Emily asked us to post some pictures of where we live, so here's a virtual tour. Above is our living room, where we spend much of our time when we are here. At the bottom left of the picture we have a long table--sits six--, a desk with our own computer, above which is my wall of pictures of grandchildren. The sofa isn't very comfortable. Here Dad's watching the first game of the NBA championship, on this morning as it was being played Friday night. We watch a bit too much TV but when we're tired, it's easy just to sit in front of the TV.
This room is the Country Director's office, and is really full. Originally it was a second bedroom but now has two desks, lots of bookcases and materials and computer. It does have a wardrobe where Dad keeps all of his clothes. We have a copy machine in here and a lot of supplies and books. There's also a safe where the LDSC money is kept as well as the branch funds.
This is our bedroom, a queen-sized bed, really soft pillows, and the sheets are changed three times a week. We have night stands on either side of the bed. Also a desk with a TV on it, but don't watch in here very often. I like to come in and read. We put the bedspread away. The bed has two sheets with a blanket between on top, and we sleep with the air-conditioner on and under the blanket.
This is the view from the other side of the room. There's a big cupboard with teaching materials in it as well as a filing cabinet. So part of the room is also an office. The wardrobe is nice. Has one section shelves, as well as a safe where we keep our cash, and one section for skirts and dresses, and two sections for shirts and blouses with a double rod. Lots more storage space than we had in China.
We have two bathrooms. The one by our bedroom has a bathtub and shower. Here a girl from housekeeping was cleaning. One or two come daily, make the bed, clean the bathrooms, (there is a second bathroom with a shower only) and vacuums and dusts. Not quite the hardship living that I first thought about when we received our call.
This is our laundry room with a small front-loading washing machine and a dryer on top. The clothes are fairly wet after the spin and the dryer collects the water as the clothes are dry. No venting, so the space gets really warm with the dryer. We are provided with a good ironing board and iron--again so much better than what we had in China. Off of this room, is a storage room where our suitcases are as well as records from previous years, and stuff that has been kept over the years.
Here's our stove top--four electric burners. We buy drinking water in these jugs, have a toaster oven and blender--left from previous couples--and a rice cooker that I don't use much.
The opposite end of the kitchen. The microwave also is a convection oven and the refrigerator is nice sized, again so much better than what we had in China. The cold water dispenser belongs to LDSC--really nice to have chilled water. The staff empties the garbage and cleans the floors daily.
As we get off the elevator to the sixth floor, this is the scene we see across from our door, the Shwedegon Pagoda in the distance, the trees and tin-roofed buildings below. I walk down about a block to what is called a wet market to buy fresh vegetables and fruit about once a week.
This is the tree we see outside our living-room window. We're on the sixth floor and the tree is huge and beautiful. It lost its leaves a few months ago but now is back. I think it's called a rain tree.
This is the swimming pool that we could use, but Carol Checketts, who went home in March, said she got a bladder infection three times after swimming so gave it up. So I haven't tried it, but it surely looks inviting in the heat.I didn't go downstairs to take a picture of the dining room where we eat several times a week--maybe sometime. So we live quite conveniently. Finding what we'd like to eat is a different story. We deal with the heat, though we do have air-conditioning. It's a good place to come back to after teaching, shopping, or traveling.
