It was one of those weeks in the community, and this past weekend found us needing space–a place where nobody knew our names. So we found this:
Which was a lovely, restful place, until our motorbike died on the way back from dinner, and we were now stranded in this lovely place where nobody knew our names.
Kelvin & Laura came to our rescue on Saturday and we took our motorbike to the shop, but we were overall less rested than we hoped.
But better things were coming. On our way through the market, we found that it was bunny season again! And my husband oh-so-sweetly agreed to another one.
Just for me, really. He plays along because he knows I love them!
So meet Yoyo. Our previous little bunny was named Kayak, but this caused some confusion among the kids. We noticed that some of the kids thought “kayak” was English for “bunny”–and actually still do, because they still call this little guy Kayak..whoops. So in Burmese, bunny is “youn” with an emphasis on on the beginning, so “yoyo” is really just “bunny bunny” for the kids.
And, as a side note, also happens to be the name of one of the kids in the community.
Yoyo is a big hit among the kids, of course. He is currently housed in the community space, and it kind of feels like we have a class pet!
Sunday morning found us up early for a race in town. There was a 5k and 12k, so I signed up for the 5k. I really haven’t been running much at all lately since we’ve mostly been swimming and biking together. But, I’m too embarrassed to stop in races, so I’ll keep going and push myself more than I will just running down the street. I thought it was an easy way to get a good run in.
These friends all ran the 12k because they are actual athletes.
I chugged along and made pretty horrible time, about 13 minutes per mile. It was amidst a hoard of teenagers, because they get extra credit at school for participating. And then the few of us who came because we believe in running. I think there were only 9 in my age bracket, and five of us got medals.
So basically, the medal says much more about my competition–or lack thereof–than anything of my ability.
But–a very big but–it was pretty fun. Who wouldn’t take someone cheering them on with a ridiculously oversized medal? I kind of want to sign myself up for every other race I come across, and maybe even begin to try. First feels within reach for the first time in my slow-paced, unathletic life!
I’m still not sure what to do with the trophy, though. It’s absolutely huge, and I can’t stick it away in a closet that I don’t have. I’m also slightly embarrassed to tell people what it’s actually for, so I’m tempted to hand it off to a child that will proudly put it in their house. We could even have our own little competition in the neighborhood and re-award it!
It does seem like the perfect story to tell someday, though. Can’t you just see the huge trophy coming out a box, awaiting a glorious tale, and really it’s just the slowest 5k anyone’s ever run in a race where they didn’t even understand “Go!”
And then we woke up early again on Monday morning, and opened our doors at 6am. A friend in town had a sling box back in the States, allowing us to project the Superbowl onto the big screen, complete with US commercials!
We had a whole lot of people in our little house and served up about fifty homemade cinnamon rolls. {Photo credit to our friend Jamie.}
What a weekend!
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