I absolutely love being an international teacher. I spent Sunday through Thursday last week chaperoning a trip to the beach with Grade 6, which happens to be my favorite group of students at my new school. Did I mention that I submitted my final coursework for my masters program on Saturday night? Well, technically I submitted it in the wee hours of Sunday morning, which made for an exhausting bus ride, but then I had this waiting for me on the other side:
Oh hello, paradise!
I have learned that Week Without Walls is a fairly typical program amongst international schools, but it is something very new to me. I think the programs differ from school to school. At our school, middle schoolers travel within the country and high schoolers go abroad. I was fortunate enough to be recruited for the Grade 6 trip to Ngwe Saung (approximately pronounced "n-way song"), which is a beach on the west coast of Myanmar.
A map from Yangon to Ngwe Saung (about six hours driving)
On Sunday morning, I boarded a charter bus and set out on the 6+ hour drive to Ngwe Saung. I slept off and on for most of the trip, as I was very exhausted from submitting my grad work so late the night before. For a bus, it was pretty cozy, and they even gave us blankets! We stopped for lunch a little over two hours into the trip at a big food center. It seems to be fairly well-known by people who have traveled to Ngwe Saung, but I had a hard time catching on to the name of the town. I am a visual learner and struggled to understand the exact pronunciation because people don't generally enunciate when saying things in passing. I know the village name starts with a P and they make umbrellas there, but that is about as helpful as I get.
When I ventured back to find the bathrooms at the food center, I found that a bunch of my students were ahead of me in line. A few of them came to me and said in a concerned voice, "Ms. Stefanie, they aren't like the toilets at school." I replied, "I figured this much." I thought that they were warning me about squatty potties that are typical in Asia. Yangon is fairly westernized when it comes to restrooms (at least at the establishments frequented by foreigners), but anytime you eat at a local restaurant or local cultural center, you usually encounter the squatty potty. I have also had to use them when traveling outside of Yangon as well, so it doesn't really phase me anymore. I looked at my concerned students and suddenly realized that they were actually anxious for themselves. Many of our students are from very wealthy families and travel in luxury - way beyond the means of my teacher salary. Most of them had not used those kinds of bathrooms in a long time (if ever). I calmly talked a couple of girls through the process, but one flat out refused. I don't envy the rest of her bus ride to Ngwe Saung!
After our restroom adventure, I made my way back to the table. I ordered some fried rice with chicken and crossed my fingers that it would be fine (or at least delicious enough that it wouldn't matter! haha!). Luckily, my food was delicious and apparently thoroughly cooked. Some of the boys at my table ordered fried eel and offered me some. I'm pretty sure they were trying to shock me, so it surprised them when I said, "Sure!" It was just okay for me. Kind of like anything else fried, but with a rather fishy aftertaste. It definitely wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten. I won't be ordering it again, but I'm glad I tried it. Once lunch was over, we boarded the buses and made the rest of the journey to Ngwe Saung.
Here we go! (Front seat for the lady who gets car sick!)
The food stop - all signs in Myanmar
Lots of space... but a sweater was a poor choice for the outdoor pit stop
Myanmar fried rice with chicken - yum!
Fried eel! #wheninrome
About an hour out from Ngwe Saung, one of my students tapped me on the shoulder and asked how the bus was going to drive over the mountain. I had no idea what she was talking about since I had never been to Ngwe Saung, but I figured "mountain" was an exaggeration since Yangon is so flat. I remember when I studied abroad in Salzburg, we got into an argument with the Irish bartender because we kept calling a hill a mountain - because to us Florida kids, it WAS a mountain! ("IT'S A HILL!") I figured this was the same case. I looked at one of the other leaders because he has been to Ngwe Saung a couple of dozen times at this point, and he just responded, "Don't worry. He's professional. We will be fine." Well, it turns out that Ngwe Saung is on the other side of these super winding hills. Forty minutes of winding hills and narrow roads, mind you. Luckily, the bus provided bags in every seat in case anyone got sick. Listening to the chorus of retching was pretty terrible. I get really carsick myself, and although I had taken preventative medicine, it had been six hours since it had gotten into my system. I was battling nausea myself and had to stick headphones into my ears to block out the sound (sorry, kids!). I was so happy when we finally saw the sign for the Bay of Bengal, our resort for the week.
We got off the bus and sorted the kids into their room assignments. We told them to meet us at the pool. Our plan after the long bus ride was to give them time in the fresh air and sunshine, tire them out, feed them, and put them to bed. I was exhausted myself, coming down from the stress of grad school, and recovering from that bus ride... but all of that melted away as soon as I walked to the pool. It was nestled on the beach. I absolutely love the beach, so as soon as I saw this beautiful sight, I immediately started to feel my soul starting to heal. I did not go in the water that day; I just walked along the shore. Then I played some volleyball with a few of the kids and just drank in the sunshine. For me, there is just something so special about the sunset on the water.
Heading out to the pool
View from the poolside
Walking out along the beach
Sun setting on the water
Love.
The kids kept saying, "The water is so clear!" It really was. And so warm too. This was the only day that I did not go in the water.
Me and my sunsets...
The next morning, the sunrise walk was canceled so I headed out on a run. I think the only thing in life I love more than a sunset is a sunrise! I set out on my run, and just as I started to zone out and enjoy the beach, I heard, "MS. STEFANIE!" I pulled the headphones out of my ear and turned around. Three boys had followed me to the beach because they knew I would be going running. "Boys, you can't be out here without a chaperone!" to which one replied, "You are a chaperone." Touché, thirteen-year-old. I had no choice. "Ok. Just try to keep up." We jogged a little bit until one of the boys started wheezing, and I gave them a walk break. We went about half a mile down and watched the sunrise over the trees. I pointed it out to the boys and told them that this is why I run before work - for moments like this. It was so beautiful. We watched for a few minutes and then jogged back to our resort. I was going to head in, but the boys started playing in the sand and skipping rocks in the water. They were so happy, so I told them we could stay out there until 7:00. They played on the shoreline and I watched the sunrise happily. Then we headed in to shower for breakfast and start our day.
Morning runs are so peaceful. Especially when you are staying at an expensive resort.
Sunrise run along the water
The first colors of the sunrise
Unfortunately, they were burning something and it was super hazy and a bit hard on our breathing. The price you pay for a beautiful sunrise.
Two of my three run crashers
First glimpses of the sun through the trees
And there it is :-)
Sometimes the shortest runs are the sweetest runs
Walking back through the rooms. Still peaceful.
The sun started to rise over our resort as we made our way back to our rooms
So beautiful!
The area outside our rooms
The resort offered some very interesting do's and don'ts for toursits. I find it interesting that "do not kiss in public" and "do practice safe sex" were on the same board.
Breakfast with a view
One of the other leaders sat down with this and said, "When in Rome!" (line-stealer!) I passed on this one.
The kids had several learning activities in a packet that they had to complete during the trip. Fortunately, sixth graders are fairly independent workers, so while they did a scavenger hunt, I held down the fort.
I love my job.
I actually learned quite a bit from their scavenger hunt. The resort where we stayed - The Bay of Bengal Resort - is owned by one of the families from our school. It also turns out to be somewhat of a green resort, as they work to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, they reuse shower water to water their landscape. They also shut off the air con in the rooms from 8-11 a.m. everyday, and they sell the food waste from the kitchen to local pig farmers. They do other measures as well. While I waited for the students to come back, one of the other leaders played guitar and sang. As the students trickled in, they joined him in singing. It was so lovely to sit by the pool and listen to this. Music just brings me so much joy always.
After a recap of their learning from the scavenger hunt, I had my team take a group photo. They are absolutely hysterical, with almost none of them actually looking at the camera in any of our shots. I don't post pictures of students' faces online, so you'll just have to trust me when I say how adorable our pictures were. Afterwards, we boarded the buses and headed to Lover's Island. You can only get to Lover's Island at low tide, and we were going to pick up trash and do some service learning. Unfortunately, we had the times wrong and it was in fact high tide. We had lunch reservations close by, so we decided to let the kids get some snacks and drinks and explore the local beach shops before heading to lunch.
On our way to Lover's Island for some service learning
A store near the beach
Another snack I did not try... these were raw fish that were sort of shredded and being dried for snacks
My newest obsessions since moving to Southeast Asia - coconut water helps me to survive the heat!
More beautiful beach
The kids were fascinated by this caterpillar on our way to lunch
Another resort near our restaurant. The palm trees make me think of a friend back in the States.
A little peek-a-boo to the beach
Our lunch spread - delicious!
Breakfast with a view, followed by lunch with a view. No complaints here.
Back at the hotel, students completed another activity in their rooms and then we rewarded them with some pool time. It was a really hot day, so I absolutely had to go in this time. The resort provided all types of floats and tubes, so I floated around while supervising the kids. Then we went in the ocean for a bit before heading inside to change. We decided to go back and pick up trash before dinner. It was so nice to see the kids working to make the world a slightly better place.
And a sunset as our reward
Views on Lover's Island
There was also a religious statue on the island as well
On our way back to the mainland, we passed this blowfish. That episode of The Simpsons, anyone?
I was so proud of how my group worked. We had split the group into teams by color. My purple team was awesome, of course. We picked up a lot of trash, and they were happy that I carry wet wipes and hand sanitizer with me at all times. I'm kind of like a soccer mom with no kids, except on this trip I had eleven adopted kids! We cleaned up and headed to Ume Cafe for dinner. There was a mistake on our pre-order and a lot of us had to wait a long time for food anyway, but eventually we all got fed. Our dessert was fresh fruit salad and a fire show! It was FASCINATING to watch, and I think that the reactions of the kids was even better. Echoes of "Woahhhhhhhh!" all night long.
Ume Cafe
Steps up to the restaurant
Outdoor seating, and a sandy floor (for the fire show)
So cool!
The DJ played music for the performer. They had amazing interactions.
I loved watching his face. He was so relaxed and seemed to enjoy every moment of performing, even when he dropped things. I loved it.
How he even got into this position...
...and then held it for so long!?
We headed back to the hotel and put the kids to bed. They were pretty beat, so a lot of them were tired. Unfortunately one boy decided it would be funny to show a ghost story to the other kids. It scared the hell out of a bunch of them - especially the boys. In this culture, it is not common to do sleepovers or sleep away camps. For most of these students, it was the first time in their lives that they were sleeping in a place without their parents or families. A lot of them had a hard time with that, but many of the parents followed us to the resort and stayed there. Even still, it was a scary thing for a lot of them to be on their own for the first time. This kid with the ghost story really rattled the bunch, and it took time to calm them down. The girls asked to go get something from their parents for meditation, and after they did that they were fine. The boys took more finness to calm down. I had one who was in hysterics, asking to be sent home. I sat with them and did some yoga breathing while one of the other leaders played his guitar. Another boy in the room read from something while chanting. This seemed to bring some of them comfort. Eventually we settled the boys down. We decided to let them sleep all in the same room - all seven of them were really cozy! Later, back at school, I asked them to write about their favorite memory from the trip. Three of them wrote something about sleeping in the same room with seven of their closest friends. It's funny how sometimes the worst of times can turn into the best of memories.
In the lobby of our hotel
I found out that in addition to the three boys who crashed my run that morning, there were several more students who were knocking on my door looking for me to go running. I decided to tell them when I was leaving the next morning since there was so much interest. I was blown away to have thirteen kids roll up for a sunrise run the next morning! I was especially touched to see the boys that were above my room - the ones I am so hard on - were attending. They really do love me, even if they pretend not to! I also had two of the hysterical boys show up to the run, and the daylight made all the difference. We had varying speeds, so I kind of jogged in the middle of the pack so that all levels could see me. We ran a half mile down and then back again. I was worried we would miss the sunrise because the weather app said it was rising almost half an hour later than the previous day (science people - is this normal? I found it odd). When we made it back to shore, I gave them a little time to play in the sand and skip rocks again, and three more kids joined us. Just as we were turning to go inside, we saw the sun creeping up over the trees. The sun looked so big and beautiful despite the haze. Unfortunately, pollution makes for some beautiful sunrises... I got some pretty sweet selfies on the beach with my kiddos, but I don't post pictures of their faces on personal web pages. Gotta protect that privacy, but I cherish those memories for sure.
The moon was still out over the water
Thirteen kiddos on my optional sunrise run 💓 - notice the posse of parents recording us!
Hazy but beautiful
After breakfast, we took a water down to a tidal pool. The leader of our trip is the science teacher, so he was super excited about this project. A lot of the kids were pretty fascinated too. There were crabs, random fish, and even a few eels that were in various little pools left behind by the high tide. It was pretty toasty, even at 9:00 a.m., so we headed back to the hotel so the students could draw pictures and categorize their sightings in their packets.
I sort of forgot it was Valentine's Day until this happened at breakfast
The kids loved exploring the sea life left behind by the tide
Ready for action
Wet ocean hair, three hours of sunshine, physical exhaustion, and one really great filter #happyteacher
Oh, and one more kick ass sunset
That night we had a barbecue at the hotel. We all got dressed up, and the kitchen staff set up tables out by the beach. The table of boys insisted on letting the teachers go first, which was pretty adorable. It was a beautiful night, and I kept thinking about how grateful I was that it was mid-February, and I was enjoying dinner and a coconut to drink by the beach. I was so sad for the trip to end, but we had to get the kids back to Yangon the next day. The group sunrise walk finally happened, and then we did the final lesson in the packet followed by some final pool time. We did room checks and loaded up the buses.
Loved the final dinner
One last sunrise for the road
The parents bought pizzas for the kids, and we decided to wait until after the hilly part was over to pass them out. Fortunately, the ride back was much smoother for all of us - I guess because it was earlier in the trip. As we drove, one of the other drivers (there were three on our trip) climbed over the guy driving the bus to grab something from a pouch above his head. And we all lived to tell the tale. I also saw all of these random religious relics along the way. I was thinking about road trips I have taken in the U.S. and how different it is. When I was in the States, we stopped and saw the world's tallest Jolly Green Giant and things of that nature, but here they have actual religious temples and relics made of gold all along the road sides. I am not saying one is better than the other; just observing how different my life is now.
Only in Myanmar
An example of a religious stop we passed along the way
I am so fortunate for this opportunity to live and teach abroad. I am even more fortunate that I was able to go on this trip. As I said before, I have officially completed all of my course work and am now listed as a "pending graduate" with my college. I am waiting for my portfolio and credentials to be approved by the powers that be, and then I will officially be a master. It was really tough this time because they enrolled me in the Capstone course at the same time as another course, so I was doing about 15-20 hours of grad work per week the past five weeks. It was definitely a struggle. I am grateful to be done, and having this beach trip with this awesome group of kiddos was exactly what I needed to help me recover. I will definitely be traveling back to Ngwe Saung again. I felt a very strong connection to this place and cannot wait to be back here. Until then, I will continue enjoying my sunrises and sunsets from the mainland.
