Around Yangon: Special Events and Routine

Although I have settled into routine and many Myanmar occurrences are now part of my new normal, I still find myself struck with awe for this place. I love riding in taxis (when we are moving, not stuck in traffic) and just taking in the city from the window.

Selfie with my new glasses inside a taxi.

One of my favorite routines is swimming in the school's pool. Summer is in full swing here and it's hot!

One of the things I like about my school is the great community of international teachers that are here. Our students are respectful and hard-working and my job is fun everyday. One of the annual events is Fun Fair. It had a great turnout of teachers, students and parents. 

View from above.

The event I helped chaperone was this giant ball. I did not get the chance to try it out. The lines rivaled Disneyland! 

I volunteered for the dunking tank, which didn't actually work, so I had to "dunk" myself when a student hit the target.

A couple of the teachers are working really hard to get one of our lovely and loving local street dogs adopted.

And here's a video of the organized chaos which is a school event.

This shot is of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, from a park at one of the city's lakes. During a holiday, a friend and I decided to explore; you can walk almost the entire way around. It's technically a park, but much of the path is right next to the road, not exactly a break from city noises. 

My Spanish 2 class has been begging for a field trip all year. Well, all Spanish classes beg for field trips all the time... Needless to say, there aren't many Spanish activities or places to visit in Yangon. However, we just finished an animals unit and we were beginning a food unit, so with the help of a couple of student organizers, we planned a trip to the Yangon Zoo and then Sai's Tacos, which, although not up to Dad's standards, is one of only Mexican-ish options here. 

We scheduled the field trip on a professional development day; I couldn't justify missing class for these activities. The field trip was optional, but I had 10 students sign up. It was cute to see them at the zoo - many had never been or hadn't been for years and it was interesting to take in a zoo through the lens of a different culture. The safety features we have in the states (high fences, solid dividers, plenty of zoo attendants) do not exist in such full form here!

Look how close we are to the hippo! All fingers returned home safely.

 The animals seemed well-cared for, but many of the zoo's visitors did not behave! We saw people giving the monkeys candies and cookies... and no zoo employees did anything about it!

Next to the monkeys.

El cocodrilo.

Los elefantes.

The elephants seemed particularly happy and I couldn't object to the visitors feeding them bananas. Humans and elephants have a long history together in Southeast Asia. 

The cats did make me sad. There were a lot of tigers at the zoo, including one beautiful white tiger, and two lions. Their concrete cages did not seem like quite enough space for them. 

El tigre triste.

All in all, it was a fun day - Spanish was spoken, we saw lots of animals and we ate Mexican food! For some of the kids it was their first time encountering a taco or burrito, so I had to teach them how to hold and approach these items. 

Speaking of food, I continue to enjoy my Vegan Gluten Free food club. We recently updated our name to Vegans Anonymous! We get together about once a month and share food items, sometimes for brunch, sometimes for dinner. Here are a few shots from our last get-together. 

These look like REAL crepes!

From top, moving clockwise, the toppings are: powdered sugar and lemon juice, maple syrup, cashew nut frosting and homemade peanut butter and banana!!! 

Jessica shows off her creation - thin mints!

Do you want the recipes? I bet you do! Here you go:

Vegan Buckwheat Crepes

Vegan Cheese

Vegan GF Thin Mints

And ending with another cool Yangon video. Check it out and then come see this place for yourself!

My friends and I debated the reasons in this article (some do not care for the cuisine here), but the fact remains that Myanmar is a fascinating place and I recommend coming to see it for yourself!

What I'm listening to: new Modest Mouse (Strangers to Ourselves), new AWOLNATION (Run), new Bob Dylan (Shadows in the Night)

What I'm reading:

You + Me: A Collection of Short Stories & Poems by Leslie Li Hikida, I'm lucky enough to call this author my friend! Check out her blog and buy this collection on Amazon.  

Just finished: 

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Blog posts I still owe you:

• Bagan
• Chiang Mai
• Mandalay and Pwin Oo Lwin
• ...and probably one from my upcoming trip to Taiwan!