Castle in the Clouds- A Teacher's Adventure in Myanmar and Guatemala: Year Two- School starts and the adventure continues

August 17^th- Back in the swing of things

The electricity of off and to go tell the guards would mean me trying to keep a dog that is in heat in the yard and her howling boyfriend out of the yard. Yes, we still have the two street dogs that adopted us hanging around our house. The only thing that has changed is one is now a housedog. Last year, Lola and Frank (their new names) became common guests at our house. We feed them, made sure they had clean water, but left the gate open so they could come and go as they pleased. This year, Frank invites a few of his close friends and family (we think he is the father to many of the dogs in our neighborhood- thus we should have called him, Leroy Brown) to join the brigade. It is as if he has said, “Hey- come over here. They are nice ladies and we have a clean, dry porch to hang out in.” So, this year, we need to leave the gate closed or we will have a pack in the yard. Limpy-- sometimes he just walks on three legs, Jezzabell--she is always pregnant or has a litter of pups hanging off of her- are quite disappointed that they have been banned from the yard. Well, as females do, Lola is in heat and we are desperately trying to keep her from having puppies. We will fix her when she finishes her heat (and hopefully Frank too although we are a bit skeptical about our ability to get him into a taxi) and the crisis will be averted. I do not think I could handle making more puppies live the life of street dog.

Speaking of dogs, our school secretary called the other day and brought us yet another dog to take care of. Molly, is a sweet pup but wants nothing to do with being confined to a yard. Her one night in the gate, brought every brother and sister around howling to get out. I slept through it all, but Jody was worse for the wear in the morning. We now see her but the school, living the lazy but hard life as a bullied street dog (she is the runt of her litter). Sad, but a reality here and in many developing countries is there are too many issues that need to be handled so the pet population gets thrown to the corner so to say.

We caught the rat! Which ended up being a mouse and although the saying goes, “Where there is one, there are many,” we have not seen signs of any more. The “death chamber” traps did not work (thanks God) but the live trap proved to be effective. I get up, see the trap has been sprung and quickly report it to the school when I arrive. Thank goodness everyone understands I am a wimp and do not want to rid the house of this creature, so the trap is empty when I get back home.

The guards that are employed at the school are amazing. The other day the one who pumps our water two times a day happened to be here when I spotted a snake slithering up our drive. My “Oh my gosh, it is another snake!”- was more matter of fact this time rather then a blood curdling scream and the guard quickly helped him into the water drainage trench I call a moat. Now, I have the image of it every time the water rises and I have to walk in the flooding street. I am not making a very good case for people to come see me, but if I can handle it, anyone can.

School is off to a great start. We have new leadership and so far, he is making appropriate changes and motivating people to be the best they can be. The day before school starts, he comes to me and asks if I would give up ESL for a yearbook class. Of course, I take on the challenge and am now kicking myself because, although I know how to put together a yearbook and am good at building teams, I suck at learning computer programs and will soon have to learn Indesign and Adobe photoshop suite. Year thirty and I am still teaching new classes and challenges. Yes- I am moronic! However, I will have to say, I do have the perfect schedule. I am teaching two classes of junior English, two classes of communication classes and yearbook. So far, I have a week of finely written lesson plans under my belt and my schedule is such that I hope this trend continues.

We have eighteen new teachers, mostly young, mostly married who seem to have a passion for teaching and like me, have fallen in love with the students. However, it is strange being a second year teacher having to help get people situated when I feel I have so much to learn myself. I think it will be a great year, both professionally and socially.

Socially, things are hopping. We had the traditional progressive happy hour so the new teachers could see how those who had been here furnished and decorated their places. It ended at our house and went on here for about five happy hours. Last weekend, two of the new teachers who live two houses up from us had a party. So picture two twenty something young men living in a three-story mansion-much more space than they need- and you can imagine the party. We played corn hole on the second floor, flip cup and “water” pong on the first floor and some Iphone game (kind of an electronic version of charades) in yet another corner.

This weekend, I ventured out and had a good time dancing with the young’uns. I will say, two songs and I am off the dance floor to rehydrate- with water- because it is soooooo flipping hot. Oh to be young and love hot, sweaty bodies all around. I take a taxi home with one of the other teachers- drop him off- and for the first time in a year, experience a creepy taxi driver. He held my hand as he took the money, called out to me as I got out, pulled into the driveway and waited about five minutes before leaving. Thank goodness, I had to contend with keeping Frank the horn-ball dog out and Lola, the ok I am ready for you female in, because I think he wanted something extra- of which I was unwilling to give. Lesson learned- Be the first one dropped off rather than the last. And, although Myanmar is home to some of the nicest people I have ever met, creeps are everywhere.

Ask and ye shall receive! Last year, we did not ask for much when it came to repairs in our house. This year, I ask if something can be done and shortly after, it happens. We now have an outside handle on our patio door, new shower-heads, they are seeing what can be done about the water pressure, and they are even going to try to get us hot water down stairs. I am so thankful for the maintenance men; I see cookies in their future (as in tomorrow because Courtney and I baked today). That’s all for now.

Reflections:

1. Responsibilities- I have been fairly adamant about getting Lola spayed. The other day when talking to my roommate about it, I made a startling discovery as to why I talk about it weekly. Not only is it the responsible thing to do, but also having puppies around is more responsibility than I want right now. For the first time in many, many years, I am only responsible for myself. I do not have to worry about housework, home repairs, making dinner (unless I want to) and the immediate needs (or wants) of my children. I will have to admit, it is an unusual but also a nice feeling. It was so nice to be home for the summer and just enjoy my kids. On the other hand, I had to contend with much in eight weeks in terms of home maintenance. It was grueling and frustrating. I did get much of it done, but left a Texas toll tag account in limbo. I do not miss being on hold for 45 minutes when making business inquiries and still not getting through to anyone.

2. Comfort- Once we get too comfortable, something always comes around to knock a person back to reality. The taxi driver reminds me to always have my guard up and the snake reminds me to keep looking down when I walk.

3. Looking forward- I have always been one to look ahead especially when there is a trip or something to look forward to. I can’t wait for my brother, sister-in-law and friend to come visit. At the same time, I worry because many of the things we will do, will also be new to me. Fingers crossed! I also am starting to look forward to next year. So many possibilities are looming. More later on that, but I hope I can trust that God will put me where I need to be or bring me home if that is the answer. I will just have to remember to ask for help with this decision.

4. Do unto others… Last night we went out and as the evening continued I saw a young man eating by himself. It was not automatic but eventually, I went over and asked why he was eating alone. He had just arrived to town an hour earlier and was getting dinner. Of course, I began answering his questions and sharing my "expertise" on Yangon. he joined us for the rest of the evening and I am proud to say, I brought a little bit of friendly from my home state of Texas to Yangon.

Picture time: I went shopping this weekend with Courtney who is trying to decorate her apartment. We stopped at this reclaimed teak workshop and I was so amazed at the beauty of the pieces. It is going to be hard not to bring home a container of furniture with me when i leave. The workmanship is amazing. Great book shelf.