Nay Pyi Taw - a happening place ...

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!

delicate white orchids with a hint of mauve

Here on the home front, in our little oasis, our boungainvillaea tree is still going strong, where two black dotted butterflies dance from flower to flower. Under mango trees and throughout the perimeter of our courtyard,  vegetation is lush, blooming and producing more fruit.  Bushes and roses are flushed with an array of colours unfurling each day to rich creamy yellows- the colour of friendship, snowy-whites, and dusty-roses. One of the orchids lined on the wire under the mango tree is also in full bloom radiating beautiful small delicate white flowers with a

hint of mauve!  We have also discovered more bushes hidden among other plants; some are producing tiny spicy green and red peppers that we use as a base for cooking, others, AloeVera gel that we extract from several AloeVera plants, we sometime use for our skin and guava fruit that we gladly give our neighbours...

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.

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 …

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. 

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 ... :)

Luncheon with a colleague and her family in our home

Elsewhere in Nay Pyi Taw there’s a fabulous busy local restaurant tucked away up on the hill of Thyabegon Market that Kevin and I go to weekly, to have beer and a cheap delicious Burmese dinner.

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.