July News ...
Emerald
rice fields etch the contour, the neatly manicured silhouette of Nay Pyi Taw,
resembling the diverse stunning colours of jade that is mainly found in the
Katchin ethnic State and sold throughout Myanmar's diverse culture.
Late
July brought heavy rains with thunderstorms in the Nay Pyi Taw region and its
surroundings. The Irrawaddy River is flooding the planes even in places where
there is little rain. In some places throughout Myanmar where the river runs
through, some villages have been displaced because of the flood. The Irrawaddy
River also known as Ayeyarwady River is the country's largest river and most
important commercial waterway.
With the rains, temperature here in Nay Pyi Taw is pleasant - at least for now. It's cool in early morning and warms up to a comfortable 27ºC to 35ºC tops. It's a relief!
With the rains, temperature here in Nay Pyi Taw is pleasant - at least for now. It's cool in early morning and warms up to a comfortable 27ºC to 35ºC tops. It's a relief!
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| delicate white orchids with a hint of mauve |
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| Neighbours rescuing our mangos |
July was a month where
neighbours came around our house to rescue mangos from our trees. Mangos that rained from our trees in abundance regularly reached the tables of families in our little community.
Neighbours, across our little lane and beside us have built a trellis either for their running beans, snow peas, cucumber plants and other climbing plants. Each morning, across from us, the old man with his grandson walk around the neighbourhood’s front gardens to test the strength of every trellis and to assess the growth of every climbing plant. With the nightly rain and heavy rain by day, some are already 12 – 20 inches tall.
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| Students are talking to each other in English |
With the change of the season, from dry to wet, there has been a positive change of pace in our class. There have been progresses and milestones, where students are gaining more confidence each day. Shy students, who appear to be more self-assured, are now talking, and are even volunteering to share our morning introduction to the start of the day’s lesson: either to give a brief account of the daily news, review the day’s work, talk about Myanmar and ethnic traditional dress and or fashion, the lyrics of a song … and anything else that is of interest to them. I’m so impressed! What’s more, two of the parliamentary recruit staffs in my class announced yesterday, that they have received a job promotion, which indeed called for yet another celebration in the very grounds of the parliament.
Parliamentarians are also feeling more confident with their Oral English skills and are even laughing at their own mistakes! Conversational English is a fun and most interesting job one can ever hope to have especially with parliamentarians whom I have learned much from. These MPs had regular jobs like you and I: teaching, farming, government employees, et cetera …
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| Bush in flower |
Other news, July brought a week of mishaps: a minor car accident and laptop crash – my laptop!
On the
narrow road, on my way home, a motorbike, driving too fast and out
of control, bypassed two cars (from his lane), came to my side of the road and
collided, literally into the Cuso car that I drive to and from work. Both
motorbike parts and the left fender of the Cuso car flew to the side of the
field and, the driver’s flip-flop got firmly stuck into the car’s front bumper
. Before I knew it, the narrow road was blocked with locals and neighbours, yes
neighbours from my street who were informed that the foreigner who worked at
the parliament had just had an accident! Chatter and more Burmese
chatter among the locals and neighbours and the police went on for about an
hour or more as to what to do? Phone calls back and forth to various people:
the Cuso local car owner, Cuso staff and Kevin were shortly informed. An
hour or two later, after the commotion, locals and neighbours began to leave
the scene.
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| More bushes in flower |
In the end all ended as well as can be. The motorbike driver’s wife came to rescue her husband, (who went away with a few scratches), and drove him home with her brother's motorbike . As for me, I drove the severely dented bumper Cuso car home.The next day, the car was taken away to be fixed.
Whilst
the Cuso car was at the shop for a brand new look, I took a taxi to the
parliament. Thank goodness for google map, for Cuso Lisa who showed me how to
use it. On the first day of my adventure the taxi driver dropped me off
at gate 3, in the middle of nowhere. However, I was able to find my way to gate
1 where I was suppose to be originally dropped off.
When it rains it pours. That very same week my computer crashed! The parliamentary IT team came to my rescue, and managed to have my laptop in a temporarily working order during class. At noon, we, one of the IT staff and office staff, KityAung and I drove to the computer store for some answers. On the way there, in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, a cow and a buffalo joined us on the 20 multi-lane highway. We, the cow, the buffalo and the Cuso car were the only ones on the highway aiming to our destination ... :)
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| Luncheon with a colleague and her family in our home |
July ended with us receiving an official letter from the government to confirm our stay in the heart of our little community!
More later … :) In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for the next coming month.
