Chapter 3

Contrasts 

​I’ve been living in Burma/Myanmar for more than a month now and I love it! This country is so beautiful and rich in every sense. I live in Yangon, the former capital. The weather is warm, the sightseeing is amazing, the food is delicious and the people are wonderful. 

If you are Bolivian or have been to Bolivia, imagine Yangon as a combination of Santa Cruz City, La Paz city, and Cochabamba City. The markets in Yangon are very similar to San Pedro’s market in La Paz City. Yangon also has big “tambos” (markets) everywhere.  ​

If you are not Bolivian or have never been to Bolivia, imagine Yangon as a very hot city with green trees everywhere. People sell all kinds of things in the streets. The traffic is chaotic and drivers do as they please. People cross the streets when lights are green and drivers never yield the right of way.

Yangon has beautiful lakes and rivers, big golden pagodas and monks and nuns walking everywhere.

Local people are amazing. They are very kind, sweet and caring. I had the opportunity to travel with some local friends. They made me feel welcome and they went out of their ways to show me the best parts of their country.  

In terms of food, most of the dishes are prepared with noodles or rice. There is a fusion of exotic flavors from China, Thailand, and India. Thus, the dishes can vary from spicy, spicy and sweet, or spicy, spicy and spicy :). I think I need to elaborate more on this topic so I’ll write a whole chapter about it where I’ll describe some of my favorite and least favorite dishes.   

​Something I really love is the communal lunch at the office. Although most of the time I don’t understand what my colleagues are talking about because at the table they mostly speak Burmese.

Daw Nu is the lady who cooks for us each day. She always cooks delicious and VERY SPICY meals. I’m very lucky because I get to taste different and healthy meals from Monday to Friday. Most of the time my tongue is burning and I need to hold a tissue while eating.

Daw Nu is very sweet; she’s like an aunt to me. When we walk outside the office she grabs my hand to protect me from crazy drivers or street dogs. I feel her love every day. I wish I could speak Burmese to better communicate with her. She doesn’t speak English but she knows some words like morning, thank you, beautiful, lunch, and of course numbers. I’m learning some Burmese expressions to be able to communicate with her and tell her how much I appreciate all that she does for me.  (I will also discuss more about the Burmese language in the next chapter).
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There is a big contrast in Burma/Myanmar. Even though it is beautiful, as many developing countries, Myanmar is struggling with development problems. For example, my perceptions of some of the problems in Yangon are: traffic, garbage disposal, lack of clean and potable water, an inefficient sewage system, power blackouts, and street dogs. 

The city is big and during rush hour it is so difficult to move around. Sometimes I prefer walking instead of being trapped in a taxi, even if it is a long distance.

I’m very concerned about the garbage and the quantity of plastic bottles consumed. The city seems clean; streets downtown look clean. However, in some neighborhoods, garbage is overflowing, especially in the back of buildings. Due to the lack of potable water, we all need to buy purified water to cook and even brush our teeth with. This is another problem because most people only buy plastic bottles; consequently, the city’s contamination keeps growing.

Another problem is the sewage system. Pictures will explain the problem better than words…

There are numerous blackouts. During my first two weeks there was at least one per day at the office and one per day at my house. This is worst in rural areas where they experience numerous blackouts every single day. Luckily, at my office we have a generator. But when we use it we cannot use the air conditioning.

Street dogs are another problem. Every day I find baby dogs on the streets or dogs that just gave birth. Most of the dogs look very skinny and unhealthy. This little dog for example had 10 babies. Look at how skinny she looks. It breaks my heart. It makes me miss even more my little babies Nacho and Lupe.

​Even though it will be costly, these problems can be fixed. Hopefully the next administration will have new ideas and will bring sustainable development. ​