Life goes on in Myaungmya

With Maria and Corinne in Chaung Tha beach

I've been back for a few weeks now, with batteries recharged after having spent nearly a month home. It was a really amazing time full of memorable moments with friends and family. I miss them so much!!!

The beer station with the best river views

 Thanks to the energy I "sucked" from my dear ones then and also to the support of my friends over here, I've been feeling quite high in spirits lately. One of the factors that's contributed  was that  my friend Maria came over to visit Myanmar and stayed with me for a week. I hadn't spent much time with her in the last couple of years or so because we live in different cities, now even in different continents !!! I enjoyed sharing those days with her and felt a bit sad saying goodbye.

Night out in Myaungmya

My new friends here, Corinne and Laura, look after me well so I consider myself a lucky person to have met them and have them round. It could be much worse, I can say that much, the loneliness  and isolation can really get at you and bring you down, down!!! Corinne came last weekend and we did our bit of fun beer time, another bit of useful methodology ("meth", from now onwards) planning and also had our hen time at Laura's chicken farm.
 

Collecting eggs at the chicken farm

on our way to the beach

Myanmar swimming suits

This weekend we've been on a trip to Ngwesaung beach with the college teachers as a present from Laura, my BC colleague and me. We had an awesome day, swimming, eating and shopping. No matter how long I've lived here, Myanmar people keep surprising me in their ways of doing things and their understanding of what enjoyment means. For them, it was not a day at the beach, it was AN HOUR at the beach, at least for the older ones, and that's more than half of them. They played with the rubber rings for a while and then went to have a shower and got changed into their best outfits to go for lunch, ate in twenty minutes (it's always "eat and go" here) and went to sleep in a rented wooden bungalow (two bungalows for 15 people).

Cocunut time

We went back to the beach after lunch and met the younger teachers there. The boys were drinking beer and  playing football and the girls chatting and relaxing with the seaview. We took a hundred photos with them, they love  that. Then we tried to convince one of the girls to let us arrange a date with a male friend of us who is looking for a girlfriend. No way!!!Tthey are so reserved and repressed!!!

sunset over the rice fields near Myaungmya

Next week we'll have our cluster manager Silvija visiting for lesson observations and I'm alread ybeginning to feel nervous. There are some issues we are facing: we are struggling to get the message across, to make a bigger impact so that they change their practice. Teachers should be reflecting on their teaching in a deeper way. Besides, how can we be really sure they are applying the new techniques they are learning? 
There are strong rumours about the project continuing for another year or even longer. Perhaps that will be the time to implement it in away that it benefits them more.
Time for all of us to start job hunting......7 months left. The count down has begun........

To end on the positive side of things, we have a loooong weekend ahead!!!! Yes!!! From Thursday 11th to Monday 15th Feb, that's five days which I'm planning to spend in Yangon, where I'll be catching up with some of the EfECT colleagues and get away from routine.