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..