Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

SAVING FISH FROM DROWNING
tons, complemented by matching unattractive slacks. It was never
my nature to judge people solely on appearances, but I had a bad
feeling.
She stepped forward timidly and in a barely audible voice said, “So
pleasing meet you in Lijiang.” This was how the group met the stiff
and reticent Miss Rong, a name that everyone pronounced “wrong”
from start to end.
If I could have stopped this fiasco by jumping back into the living,
I would have done so. Miss Rong was not local to the area, not even
to Yunnan Province. She spoke no minority dialects, had no training
in art and culture. The one-armed man, by the way, was an excellent
guide, the most knowledgeable of all the guides. But Miss Rong was
at the bottom of a very deep barrel. She was not able to talk about
the ravishing mountain meadow scenery or give insight into the his­
tory of Lijiang, its two ancient families, the customs of the Naxi or
any of the other tribes in the area. She had memorized information
and stated the number of square kilometers, the population, the per­
centage of economic growth in key areas of industry and agriculture.
I had to hear it only once. “The old city,” she said in a heavy accent
and with the stiffness of recitation, “is protect by UNESCO. You
know UNESCO. For that reason, Lijiang will stay ancient with eco­
nomic developing, and because therefore, you can inspect the au­
thentic historical site with special law for snacks selling, tailor,
barber, and tourist traps.”
“So what’s up for today?” Bennie asked in a nervously cheerful
tone. He hoped she would improve once she loosened up. Miss Rong
began to outline the day’s activities. The more she talked, the worse
her English seemed to be. Everyone had a hard time understanding
her. Bennie pretended he did not. A discussion ensued among my
friends, led by Dwight, about changing the plans a bit, including per­
haps a bike trip the next day instead of the temple visit, and a hike
rather than the tour of the UNESCO site. Miss Rong looked blank­
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