Have a wonderful 2008!

Sandra, Kyaw Kyaw and I wish you all a wonderful, healthy and spectacular 2008 with a lot of fun, adventure and good friends. Enjoy new year's eve and keep in touch!

The last posts of 2007

Just a few pictures of the really really nice weather that Sandra & I got into when we came back to the Netherlands. Of course, now it is grey and rainy but that first week it started with a beautiful frosty day with sunshine and that exquisite crisp air that is so nice to breathe. Sandra was in paradise. She'd be dreaming of that kind of weather for months. And it even snowed for a day. Kids were ice skating on the small ponds and little water ways that are everywhere here in Brielle. A really really old dutch picture. And eventually, at the end of the week it even snowed. Not a lot but enough to give it that nice extra for a day or 2. Of course, Sandra immediately caught a cold. Not a too bad one, considering the difference in temperature was about 25 Celsius!
Brielle harbour

Me on a good hang-out

And looking up close at the frost that covers the twigs

shame on me...

for promising (again) to post more often and still not doing it.

But we've been busy, Sandra and I. After all, there's still a bit to be arranged. So, first, on saturday we met up with Katinka in Den Haag. Well, i didn't really leave the bag but i took a peek out so i know it was indeed Katinka we met. The 'girls' had a really nice lunch in a cafe and of course talked for hours...

After that, Sandra & I took the new Randstad Rail to Zoetermeer and walked to Ewold & Soerish's house where they celebrated their birthdays (It was Ewold's birthday but Soerish's birthday is only 3 days later). It was a lot of fun. Meeting up with so many old friends. Again, i didn't really came out of my bag. I realized it was more important for Sandra to catch up with here friends. After all, i did meet them just before leaving. They are more her friends then mine. And after a year there was a lot of catching up to do.

Of course everybody was angry with Sandra for taking public transport and then walking to the house (which was about 20 minutes) and everybody was slightly worried since of course she was rather late. She feels good and keeps telling everybody that she's 'only' pregnant and is perfectly capable of walking around a bit. But when she came back on sunday she realized that she'd done a bit much. So even though she's rather stubborn, she needs to slow down a bit and not try to do everything like she did before.

Talking about the pregnancy.. We've met up with the mid wife today. She seems really nice. And if everything goes on like it does now, Sandra can have the baby at home instead of in a hospital (something she prefers since hospitals aren't really her thing...). We got a stack of reading material and Sandra was amazed about how much info and stuff there is about pregnancy. After all, she hasn't been exposed to much of that while being in Burma.....

Greetings from cold and sunny the Netherlands

It is very nice and cold in The Netherlands. Just the type of weather that Sandra has been dreaming about during the rainy season. Though she's still a bit put off by the darkness. It is still dark at 8 am in the morning and it gets dark real soon too.... I find that strange too i have to admit. I 've gotten used to the sun rising at around 5.30-6-ish and a sunset at around 6 pm.

Sandra managed today to get her insurance arranged. She went back to the company she had before. And the woman she had on the phone was really nice. I don't know what Sandra said or did that made this woman so helpful but she went out of her way to get Sandra insured from the day we arrived here instead of on the first of January like it would normally be. So Sandra is really happy with that. She wasn't particularly looking forward to another 2 uninsured weeks. For pregnancy that is. After all, she does have an insurance for 'normal' things which she's had ever since she's start traveling.

Alright, tomorrow or so i'll write more

In the Netherlands

We've arrived. Safe and sound. And amazingly not even that tired. Well, Sandra kind of 'logged out' yesterday evening just before dinner for about 15 minutes and decided to go to bed at 21.00. She tells me she can't remember even a single thought after she'd put her head on the pillow. This morning she woke up at 3.00 to go to the toilet and since , like in Burma, she's always awake for quite a while at this time, she'd started to read her book. After all, we do have electricity here. But that kept me awake for a bit. And of course her aunt woke up about an hour later, saw the light and wanted to make sure Sandra was alright so they chatted the rest of the night away... Up till 6 when her aunt had to get ready to go to work. So we got up too. And at the moment the both of us feel quite ok. At 2 in the afternoon. But i'm sure we'll crash again early tonight.

The flight was ok. The seat was not extremely comfortable but not that bad either. Loads of leg space which was nice. And the stewardesses were very helpful. We even got our dinner and breakfast first (it being a veggie meal each time). We even slept a little too. At 1 point Sandra thought we were almost there but after asking about time, it turned out there were another 6 hours to go. And she was bored.... She's read 2,5 books between leaving Burma and landing in the Netherlands......

It is strange to be back here. Very nice but strange. Cold, sunny (at the moment) and electricity all the time. No potholes anywhere in the street, things like that. And when Sandra was thirsty last night, she could just drink water from the tap.

Now we'll have to see about all our plans. So many people to see, places to go to and things to arrange. Sandra keeps saying her brain is a bit too tired for that still but well, i think she's got to get going. At least planning a bit. But we've started on the essentials.

From BKK airport

Sandra and I have arrived at Bangkok airport. This morning we all shed bitter tears. Kyaw Kyaw was good enough to do that at home (this morning and yesterday evening). Sandra & I of course cried our hearts out at the airport. So we had a fair few people staring at us since it is a very unburmese thing to do.

For the rest we're a bit bored. We've done our boarding. Sort of. We have to 'reconfirm' later on. The China Airlines desk was closed so Sandra went over to the check-in desk. She wanted to make sure that she would have a good seat and that she'd have a vegetarian meal. They wanted to see her doctor's certificate. Well, that was a handwritten statement done by a doctor at the hospital she'd been to 2 weeks ago. They had made an appointment with the same doctor she had 2 weeks ago but that doctor couldn't make it. So she dictated what to write to the other doctor. No check-up or anything. But it was good enough to get her out of Burma. Though not good enough for here. So Sandra has another experience to add to her 'been there, done that' list.. Being prodded by an airport doctor. And luckily everything was alright. So she's done the check-in. Got a boarding pass that she has to exchange for another later tonight but at least she doesn't have to drag around a heavy suitcase or stand in line for hours. We've gone through customs again and apparently can do the final check-in here at the transit desk. Much less nuisance we hope. After all, we'll be tired enough as it is. We did arrive this morning at 11.45 and we'll fly out tonight at 02.30..... Of course the arranging of the doctor's certificate was a bit of excitement but now we're just sitting out the waiting time... So later on we'll be treating ourselves to a foot massage...

Ok, we're off. Internet is terribly expensive here. Much better to use that money for something else (like a huge bar of chocolate for example..).

Flight tickets

Sandra has our tickets so the 2 of us will be leaving this saturday. She tries not to think of leaving to much even though i can tell she's looking forward to seeing all her friends and family again. Apparently there are no more seats available on the evening flight so we're on standby for that one and are for the moment booked on the morning flight (at around 10) to Bangkok. There we'll have to wait till 02.30 sunday morning to catch the China Airlines non-stop, 12 hour flight to Amsterdam where we'll land on sunday morning 9.00. Aren't time-differences much fun.....

Today we were too late for the german embassy (they're only open from 9 to 11 and not 12 as most consular sections are). So we have to go back again tomorrow. The doctor wasn't in today either so we also have to go by the hospital so she can get her health certificate (Thai airways doesn't want to issue a ticket if she doesn't show the certificate even though the travel agency has already accepted the money ;-) ) . She's assuming it'll all be ok though. And we still haven't found a decent suitcase... Oh well....

After the weekend

KK and Sandra are feeling a bit better. Or maybe i should say that they've started to accept the situation. Sandra's flying back to the Netherlands this weekend or shortly after. I'll go with here. KK will move to the Teashop since the apaprtment has only been rented till the 20th of december and besides, he doesn't want to stay there alone.

We all went to the Thai embassy today and to our great surprise there was absolutely no problem with the visa application. At least, that was the impression we got. KK didn't need to show the flight tickets. And they sai dthat they didn't even need a copy of Sandra's passport and the bill of the hospital this time. All because Kyaw Kyaw didn't stay a long time in october. But if this time he will stay long (in case Sandra can have the baby there and so on and so forth) we'll need to have the documentation so we can explain why. Then there shouldn't be too much of a problem. Good news which was nice to have after the fiasco of last week.

Sandra thinks it is a very strange idea to be back in the Netherlands soon. Somehow she stil can't imagine it even though she's managed to find sweaters and a jacket that'll fit right on the corner near where they live. She found it a rather funny experience trying on the sweaters and jacket with an easy 28-30 degrees celcius and thinking about how cold it could get in Europe. After a year of no less than 30 C again it will be a bit different. Although i personally think that the temperature has dropped to about 26 or so at night. We sleep with the windows open and Kyaw Kyaw has 2 (thin) blanckets and even Sandra uses the one she got from Gulf Air last year since she thinks it is a bit cool... Me, i just curl up.

an update on the refusal

We've just been to the french embassy. And the consul just refuses to give us a reason. Kyaw Kyaw met several people yesterday though who had gotten their visas. Just to go for a 2-3 week holiday. True enough, they probably have loads more money than we have. For Sandra, the fact that the consul doesn't want to explain anything, means that he doesn't have a very good reason. Kyaw Kyaw's friend who asked around at the embassy yesterday (since he knows everybody who works there) said that it might have been because Sandra is dutch and not french. Well, Sandra wishes that if that really was the reason, that the consul would have told them so in october. It would have saved them much trouble and much expenses.... Anyways, we didn't get much further there. The woman from the consulate told Sandra & Kyaw Kyaw that as soon as the baby was born and they would have the birth certificate we could ask for another visa (though again, no guarantee that KK would get it though...).

We've also been to the Thai embassy. Apart from trying to get KK a visa for Thailand we also wanted to know what he needs from here to be able to marry in Thailand. And to our amazement he has most of the papers already. He needs 1 more and the official stamps from the Ministry of Foreign affairs and than the stamps from the Thai embassy. So maybe we can still arrange that before Sandra can fly no more. The only worry she has now is about insurance.

We've also found a silver lining to Thailand. Actually several. KK can finish his massage training, Sandra loves the facials and footmassages (all other kinds of massages are postponed till after the delivery) and me, i love the massages too. Skunks and facials don't do well together....

REFUSED!!!!!!

Kyaw Kyaw's visa got refused. And we have no idea why. So everybody is extremely depressed since we were really all counting on going to Europe to deliver the baby. Sandra is so down she doesn't even want to stay long in the internet cafe so probably tomorrow i will tell you more about it. Especially since KK will know more to. He's gone to the embassy to see what and why.

Wow, i'm an uncle!!

Wel, sort of. Actually Sandra is an aunt since yesterday morning. Her stepsister got a baby girl by the name of ISA LIANA JOY. So now we're awaiting the pictures ;-) I'm sure she'll be gorgeous though.

Still trying to upload pictures

And again no use. But i did find a way to chance my settings so finally i can read again what all the info says. Things like 'posting', 'create', 'settings' etc. So i've been able to even update my profile a bit (though as i said i still can't upload any pictures for some reason or another..).

We're in the internet cafe quite a lot. The power has been cut again this morning at around 5 am. And it'll probably be of till 4 or 5 this evening (like most days it seems). This promises much for the summer season when everybody who has one would like to use their aircon. Now it is winter season and temperatures are almost to an acceptable point (30 celsius the other day with a bit of a cool breeze). It is funny to see people here actually starting to dress warmer (long sleeves and sometimes even wearing a light jacket). Sandra still thinks that she could do with a drastic drop of another 5 degrees for sure.

For the rest, not much news. Kyaw Kyaw''s brother can leave the hospital soon it seems. He's been moved to another ward (downstairs) where there are at least 20 people. No privacy at all. Hopefully in a day or two he can go to the teashop and recover further there.

For the rest not much news. Maybe tomorrow since we all hope that we'll get a positive answer then on Kyaw Kyaw's visa application. Sandra can get busy after by confirming the tickets and starting to pack. And of course we'll have to look for winter clothes. Luckily they sell the jackets and sweaters on the corner for very decent prices (compared to European prices).

I forgot to mention that Sandra's been busy trying to find apropriate baby names. She thinks it is a lot of fun but not easy. Especially since they need 7 names (in burmese tradition the baby's name starts with the sound or one of the sounds that belong to the day the baby was born). Kyaw Kyaw will ask around for names too. First the plan was to go to a fortune-teller (the traditional way) but since they ask a lot of money, and we need the name beforehand (instead of the burmese way where a name can be given anywhere in the first year), this isn't really an option. So, the hunt is on. Sandra's surprised at the number of almost ridiculus names that you can find on the internet. Sometimes we really wonder how people could give kids some of the names we've seen..... Hopefully we'll do better..

Right, much to tell

Finally i can access my blog again. And this time i do have much to tell. First of all, all Kyaw Kyaw's stuff has been submitted at the embassy. Hopefully this week we'll get a 'yes'. Since we have handed in every possible paper i assume that it'll be ok. Kyaw Kyaw is quite positive since apparently 2 seperate fortune-tellers have told his sister that he is going to make a trip to a country very very far away (and without his sister telling them that KK's girlfriend was western). Sandra thinks it should be ok. For one, since they have handed in everything possible (including the much awaited licence which finally came through last week!). Secondly, because she thinks that since the apartment is kind of falling apart, it is high time to move. The washing machine works, sort of. It refuses to budge on normal washing-cycles so she has to do everything step-by-step. Which drives her nuts. The aircon in the bedroom isn't working the way it should either and the lock of the door is behaving strange of late. Not to mention that th elights in both bathrooms have stopped working. The power keeps being cut as well. Often at around 5 in the morning and then lasting most of the day. And this after a heavy rainy season so the reservoirs should still be full enough for a more normal electricity supply. The fact that it already starts now doesn't bode well for the summer (march-may). They had also just bought some really yummy icecream (Sandra got a tip from a fellow teacher a while ago). But now, with the freezer being cut of daily, she has to eat a lot of icecream. Of course i sacrifice myself and help as much as i can but my skunk stomach isn't that big. Sandra likes the strawberry flavour most. KK and i do the chocolate one. Though KK isn't much help. When he comes back in the evenings he doesn't want to eat icecream anymore. But we can't leave it for too long since it is being refrozen every day...

What else, KK's younger brother is already in hospital for about 2 weeks. He's got malaria. The kind that is life-threatening. He worked as a manager on a rubber-plantation in the jungle. And he was visiting Yangon when he started to feel bad. He's got his kidneys flushed (or something like that) now since this kind of malaria can affect the kidneys. And now they're going to test his liver. But he seems much better Kyaw Kyaw tells us. Sandra and I are not allowed into this hospital. Not even as visitors. That is at least what we've been told. And Sandra, being 7 months pregnant, doesn't really feel the need to put it to the test. Besides, the conditions in the hospital aren't that good either we figure from the info we get. Kyaw Kyaw's family basically takes care of his brother. A friend's mother has been supplying soup for the first week and a half (now the brother can eat more normal food). There are no chairs or stools anywhere in the wards so that visitors and care-takers sit and sleep on the floor but they aren't even allowed to roll out a mat there. Finally, after about 2 weeks, his boss has shown up (he was away or so) and he's now taking care of a bit of the expenses of the hospital. Everybody's pitching in since insurance doesn't really exist around here. And Kyaw Kyaw's parents can't afford the bills. His brother doesn't have much money either even though he got paid fairly well for Burmese standards (up to $100 a month which is way above average) but he sent most of that money home to provide for his mother and older sister. So half the family divide their time between the theashop and the hospital. Kyaw Kyaw's older (not oldest) sister has come over from Mandalay to help with the care-taking but i think everybody is hoping that he can leave the hospital soon and recover in the teashop. He wants to leave as well but he can't until he's been thoroughly checked of course.

For the rest, Sandra's still fairly bored. It is still quite hot but it seems a little bit cooler of late. She's still doing a bit of studying though with burmese she's as far as she was 3 weeks ago. Somehow that doesn't seem to go anywhere. She went to the school last week just to have a nice chat. It took her most of the day since people kept detaining her when she wanted to go home. She also got an invitation for the picknick that was held the day after with the 3rd graders. She went of course, and it was loads of fun. I 'll look if i can upload some of the pictures of that later. Let's see if i can get this online first.

Update on the licence......

As Sandra already suspected... the licence isn't ready today. Kya'w Kyaw hadn't expected it either i think. And I, well from experience i thought it most unlikely. The story this time: that there is only 1 computer in the 3rd (and last hopefully) administrative office and that it therefore takes a while before all licences are entered into the computer.... Yeah, well......

For the rest it is still bloody hot here in Yangon. Sandra keeps sweating left, right and centre and is dreaming of cool weather. She just plundered the bookstore in downtown Yangon. Not that there was an incredible choice but they have a few decent academic books and she got her hands on a few of those. So at least she's got something to do for the next week or so. And she's gotten herself a new book (with cd) to learn burmese. She's been trying to get the hang of that language for about a year now with very little success (but i must secretly confess that she hasn't been trying to improve very hard either). The book and cd's she has are not very good she keeps saying. And i think i agree. Sentences like 'the eyeglasses are on the bed' and words like 'pencil' are not really the kind of thing she needs most at the moment. So this book has more practical words and sentences. So hopefully this time she'll do better. She has the time now but I agree with her that it would be easier to concentrate when it is less hot (and sweaty).

Talking about hot and sweaty... we're of to the next door cafe for 'liters' of yummy fruit juices. Sandra is thirsty and i have to admit i could do with a nice, cold drink myself.....

3 months on and stil no licence!

Kyaw Kyaw needs a licence for his teashop and when he bought the teashop he bought it with a licence included. It was said that he only needed to chance the name to his name (normal, standard procedure here in Burma). So it seemed all very easy and straightforward. Until he actually wanted to chance it. Suddenly it wasn't possible and he could only get a new licence. The strange part is that the office that refused to chance the name because the licence wasn't correctly made up, was the office that made the licence in the first place! Anyways, so Kyaw Kyaw and Sandra decided that it was better to go for a new licence then to try and have the old one changed (which would probably be a loosing battle). It would take 2 weeks and did costs 20.000 ks (about $15). 2 weeks later, no licence. All kinds of reasons why not and suddenly the cost was 30.000. So Kyaw Kyaw paid up. The week after, again no licence. By now it was easily a month since he had started to have his licence-stuff arranged. The price went up to 45.000 ks. Sandra got a bit fustrated especially since they kept saying that the week after it would be arranged. But Kyaw Kyaw went again the week after and the week after that (several times) but still no licence. Then of course the trouble started here in Yangon and that delayed everything. We were of for a little while to Thailand (Kyaw Kyaw 2 weeks,Sandra in total about 4 thanks to visa-related issues) and during this time Kyaw Kyaw's dad kept visiting the administrative office. Then the new 'excuse' was that they needed photo's of the teashop. So Kyaw Kyaw made pictures of the teashop. Then they said these pictures wouldn't do they needed other ones. So Kyaw Kyaw made new ones. We're talking late october/early november by now. Sandra has on occasion climbed the roof out of fustration. They've even tried to offer 'tea money' to speed up the process but that wasn't accepted (strangely enough because bribes is what this administration runs on). Anyway, Kyaw Kyaw want to Bagan last week to sort out some papers he needs for the visa application and his dad took over the hunt for the licence again. It was promised that it would be arranged last week. Yeah right... He has an appointment this wednesday for the licence. Sandra is hoping that this time for real that licence will come through but she's very sceptical. After all, it is now 3 months instead of the 2 weeks they promised. It is even worse then when they were trying to get Kyaw Kyaw's passport. That took Kyaw Kyaw a full week of waiting in line and collecting signatures at probably every single administrative office in downtown Yangon. Then it would take a month to have his passport ready. After a month they said 'next week'. And again 'next week'. But when Kyaw Kyaw passed some 'tea money' the 3rd 'next week' turned out to be true....

What a country! I can imagine why Sandra is sometimes so fustrated.

A rainy week in Koh Phangan

Ok Koh Phangan was very nice they told us. I do believe them. Honestly i do. But Kyaw Kyaw, Sandra and I decided to stay close to the swimming pool als the restaurant of our place. It was raining just too often.....
Our little bungalow. Since it was fairly quiet we got an upgrade. Nice don't you think
As you can see from this picture the beach was rather small due to the high water and the rain.
Our swimming pool which on most days we had completely to ourselves. And it had an inbuild jacussi too........
Sometimes we went to the beach to eat at one of the bbq places that were set up in the evening. Mostly fish and Kyaw Kyaw enjoyed that very much. Sandra liked the baked potatoes and went to the salad bar. And when i saw this Shark's head i couldn't resist the temptation of a picture. Kyaw Kyaw did eat King prawns though that evening.....

Ok, i was too optimistic....

I could get on to blogger last week. But being so happy about it didn't do me much good since the rest of the week the internet was down. Completely and utterly. Not a single bit or byte of internet data made it to any of the internet cafes here in Yangon. And when on sunday the internet was finally up it wasn't anywhere near running again. In a test only to be done for people who have passed several patience tests already was trying to get into ones mailbox a possibility. After an hour Sandra finally managed to read 1 (ONE) email. Another half hour was needed to give a short reply. KK by that time had given up waiting and had entrenched himself in the nearest teashop. And i had given up all expectation of even trying to log on for a blog update.

But now it seems the line is back to 'normal' (meaning only 1 out of 3 page loads gives a 'could not load this page' ) so it isn't that bad at the moment. I might bring some pictures next time and see if i can load them...

Now the only thing i need to find out is how to chance the language back to english or any otherlanguage Sandra can read. Every time i get into Blogger to update i see everything in Thai. And that doesn't get me anywhere....

Wow.. access it seems

It seems like we have access to our blog today. So nice. We did arrive yesterday in Yangon. The plane was a bit more full. At least 35 people! But then again, air asia had canceled their flight and Myanmar Airways was 'full' (read: canceled). Even Bangkok air was full but we don't know if that was a real full or a cancellation... Anyways, we did arrive. 2 westerners on the plane and both (Sandra and another girl) both work in Yangon. Even now in downtown Yangon there are very few westerners to be seen but we have seen at least 4 tourists... (in almost 2 hours downtown).

It was nice to be back home. Though we did go to KK's teashop first. Sandra had no more kyats so she got a taxi from the airport to the teashop where she left the business of paying for the cab to Kyaw Kyaw. We stayed a while in the teashop, drinking in Burmese ambiance again (very nice after a week in Khao San Rd) and drinking nice burmese tea (also very nice after 3 weeks of noit having any). The apartment was much as we'd left it. Though much drier (1 wall that had had a serious bout of stains thanks to the rainy season) and again quite dusty (something you can't really tackle here).

We'll go off for some serious shopping now. There's not much in the house and so we need to stack up. Fruit and veggies to begin with. Cheese, bread and niceties after... It is hot and dry so lots of fluids as well (water we have but KK likes a beer every once in a while and Sandra loves to drink milk at the moment. In large quantities).

Back to Burma tomorrow

We've finally gotten our visa. That is, after we had the invitation letter from the school were Sandra taught, it was done in a day. it took us a little while to convince the person who was helping us that it didn't really matter so much that the invitation letter was a copy send to us by email. He was complaining the email address wasn't visible. Sandra said that it had come as an attachment which she had printed. After all, they already have several original letters in our file. it isn't like it is the first time we were there. And he didn't like it that the signature was UNDER the name instead of above and asked Sandra if she knew who's signature it was. She said that she assumed it would be the signature of the person mentioned as writing the letter but since it was a fairly unreadable signature.. how did she know. The guy eventually went of to consult someone else (read: higher in the hierarchy) and it was decided it was OK. So in the afternoon we went back to get our stuff. Happiness. Until we tried to book tickets back to Yangon. Tomorrow we'll fly with Air Bagan who is one of the few that still fly every day 9even though there is hardly anybody on the plane). The Air Asia flight for tomorrow is canceled (again) and apparently they don't need to book you on another flight. Glad i hadn't booked that one yet. We did meet some polish women who wanted to be on that flight. They are staying in the same guesthouse and we saw 1 of them at the embassy on wednesday. That girl hadn't been back when i spoke to one of the group members today and they still don't know if they have gotten a visa or not. They already applied 10 days ago. Tourists are really being frustrated getting into the country. Tourist visas are given to only a very few people.. hence all the cancellations. Although Myanmar Airways doesn't say they've cancelled flights. But in the systems for travel agencies the flights come back as 'fully booked' ;-) Yeah right....

Anyways, we'll be flying back tomorrow. Not sure when (and if) we're able to update our blog. Apparently it is made almost impossible to get through proxies and all that. So email and blogstuff can be hard (they aren't particularly fond of gmail/yahoo and hotmail over there....). But i'll try my best.

Embassy fustration......

Sandra & I thought that after getting our 'patience and acceptance' -training in the Ukrainian and Russian train stations that we were pretty advanced really. After all, if you've experienced several times that you want to buy a ticket for a train that is about to leave in 3 hours (or so) and you've been standing in line for that ticket for 2,5 hours when the ticket seller decides to get his or her coffee/tea/lunch break, you know you'll have to accept and change your plans. Or when it takes you at least 10 minutes just to get a small piece of paper with the 4 train times that you've requested in your best russian and the lady just isn't very willing to write the times down and just thinks that you should be able to AND understand AND remember them even though it is pretty obvious your russian is rudimentary... Well, let's say it this way, it is a good exercise..

But apparently fate thinks it is time for the follow up course. Embassies! First of all, it took us easily 2,5 weeks to get kyaw Kyaw's visa for Thailand. Not that this is a particularly difficult visa to obtain normally but KK had 2 visa extensions in his passport from our time in Chiang Mai this winter. Eventually we managed to get through to someone and if Sandra could provide her medical papers which had to prove that we all went to Bangkok for an ultrasound and that indeed she was pregnant, we got the ok for the visa. Of course the visa could only be given AFTER KK had purchased a flight ticket and had shown them the original and given them a copy. Not something that we ever had to do before. Besides, we got the ok on wednesday when on thursday all hell broke loose in Yangon downtown and it was impossible to book that ticket. We left Yangon that day with Sandra's parents and phoned the embassy on friday exmplaining the matter. No problem. So when we came back we called. First we didn't get anyone on the phone but finally we got through at about 13.45. She talked to some guy, explaining that we wanted to fly either friday evening or saturday morning (Sandra's parents left Yangon on friday morning and would fly on from bangkok on saturday evening). It was all no problem, we just had to give them the tickets and we could pick up the visa at 1 on friday afternoon. Sandra asked him if it was ok if they would hand in the tickets on friday morning just in case we couldn't make it (we also had an interview with the french consul that afternoon) and it was clearly stated that it wasn't a problem. And of course we believed it. After all, the visa was already given the OK. But on friday things turned out completely different. It would only be ready on monday and suddenly the guy kept insisting that he had said that we should have been at the embassy at 2 pm. Well, Sandra is many things but stupid isn't one of them. She would have picked up on something like having to be at an embassy at 2 with tickets bought when one is calling at a quarter to to ask about a visa and possible flight times. But the guy kept insisting and of course there was nothing to be done. Sandra & I flew on saturday morning, KK came on tuesday morning.

Ok, that was one embassy.

Normally when you needed a visa for Burma you wnet to the embassy in the morning and picked up your visa in the afternoon of that same day. So Sandra & i went to the embassy on friday morning. Sandra had just piked up her brand-new passport and we were there early. There were only 3 applicants. So we thought it would be a breeze. Not really. The staff remembered us but nowadays you need an invitation. Even for a tourist visa. And of course we didn't have one. They've taken the application for evaluation and we will know on wednesday whether we can get in or not. So Sandra has asked the school if they are willing to issue that invitation so there is less problem. Besides, she prefers to get a business visa again since risking an overstay might be more problematic now. KK had a ticket for 2 weeks so he's flying on monday. Not so nice since calling has always been a hit-and-miss affair and it'll be worse now. And how well the internet is working... who knows...

So basically we're stuck here for a while. KK can't come here and we can not go there...

Relax time

We arrived on Koh Phangan on friday late in the morning and decided to ko to Haad Yao where we're now in a little wooden bungalow on a tiny hill overlooking the bay. Well, that is not really correct, we had a bungalow (not of wood) that overlooked the bay but the resort below ours is contructing a new builing and of course this construction was right next to our place. So we managed to get ourself an upgrade. We still see the sea and we also have a nice view of the swimming pool. So we're not complaining ;-) Unfortunately the weather isn't particularly cooperating to make this a really nice holiday. Yesterday it was raining most of the day. This morning it was raining as well. Now it seems like the sun makes a very tentative appearance. There was something very itchy in the water the day before yesterday. Not jellyfish but something similar. So we're very happy that we have the pool. Sandra & I were ok when we went for a swim. Kyaw Kyaw went a little later and he and several other people reported the itchiness. Suddenly the pool looked even more attractive. Especially since we've almost have it too ourselves. Mmm.. the sun seems a little more obviously present now. Time for a swim....

To the beach to the beach

We're off in an hour to take an overnight bus and then tomorrow the speed ferry to the beach Koh Phangang or something like that. It is between Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Beach and more beach for some serious R& R. Probably the last down time for a good while to come. Sandra has packed so many books that Kyaw Kyaw is complaining about having to lug that stuff around all the time (he doesn't let Sandra carry it anymore). Me, i think that Kyaw Kyaw and i will leave Sandra to her book devouring and explore the island a bit. Go for walks, go for talks.... Or maybe i'll work on my tan. I'm sure we'll have a good time. I'm so glad Sandra has to wait in Thailand for her new passport. The last one was completely full.

Some nice pictures from last week

I actually wanted to make sure i could sort the pictures and make some nice comments to accompany them but everything i see on my screen is in Thai and i can make nothing of it. I asked Sandra but she hasn't a clue either so we both consider it more safe to just leave this and go on with it. So, my appologies for the disorder of this entry. But at least you can see some pictures. Of course quite a few pictures of Sandra's parents and Kyaw Kyaw. Me you can find in one of the pcitures we took at Kekku and the woman in black with the colourful headgear was our guide there. She's Pa-O and this is their traditional outfit. We also visited Bagan and Inle Lake that week. And had a stopover in Meikhtila because of the horrible roads we werre faced with. Just to give you an idea i included a picture of a river bed we needed to cross. It was empty and Jet & I wanted to stop the car so we could take a good picture. But both Kyaw Kyaw and the driver said a hasty 'NO'. On the other side they explained why. 2 men we had seen on the other side had told them to hurry since the dam that was very very close by could be opened at any minute. The bassin was too full. Only thing.. the government usually didn't inform people beforehand. You just had to be sure you were out of the way... We were really relieved to hear this story only when we were on the other side. Safe and sound....

What a day....

Sandra wanted to meet Kyaw Kyaw at the airport as promised so we had to get up real early. The room was already stifling hot like it has been ever since we arrived in Bangkok. The heat seems more oppressive here then in Yangon. Anyways.. we made our way to the airport. I find the new airport not particularly nice and neither does Sandra. We found out that the flight was on time and that the exit gate was C. So that is where we installed ourselves. The plane landed, people kept coming through the gate but no Kyaw Kyaw. Heck, even not a very burmese face. But since the planes haven't been exactly full (heck even the air asia flights keep being canceled due to lack of passengers) i wondered if we would really see so many 'burmese' faces. At 10 i got restless and Sandra wasn't very happy either. We'd had already so much trouble with the Thai embassy in Yangon that we were wondering if he had gotten his visa after all. Even though they had promised to arrange it this time. And since the internet is still down over there and we had tried but failed to reach him yesterday, there was no knowing whether he had been on board at all.

At around half past, Sandra made her way to the departure hall where most flight companies have an information desk. Alas, not one for the company KK was flying with. But the general info desk gave us a phone number that we could call. It was all rather depressing. So we went for a drink. For one think, neither of us had eaten anything yet, second food is quite expensive at the airport. So we sat, let our imaginations run wild for a while (especially given teh situation of last week) but finally decided to wait until tomorrow to see if he would fly in then. For all we knew, the embassy might have given KK a hard time since he handed in copes of the flight tickets that at that time were still for the saturday morning. Or something silly like that (like they had done before). So we took the express bus back to Khao San rd. There we went for a bite. Well deserved since it was well into the afernoon. At around half past 2 we came back to the hotel. Where the 2 ladies from the reception/travel agency told me that Sandra's husband had arrived and was asleep in our room. Imagine that! Turns out that he had taken another exit gate since that was where most people went. He didn't see us and thought we'd still be at the hotel. He had arrived at around 11 already. We had been worried for no reason.....

Finally able to access my blog again

I know I know it has been a long long time since i updated this blog. I tried several times since i have much to relate but the internet lately was so slow in Burma that i had to give up. But now that we're in Bangkok again i hope i'll have some serious time to put into this blog. At the moment it seems i have to put up with Sandra's effort to try to get through the backlog in her mail so i think this update will still be a short one. Anyways, Sandra's parents were visiting last week and we did a week tour of Burma. It was safer to leave Yangon so that's what we did as soon as we could. It was great seeing them again and i know that Sandra loved it. Kyaw Kyaw was finally introduced properly. He likes them and they like him so Sandra was even happier. We all had a great week even though we had real trouble with the car and the roads. And of course the political situation kept us all occupied. But all in all it was a pleasant trip. I'll post pictures soon.

Time goes really fast and the timer on the computer tells me time is almost up. Better post this real quick before i'm cut off.

MOULD!!!

Ok, so Sandra and I have returned from our trip to Bangkok. EVerything was fine and peachy. Or so we thought. We come back to the apartment and Kyaw Kyaw had been cleaning. Turns out we had mould in almost all cupboards. Mould on our backpacks, on some clothes, on Sandra's camera case etc etc. He's done some cleaning up so we didn't even see the worst of it. But now, 2 weeks later Sandra found mould on one of her glasses cases. What the H*LL is mould doing on something like that? So Sandra asked around for something that could help with this problem. After all, in her logical way of thinking this country should have something against it. This isn't the first rainy season that they ever had. But no was the asnwer everywhere. Even and the big supermarket that we found a while back and which turns out to be not at all for from where we live. Eventually Sandra asked the guy that does all the maintenance and arranges all the things in school. His answer was also 'No'. So, in a kind of desperation' she asked him what they do when they have mould everywhere. 'Wash everything often' was his answer. Sandra's was still convinced that there must be an easier way. There was he said, but that meant buying things in Thailand or China that are not available on the market here. Nice, we have just returned from there. Another 8 weeks to go before we're heading back that way for our next visa run. And by that time, rainy season will almost be over *sigh*

In Bangkok

It was a bit of running around but we've been in Bangkok. Of course we had completely different plans but oh well... Thursday was Martyr's day in Burma so we all had a day off. Useful, so we had a bit more time to do whatever Sandra needed to do in BKK. Like getting a new visa for Burma, getting a Dutch passport (in which she didn't succeed due to having her passport at the Burmese embassy at the time of applying for the dutch passport...), visiting the hospital and buying the new Harry Potter book. Sandra did even find some licorice so she was in 7th heaven for the first 2 days (apart from the time when she felt nauseous because she had eaten too much of that stuff). She sat near Khao San Rd with that book open and it was amazing how many people asked Sandra about the book. especially people who are on a 'short' trip like a few weeks during the summer holiday. They all wanted to know where she had bought the book and if there were more copies left..

Ok, had planned to write some more but it seems everybody is online right now.. And sandra keeps wanting to switch to other pages.. So annoying..

More quick then normal

Sandra & I have been at the internet cafe for over 2,5 hours just trying to get though the mail (Sandra) and finding a way to update my blog (me). The internet is even more slow then normal lately so gettign online is really a test of patience. Sandra once told me that she spend a complete schoolperiod (45 minutes + 10 minutes breaktime) online and had just gotten to the sign-in page for her mail. Soooo fustrating. But the internet cafe\'s aren\'t much faster lately. And aparently blogger is on the blacklist or so. Like Gmail. So you need to go through al these hoops to find a backdoor since half the time the hoop you used last week has been blocked and you just try another one until you\'ve found one that works. sandra usually picks up the new one in the internet cafe so when the internet connection at school is working a bit, she can at least read the emails (replying is another matter).

Anyways, we\'re all doing good. Sandra\'s adjusted more or less to her new job. The kids are wonderful most of the time. Sometimes of course there is trouble. Kids will be kids. She\'s giving them a test this week since there\'ll be a parent-teacher meeting soon (next week or maybe the week after. It depends whether or not another teacher will take Sandra\'s friday since she replaced this teacher 2 weekends ago when she wanted to go to Bangkok to meet her brother who was there for work and she was supposed to teach the weekend courses. Sandra said later that it was an interesting experience to teach the weekend kids but she\'ll never do it again. A whole week at school, then weekend classes in the morning on saturday and sunday followed by another whole week of school... She was exhausted at the end of the second week). Anyways, the parent-teacher meeting will be another interesting experience. Most kids come from rich(er) families and some of the parents can be particular Sandra has heard from the teachers who were here last year already. She\'s looking forward to aquiring a few strange stories hereself......

The apartment is wonderful. It is amasing how much one can enjoy a space of their own after 2,5 years of traveling around. Sandra made the mashed potatoe she wanted to make so much. And we\'ve found a place where we can buy cheese. Even a decent choice of it (10 or so). Of course hugely expensive but every once in a while we think it is worth the money. And there is also cheese in the big supermarket not too far from our apartment. Most of it is of the more-then-vland variety but one or 2 options are palatable. Again way of the money scale but still.

Ok, a quick end to this since the clock is ticking and it\'ll cost me at least 10 minutes to post this and log out again. Oh well....

Right, 2 weeks later

Well, it seems like we've finally found an apartment. Last weekend we had a meeting with a broker who was recommended to Kyaw Kyaw. They told us not to worry too much about things being fully furnished since things like a fridge could be easily got for $100 second hand (a good one). So we thought to give it a try. Sandra had some misgivings but decided to see what was on offer. Well, it was really a big waste of time. They decided to show us first as apartment that, according to them, was clean and all westerners liked the place. I heard Sandra say later that she'd like them to introduce her to a single one of them. It was on the ground floor. Grill-work outside (like most places here, so people can air the place while they are either not at home or when they just want to close it off a little. Then doors that could fold back for the whole with of the place. This turned out to be the only 'window' to the place. It resembled a cave. Completely bare, dark and a bit smelly (rainy season has started). In the back there was a door that led to a tiny kitchen (also completely empty) and 2 doors in the kitchen gave access to 2 cupboard like 'spaces' which turned out to be the shower and the toilet. Ok, this was definitely NOT what we had in mind. The second place turned out to be the same. And the last place they wanted to show us.. Well, the person who had the key was not at home. So we waited for about 20 minutes outside until we gave up. They had another place that they wanted to show us but the man that lived there now was very busy. So if we could see it the next day (monday). Sandra said that that was only possible in the evening since she had to work. 3 times! they asked her if she could not visit it during the day. 3 times! she said 'No' and eventually the message was received. But since the man was apparently very busy, it was decided that we would visit the place on monday morning at 7 am. (Sandra eventually gave in to that since it seemed it was the only time we were going to be able to see the place). Again, a big waste of time though. It was on the 4th floor but the broker had forgotten to mention that each floor was 1,5 floors really. And of course, no elevator. The place was big that was nice. And the location was not bad at all. On the floor with the bedrooms it turned out that there were big leaks all over the place. It was the top-floor of the building and the roof needed some serious work obviously. The burmese man that rented the place now spoke some english (and the brokers didn't) and he told Sandra that the leaks was the main reason for his moving out (and the fact that the owner wasn't very nice). The brokers said that the roof would be fixed. Yeah right, it is rainy season at the moment and will be for the next 4 month. That roof will at best be temporarily fixed. If that. Here in Burma you have to pay the full rent-price of an apartment for the time. In this case we'd have to cough up $1800 for a 6-month rent period. Sandra doesn't think a person will do anything once he has the cash in his pocket. So this also was a big NO to the apartment.

Eventually Sandra contacted the broker that the other teachers at the school had been using. He didn't have a name for being terrible honest really but at least the things that he did were known so we could prepare for that. Besides, he basically behaved like many brokers all over the world. Especially given that not us but the owners would pay his commission (one months rent). We're agreed with him that we wanted a place between $200 and $300 per month. This is a bit less then most others paid but we just didn't want to shove out that much money. First of all, he showed us a place that was nice, furnished only with a fridge, a couch and beds (no mattresses or anything like that). Besides, the power was off again in this building (there was an elevator and a generator just for that so we didn't notice at first that there was no electricity). For all this they wanted $350, non-negotiable. So when we left, Sandra asked the broker why he showed this place. His answer was that she had asked him to show her many places. Yes, she replied, but places within the budget we agreed on. Now you are wasting everybody's time. She could understand his trying to get a more expensive place (it was after all his commission) but she wanted to make sure that after this it was clear to him that there would be no use in showing other places like that. So he dropped at least one place in that building and we all headed to a next building. This apartment was very nice, very big. Partially furnished (a bit like the last one). But the $350 was negotiable. It was a place we would consider. Unfortunately outside there was a big pool of water just in front of the doors (it had just rained very heavily) which was a big disadvantage. And there was a generator for the whole building. Meaning that if the electricity went off, the generator would take over. This at first sounded like a plus, until we realized that this would mean a lot of extra costs (a unit of generator electricity comes at $0.50 which can add up quickly). The next apartment was in the same building. Less nice to begin with and a bit smelly. Besides, the view from the first building was stunning. This was not half as good. The 3rd one he showed us was fully furnished but a lot smaller. And it had an awful view. Apparently when they constructed the buildings (there were 4 or 5 of them), one building was abandoned in mid-construction. Or it had burned out. It had the look of that. And this was the view from the apartment. Not that you looked at it all the time but still. And at $310 it wasn't cheap either. Ok, one more to the list of things to consider. Sandra had already asked him if the broker could show them more apartments the next day and on the way to this building he had been on the phone quite a lot. So, after this apartment he wanted to show us one more (he had an appointment with another teacher afterwards). This place turned out to be really nice. Not very big but completely furnished (including a fridge with freezer compartment, 2 gas-burners, a washing machine, a TV etc etc). And they were willing to install an inverter so when the electricity went off, we could still be using the lights and the TV. And the place had a nice feel to it. It has 2 bedrooms. A small living/dining room, small kitchen, 2 bathrooms (only one with hot water) and a small side-room with an writing table (an old-fashioned one where you open it to have the space to write and with all the pigeon holes) and a small, round table with a set of chairs around it. Very nice. And it had a very good feeling to it. They wanted $250 but it was negotiable. We offered $200 per month and they accepted. Yesterday, Sandra and me went there again. We met the Aunt of the girl who owns it (she's studying in Australia) to go over the details. The day before we had met another niece and they all seem really nice people. So hopefully we can arrange everything on monday. Sandra needs an advance from school to pay for the 6 months rent but that shouldn't be too much of a problem since the school does this fro all teachers. Besides, she asks for a lot less money then most teachers (only $200 instead of $300 or $350 and she only wants it for 6 months instead of 1 year. She doesn't want to be indebted to the school for that much money). The only thing Sandra is still a bit wary about is that she told the owner and broker yesterday that Kyaw Kyaw was moving in with her. She wasn't sure the broker had gotten that message before. And didn't want to have problems after signing the lease. Now she hopes that the owner doesn't consider it a problem either. For the rest, the place seems really nicely located. Almost on the corner of Inya Lake (which has nice walking paths around it), there is a small vegetable market close by. A supermarket is about 5 minutes walking. So is the big hotel (Sedona) where we can buy (expensive but real) bread. Teashops and tiny restaurants apparently aren't far either. Sandra can't wait to move. And Kyaw Kyaw is already planning all the things he wants to cook. He already told Sandra that he could make really nice breakfasts with rice every morning (he misses that now a lot since the hotel usually serves fried egg and white, sweet toast unless you specifically ask for something burmese the day before). Sandra said that it was fine, she'd be eating Cornflakes then a fair few mornings. We've found that some supermarkets here have imported stuff being high-end to begin with.... I'm sure it'll work out. As a skunk i don't really mind what i eat fro breakfast. Or lunch or dinner for that matter......

Ok, first week with kids...

So, officially Sandra's 2nd week but I thought she said it felt more like a first week. Of REAL work that is. She's got 2 classes (Grades 3A and 3B) of which she is classroom teacher. 9 Periods of English for each class per week, with a period consisting of 45 minutes. All other subjects are taught for 2 or 3 periods per week. One class has 16 kids while the other has 15 of them. I haven't been introduced yet since Sandra would like to make sure i will not suddenly be whisked of to unknown households but probably somewhere during this or next week the kids might get to know me. Of course i always come to class but i stay hidden in Sandra's bag. Quietly observing everything. So i start to get a bit of an impression of all the kids. Some are quite shy since this is their first year at the school, some are confident. They have been here already for a while. But all seem really nice kids. I'll probably tell you more about them next week when i know them a bit better. Thankfully Sandra has 2 assistants who help out with a fair few things (like remembering their names...). One is new, one has been at the school already for a year but had the most awefull year last year (being 'dumped' on a class of tiny monsters completely unprepared according to the stories). They both seem really nice and so far i can't complain. They need to get a bit more confident though and maybe pro-active but that might come later. After all, they are both young and they are Burmese. Since Sandra is the westerner, they assume that she automatically knows so much more. And it is also a cultural thing. The Burmese are usual not the most direct of people and will normally stay quiet even if they don't agree. But towards westerners they will very rarely object or voice their beliefs. Something Sandra things they need to work on with her since she'd like a more equal relationship instead of just sending them off for photocopy assignments and jobs of that kind. After all, who wants to do that for the rest of their working lives...

The school administration is fairly unorganized which was a bit annoying Sandra found. Being new she was basically left to her own devices. The kids English books haven't arrived yet. The timetable was available Monday morning and on Friday afternoon from 3.15 to 4.30 they had a meeting about what to tell the parents at the parent-teacher meeting that was held Saturday. So everybody was very well prepared...
Sandra did make a powerpoint presentation since she at least didn't want to look unprofessional and unprepared. It all went smooth until the questions-part where of course some parents wanted to discuss the usefulness of the English classes that are taught 3 periods per week. Many parents think it is absolutely a waste of time. Either because they have private tutors or because they don't think further then the fact that their child will go and study abroad (usually Singapore or Australia). They'd like to have extra English classes. Oh well, thankfully that whole discussion isn't Sandra's problem. And neither is the lack of organization.

No news on the apartment front yet. We're still looking. It is a bit more difficult then we thought it would be. Unless of course you really can shovel out..

First week at school

Sandra of course takes me everywhere so i joined her this week for her first week at school. It was a preparatory week so no kids yet. Year plans, week plans and all that. We learned that she'll be teaching 30 kids in 2 classes. Together with her assistent teachers she divided these kids into Grade 3A (16 kids) and 3B (14 kids). Her assistent teachers are Sandy who's already been at the school for one year but who had the worst class that year and had teachers who didn't help her at all. So everybody has warned Sandra she was pretty useless though when she asked further it seemed she basically never got a chance. And a new teacher with a burmese name that i can't remember at the moment (luckily Sandra wrote it down somewhere). It was quite chaotic this week. Many things weren't arranged yet. Not all books had come in, the classrooms for the lower grades were being repainted, they were still hiring assistent teachers (that is why we only learned on friday morning who was going to help us) and a maths teacher for the lower grades. And this is what we know about. The timetable we'll hopefully get on monday since we have no clue except that Sandra will be teaching one or the other 3 grade classes for the first 2 periodes (each period is 45 minutes). We'll see how it goes on monday.

For the rest we've all been busy trying to find an appartment. Not difficult if you'd be willing to shovel out $400 or more per month. But that is not what we want (and can afford). Kyaw Kyaw saw quite a few places but most of them were so run down that he didn't even take us there. We did see one place not far from the school. Run-down but not too bad. A bit of paint would do wonders. 2 bedrooms, small 'entrance room' cum living room, big kitchen and a tiny bathroom. All topped by a baclony that Sandra felt would fall appart if she looked at it for too long. The bathroom had a western style toilet but no shower. Just a big water container with a small bucket to use. And a big tap above it to refill the thing. And she even realised later that she should have tried to see if the toilet flushed or wether to pour water into it with a bucket. I must admit i hadn't thought of it either. The kitchen was big but very sparsely furnished. A refrigerator (and hopefully enough electricity through the day to power it but that is up to the government), a small earthen cooker, a sink and of course cups, plates and the like. No stove. Nothing in the 2 bedrooms except one matress and mosquito net(the owner's mother was living there temporarily). In the 'living room' a huge tv set (with satelite TV) and 4 plastic chairs. No tables, no couch, no nothing. Linolium on the floor everywhere that seemed to have been bought as left over pieces at a discount store. Mismatched, to small, laying loose... well you get the picture. No (super) market and teashop anywhere near the place (at least not a teashop where we'd feel we could actually eat or drink something. But it was quite close to the school. So we met the owner. He wanted $200 per month!!!! Sandra thought she had to reattach her jaw after it had dropped towards the ground with terrible force. And later she heard from Kyaw Kyaw that the man had actually said $250 in Burmese before that. No way that was ever going to happen. Not furnsihed it would be $100. That was what Sandra thought it was worth furnished an all. So we're still looking. We've reached a deal with the hotel that we can stay for 1 month including breakfast for $300. The room is clean, nice, light and big and they have a garden of sorts. And it is close to the school so we walk most of the time unless it rains buckets (it is rainy season after all). Though it is bloody hot but otherwise we would get little excercise, besides it gives a good excuse for being seen sweating the equivalent of a small river. Being here for a month will give us some more time to look around.

Ok, we're off shopping. Sandra needs some nice longyis and tops since she can't really be representative with her worn travel clothes. Besides we need to buy a world map for one of the classrooms. And some stickers and stuff like that for the weeks ahead. So Bogyoke market it is. Touristy but they have some awesome stuff. And longyis in the right size for western women...

A job....

Well, it turned out is was a lot less easy for Kyaw Kyaw to get a new Thai visa since he had had 2 extensions in Chiang Mai. Then we encountered Christy while in Mandalay and again in Bagan. She was teaching at an international school in Yangon for the summer. Sandra had seen the job ad already online but the start of that summer school was too early for them to return to Burma. But here the opportunity presented itself again. Christy wasn't staying since she had plans to go back to Canada and study again. So, Sandra met the principal. They wanted her to do a demo class. She did a demo class. They wanted her to do a second demo class but now a little longer and with the books that were used during the year. She did. And had loads of fun. So had the kids. The principal took his time after that. At least 3 days! But eventually she got the news she got the job. So we'll all be staying in Yangon for the next many months... It'll be a new experience for sure. teaching 3rd graders. I'm sure i'll be posting loads of great stories about that soon. That is, if i can access my blog. It hasn't been easy lately in Burma...

Anyway, Sandra & i went to Bangkok., Kyaw Kyaw and Frans stayed in Yangon. We now have a business visa (valid for the whole of 10 weeks!!! so frequent flights back to BKK just to get a new one). The we went to Chiang Mai. Sandra finished her Foundation Thai massage training. We picked up the stuff we had left there as well. Today we spent most of our time trying to repack and redistribute. We even invested in some new carrying gear.

I was thinking about writing a long update but i'm in Khao San Rd and everywhere there is music blaring and just behind me the tv is showing a movie on the loudest volume possible. I'll take my chances back in Yangon.....

Days out on the lake

About 12 km outisde of Chiang Mai there is this lake where you can bathe (although we all thought the water didn't look very inviting) and relax in one of the bamboo huts that are dotted along the waterline. Order your food & drinks and lean back....

Being out of Chiang Mai would have been nice at any given time but now it was even better due to the oppressive & irritating air-pollution that was hanging over Chiang Mai. Not that the air here was anything like clean but it was a bit fresher then in CHiang Mai proper.

The first time we went on the back of 2 motorbikes. The 2nd time we were with too many people and had arranged a Songthaw (red car).


Me, hanging out... literally


Kyaw Kyaw & his friend Si Thu


A bit of the food. There was much more. 'Auntie' (Si Thu's aunt) had prepared a whole lot of vegetarian food. Since that is one of the few things you can't get there..


David & Kuatarina

Auntie, Si Thu & Kyaw Kyaw

An evening in Chiang Mai

Kyaw Kyaw posing as tuc-tuc driver.... Frans & me weren't allowed anywhere near the driver's seat. I think they don't trust us...




A group picture (without me of course. Someone had to take the picture)

Doi Suthep

Kyaw Kyaw decided to take Sandra up to Doi Suthep for her birthday. Doi Suthep is THE most important temple in Chiang Mai. Or should i say around Chiang Mai sinc eit is up on a hill overlooking Chiang Mai. She hadn't been there yet and somehow there was always something else to do. But this time we all went. And it was really really nice. Like most temples it has that great tranquil atmosphere which we all enjoy. Even though there were quite a few tourists around.



As usual Kyaw Kyaw has no problem posing for a picture.



And one of the few times, Sandra didn't object to hard either...

World flora expo Chiang Mai

After such a long time in Chiang Mai we finally managed to make it to this huge event that was held till the end of januari. It was a great day trip. I've never seen so many flowers together. And neither had the others. Frans of course hasn't seen much to begin with. Kyaw Kyaw has never been to such an event and didn't even know they existed. Sandra had to admit she'd never even been to the Keukenhof. Whatever that is...

Frans & me and some great lotus flowers
Here we're posing on the nicely sized plane that was drifting in the pond at the Kenia-entrance for the flower expo.
More kenia samples to pose with.....
Part of the dutch entrance (no beer in sight though). And it was obviously way to hot for the poor tulips.
A little bit of Indonesia
Belgium's project

Want some?

That was the question Kyaw Kyaw got when he passed this place. He kindly refused and came back to the appartment to ask if we wanted to see this. Of course i was up for it. Sandra, who's stomach already revolted at the sight of the pictures, didn'teven want to hear more about it...

Thai boxing (Muay Thai)

Of course while we were in Chiang Mai we were invited to come along and see the 'real' Thai boxing. Sandra wasn't too impressed at the end of the evening. The guys had a general 
good evening. Me, i concerned myself mostly with the whisky. After all, you need 
something to get you through an evening like that.... 

On the way from Bankok to Chiang Mai

Ok, this picture has been taken early January so yes, i'm way behind. But i thought it'd be fun. After all, how many times do you get such a prime position.... (i'll discretely mention then that Frans & me were the only ones that actually fitted in these seats. There was a huge TV screen just aside of the seats and you really had to climb your way up here.) But we had a great view.

We're ok

I think i finally found a way to get past the block that is on blogs nowadays. So if this really works, i'll hopefully be able to keep you all more informed. We’re back in Burma already for a while.

Sandra might have a job interview today. So we really have to go and make the phonecall so she can meet the head of the school. Today would be great since we all have some other places we want to visit. 

Ok, let's see if this works.

Quicky

Not a whole lot has happened (though i have some nice pictures of a day out at the lake if i make the time to upload them). sandra has passed her test for foot massage/reflexology. 98/100 so an A++ i think the teacher was even a bit dissapointed that the test was over... She had no shortage of people who she could practise on. Unfortunately it goes a little less smooth with the basics of Thai massage. You need room for that (and a big and firm mattrass of sorts) so there are quite a few things that she and KK can only practise on Frans & me since we're small enough... It is getting better.....

Next week the rent is up so we plan to move south for a week. Either to one of the islands or a beach on the mainland somewhere. Kyaw Kyaw really would like to see Phuket. Sandra thinks she could do with giving the place a miss.... Me, i haven't made up my mind yet. After that, off to Burma. Waterfestival/new year from the 13th to the 17th of april. We're going to be so wet again. I am considering investing in a super soaker.

The student/workvisa plans are still being worked on. A lot of info but nothing too concrete yet.

First stop in the Netherlands

OK, Katinka, how's this ;-)

True i still have so much updating to do but slowly, very slowly i'm getting to it.

Visiting Katinka, Bart & kids was the first stop Sandra, Frans & me made when we came from France. Of course it was great seeing katinka & Bart again but it was even better to see how much Luuk & Bas had grown over the past years. And Marieke & I hadn't met yet. She's already quite grown up. No little baby anymore....


Bas was showing us how one should milk a cow.

Luuk was emerging from some sort of ball-house thingy that is in the palace park for kids to play with. We had a great walk around the gardens.