Thursday 19 February 2009

Nai Soi beginnings

Thursday 5th February
We started teaching!!! We had two lessons each - conveniently in the afternoon! So we slept.... looooads. They have school 'activities' on thursday afternoons which consists of all the students being dragged out into the 3 o'clock heat and made to do aerobics. Which, of coooourse, we joined in on!! it was insane!! The music was so loud on these massive speakers... I don't think aerobics (you know, given my vast experience) will be the same ever again....
Having thought about it, we alsoA believe this was the day of our very first shower since leaving our North London homes. Which is a bit....smelly. And when we say shower we really mean a bucket of cold water over our heads. a pleasant experience we think you will all agree.
The weekend
We met up with Beryl and Steve again and went to a small town just outside of the main refugee camp called Section 19 (ominous no?) where we all had a little group of students to talk to. Oivia had a great time chatting to kids who could speak some English. I had a somewhat different and more depressing experience with about 10 boys none who spoke a word. It was horrible. We also decided that normal rice is pointless, sticky rice is the only way to go!!! We had to stand and pose with students for about a hundred billion photos-us both being pale with fair hair meant we were a popular attraction and they asked us lots of questions about Engerland and couldn't grasp the concept of snow.... which only rubbed it in that we'd missed the best snow EVER. Ugh.
In other news, a boy from school took me (rosalie) to aerobics in the local town (Nai Soi) which was also bizarre and as we walked there he talked about his life (he's from burma and lost both his parents when he was a baby) and the class was in an alley and the teacher got two mahoosive speakers (sarah powell height i.e. 5ft2 AND A HALF) and pumped thai dance music. I have now come to the painful conclusion that they play a grand total of TWO songs on repeat. Every sodding time. But it's fun to see the local women out in their t-shirts and cycling shorts. We also sat around and chatted with the students into the night - one of them sung us burmese songs on his guitar and they were really beautiful (though some do sound a tad like he's dying a slow and painful death).
Olive (who sits beside me as I type for she is an delinquent) adopted a hideous little dog, now called Whiskey (it's not hideous it's just flea-ridden - olive). Teacher Bar Bar named him (Boris) as there was whiskey being drunk.

OH and I (being rosa) did my bestest to watch the spurs vs arsenal game via internet streaming. I got the broad picture and thought the Lilywhites did themselves proud, if only Pav, if only. I also celebrated the return of the mighty Keano. It was SPECIAL. I'm not sure olivia was quite as moved.

1 comment:

  1. I was at White Hart Lane and you guys were baaaddd, you couldnt beat us even though we had 10 men for most of the match.sorry. really like the blog guys.nice to get a blow by blow account of happenings. also livi put up photos to go with the writing. x

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