graduation day.

Today was graduation day at Hsa Thoo Lei, where the neighbor kids go to school.

There was only one student graduating from our community–Jorgee finished the kindergarten equivalent–but the whole community came! All the girls put on their best dresses and shoes.

I wish I could capture the entirety of the ensembles.

These shoes were paired with a dress: it was red on top with some Asian characterization on it, a white tutu on the bottom, and white wings on the back. Yes, actual wings coming out of her shirt. And these pink, sparkly, flowery boots. It was adorable.

These shoes were paired with a pink, polka-dot dress–with a bejeweled belt and ruffles. She had red striped shorts underneath for modesty, so much modesty that they were longer than the dress. And of course, oversized, Caucasian-toned panty hose and sparkly high heels.

I continued to wonder through the day why on earth she was still wearing those panty hose in 100 degree weather.

Though the school is less than a kilometer away, we went in the Zuk to transport a huge pot of curry that Jorgee’s mother was contributing to the potluck-style meal. And once you have the Zuk going, you might as well pile in kids, right?

The first trip had seven of us and a big pot of curry, but this left some kids behind. We returned for another load, this time with eleven of us! Not bad for a little car that supposedly holds four.

And then we sat together for three hours or so, enjoying odd snacks and chatting. We moved our chairs further back and further back to stay in the shade while the sun rose.

And then the moment finally came for Jorgee to graduate!

It does’t look like he was too thrilled for us to be there, until you see the photo with his mom. They just don’t smile for pictures, and we just can’t help it!

Despite the outrageous heat of hot season that is now melting us, it was a fun day with the community and celebrating Jorgee’s faithful studies in Karen, English, Burmese, and math!