Hey, Mia - this post is for you!

The school has been hiring a lot of new staff and one arrived this week.  Robert Fielder is going to be the new Assistant Principal of the secondary school.  Mia, his wife, along with their two sons and baby girl won't be arriving for awhile.

I'm especially happy because Robert brought with him some cloudy, rainy weather.  Instead of temps around 111, today is an almost chilly 92.

Robert and I went shopping this morning.  He seems pleasantly surprised that there are more nice restaurants and shops than he expected.  He seems like a terrific guy and clearly is a family man.  I can't wait until they get here so I can meet them.  It will be especially cool, because it looks like I'll be teaching their youngest son next year.

We went to a grocery store, which also includes Angel Bakery.  I was excited to see the "restaurant" next door.  I'd never paid attention to it before, thinking it was just another tea shop, of which there are hundreds in town.  But the last time I was driving away from the store, I looked at the sign and it appeared that it was actually an Asian food court, with Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese and Myanmar food.

After shopping I went to check it out while Robert patiently waited.  In addition to the types of food already mentioned, they also have a tiny stall for CP Chicken, which is a Thai business which sells good fried and rotisserie chicken.

The sad news is that most of the stalls didn't have most of the food advertised.  But I got some traditional Myanmar noodle soup with a chicken/coconut broth ($.80) and 3 large Thai spring rolls ($1.50).  I'll definitely be going back.  The soup in particular was delicious.

We stopped at another bakery, BB Cakes, on our way back to school.  Robert was excited to see the large birthday cakes and is already planning to buy them for his boys and their classmates.  It seems that usually their birthdays happen when school isn't in session so he's excited for them to experience a "school" birthday.

It's nice to have someone new here.  Mia, I can't wait to meet you and show you Mandalay.  I'm working on filling in Robert on places in Mandalay and Bangkok that are family friendly and would be fun for the boys.  I've also warned him that I'll be showing you where to buy some beautiful silk clothes and great stuff for the baby.  Please know that Robert seems to be settling in well and getting to work, but clearly misses his family.

Spring rolls and soup.  $2.30 for everything.

Next time, I'll try the pho.

Say "yes!" to rotisserie chicken!

P.S.  The weird Tucson connection continues.  Three of us used to live there.  One teacher is going to retire there.  And Robert's mom lives in Tucson.  Weird!

I'm Smokin' Hot

Yes, it's true, I'm sexy as all get out, that's a given.  I'm referring, however, to how hot I feel because of the weather.  It is really, really hot here.

Yesterday I made a HUGE mistake.  Instead of just going into Ocean and buying my groceries and leaving, another teacher and I decided to walk a couple of blocks to the Chinese market to buy produce first.  I heard it was 108 (and humid) yesterday.  It felt more like 1,008.

I discovered how many onions you get for a dollar (about 10 pounds) and had to carry them, along with asparagus, carrots, cucumbers, spring onions and, best of all, the first mangoes of the season.

I'd planned to drop my purchases at the bus on the way to Ocean but the driver wasn't there so I dragged them another block in the sweltering heat.

Once in Ocean it felt just as hot as outside, even though I think they have air conditioning.  I smiled back at the people staring at me and started shopping but quickly realized that people were staring at me not just because I look different but because I was a bit purple.  Seems I'd had too much heat. 

I was considering the best place in the store to upchuck and then where I might sit down.  Luckily, I held all bodily fluids in, except for the sweat that was dripping off me.  I made it back to the bus in one piece and was fine once I sat down and used my Samoan ili (fan) to cool off.  It did take a cool shower and an hour under air con to stop sweating.

I will never, ever, ever again shop on the street in the middle of the afternoon during the hottest month of the year.  The mangoes are mighty tasty, though.