Hysteria and Laughter!

Sorry we didn't blog last night. Us 9 Scots went out for a meal and returned in no fit state to blog. As many of you know, I (Sheila today) don't drink alcohol as a rule. Garry Forgie will tell you it tends to make me boring and quiet so better off the stuff. However in Aiya restaurant food and drinks come very slowly and in random order so being very thirsty, I thought I should drink some of Geoff's Singha beer, which had come first. (Geoff's meal actually came after Lewis' dessert! That's just the way it happens - and it always happens to Geoff!) Then my limeade came and I had the bright idea of pouring it into my Singha beer. Very nice drink. I had consumed most of that when the waiter appeared with the limeade. Oops, I had taken Fiona's gin and tonic and put it in the Singha! And thus the evening continued = no blogging!

Tuesday morning, Sheila, Murray and Tha Zin went to the Thai Ministry of Education to meet Alicia, the new VSO volunteer in the office that would have been Philip Campbell's. She explained that the Thai Government are wanting to accredit Burmese Learning Centres (they don't give them the status of schools) and fund them BUT they have to compromise on their Burmese education and the big question is where the compromise can be happily found. This is a very crude summary of a very complex task.

Fiona and Louise meanwhile were back at Hle Bee, working their socks off running the Kindergarten of 150 children from morning till 2pm with the help of some novice teachers and with no interpreter because Guardian Angel was finishing the etching with Grade 4! As Fiona introduced the concept of working in groups round a range of activities, the novice teachers looked horrified at the craft activity she was assigning them. Fiona then clarified that she couldn't manage 150 Kg students for craft! So when we came back, the sweat was lashing off her and she was now onto lunchtime activities for children. That's where the hysteria came in. The reason for the strangeness of the day in Hle Bee was that the whole school including most of the teachers were preparing for Buddha Day and the Full Moon festival on Wednesday. On Wed at 10.30am the monks were coming to Hle Bee and the school would make an offering of robes to the monks so the rooms were cleared ready for this event.

On Tuesday afternoon, Fiona took the youngest kindergarten class and gave out the Forthview teddy bears to the children. These teddy bears will be given to the children when they settle down for their daily afternoon sleep. The children were fascinated by them. Sheila got Murray to hand out 100 hands drawn by Forthview children to the other 100 KG children. (Revenge for all his outlandish requests over the last 2 years!) He did so well that I think he believes he has found his calling and may become a kindergarten teacher! Sheila then relieved Murray of his misery and 100 children were then amused for 20 mins with 4 tubs of bubbles!

Finally,at 2pm, we gathered the whole school in the main building, which is now a real squeeze with 329 children. We sang our Fischy music favourites and handed out the hands Forthview children drew and sent over for their friends. It was a great delight when Mary Gillespie, Pirniehall Headteacher and her lovely family - Alan, Callum and Lewis arrived to see Hle Bee. We treated them to I'm the Only I and As We Go Now, which had many of us greetin! It was a magic moment to be in Hle Bee with 8 other Scottish people singing to the children, 'As we go into the future together, may we realise how precious we are...'

And where was Louise in all this? Where she usually is - adoring the babies. In particular, she adores Tha Zin's brother's baby, as you can see.