Yes, that's right. After 2 years, I AM BACK! I ventured across the oceans once again to set up shop for 2 months in the land of Gold...Myanmar. But this time...I am NOT Yangon, I am in a more northern area, Mandalay.
Mandalay MAY sound a little familiar to ya, and if you can't figure out why...I know why! There's a man with baby blue eyes you might of heard of, named Frank Sinatra. He sang "On the Road to Mandalay"....
So there ya go. I've solved your mystery for ya. But, you probably weren't reading my post for song lyrics from an old man. So FINE, here's what life is like...
I'm living in a swanky hotel, Swan Hotel, across from the Mandalay Palace. Yes, if I cross the street, I am walking on the moat (I've walked the whole moat and it took my 3 hours). I have a 2 bedroom room on the 1st floor. I have an ensuite bathroom, including a shower WITH A SHOWER CURTAIN!! I have a mini fridge (I made the staff take out all the mini bar stuff), a TV (with Aljazeera on loop, and movie channel), and a couch in front of a window looking out onto the Hotel POOL. YES, a SWIMMING POOL!!! Don't get too excited though, it doesn't have any chlorine in it, so I'm a little skeptical of hopping in. Every morning we get a buffet breakfast. It includes the staples: fresh fruit, juice, coffee, tea, a pastry/danish table, made to order eggs (fried, hard boiled, omelets). Then daily it changes to a different soup, a different meat (sometimes chicken wings!), a different vegetable, and something Burmese. Yeah....so much for the whole "melting my American fat away". Anyways, we get maid service (including 2 bottles of water a day) AND we have a gym. So...it's pretty decent. I live close enough to the lobby that the internet reaches to my room most days.
Once the school van picks us up at 8:15am, we ride the 10 min to school and are greeted by the air conditioned teachers lounge with coffee, tea, and snacks. When it's lunch time, we all get in line for either the "Burmese" option or the "European" option. I usually get a mix: the European main dish, raw veggie salad, then the Burmese soup/vegetable.
After school, we hop back on our van at 3:15pm and are back in our rooms by 3:30pm. Then we have ALL afternoon/evening to do whatever we want. Sometimes a workout in the gym is involved, other days a nap, and a few times there have been a few long walks. But, we always end up at 1 of 3 spots:
1. The shop around the corner that serves ANYTHING asian: Chinese, Burmese, Thai food. That means: rice dishes, noodle dishes, and meat dishes. And shakes/juices.
2. The tea shop: A VERY Burmese place...it's a "shop" (aka, a roof and tables and chairs) that the men (and a FEW Burmese women) go to get tea and snacks. We go here quite often as we have made friends with the server (Tenzen) and they have our FAVORITE dish, La Peto (Tea Leaf Salad). Plus, the salad is only 600mk ($.60).
3. Street Noodle Shop: A cart in between spot 1 and 2 that has little plastic tables and chairs. The woman cook Shan Noodles in a variety of ways, and it's about 500mk ($.50) a day.
We are usually at our spots for over an hour, then it's INTERNET time! We all huddle to the lobby and pop in our headphones and do our nightly internet business.
And there ya go....a day in the life of Apes in Myanmar. Although, if you have snapchat (apesadventures) then you probably see this on a daily basis.
Mingalabar,
Apes :)
Mandalay MAY sound a little familiar to ya, and if you can't figure out why...I know why! There's a man with baby blue eyes you might of heard of, named Frank Sinatra. He sang "On the Road to Mandalay"....
By the old Moulmein Pagoda
Looking eastward to the sea
There's a Burma broad a settin'
And I know she thinks for me
For the wind is in the palm trees
And the temple bells they say
Come you back, you British soldier
Come you back to Mandalay
Come you back to Mandalay
Come you back to Mandalay
Where the old flotilla lay
Can't you hear their paddles chonkin'
From Rangoon to Mandalay
On the road to Mandalay
Where the flyin' fishes play
And the dawn comes up like thunder
Out of China 'cross the bay
Ship me somewhere east of Suez
Where the best is like the worst
Where there ain't no Ten Commandments
And a cat can raise a thirst
'Cause those crazy bells are callin'
And it's there that I would be
By the old Moulmein Pagoda
Looking lazy at the sea
Looking lazy at the sea
Come you back to Mandalay
Where the old flotilla lay
Can't you hear their paddles chonkin'
From Rangoon to Mandalay
On the road to Mandalay
Where the flyin' fishes play
And the dawn comes up like thunder
So there ya go. I've solved your mystery for ya. But, you probably weren't reading my post for song lyrics from an old man. So FINE, here's what life is like...
I'm living in a swanky hotel, Swan Hotel, across from the Mandalay Palace. Yes, if I cross the street, I am walking on the moat (I've walked the whole moat and it took my 3 hours). I have a 2 bedroom room on the 1st floor. I have an ensuite bathroom, including a shower WITH A SHOWER CURTAIN!! I have a mini fridge (I made the staff take out all the mini bar stuff), a TV (with Aljazeera on loop, and movie channel), and a couch in front of a window looking out onto the Hotel POOL. YES, a SWIMMING POOL!!! Don't get too excited though, it doesn't have any chlorine in it, so I'm a little skeptical of hopping in. Every morning we get a buffet breakfast. It includes the staples: fresh fruit, juice, coffee, tea, a pastry/danish table, made to order eggs (fried, hard boiled, omelets). Then daily it changes to a different soup, a different meat (sometimes chicken wings!), a different vegetable, and something Burmese. Yeah....so much for the whole "melting my American fat away". Anyways, we get maid service (including 2 bottles of water a day) AND we have a gym. So...it's pretty decent. I live close enough to the lobby that the internet reaches to my room most days.
Once the school van picks us up at 8:15am, we ride the 10 min to school and are greeted by the air conditioned teachers lounge with coffee, tea, and snacks. When it's lunch time, we all get in line for either the "Burmese" option or the "European" option. I usually get a mix: the European main dish, raw veggie salad, then the Burmese soup/vegetable.
After school, we hop back on our van at 3:15pm and are back in our rooms by 3:30pm. Then we have ALL afternoon/evening to do whatever we want. Sometimes a workout in the gym is involved, other days a nap, and a few times there have been a few long walks. But, we always end up at 1 of 3 spots:
1. The shop around the corner that serves ANYTHING asian: Chinese, Burmese, Thai food. That means: rice dishes, noodle dishes, and meat dishes. And shakes/juices.
2. The tea shop: A VERY Burmese place...it's a "shop" (aka, a roof and tables and chairs) that the men (and a FEW Burmese women) go to get tea and snacks. We go here quite often as we have made friends with the server (Tenzen) and they have our FAVORITE dish, La Peto (Tea Leaf Salad). Plus, the salad is only 600mk ($.60).
3. Street Noodle Shop: A cart in between spot 1 and 2 that has little plastic tables and chairs. The woman cook Shan Noodles in a variety of ways, and it's about 500mk ($.50) a day.
We are usually at our spots for over an hour, then it's INTERNET time! We all huddle to the lobby and pop in our headphones and do our nightly internet business.
And there ya go....a day in the life of Apes in Myanmar. Although, if you have snapchat (apesadventures) then you probably see this on a daily basis.
Mingalabar,
Apes :)
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