September news
If I had any tree planted in my garden, in Canada, I would have a flowering bougainvillea. Our bougainvillea in our little courtyard has flowered since our arrival here in NayPyiTaw, since May 2017. What a treat! To me, overtime, bougainvillea flowers have become significant. It means life, joy and renewal.
A celebration for Kevin and I is indeed in order! September is an exciting month for us, because it marks our 38th wedding anniversary. Kevin and I met traveling in India; and together we continued our travels throughout SouthEast Asia. Since that time, after a number of years at home, in Canada, raising a family, watching our children leave the nest and beginning a life of their own, finding themselves on the threshold of a new life that awaited them,we’ve decided that it was time for us to embark on new journeys across the ocean; to live and work in developing countries. First, in Cambodia for 3 years, and now we’re in Myanmar for a year.
Throughout September, we had a series of invitations both from my Myanmar colleagues and from parliamentary staff celebrating birthdays, farewell parties, and various other events, and, visiting one of my colleagues in her office. KathyAung was transferred from the Pyidaungsu Hlataw to the Pyitu Hlattaw. As for events, Parliamentary volleyball, football and table tennis teams received a logyi for work and their rightful trophies: some semi transparent, some opaque glass plaques with a sport symbol etch in the centre of each plaque. What’s more, pleasantly surprised, my students and staff brought 
me a series of stunning colourful longyis that I now wear on different days of the week.
Here in Swe Kyia Bae district just around the corner from my house, La maison haute couture nestled in a row of this and that, that I’ll talk more about on my next post, were highly accommodating and couturier some of the longys that I got from various Myanmar people, to fit with perfection!
Here at home, across the way from us, tightly squeezed on the motorbike, was the usual family of three: the Tanakha boy at the front, dad in the middle and sister at the back. Today, however, there was an extra passenger on board. Today, there was no usual wailing from their 2-year-old brother; there was no usual comforting necessary from grandpa or a usual bellow from mum in the background. Today was an unusual day! Their 2-year-old brother was squeezed in between his older sister at the back of the motorbike and his father in front of him. Their 2-year-old brother was taking his big sister and his big brother to school with his father! On this special occasion, on this special unusual day, the family of 4 roared their usual roar to school happily waving a ‘Ta ta” bye bye in Myanmar.
At work, my students continue to inspire me so. I’m in endless awe as I discover more talent in their workplace and in class. As I speak, they are in the process of developing, translating the activity resource book; lessons that were tested, reviewed and refined with my class, that is at the moment very much at its infancy stage. Still, the introduction and units 1 to 4 are progressing well!
Now that the MP’s are away doing some good work in their constituencies, the cafeterias are closed and work reduced? Parliamentary staff in all departments, collectively congregate in groups, outside their department station to share their delicious lunches with their colleagues, and with guess who? that they’ve lovingly prepared and brought to work from their hostels. What’s more, during that same period of time, throughout the parliament, parliamentary staff spent a good part of their time sorting through large piles of duplicated files. They collectively sat on their office floor systematically re-organized files, ripped and threw out a good set of documents in large rice bags that almost mounted to the departmental ceiling. These files, a staff claimed, ‘There are no longer useful for the parliament, for the officials’.
Other news, at the end of the month, approximately 50 potential new parliamentary staff, young men, only a few, and the rest women in rainbow-colour fitted tops draped over their chic-vibrant longys, came to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw to be tested for law, economics and IT skills. Lined in the hall outside the research and training department, like school children in Cambodia, they patiently waited for officials and helpers (parliamentary staff) to instruct them to sit at a designated computer desk. Each desk was approximately 2 metres away from each other, carefully and precisely set apart; closely supervised by the IT parliamentary staff who walked up and down the rows to monitor potential parliamentary staff during 
their test. Some appeared nervous and certainly humble, ducking, bowing at the waist as these shy individuals passed their potential leaders on the way to a computer desk. By the way, results of the hiring process; exams and successful new parliamentary employees will be publicized within the next couple of days – by the first week of October 2017.
That is all for now. In the meantime, Wishing you fun reading and lots of laughter for October …More will be added at a later date … 🙂
Large metallic blue parliamentary buses, large white-tusked ministry buses and minivans hold white shirts and white blouse workers. Their longyis are colour coded to suggest the ministries they belong to. Ocean blue, large and small, open trucks follow suit. Unlike the white coloured workers, labour workers clad in rainbow wear; hang on tight with their lives, on wooden frames of their truck. Rain or shine! Motorcyclists in 2s or 3s, some in helmets and some without, balance long bamboo sticks or wide fishing nets on their shoulders, while they attempt to outrun the white coated – white hat police guards, to get through the morning’s on going movement at the main round about. Cows have already proclaimed their spot and sit on side roads under shaded trees, in the capital city, leaving little room for cars to manoeuvres around them!
On the surface, on the hour, on the minute, life carries on as normal. Children sit on the patterned yellow and black curb waiting for their ride to school; others pick flowers from the neighbour’s garden and tease one another, while their mothers balance themselves with their babies in one arm and their fresh produce on their heads. Buffalos get their daily baths in the creeks whilst their master, chewing betel watch over them. The soft breeze, the cool morning air, the soft sound of chimes from the young monk gives little indication that they’re maybe something in the air?
Still, life continues! In the heat, in the rain, sometime on empty avenues, sometime in the midst of traffic, sweepers and gardeners, the unseen few, line side by side in 3’s: 2 to 300 meters apart on both side of the road. 
The sweepers sweep away in unison, the clinically immaculate streets that bear no newspapers, cigarette buds, coffee cups, history of any sort or memories. Gardeners cut from the same cloth, groom the flawless yellow and black; red and white curbs of NayPyiTaw’s highways; they hoe away new weeds that tend to creep through the cracks now and then. 
A guard, every meter or so, walk up and down the neatly manicured boulevards, the grounds to ensure that history is no more, that all memories are washed away!
Side roads are muddy fresh from the night and morning’s rain. Stones that were carefully laid and paved on potted roads back in July, are now firmly embedded in the soil, balancing from stone to stone in some areas. The roads, resemble cobblestone streets in Europe’s medieval times where roads were evenly paved with stones for horse and cart and alike to use.
Here at the market , Thanakha ladies in soft wispers, offer a word or two to entice me to their stalls. From an array of vibrant multi-coloured flowers, orchids in particular, are in abundance, to fresh green, yellow, red produce. From meat stalls pounded on to tenderize the meat, to peanuts and red beans and large bowls of bright rich spices, some dried and powdery grouped together on the ground, resemble the effects of the rainbow fresh from a summer’s afternoon rain.
in thick-large stony brown-green leaves, laced with thin bamboo material to secure them in place.
An hour later, as predicted, heavy rains, heavy storms roar through our little community and soon floods our lane, from home to home, mingling into one other. The husband, who’s name I don’t know, experience of the wet season is well prepared.
Myanmar Voices 