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....