Teach. Eat. Travel.
  • Home
  • The Blog
  • The Places
    • Myanmar
    • Asia
  • The Updates
  • Photography
    • Myanmar Photography
    • Weddings & Portraits
  • About Alisa & Kim

World Wide Photo Walk | Downtown Yangon, Myanmar

10/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
On October 8th I joined a group of photographers to capture some snap shots of our city. Every year Scott Kelby, a world famous photographer, hosts his annual World Wide Photo Walk. It is a time for photographers to get together and take photos of their neighborhood. It is labeled as the "social photography event of the year," as one of the main goals is to bring together a community of people with this common interest. On the single day hundreds of Photo Walks are held across the world with thousands of photographers participating. 

I joined in my first Photo Walk when I lived in Auburn (Maine, USA) two or three years ago and was thrilled when I saw the announcement for the Yangon walk. Taking my camera out to the streets is one of my favorite things to do but it was made even better by the great company. More than a few of these photographs have gone in my "favorite photographs I have ever taken" folder. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them! 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Fahrenheit, Field Trip, & Fried Frog | September Update

10/8/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
​September has been a hot month here in Yangon. It is still supposed to be rainy season but there was not a lot of rain. Luckily there was usually a good amount of cloud cover making it a good month for exploring and being out. Lots of gatherings filled our calendars this month making it a great time for friends with an equally great time spent on our own. A bout of sickness kept us home over one long weekend, Kim has been cooking away at work, and there were birthday festivities. September was a great month with a lot of promise and happy times. Let's start with a few more pictures from around the neighborhood. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Fahrenheit Treats


Picture
Last month I briefly mentioned Fahrenheit where Kim was hired in March of this year to run the kitchen of what would be a Mexican-Asian restaurant. Not being a Mexican or Asian chef, Kim has certainly met the challenge by creating truly unique dishes that highlight both cuisines. It has not been easy but it has certainly been worth it as Fahrenheit was recently moved to TripAdvisors #2 restaurant in Yangon.
Since our return, Kim has been working on developing a new menu to delight the taste buds of the hungry crowd that has already made it through the original menu multiple times. Some of my favorite dishes are the Potato Curry Tusquitos, Pumpkin and Tofu Enchiladas, Pad Thai Chimichanga, Chili Infused Hot Fudge Sunday (with homemade ice cream) and of course the Creamy Tequilla Margarita Pie. Lucky me, I got to be the first taster for all of this deliciousness. I thought you all might like to see some picture of this awesome place. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Train Field Trip


I took my students on my first Field Trip in Yangon this month and the experience was so much more than I could have ever imagined. I had a simple intent, take the students on the train to practice their photography skills. As we have just finished our photography basics unit, learning the ins and outs of our cameras, and the students were itching to try their skills in real life situations. Pair that with not having access to our usual computer lab classroom (because of standardized testing) and you have the perfect opportunity for a one day field trip. But what started as a simple field trip turned into a perspective changing experience.  Read all about it HERE
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Kegs and Kickball


Picture
​To celebrate his birthday Mark, a co-worker of mine, held his annual Kegs and Kickball event. I was hesitant to join because I am not a big kickball fan but I thought it might be fun and it was a BLAST! About 30 people met up at the American Club field on Saturday and went through 3 kegs of beer while attempting to play kickball. There were also rules that involved having a cup of beer in your hand at all times even when you are kicking, and finishing your beer before second base and before home base. There was pizza, a speedo, some major kickball competition, LOTS of beer, and a fantastic time had by all! So glad I have such a fun community of people to be around.  
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Birthday's Galore


​It was a month full of birthdays in our friend Steven’s house. Firstly his little guy, Keean, turned 3 years old! I joined them in the morning for a trip to the park where we spent the majority of the time pushing a swing back and forth to each other. It makes my heart so happy to have this little man in my life. As someone who has always had children around it feels like having a piece of my family here in Yangon.
Picture
Picture
​Right after Keean’s birthday is Stevens so we took a night to go out on the town and had loads of fun with a great group of people. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Aquarium Store


Picture
​While we were wandering around our neighborhood the other day we stumbled upon an aquarium store. I use the word store very lightly because really this was a space on the side of the road with a chicken wire type wall and dirt floors. I had noticed recently that the shops and houses will often have giant aquariums in them, even the ones that seem to be not so well off. These aquariums always have GIANT fish in them! It’s crazy! So we meandered past a hungry looking cat into the store. It had huge aquariums stacked on top of each other from the ground up. Scattered along the aisle were liquor bottles of all sorts filled with betta fish. In the large aquariums there were all different kinds of fish. Towards the back of the store was a group of people who were working on cutting glass that would be the side to a new aquarium. It was a strange, strange place true to Myanmar. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Adventurous Street Eats


​Eating unknown snacks off the street is one of our favorite things to do. This month we found a few very interesting things to try. It started with the deep fried frogs at one of our local restaurants. Then when we were adventuring around the other day we discovered some interesting fruits. I also got Kim to try an “Everything Salad” which is a mix of all different noodles, sauces, and other things. Have a look at some of the videos. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
I also tried sugar cane drink for the first time and it was delicious! The sugar cane is peeled then squished through a grinder resulting in a sweet, syrup-y drink. 
Picture
Picture

Puppy Time


Picture
I was also able to convince one of my students to bring his golden to school one day so Kim could watch her. Susie (the dog) was very excited to be some place new and gave Kim the run around, snatching up things to play with, running on the furniture, and just being a crazy puppy. I think Kim got her fill of puppy love for a little while. 
​Kim has been missing our Ellie May like crazy lately, we often walk down to a store on our road that has a golden retriever dog named Jackie. We give Jackie some love and attention while the locals look at us like we are crazy. It is a good little bit of puppy time. 
Picture

Art Making


I have been filled with creativity this month! I have been working on a body of work that I started in the spring and have made significant progress this month. The process involves using my travel photographs as a base and digitally altering them to create visual errors, or glitches, by corrupting ​the data in the photograph. I’m not quite ready to share them yet but I’ll show you this one:
Picture
​During school time my fellow art teacher and I have begun using our collective prep time to work on art journaling. It has been fantastic to have a scheduled time in the week to get messy and create. It brings me back to my core interest in the arts and gives me the freedom to play and experiment. It has been a great reminder of why I am an art teacher and how much I love making art! Here are some progress pictures of one of the journal pages based off the idea of Positive/Negative Self. Also a snap shot of my morning bliss station
Picture
Picture

​In addition . . . 


There were morning Trishaw rides
Picture
Picture
Scrumptious BBQ was had
Picture
Picture
My school held a college fair with about 20 colleges from around the world and one of the was Roger Williams University where my little sis just started law school. Funny that. 
Picture
Picture
We found a movie store that has english movies and TV shows for only $1 a disk
Picture
Picture
​Our maid left us this adorable note one day
Kim and I got more "Shampoos" aka $1.50 head massages
Picture
Picture
Picture
Some funny things we saw this month, a "Cold & Drinking" restaurant sign, sushi sold out of the back of a truck, this hilarious sign.
Picture
Picture
Picture
A few shots for my "From Where I Stand" photo project.
Picture
Picture
Picture
I'll leave you with these two tasty dishes. The one on the left is my absolute favorite Myanmar dish: Tofu Noway. It is some sort of hot, melted tofu over noodles. The one on the right is the chicken soup that Kim made for me when I was sick in bed for our three day weekend. 
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

A Perspective Altering Field Trip on the Circle Train

10/8/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
I took my students on my first Field Trip in Yangon today and the experience was so much more than I could have ever imagined. I had a simple intent, take the students on the train to practice their photography skills. As we have just finished our photography basics unit, learning the ins and outs of our cameras, and the students were itching to try their skills in real life situations. Pair that with not having access to our usual computer lab classroom (because of standardized testing) and you have the perfect opportunity for a one day field trip.
Picture
Picture
The train is an ideal option for this trip. There is a train station that is only a 10 minute walk from school and it takes a four hour loop around the city, returning back to the same station. After a few calls to the station from my assistant teacher, we had the schedule and a plan. The students were mildly excited mostly because they wanted to get out of school. They were less enthused by our 7:30 am meeting time. 


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Permission forms were signed, the principal approved, and the day finally came. Nine half-asleep AP 2D Design students wandered into the lobby, cameras in hand. We set off quickly, knowing that the train waits for no one. We rushed through the bustling market and down the dusty streets arriving at the station already sweating in the tropical heat.  No sooner had we purchased our tickets then we were swept away on the train.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
The students stayed huddled together as a group in a corner of the train car surrounded by people. My first thoughts were that they were frazzled by our hasty departure but as I observed them I noticed an interesting occurrence. The students seemed to act more like tourists, strangers to this place that they call home. They were nervous around the unknown people and hesitant to leave their well-known classmates. As I encouraged them to break off and explore down the train they stayed attached to the group as if they were in a foreign place. 


Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
I began considering what I know about these students. Firstly, they are privileged. The school we come from is a private school for Myanmar’s wealthy class. Secondly, they are very isolated. Being ushered from school to tutors, from events to formal functions, from home to their chafer driven car, these students rarely experience the street life of Yangon. It took me aback when they showed up this morning in jeans, long sleeve shirts, and sweatshirts. I would have thought it obvious on such a hot day that we would need to wear cool clothes, but I later realized that these students are never outdoors. They have no reason to walk around the streets.  In essence they truly are foreigners in their own city, seeing and experiencing the life of a “commoner” for (perhaps) the first time. 

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
For an expat who spends her weekends exploring the streets on foot, riding the local transit, and eating at the street stalls, it was strange to be introducing these students to their own home, one that I have only been living in for a year. To think that I have experienced more of the daily Myanmar life in my short time then they have in their whole lives is mind blowing. 
Picture
Picture
As the train began to empty, the students got a little more adventurous, wandering to the lengths of the car in small groups. They moved from taking pictures of each other to being comfortable at taking pictures of the surroundings and the people. Having no separation between themselves and the local environment, they began to truly observe and record what they saw. No longer were they sitting in their fancy cars with a window detaching them from the world, they were immersed in it. 
Picture
Picture

We arrived at the main station to switch to the train that would take us the rest of the way around town and back to our station by school. We all took off running through the insanely crowded platform to catch the next train. I counted as each student stepped up into the train car but came up missing two. Hoping that they had gotten on through the next door, I hopped on the train and quickly searched through the adjacent car to find it empty of students. My worry heightened as the train began moving. I sped through the train, rushing past people, looking for the rest of the group in hopes that I didn’t see correctly and they actually made it on before us, but, no luck. Resisting the urge to panic, I had a student call the phone of one of the missing members, who were in fact left back at the main station. After insisting that they stay where they were we departed at the next stop and quickly grabbed the next train in the opposite direction where I found the two students sitting calmly on a bench taking a selfie. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Reunited we quickly regrouped to make a new plan. Luckily my time in Myanmar has taught me a great deal about not being attached to how things are “supposed” to go, and always having a plan B (and C, and sometimes D). So after confirming the train schedule back to school we had a quick retreat at a local café to cool off and fuel up. Then we continued on to explore the downtown area while waiting for the next train. I led them through streets where they explored and (in some cases) interacted with the local community. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
One student ate as much street food as he could manage. It made me laugh when he bought something from practically every stall that we passed. Later in conversation I found out that his parents don’t let him have street food. They believe that it is not sanitary and prefer to eat in proper restaurants or at home. The last time he had street food was when he was young. He used the day as an opportunity to make up for lost time. ​
Picture
Picture
It was also interesting for the students to see how people treat me differently as a foreigner. A couple times on the train locals stopped to take pictures of me. At one point a woman excitedly pointed me out to her young son by pointing to me and then touching her face to bring attention to my skin color. In addition I got stopped a few times by sellers on the street hoping I would buy a bus ticket, a tour, or a souvenir. The students related these experiences to ones they have had in the US or Thailand or other countries but had no idea that it also happened here. As these students are being groomed to be the next leaders of Myanmar, they are gaining worldly education through international trips and mindsets but we forget to connect them with their own back yard.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

As our short but eventful trip came to an end I was not the only one who had a sense of euphoric fulfillment. We walked back to school from our station drenched in sweat with huge smiles on our faces. Stopping one last time for a street snack of fresh squeezed sugar cane juice (the first time for almost all of us) the students excitedly talked about where else we could take a trip to. As they chatted about different possibilities I heard a different attitude in their voices, one of anticipation in getting to know more of their own country, their own culture. It might by my hopeful teacher brain but I think next time they might be looking forward to a little more than just missing school.   
Picture
1 Comment

    Alisa & Kim

    Two expats living, teaching, and eating their way across this beautiful world

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2022
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    December 2017
    November 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    About Us
    Amusement Park
    Animals
    Anniversary
    Around Town
    Art
    Art Gallery
    Artists
    Art Teacher
    Artwork
    Athens
    Bali
    Beach
    Birthday
    Buddha
    Burma
    Bus
    Camping
    Cat
    Cave
    Celebrations
    Chinese New Year
    Circular Train
    Color Village
    Couchsurfing
    Culture Class
    Date Night
    Digital Art
    Doctor
    Dog
    Downtown
    Eat
    Ellie
    Entertainment
    Expat
    Family
    Farewell
    Festival
    Fire Balloons
    Flying
    Food
    France
    Freediving
    Greece
    Ho Chi Minh City
    Holi
    Holiday
    Honeymoon
    Hong Kong
    India
    Indonesia
    Inle Lake
    International Teaching
    Isreal
    Istanbul
    Kim's Cooking
    Lion Dance
    Living Abroad
    Local Transit
    Maine
    Malaysia
    Medical
    Mexico
    Monks
    Morocco
    Moving
    Myanmar
    Myanmar Food
    Night Life
    Outside Yangon
    Packing
    Pagoda
    Pandemic
    Paris
    Paya
    Pearl Condo
    Pets
    Philipines
    Photography
    Quarantine
    Reflections
    Resources
    Road Trip
    Saigon
    Shopping
    Shwedagon
    Smoothee Foodee
    Snacks
    Street Eats
    Students
    Teach
    Teaching
    Teaching Abroad
    Thailand
    Traditions
    Travel
    Turkey
    Vietnam
    Walking Tour
    Wedding
    Weekend Getaway
    Weekly Updates
    Wet Market
    Yangon
    Yoga
    Zoo

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.