The Museum of Game Balls
Barry Lopez · Mānoa/Mānoa · 2010
On the afternoon of March 17, 1997, a small DHL express package from Savannah, Georgia, arrives at the estate of Patma Loomalatma Quirquawaddis if you're a guest there, he prefers that you call him Patti a few miles north of Yangon, Myanmar. The estate grounds comprise fourteen hectares of landscaped lawns and formal gardens and include about a dozen outbuildings in addition to the two-story, Tudor-style manse. The property is almost entirely surrounded by rice fields, and in 1993 Mr. Quirquawaddis made it his principal residence. The package has come from Yangon by pedicab. A member of the household staff, I could see, received it and signed for it. He comes into the room where I am seated right away, to alert Mr. Quirquawaddis. It seems from my host's reaction that the arrival of the package is something he has been anticipating, but he gestures the servant away and continues our conversation.