Bangkok and beyond!

We have now been in Bangkok for almost a week and things are certainly looking up! For the first few days I felt completely lost and panic and anxiety threatened to overtake me, then as a plan began to evolve my confidence started to return. I am still not my old self and the bewildered and betrayed feeling is subsiding.

“What to do la?” as the Bhutanese would say.

“Move on!” comes the firm reply.

We have cut ourselves some slack and decided to do a bit of travelling in S E Asia. Top on the list of places we would like to see and have never been before is Myanmar and close behind is Vietnam so that’s where we are bound. There is nothing like a completely new experience to stimulate the mental processes and activate the adventurer within.

Just before we rush off into the great unknown, we have set our sails on a bit of an island adventure in Thailand. Despite the many times we have visited here we have never been on a beach and now that it is low season and we are rather at a loose end it seems like the perfect opportunity.

As much as possible we hope to travel by train, bus, ferry or on foot but for Myanmar at least having evidence of flights in and out is a prerequisite for the visa application. Hopefully now that that process is complete we can kick back and relax until our randomly selected departure date rolls around.

Up until now this blog has been a record of places in which we have lived but it seems set to become something of a travelogue for at least the immediate future. No time like the present for a complete change.

Inspired by Nancy Strickland’s offer we are once again considering spending a year in the Thunder Dragon Kingdom. We want to be sure that that is really what we want this time so we will mull it over and as we consider our options and keep our eyes and ears open to what is still available out there or is that out here! If there is one thing that we learned in Bhutan it is that we are all responsible for our own happiness and that is going to be my focus for the next few months….. pursuing happiness.

oNe PhOtO a DaY fOr MaY

THE PROMPS FOR THE MONTH

1 I BOUGHT THIS: beautiful African fabric locally

2 MORNING RITUAL: Morning assembly for the students by the students at Orkeeswa Secondary School

3 THIS IS REALLY GOOD: The Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha –shaped like a drum, a spear and a shield and containing an awesome collection of African art, artefacts & photos.

4 IN MY CUP: The coffee plant growing and the final product both in cups at Musumbi’s Café Arusha

5 PAPER: The ingenious method we have of keeping the toilet paper dry and at hand in a squat toilet that leaks whenever the water is running (thankfully that is not often)

6 BROKEN: The plastic chair that broke when Ben was leaning backwards on it at dinnertime

7 SOMETHING BEGINNING WITH F: Friends having fun together

8 SHAPE: the shape of the African boma - so many of our students live in them

9 A SNACK: a snack pack I made for a friend about to leave Tanzania for Boston, via Kenya, South Africa and Ireland

10 STARS: There are 3 of these stars on the roof of the mosque in Monduli

11 A SMILE: even when doing the most mundane chores at study camp after school Eliapenda always has a smile to share.

12 MOTHER: some of the best mothers I have ever met I honour you all

13 SUNRISE/SUNSET: A beautiful sunset from a favourite beach in Australia (not taken today)

14 NEED: I need to go back to this place It is one of my favourite places from our 2 years in Bhutan (also not taken on the day)

15 7’OCLOCK: in the morning and we have been loading gas bottles into the Landy and out again. At least the students will get a hot lunch!

16 MAILBOX: in Monduli Post Office

17 SEASON: Right here right now it is netball season Orkeeswa girls did very well

18 WANT: I have wanted a haircut for the last month Finally did it today!

19 MY FAVOURITE VIEW: Mt Meru peeping through the clouds on a clear morning at school

20 LIGHT: No electricity but cooking dinner by candlelight

21 I CARE ABOUT THIS: The environmental, social, and ecological state of our world

22 CHANGE: the small change in my pocket at the end of the day

23 PJs: I can’t remember the last time I wore PJs but I don’t always sleep naked

24 GO: yesterday it was decided we would GO and today we are deciding where and when to go. Leaving Africa….

25 US: in happier times in Washington earlier this year

26 FAV THING TO DO ON SUNDAY: Cook up a storm and share a meal with friends especially if we can all eat outside.

27 CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT:  coffee- growing and ripening just outside our door

28 WHAT YOU’RE DOING NOW: Standing outside the PO with the box we have been waiting expectantly for – treats galore and very happy to see it!

29 KISS: Still very much in love 29 years down the track!

30 TOOL: my preferred eating “tool” and the delicious stir-fry I got to eat with them. (using Japanese chopsticks to eat Chinese food in an African setting!)

31 FOUR THINGS: 4 of the most positive memories of Tz - views of Mt Meru, Orkeeswa students, Maasai & beers at Green View

TIME TO GO

What a tumultuous week it has been. The short of it is we are leaving Orkeeswa, Tanzania and in fact Africa!

There have been numerous issues from the onset. Our existence here has been fraught with environmental impact: the drain on the precious water supply and the drive to school being those, which most distressed us. We also have grave concerns about the entitlement mentality that charity and volunteering seem to engender. Having the night watch security, laundry, cleaning, and sundry other household chores assigned to paid locals has also made us feel uncomfortable and in fact we have persisted with doing most such tasks ourselves, which is in retrospect is possibly another source of conflict between the management and us. The school has been a source of frustration with respect to the administration and lack of processes and accountability. So all in all we can now see that this has not been a happy time. Nonetheless it came as something of a shock to be told that we would never be happy here and that as far as the current leader is concerned it would be better if we just left. This message was delivered to us personally at home on Thursday and it certainly set our minds spinning.

This was not on our agenda at the time and we concede that it has been a struggle but leaving has in fact become the current game plan. We were determined to make it work……That is until this week. We returned to school to inform the Leadership Team of the decision on Friday morning and then chose to walk back into town before classes began. We have been told that we are “just not a good fit” and that may or may not be true but I don’t want to hear another “Pole Sana.”

We had placed our focus firmly on the students and it was no easy task to win them over initially, but we felt that we had. The turn over and relative lack of experience of the staff is perhaps what makes students reticent to trust newcomers but our assurances that we intended to stay 2 years and our determined and committed efforts in the classroom brought about results. There have been some very precious moments and there are some amazing kids out there at Orkeeswa. We felt unable to explain our departure to them and are feeling not just rejected and humiliated but in some ways as if we have let both them and ourselves down. I only hope that they are told the truth and not fed lies. It was not our decision to leave.

Having said that after the initial shock subsided there was also a sense of relief!We feel disappointed that we will not see the wildlife, or the country but our gut reaction tells us to return to Asia. We will take a little time to travel and to collect our thoughts before deciding where to next but we are not ready to give up the game just yet.