I never really know where to start these blog entries. In order to properly give you idea of how things are, I have to go all over the place. Basically, there are two "side stories" about my life here - Mae Pa (the school, etc), and Mae Sot.
Let me start with Mae Pa. I think I explained last week that Mae Pa is a small village, about 6 km North of Mae Sot (I bike there everyday). It is where the school/orphanage is located. Before I go to much farther, I will introduce you to some of the characters in my Mae Pa life (by telling you their name and a little about them, it will be less confusing when I refer to them in this and later entries).
As I said last time, there are two other Western volunteers: Stefan and Astrid. Astrid is 22, just finishing her university studies. She decided to do a semester abroad in Bangkok, but abandoned her studies to travel around the area. She decided to change her degree from business, and is now writing her thesis about the NGO situation in Mae Sot (with Burmese refugees, etc). She is French, but speaks English (although with a mildly heavy accent). She is teaching English and giving optional French lessons. For English, she teaches the grades that I don't. Stefan is a bit older, also French. He seems rather disillusioned with Western life, and has been loafing around SEA (particularly Thailand and Laos) for a while, and plans to stay for as long as his budget can support him.... he eventually hopes to open a business in the area so he never has to return to France. He speaks a bit of Thai, but very little English. So, he only gives optional French lessons at the school, which amounts to 1 hour of actual work each day. Most of the day he spends just kinda chilling out. Fortunately for me, his French is very clear and I have not had any problems communicating with him (although he has an occasional laugh when I use the Quebecois word for something). I find him quite reserved, relaxed, yet very conversable.
All of the other teachers are Burmese. Most of them speak nearly no English (even the English teachers!). There are two notbable exceptions. The principal (something) is a nice, longyi-wearing man, who seems to have taken a particular liking to me, not least because I've already donated 10 000 B of the money I'm supposed to deliever from the Burma Solidarity Collective.
One of the teachers for the older students is a 60 yr old man named U Cheng. Despite never having left the Burma-Thailand area, he speaks quite good English. He also seems to take a great liking to the students.... unlike all of the other teachers, he hangs out with the older guys in their quarters during his breaks.... and joins them in their guitar playing and merryment. He has also taken a liking to me, and he is one of the few people I can have a proper conversation with.
There is one orphan who is not actually a student. His name has eluded me (and I probabluy wouldnt be able to spell it properly anyway). He stays there to help out around the orphanage, and during the day he kinda just lounges about with Stefan. He is an extraordinarily nice fellow with almost no knowledge of the English language. He talks to me in pidgin English and he has been teaching me Burmese (with mixed levels of success). We play checkers often, and he usually (but not alaways!!!) wins.
The Thai teacher, a Burmese fellow named Zandy (sp?) is also a very nice fellow, despite his very limited knowledge of English. He, too, has made an effort to teach me Burmese.
He, Stefan, and I occasioanlly go out for a beer at the "depanneur" accross the street. What results is a linguistic extravaganza of Burmese, Thai, French, and pidgin English.
This is what a typical day looks like: My alarm is set for 9 am, although in reality I'm up well before my alarm rings. In fact, I usually am on my way by 9 am. I'll stop somewhere on the way (7-11 or something of the like) for a small breakfast. I arrive at the school around 9:30, despite the fact that my first class isn't until 10:30. FOr an hour, I usually just hang out, talking to Stefan or the helper (as he will be henseforth referred) if they're there (which they usually are). At 10:30 I have my Grades 5+6 students. This has actually proven to be perhaps my favourite class to teach. The kids are for the most part surprisingly bright. I've been pushing them, and they don't seem to have much problems understanding me. Yesterday I gave them a test (telling time, and the vocab words for the week: "friend", "travel", and "grass"). The vast majority of the students did extremely well on the exam, which makes me quite happy. On Friday, however, a fight broke out between two students- a boy and a girl. It was hardly an ideal situation, but we managed to get them apart, and to calm everyone down. I hope not to see a repeat of such an incident.
At 11:15, I have my grade 9 class. I also really enjoy this class.... a small class of only 13 students. This class I'm really trying to challenge (the school finishes at grade 10, at which point a few students vy for a schoalrship to study in university in Bangkok). This week I tried having them read a short, relatively easy (and not politically sensitive) English-language newspaper article. At first, it went over horribly, as not a single student seemed to have any idea what was going on. However, after two long days of working the article very slowly, I found that 6 / 13 students finally started to get it! Astrid thinks I'm being too hard on the students. It seems to me that her idea of getting her students to learn English by singing songs and playing games. I take this job much more seriously than that, and I understand the gravity of the situation with these kids. As bad as this sounds, being proficient in English is really the only chance they have at getting their lives together- since they can't go back to Burma, and Thailand doesn't really want them there (they are living there illegally). It is because I really care about these kids, that I want to work them hard. If they don't work hard, they'll never make any progress. Plus, none of the English teachers seems to speak English adequately. Not to think of my self as a saviour to these kids, but as the only native speaker of English, I feel obliged to really push the kids. Of course, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. I told my grade 9 students that if they worked hard Monday - Thursday, we'll leave Fridays for games.
At 12:00 is lunch. Either I eat at the orphange (and have a traditional Burmese meal) or I go to one of the stores/restaraunts around and pay 20B for something. At 13:00 is my next class (except on Wednesdays, at which point I'm finished). At 13:00 I have either grade 3 or grade 4. Teaching these kids is a little tougher, as their ability to understand English is rather limited. Plus, the class is a whole hour long (not 45 minutes), so I never really know what to do for the whole hour. This week I taught them the English names for different fruits.... knowning the burmese equivilents made this process a lot easier. When this class is finished, I usually hang out for a bit, before going back to Mae Sot. Typically, I'll get a beer with Stefan or something, and leave the school around 3:30ish.
This leads into a good transition into the 2nd side of the story: my Mae Sot life. Last Sunday, I went to a church that I thought was in English. It ended up being in Thai, but it wasn't all a waste- I met a small, but quite nice group of Westerners there. Neill and Diana are an American couple living as missionaries. They recently bought a rather nice house in Mae Sot, quite close to my guest house, and are very happy to have me over. Gail is a Kiwi of about 25 who, dissatisfied with her New Zealand life, has decided to live with Neill and Dian and be their secretary. She is a very nice person, whose somewhat frequent SMSs have mange to kill some of my bordom. Mindy is a Chinese-American who has been teaching Karen children on and off for two years. By some way or another, she knows Neill and Diana, and she was over their house on Tuesday, when they invited me over. Gail has decided to make this Tuesday night time a regularly occuring Bible Study. Also at the church, I met a black guy (they are very rare here!) from Los Angeles named Brian.
While it was nice to meet fellow westerners, I don't actually seem to see them very often, or at least I didn't this week. So, whlie the boredom situation has improved a bit, there is still an almost intolerable amount of "down time". Neill has lent me a bit of reading material to supplement the minimal supply which I have brought with me, and I am able to share the occasional dinner with someone else. So, while the lonliness has improved, it is still very much there.
Except, that is to say, for the bugs with which I seem to share my guest house (particularly the washroom). Last night I saw what I can only hope was a huge centipede, walking around the floor of the washroom. Oy!
And I bet you're all wondering what happened with the girl situation. Yes, these is still quite a bit of female attention, although it has died down a bit. For instance, the girl about which I wrote in my last entry..... last Saturday night she sent me an excessive amount of SMSs to the tune of "I miss you!!!!!!!!" etc etc. When I saw her in person, I kinda subtly gave her the hint that I wasn't interesting in .... pushing boundaries. She seems to have taken this hint rather well. That situation over, the female attention (for now) is limited to girls waving at me on the street, shouting "hello", and smiling and giggling when I walk into stores.... but soon enough I'll get used to that sort of thing.
Anyway, I don't want to take up too much of my readers' times. I appreciate everyone who continues to read my updates, and I especially appreciate those of you who have sent me emails. MAny thanks to all of you, and I wish my blessings upon you.
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