Castle in the Clouds- A Teacher's Adventure in Myanmar and Guatemala: From Shwedagon to Margaritaville

Week 14- First of November: From Shwedagon to Margaritaville

This week I am keeping with my goal of getting out in the city a little more- sometimes on accident and some times on purpose. It was a three-day workweek. The last two days of the week are for parent conferences. All the secondary teachers are spread out in the cafeteria and the concept is that the kids and the parents come in to discuss the first quarter progress. Like all schools, many more elementary parents showed up than secondary. I had most of my 8^th grade kids and parents come in, but only a few of my juniors and seniors. Once again, I am taken back by the beauty of the moms and the jewels—oh, to have a gem mine all to myself! Much of the time, I feel like a mime because I am trying to bridge the language gap. I love your daughter, becomes “I love your daughter.” And then I enthusiastically draw a heart over my heart. ‘We are reading independently.” Is followed by my hands in an open book. This is probably not necessary, but through my ESL training, I know it helps. Plus, I am sure I am entertaining the teachers who do not have a parent at their station. I have one dad that is so proud of his daughter he has a grand piano coming in from Japan. My mind quickly goes to, “Wait a minute- You can get a grand piano delivered over here and I can’t even get my kids to send me a care package!!” Another parent and I have a full conversation (with her daughter translating) about meditation. I tend to fall asleep when I meditate. I need to try it again since I have slowed down a bit from soccer practice with my boys three nights a week and tournament weekends. She demonstrates, and I say I will try. Goal number two for November. “Clear your mind and the rest will follow..” I think this is a song.

So Friday is a work-day since I only have a couple conferences set up. I plan on getting everything graded and the next two months planned out. I get one month planned out, grade half my papers and get some fun, quality talk time with my colleagues. I just love talking with everyone and more importantly, asking questions. One woman and her husband are here and have been teaching overseas for over 20 years. They raised both of their children overseas and now one is here also teaching. What an interesting life they have lead. Sometimes, I wish I had done this much earlier. Sometimes, I want to become a recruiter for all of my young teacher friends and just shake them and say, “If you love to travel- this is where it is at!” (I know that is a preposition at the end of a sentence but I have poetic license). Other times, I think I did this at the most perfect time. The time where I still have the energy and love for teaching, but have burned out on the bureaucracy of it all.

Because we do not have school on Thursday/ Halloween, it is celebrated on Wednesday at the elementary school. I love being at a school with little kids. They are beyond cute- especially on dress up days! I come in and there are decorations all over with buckets and cauldrons on the tables—but wait—no candy! What? No candy? It is not Halloween without candy. I quickly mention my objection and am told that the candy will be placed in the buckets later and everyone (elementary kids) has a scheduled time to come through and trick-or-treat. Add that to the list of things I miss- opening the door for trick-or-treaters. The good news is I do not have to miss soccer. On Halloween I go to the soccer game (and kept the stats I might add- although I used my own system that I need to explain to the coach who I am sure will be disappointed) and it is like old times.

Yay! The weekend is here. I wake up early to do a four-hour tour of the Shwedagon Pagoda. We start at a breakfast place and had traditional Mahinga (fish soup). Personally, I would have gone for pancakes and bacon, but when in Rome…I left most of mine. We then go to a smaller pagoda and watch as the men in our group got to go in and place gold leaf on the Buddha- for some reason women are not allowed in this shrine (I even got too close to the door and was quickly stopped but the guard- all I wanted to do was take pictures!). I could go on a diatribe about this but will honor the culture and say nothing. Skip this next part if you do not want some history.

Next the Shwedagon: Let’s start with the important stuff: The topper is called the diamond orb. It is called that because it is topped with a 76-CARAT diamond! Down from that, there are another 4,351 diamonds with a total weight of 1,800 carats. Dang- that is some major karma someone acquired. Next, the “umbrella” is 43 feet, weight in gold is ½ ton and has 83,850 jewels. The total weight is 5 tons. The reason for all the pomp and circumstance is that this pagoda is supposed to house the relics of four Buddhas who had attained Enlightenment – Shwedagon, the Reliquary of four. The last Buddha whose relics were obtained was said to be Gautama Buddha. In 600BC, he was said to be traveling in seven directions and was offered alms-food. As thanks he gave them four strands of hair as a blessing. The King who took the hair, added it to the other relics and built the shrine of 66 feet welcomed these merchants. As the years progressed, more rulers added to he height and beauty of it. There are three other pagodas and eighteen big images of Buddha (reclining Buddha, Jade Buddha etc.). Eight sides exits so that each of the days of the week are represented (Wednesday is divided into two parts). That is the short version. It is an interesting place. The long version is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shwedagon_Pagoda

We end our tour with a visit to the fortune-teller. I am bound and determined to skip this part because the last time I did this I obsessed on finding a Hawaiian shirted man at a soccer game who was truly to be my next husband. I sit and listen to the fun things everyone else is told (Courtney will have her best year at age 31; Graeme will marry soon; Frank should hang out with younger people and not spend all his time with his wife; his wife should work for six more years (she was planning on retiring in two- she was bummed); Scott will get a promotion; I don't remember what he told Charlene- but it was good; Jody should be in the world of art (she is an art major) and should play the lottery with all 9’s and she will win. So after a few, “Go on Trish”, I gave into peer pressure. I think God will forgive me, but I do not know if I will forgive myself. Me- I “do not have luck in the men department and should plan on spending my golden years with my younger sister. I will be lonely” I do not have a younger sister! Well, doesn’t this just SUCK with a capital S. What a quack (I say this after my mood was altered for about 30 minutes).

A nice meal followed by some pimping,a hour long taxi ride home- man I need these taxi drivers to listen to me (But the tour of the city was nice) and I am in bed by 10:00pm. (I skipped the Halloween boat party because A. I imagine myself drinking and falling into the yucky river and B. I figured it would be a young crowd and C. I imagine a boat party in the US and then go back to my vision of the pirate boat) as I hear the story the next morning and yes a rusty barge was their chariot.)

Sunday I wake up and help a friend find a wedding ring. Jewels are mined here, so the prices are good. I wish I liked jewels. I do plan on buying something, but will wait until I know what I am doing. The shopping was successful; she will love what she is having made.

Next, I go with people to the American Club to see if I want to join. Ohhhh, I am in food heaven. I see brown sugar, popcorn, Cheetos. I see spices, vanilla, green chilies “Oh my”. I ponder the decision. Do I spend the $200.00 so that I can take great things to pop lucks? Do I spend $200.00 for the year membership and hope I do not get into the old habits of cooking with processed foods? Do I spend the $200.00 and trust my cravings? I have lost 20 pounds so I say no- but do leave with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and a diet Dr. Pepper! and the club served up the best margarita I have had in months-- well, the only margarita I have had in months!

Reflections:

1. I came to Yangon knowing I did not like Asian art and knowing nothing about Asian history. I still do not like all the gold, but am learning to appreciate the art and certainly the history. I still will not change my house décor back home but will buy little things that will remind me of this journey.

2. They say we are in the cooler time of year. I do not know who names these seasons, but this is not cool. I think I took the wonderful lakes and rivers of Texas for granted. We should appreciate the place we live and sometimes become a tourist. Perhaps seeing these things we see everyday through the eyes of a tourist, will make them special again.

3. I think I want to become a photographer when I grow up. I wonder how one makes a living at that? I need to find all the cool buttons on my camera and explore the techniques.