (hotel-made) speculaas. Super yummy. But Xenne and I didn’t stay for a very long time. He was getting tired from all the excitement and it being his usual bedtime. Me, I was growing tired of sitting by myself. Most people had either older kids (from 3-4 on) or were kids free. And it seemed nobody wanted to deal with a mama and baby. True, most of my focus was on Xenne. I did have a few short conversations but not much beyond the ‘hello, how are you, how did you end up here’ variety so it wasn’t like I was missing out on some sparkling conversation.
Sinterklaas in the middle of a big group of kids
Xenne unwrapping his first Sinterklaas present ever

What else is there to tell? Oh yeah, electricity is still a scarce commodity all over town. And it appears we’re back to our summer schedule: 2 days no electricity but evenings and nights ok and then 1 day some electricity and nothing in the evening/night. Honestly, it was better in the summer it seems. At least the power would come on at around 11 pm till early morning so at least we could have the aircons on. Last night we didn’t have electricity till 5.15 am (from 6.15 pm last night!). But maybe I’m drawing conclusions too quickly. There might not be a schedule at all. Or better still, next week this will all be over (who knows, one can always hope right). Schoolwork has mostly been done. Which is good since next week will be our last week of this quarter (and before a 3 week holiday). Monday my class will go on a short field trip to a snake pagoda here in Yangon. Will tell more about that next week. And next Friday Xenne and I will fly to Bangkok again for our usual visa run.

A relaxing Saturday (13-12)

I had planned to update the blog this morning but the power was cut before I had a chance to put the text of this week on my memory stick. And the battery of my very-cheap Chinese laptop is seriously bad by now. I think it lasted about 15 minutes before it shut itself down. Or maybe it seemed that short because I was distracted by a son who has figured out how to get of the mattress (which is on the floor nowadays after he almost fell of the bed once) and he was busy showing of with me keeping a watchful eye of course.

I’ve made fresh cheese, yoghurt and pineapple juice (boiled so it’ll keep for a little while) today. So I’ say I’ve been quite productive.


The last week before the Christmas holiday (Monday 15)

Yesterday we did the picnic again. Last time Xenne and Joshua couldn’t be persuaded to leave the mat we; brought. Xenne (especially was terrified of the grass. This time it was the absolute opposite. Xenne crawled everywhere with us running after him. And both boys did an awful lot of walking round the mat. Xenne still needs both hands most of the time but Joshua needs only one supporting hand now. They’re both growing up real fast…. Of course all the time we were in the park we had electricity. It went of at about 6.30 pm till somewhere early morning again. We are so on a schedule. I’d say we have power for about 8 to 10 hours a day. I have my tickets for Bangkok. KK wasn’t coming with me but we’re going to try to get him a ticket too. Xenne is so busy at the moment (maybe the 3rd tooth has anything to do with that) and so an extra hand would make so much difference. Unfortunately the agency that supplied my ticket called the school back at about 3 pm that there was no more space available. Too bad since I’d quite adjusted myself to the idea that he’d come with me (the man who delivered my ticket said that it wasn’t a problem…). Maybe Air Asia won’t be too expensive (and might still have seats). He’ll fly a bit earlier than Xenne and I then but on the whole of 5 days…

Today I took my kids out on a short field trip. We went to a pagoda where they have 6 Burmese pythons. My kids have been crazy about snakes ever since the beginning of the year so this was a great reward for all the work they have done. It was strange though, since they opened up the snake enclosure (probably because I am a westerner) and within seconds one of my kids was inside, stroking a huge snake (who was carefully held by one of the handlers of whom there were 2 in the cage). Most of the kids didn’t want to touch the snakes at first but eventually almost all of them had done so. And they had a hard time leaving… So it was quite a success I’d say.