at the time........

Days in and it feels like a lifetime….

Sun Mar 13. When I wandered this morning, the first thing I saw was the young boys, who do an obligatory year at a monastery, walking through the neighbourhood market collecting food in their alms bowls. In this way the monks are cared for by the community.

Occasionally as you walk down the streets you find a pile of cooked rice often with veggies on the sidewalk. At first glance I thought, litter, then with the frequency I thought feeding the stray animals in the generous caring for all beings that is the way of Buddhists. And today I was told that this can be about feeding the evil spirits outside of the fence or gate of a property. How cool is that?

To arrive in Yangon with eyes open has been interesting. On first blush there is more English signage than expected and simultaneously less spoken or used in day to day life. Our hotel is amidst a vast maze of street markets. Fried pancakes, fresh meat, household goods, foods of all varieties. It is rather hard to talk about the food two days in because I have just come from gastronomic heaven in Bangkok. But of course the rice base is wonderful under a variety of vegetable and meat dishes yet to be described. Spicing is somewhere between Indian and bland – more savoury than sweet – heavy oils, fried. Lots of noodle stalls. The average meal in the street or in the small local restaurants costs less than $3 or 3,000 kyat (pronounced chat)

Thurs Mar 17. The HIS is a very interesting school. It is part of the Gulen charter school network. In the summer school many students are from community schools, delightful children who are not able come to HIS for the regular school year for one reason or another. Some have come from far away states to stay with family for the summer. I am working with teachers from England, Wales, US, New Zealand, Australia, Phillipines, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, India and ex-pats from Thailand. Many of the younger teachers spend their time traveling and teaching in Asia. This summer job is a stepping stone to Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and further travel. Some are deciding whether they wish to stay on for the year or not. There is a high turnover of Western teachers in HIS (1-3 years). Now these truly are gypsies! A new concept – the western people who get a teaching English as a foreign language certificate with no other post secondary education are hired on par with those with full degrees and are called backpackers – they are a sore spot in particular for teachers from other Asian countries as there is quite a hierarchy in pay scales in most schools.

Everything I had heard about the Burmese people being lovely and wonderful is true. I walk through the street market outside our hotel daily and people are beginning to call out and say hello, some even are bravely trying their English. We have had unusual heavy rain (and cool, thank God!) and there are some ladies on the corner who were chastising (teasing) me for not having an umbrella. After all the time in Mexico, Punta Cana and even Bangkok it is great to be here and not made to feel like a bank or a target. People notice and may greet us politely but there is not attempt to engage beyond a sort of friendly neighbourly manner. The only hawkers or hustling vendors are the young men who guard the doors and collect the fares for buses and back of truck vans calling and shouting to compete for riders – strictly local. What a treat to find such a beautiful country and virtually tourist-less culture in place. It is not odd to have a restaurant attempt to return a tip that they feel is too generous. May you all be able to travel where tourism has not spoiled the interest in the human behind the appearance.

I haven’t been able to figure out the street systems or maps here – nothing is labeled and signs are in the curly Burmese letters if there is one at all. But I do walk, any time of the day or night. I have only heard the monks wandering through the streets ringing their gongs at 4 in the morning once but I haven’t gone out to follow yet. Within a 15 minute stroll from the hotel I have found two evening Muslim schools, three Hindu temples, several Buddhist temples and Pagodas, simple foods, three supermarkets, two malls, many many car repair and tire shops, slum tenements and new condos. I am constantly astounded by the humble existences on the street literally around the corner form some very high end furniture and clothing stores. Lots of supermarkets with everything I could need for household or food though I don’t think Monsanto is here. Food is fresh and local. Products are recognizable but not labels.