The Myanmar discovery circuit - Day 1 (morning) - Yangon, the Kyauk Htat Gyi Pagoda (cont.) - The 12th of November 2015

(...)

We walked around the various galleries surrounding the reclining Buddha, where apart from the worshippers we came across family gatherings using the yard space to eat, as we kept on trying to follow our guide's explanations in what concerned Buddha's worshipping and his numerous representations.

 

 

 

 

 

The reclining statue did watch over us  all the time and even seen from the back it was imposing. I kept on being drawn to the facial expression of the Buddha, which I photographed on and on.

 

 

 

On the way out we stopped  at the main entrance to talk to two street vendors selling their goods in the pagoda, which despite having been built in 1907 with the exclusive money of the people of the city we were told to have been refurbished in 1966.

 

Just before leaving we had a taste of some local fruit Chocho felt we should try, as none of us had ever seen nor eaten any and which she got for all of us from one of the vendors.

 

 

 

The Myanmar discovery circuit - Day 1 (morning) - Yangon, the Kyauk Htat Gyi Pagoda and the reclining Buddha - The 12th of November 2015

We drove through the dense Rangoon traffic towards the Kyaut Htat Gyi Pagoda, which we were told by our guide Chocho  not to be a pagoda in the real traditional sense and more of  a "tazaung" (pavilion) housing a 70 metre reclining Buddha said to be highly venerated.

As we walked into the pagoda enclosure in which around 600 monks devoted to the study of sacred Buddhist manuscripts live I wasn't expecting to be so impressed by the majestic sculpture and particularly the facial expression of the Buddha representation. His expressive eyes are said to have been made with glass especially imported from Japan, but I believe it was more than a mere artistic approach that led me to photograph it the number of times I did.

We were then introduced to some aspects of the Burmese Buddhism, the various representations of Buddha in regards to his postures, as well as a rather thorough explanation as to the positions of the hands ("mudras") and their meanings, together with the devotional ceremonies and offerings. Despite being too much information for any of us to absorb in such a short period of time, it somehow provided us with a first approach to the religion of the country.

The Buddha's footprint displayed the description of his lives, whose explanation we could read on a panel close by, as we attentively listened to our guide's explanations.

(To be continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to my Myanmar discovery circuit - Stop-overs at Paris, and Ho Chi Minh airports; first impressions of Rangoon - The 10th, 11th and 12th of November 20015

I left work on the 10th in a state of half tiredness to get on a flight that would take me to Paris where I would be flying from the next day. The flight reached Orly International airport  fairly late in the evening, so I decided to stay the night at Ibis before venturing to Charles de Gaulle airport the following morning as I'd have to get my visa and the necessary documentation to fly with Vietnam Airlines to Rangoon via Ho Chi Min.

I had expected to be able to rest on the long flight to Rangoon but was entirely wrong as apart from a few relaxing moments I ended up being awaken all night through. I was lucky enough to have met five of the nine travelling companions before boarding the flight, which made the waiting at the stop-over airport in Vietnam less boring.

Photos taken aboard with the mobile phone

I was particularly impressed by the female guide waiting for us at the Rangoon International airport wearing a long traditional longyi, who soon let us know that soon after having been booked at the hotel we would be accommodated at for the night we would had our first visit. The few nationals we came across, from the custom officers to the hotel doormen and receptionists seemed very nice and helpful and the first glimpse of the city with its dwellers in traditional clothing was quite pleasant to look at. 

I should have been feeling really tired but for all I remember my senses were all of a sudden unexpectedly awoken and I was more than ready for the first approach regarding the discovery of the city.

On the latest film I have watched ...

I've been to see Suffragette, a powerful  and rather inspiring film which brings an era to life. Set in London in 1912-13 it is centered on the fight by British working class women, the defiant women of the earliest feminist movement who made monstrual progress in achieving their goals towards equality despite being subject to enormous sacrifices.

"Deeds not words" was the motto of the Women's Social and Political union who "transformed" the society who fiercely and eagerly resisted the change and harshly punished those who fought for some of the rights we are entitled to nowadays, and very often take for granted.

 

Despite the fact that many of the characters are fictional the film is based on real events, some of which do not resonate with what the Portuguese Suffragette Movement had to face but I would nevertheless want to praise and thank three of the pioneering characters in reinvidicating the rights of women in Portugal -  Adelaide Cabete (1867-1935), the first Portuguese woman to vote in Luanda, Angola (former Portuguese colony) in 1933, Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (1878-1911), the first woman voter in a Municipal election in 1911 and Ana de Castro Osório (1872-1935), head of the Portuguese Suffragette Movement.

They paved the way for us, our rights as women and the establishment of equality between men and women in Portugal ...

 

Adelaide Cabete (left) and Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (right).

 

Ana de Castro Osório (left) and Carolina Beatriz Ângelo (right).

"If we now take a woman's right to vote and hold public office for granted, Suffragette reminds us that it wasn't that long when things were different." - Steve Rea of The Philadelphia enquirer.






Note:  As from the 1976 Portuguese Constitution, men and women are equal before the Law.












 

The latest short stories' collection book I have read ...

I don't often read magazines of new writing like Granta's but I have been fortunate enough to have bought quite a few on different subjects, which not only did I find to be particularly cheap (possibly because of being old editions) but also interesting. 

 

Of the various short stories in this 118 Edition - Exit Strategies, whose authors I have read for the first time three stood out,  The Road to Damascus by Claire Messud on the  tender sketch relatated to the death of the author's father and her ties to Beirut, City Boy by Judy Chicurel on a rather poignant and moving story regarding an "abandoned" child and Thirty girls by Susan Minot which focuses on a true massive kidnapping of school girls in Uganda. Stacy Kranitz's photos are worth being looked at and the overall feeling is that every story has specific moments on which to ponder.






"To understand that most of what is, you can only imagine, and can imagine only through the often contradictory traces of what you can see. To understand that always, at the heart of things - whatever the ideas and ideologies, the violation and violence, the peculiarities of culture - always at the heart are ordinary people, and there is just life, being lived: tables and bread and toilets and scissors and cigarettes and kisses and death; just life." - on The road to Damascus by Claire Messud.



"How the audience affects a performance, how differently we behave when we know we are being watched. True authenticity (...) required  an absolute nearly  spiritual denial of the audience, or even the possibility of being watched." - on The Provincials by Daniel Alrcón.






 

 

 

 

 

Macao revisited ...

As I was looking for some old photo albums, which I haven't yet been able to find (in the numerable paper boxes "protecting" some of my old memories from the flow of time) I came across two photos dating back to 1997 that I wanted Pricilla and Azevedo to look at, following our recent getting together evening.

 

 

Despite the fact that eighteen years have gone by since this photo was taken I still remember that moment. Azevedo, his wife and I had gathered with the Air Traffic Controllers to be on a beach site for an organised barbecue just three days into my Macanese territory arrival. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sally, Pricilla, Azevedo, Shirley and myself (from left to right).

 

 

 

 

Azevedo and his wife Sonia had booked three public grills on Hac Sa, Coloane island (which I had considered amazingly interesting at the time) and the students had brought along Portuguese imported sardines (to honour us with) to be cooked (the Macanese way, which meant they'd be spiced in a different way and later dipped in honey before being grilled).

I do remember the girls (I included) were offered some sort of welcoming gift (which I am looking at as the photo was being taken) upon reaching the site. It was an incredible afternoon, in which we started getting to know the students and the local habits. That initial "approach" would later prove to be precious in regards to the teaching-learning strategies.

 

 

 

I am particularly fond of these memories, one of the reasons being the fact that it was my first ever Asian trip, as well as my first experience in terms of teaching Chinese speaking students, whose mentality, learning rhythm and committement to the learning itself strongly differed from the one of our Portuguese and African students (I was used to).

 

 

The first group of Macanese Abinitio Air Traffic controllers (on their last Aeronautical English classroom day).