October 19th Hello--It has been a while!
I probably should not be writing
right now. I have had a heck of a day.
First grades are due tomorrow so of course I have put things off and have much
to do. I spent yesterday (Sat.) at
school from 9:30 am until 3:00pm. For
the first three hours I was helping with MUN, then a student asks for help on
his college essay and of course, I cannot refuse helping him. I got most of the
grading done, so I am in good shape for Sunday. I leave at 3:00pm to get a
mani/pedi and grocery shop. After going out with friends for dinner, I am home
by 10:00pm- a good book and bed welcomed me.
Up on Sunday to finish. The day starts out good with three phone calls from
home and a quiet 8th floor office. Then the “ I thought it was over”
monsoon rains come… and come.. and come..
I take a break and hike home through water up to my knees. I go back to school with water up to my
knees. A truck passes me as I walk and the wake it produces gets my shorts wet up
to my butt. I work on comments and get so frustrated. My Mac will not allow me
to cut and paste, so I power up the Dell.
The grade book program takes five minutes to load ONE student; I quickly
give up and go back to the Mac. I type the same things over 40 times and then
add a personal comment for each kid that goes a line or two. Frustrated, I try the Dell again which does
allow the cut and paste option only to find the grade book page will not even
load this time. I know the IT guy thinks I am an idiot, but I swear it is not
me! So I give up and go home thinking the water has subsided. NOT. I trek
through the water and see little bubbles forming a foot from me---- something
is breathing down there and I do not want to know what it is! I then pass what
I think is a centipede- (they are dangerous right?) and proceed to start
screaming out of disgust. I make it home only to find a giant roach (everything
is looking for higher ground). I pop open a beer- if I can’t beat them at least
I can dull my senses a little bit. OK- I am over it. I would much rather talk
about travel.
My brother, Suzie and Rebecca
have left but we had a great ten days.
First, I pick them up and through the rush send all three of them off to
the hotel in a taxi I have hired (Mr. Go To) and I take a standing taxi that is
just waiting at the airport- alone. Mine goes to the wrong place so they are
waiting for me when I arrive. I so wanted to be with them when they saw Yangon
for the first time. I wanted to see if their eyes were as big as mine when I
left the airport. Paul and Suzie relax for a while (at The Shangri-La) and I
take Rebecca to my house to drop off her luggage.
I think my favorite thing that
Rebecca said is, “Oh, you guys have a hot tub?!” She said this when she looked at our water
reservoir (picture to follow). My second
favorite thing was after she took a shower she said she forgot and opened her
mouth under the spray, “Would she die?”
I know she said this in jest, but I have to laugh- and worry a little
she would soon get “Burma Belly”. I
order some Shan noodles, green tea salad and Linn’s special chicken from our
local take out for my guest and waited until the “shopping hour”. We head to Bogyoke Market. Not very good
planning on my part but it is not like Yangon has an on-off tour bus waiting
for us. All were so tired even promises
of jade and rubies could not pull forth energy. We cut our tour short (not so
short that they missed experiencing the “little girl”, that we decided is
actually married with a baby, who calls everyone sister or auntie and tries to
sell .50 fans for 3000 kyat or $3.00). We head to Sukura Tower for a view and dinner
and then call it an early evening.
The next two days I keep them
running….and sweating….and tired. We end the tour with a chili and corn bread
kegger party at our house so they can meet my friends. All in all Yangon proves to be a good city
for company.
Bagan: I have not been to Bagan before this trip so
I am super excited. I take my first hot air balloon ride, my first out door
shower, tour my first remote village (complete with one solar panel), see a hooch
stil, and see a sunset, a full moon and an eclipse all in one day! We tour pagodas (although there are over 2000
that are hundreds of years old- we only hit about ten) and take a sunset
cruise. Bagan was all I thought it would be and more. The history was amazing
and it has not yet become over run with tourists. I am surprised at the lack of Americans. We hear Italian--which each time I meet one I
say, “ I’m Italian!” expecting an instant bond (I think my brother got a little
tired of hearing that), and other Europeans as well as several different Asian
languages. The locals are not yet jaded
and enjoy the influx of cash we bring to their community. There are the infamous children peddlers who
are trying to sell their wares- one good strategy they use is to ask our name
as we enter the boat; they make conversation. The after the sunset boat ride,
we exit and all of a sudden, these young ones are saying, “Trish, do you want to buy…” or “Rebecca, you can buy this for…” At the next stop, Rebecca said she is
changing her name to Paul.
Inle Lake: Our next stop is Inle
Lake. This is my second time here but is not any less beautiful. With as hot as it is in Myanmar, I think it
is the wind on the lake I enjoy. I am a little disappointed because as we get
into open water, the fishermen pause, lift their leg with their net and a photo
op is made. This time we stop, take the photo and I tip the men as they pose. I guess my “money shot” from last time is not
so unique and on the other hand, you can’t blame them for capitalizing on the
opportunity to earn a little cash. I wonder, however, what it will be like five
years down the road. On this trip, we are able to catch the Paung Daw U
festival. After 18 days of taking four
Buddha images around to the 14 villages, they end by delivering the golden
Buddhas back to the pagoda. For four
hours we watch leg rowers boats racing, boats with ceremoniously dressed girls
singing and best of all- people. All the locals were out for the festival and
quite a few tourists. We all have to
battle a photography club from China for spots. I feel inadequate with my 150x
lens (not).
Kalaw: It is so fun watching Rebecca, Suzie and Paul
bond with the elephants. How unique it is to see these magical beasts in a safe
habitat (the elephants- not the humans). I’ll have to say, it was probably my
favorite day. Everyone let his or her inner child emerge and just have fun.
Miles of smiles as I like to put it!
And finally, Ngapali Beach (labeled by some as the world’s most underrated beach). It was
just what the doctor ordered. If you are
counting, that is three airline flights for me and about nine for my guests.
Reading, laying in the sun and massages are a welcome respite.
Saying goodbye is so hard. I think a visit made the fact that I am so
far away even more of a reality, yet I am so thankful to have had them here.
Reflections so far:
1. Gifts: All of my company brought me luggage care packages. It is so fun to get things from home. Upon returning from vacation, I got into bed
to the most comfortable sheets in the world (thanks Suzie!!). Everyone benefitted from the chili packets
and the corn bread. It was such a nice piece of Texas in Myanmar. And there is
nothing more delicious than Lamm’s chocolate turtles. Now if we could figure out a way to ship Blue
Bell ice cream- we might have a problem getting me on a plane.
2. Living abroad verses vacationing: I love a good vacation but to really get to
know a place and to “experience” all it has to offer, I think a person needs a
good month. So many times I try to pack
everything into one trip- the first time I traveled Europe I did five countries
in 14 days. I might have over done the itinerary for the clan. Jet lag is a
real thing. It is hard to take
everything in when all you really want to do is sleep for two days straight.
The old adage is true: Less is more.
3. We stayed at really nice resorts (well three out of four were
nice). That has pros and cons. Pro- it is comfortable, you are well taken care
of and can get just about anything. Con- with all these amenities, sometimes
you lose the desire to explore. I think
one needs a healthy balance of both worlds. With most of my past year’s
vacations being of the budget kind- it certainly was nice to be pampered.
4.
But... to be pampered, it takes
those who are not. Each day on the
beach, I watch a woman with a basket picking up sticks—all… day… long. I guess it was her job to make sure the beach
stayed pristine. How sad is that?
They're herrrreeeee!
