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..