Anyone for volleyball, for badminton …?

August News

As I comb my hair and preen my face outside for better lighting with a dash of this and that, the local Thanakha lady next door snags guava from trees and cucumber gourds from her plants.  Her husband, humble as she, pops around our courtyard to pick a handful of fresh chilies from our bush.  This is to prepare a meal for them - for their family, for the monks.

As we sit on our little porch with coffee in hand and watch the world go by, a group of local women in the neighbourhood with baskets on heads gather on the dirt-lane-way to prepare for the market.

As I prepare for work with water in hand to stay cool and hydrated, Thanakka school children mount on motorbikes.  A young boy sits at the front and his big sister sits at the back.  Their father sandwiched in the middle, mindful of their safety, insures that all is well before roaring them off to school. Meanwhile, right at the top of the hour, just like clockwork, their 2-year-old brother begins to wail – he too wants to go to school!  Hand in hand, comforting hands rubbing one another,   ouplá with a heave or two his grandfather picks hauls him up on his right shoulder to further console him.  In the background, his mother loud and clear bellows Myanmar words that we don’t understand. 

August was a month with numerous activities and fun events both at work and at home.  

August began with a number of invitations from my colleagues and students:  KathyAung and her family invited Kevin and I for a family scrumptious lunch at her mother’s home .  They live at the government Herb Garden property where Kevin and I now walk the 5-kilometre trail on weekends.

The following weekend, one of my students Htet Swe Oo, his wife and son and mother and 2 nannies invited us to yet another delicious luncheon at the Swe Si Taw restaurant that is a mere 5 minute drive from our place.

During that same period a couple of Myamar colleagues and I: Nwe Nwe Soe and her friend, we ventured to the Big Ocean Centre to look for running shoes for Nwe Nwe Soe who was preparing for both a volleyball and a badminton match with the various parliamentary departments.   At the end of August she won both the badminton and volleyball tournaments against all other departments.   As a result, we returned to Ocean, this time to the  bakery to indulged on coffee, cakes and pudding to celebrate her victory and the 2 trophies that she  won.  Nwe Nwe Soe  will be receiving her trophies together with her Pyidaungsu women volleyball and badminton team early next month at the sport complex ceremony. The men’s Pyidaungsu volleyball team will also be receiving their trophies.

In mid August 3 Government officials came around our house at suppertime, around 6 pm to ask for our documents from us. They took photos of our passports and gave us each a form to fill out.  Could it be a routine monthly check to insure that all is well with visas et cetera from their standpoint?   Monday morning, as per usual, things were soon resolved with the help of Cuso Myanmar.

Throughout August, there was a shift in the grandeur of the parliament among parliamentary staffs.  Staffs were shuffled to and from different departments, to different offices to learn about all departmental jobs, to leave footprints for others to benefit from.  That is to say, staffs will pass their talents and expertise to future parliamentary staffs on all accounts; their talents will continue to reign from department to department…

August was a month where I visited Parliamentary staffs in their designated workplace. This is to address what is it that they want to know and how to strategize ways to strengthen their skills further in their jobs.   Their skills will be brought back and addressed in the classroom for teaching and learning prospects.  We will also focus on the different creative writing interests that are being revealed as I continue to work with my talented students.

Elsewhere in the grandeur of the parliament, 4 officials and 12 English-speaking MPs were handpicked to attend a 3-day ASEAN conference that is being hosted in the Philippines in early September 2017.  (Last year Myanmar hosted the ASEAN conference).  The MPs and officials attended a 3-day preparation workshop in English at the Pyidaungsu Hltuttaw.

More news in the parliament, the telecommunication bill was tossed back and forth between the 30 MPs at the Amyotha and the Pyithu Hlattaw (upper and lower house).  Finally, after being tossed around for 56 days, much longer than any other bills, it was resolved, passed with little change at the Union Assembly/Pydaungsu Hluttaw and the bill became law. The MPs are now on recess for the month of September.  They went home at the end of August to their constituencies throughout Myanmar to work with their village people.    

Other news in the parliament, ethnic youths throughout Myanmar from the 7 regions and the 7 ethnic states came to NayPyiTaw to represent their colleagues back home. The one-day conference was held at the Union Assembly/ Pydaungsu Hluttaw to hear Ethnic women MPs talk about Human rights issues in Myanmar.

Lately, every morning someone in class and in the research office brings a variety of Myanmar cuisine for me to taste.  From scrumptious Shan noodles with soup, to mohenga to chickpea sauce with fried bread a.k.a. idkyaguai. From tasty tealeaves salad to hot buns, to creamy cakes and more cakes ….   Together with the theme of food, are flowers of all sorts that staff bring to work to share with others and yours truly. And,  happily wear them on their hair  and, intricately weave them/it (depending on the number of flowers that day - if it's a rose), on mine!

By end of August, more parliamentary staffs and officials are walking the stairs instead of taking the elevator to their office on the second floor.

August ended with a Cuso royal visit to Nay Pyi Taw, a rare event.  Grant, a Cuso volunteer nearing his end of term with Cuso International came for the weekend to visit  with us all - The NPT team.  It was refreshing to speak to a volunteer with positive views about life, about Cuso.

More will be added at a later date … :) In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for September ...