survived my first week
i have made it through my first week in my new house with my new housemates/brothers. they wait on me hand and foot. because i'm their teacher i'm 5th in line of importance.........right after their parents. so they tell me it is their duty to wait on me and protect me. it's a bit awkward having them do everything for me, but this is the burmese way and i'm living in a burmese house...........so we'll do things the burmese way. it's a learning process, that's for sure! it's a requirement of the program i work for that these guys provide me with my meals. they make various meat sauce curries and things with rice, but they feed me about 3 cups of rice at every meal. i already hate rice. but i can handle it for the next 2 1/2 months. i just have to train them on how much to give me. and heaven forbid if i even look like i'm about to clear something from the table! up go the hands and there's a big race to get from me what i'm about to bring to the kitchen.......together with an "aaawww, teacher!"----so funny. also another thing they have to get comfortable with is me seeing them without a shirt on. asians tend to be so sensitive to this kind of thing and these 2 guys especially. if they have just come out of the shower or if i arrive home and catch either one of them without a shirt on.......again with the "aaawww, teacher" (but this time it's more under their breath) and they run to the nearest shirt and throw it on. it's definitely and experience. i'm sure there'll be many more stories to come about life with these 2 guys!
the classes are going well. i have 5 students now and i think 2 more are joining this coming week so i will have 7 in all........the 2 guys i live with and 5 women. they are super keen. usually the group would get broken into 2 classes and i'd see each class for 1 1/2 hours a day. but these people wanted all 3 hours of my time everyday so i see all students from 8am-930am we break 'till 10am and then finish at 1130am---mon to fri.
they are planning a birthday party for me on wednesday. they are so sweet. so far the plan is to visit the monastery and feed the monks lunch in honor of my birthday. then have a party from 6-730. hahahaha---the whole 6-730 thing made me laugh. they tend to get a bit carried away with scheduling. but they are trying so hard to make this a good time for me. i truly appreciate everything they do for me.
i must go for now. i hope all is well with everyone. i'll be sure to let you know how the birthday festivities go.
posted by Loree-Beth @ 12:20 am
5 Comments:
Hello, Lorree,
I think I missed this detail: how old are these "brothers" and girls that you are teaching? Do their parents live in the same house as you all? Sure love to see a photo of the house you are living in ... both inside and out :)
the 2 guys are uncle and nephew---aged 43 and 27.....the girls are in their early 20s. they are all here because they have fled burma and not with their families. but we live as a family. they refer to me as their sister, therefore they "have to look after me and protect me". it's a learning process to have people waiting on you hand and foot but i'm in their house and we should do things the burmese way. they feel honored to have a foreigner in their house so they feel the need to provide everything for me. it's so kind of them. i'll try to get on the photo thing but it's not very easy because the internet cafe people don't speak english. i'll see what i can do.
Thanks, Loree! That's amazing. It's so cool that you can be there helping them! I tried to find some links of interest for people to get a feel for Thailand, and I put them here on your blog listed as links. If they are not appropriate, just let me know and I can remove any of them for you. Also, I removed my name as a "contributor" :)
Oh, I mean I removed my name from the blog itself, I didn't remove my status :) I'm still here for help any time :) This really is a cool way for us to know how you are doing :)
By the way, you don't need to do anything special with the photos to get them onto the blog. Either plug your camera into the computer via USB or, if you have them on CD, put the CD into the computer and then upload them right in where you create the post.
bill: the links are great. thanks. i'm going to post pics asap.
annalise: the uncle i live with has pretty good english.....the nephew....not as good. communication is ok. they have to study english grammer in burma but now they need the speaking practise.
michelle: thanks for the b-day greetings. i posted my address in a previous entry. check for it. can't wait to see you this summer if it works out.
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