Recollections of a trip to the Dala township a few weeks ago, which is a short ferry ride away from Yangon.
A glimpse of what our office at Ooredoo looked like before it was vacated and we were all kicked out. It was crowded, but comfortable; now we’re scattered throughout the city, scouring for internet where we can find it, which doesn’t mean much because internet connection everywhere in this country is pretty bad.
I went to Bagan over the weekend with a few the girls, and it was amazing!!!There are more than 2000 pagodas in this place, and the landscape was filled with these ancient structures. We biked hour half an hour in the dark at 5 AM to see the sunrise from the top of a pagoda. We biked till we found an empty one, took off our shoes, and climbed up the pagoda on our hands and knees.
What’s amazing is the lack of restriction; you can walk up to any structure and climb it–the only rule is that you can’t wear socks or shoes. I’m not complaining. Tourism is increasing here at a breakneck pace, and I don’t know how long people can freely scale these ancient structures. The stones are falling off the sides of them, and tourists hurting themselves will surely lead to limitations in the future. I was extremely lucky to be able to experience the rawness of Bagan while it’s still uncluttered by hordes of tourists.
A bowl of noodles for 800 kyat, or 80 cents. Even a college student could survive on food here.
Our humble abode–it’s definitely an experience living here. The other day I think we started the cockroach crusades, but the enemy has been lying low since then… The upside is that we never laze around at home because there’s nothing to do there, so we’re always out.
Khan Academy Translate-a-Thon
This was the first event I ever organized. If I’ve learned anything it would be this: don’t delay. I literally didn’t go full throttle on preparations until a week before, and my well-being suffered because of it. Still, it was a very good experience to have; it went (kind of) well, with over 80 people attending and 129 videos translated by the volunteers.
I was disappointed because I didn’t hit the metrics I wanted to, but it was my fault for not recognizing the major potential faults and shortcomings of the process. I did beat myself up over it, which I know isn’t healthy, but all I can do is use what I’ve learned from the event and keep getting better. To admit, it was pretty fun. The days passed by SO quickly when all I did was focus on this one thing–not sure how to feel about that. It felt good to work, but to have it consume you so that days just meld together wasn’t so great. I’m still trying to figure out the balance.
It’s an assault of noise, smells, and people when I step out from the apartment. There’s never a sense of stillness in this city in the morning; once people are up, they do whatever needs to be done and get straight to work.
Last weekend we celebrated Alfonso’s birthday by going out for sushi and then eating more at our boss’s swanky hotel room. He let us stay there a few days while he was in Singapore, and it was a short reprieve from our barren apartment. It’s a unfurnished two story flat that only has around 5, 1-inch thin matresses scattered around the floor. There’s no fridge, no trash can, no stove, no anything.Although we also have some cockroaches and a lizard, which make for some cool (not cool) pets. It’s not bad at all; with 9 people, it makes for a verryyyy memorable experience. It’s not like I’ll die because I don’t have any pillows or blankets. I’m loving life right now.
There’s this sushi place that we’ve discovered that provides the best value for foodeverWe ate 19 plates of sushi for $25.
$25!!!
Four of us went out for lunch, having ourselves a pre-birthday dinner, and we ate everything. Like, everything. I went there 3 times in a week because it was so good, but like everything else that’s eaten in excess, the novelty wore off. There’s always cheap street food to turn to, anyway.
The people that we’ve befriended are so friendly. I’m really glad to have met them–we’ve dj'ed a boat party, visited an international elementary school, went to a crocodile farm, and just had an incredible time because of these good, good people.
I know that I’m lucky to be with these 8 people. The continuously push me out of my comfort zone and find glee in throwing me off nonliteral precipices. I love it. If you want to grow, you’ve got to surround yourself with people make you want to get out of your comfort zone. I have never felt more restless in mine.
This place is SO interesting. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1tGibWr