Yangon, Myanmar

Hello from beautiful Myanmar. I had no idea what to expect when we arrived here, and I truly have loved every minute of the time that I have spent in this country. This is a country that so many people from the west know so little about. The country is run by an extremely oppressive military regime that blocks most of the citizens’ contact with the outside world. E-mail accounts such as hotmail and yahoo are blocked and much of what the people do and say is monitored quite heavily by the government.

Due to our ship being docked in a very rural area we had to take a shuttle into the heart of downtown Yangon (formerly the city was called Rangoon under British rule). My neck was actually sore from turning my head so much to see everything that we passed along the side of the road. The people here are so fascinating and watching they going about their daily tasks from the bus was a little humbling. Here I am with 50 of my fellow students driving around this rural country in an air conditioned luxury tour bus, while the people are out in the 100 degree heat being watched like zoo animals. I try to remind myself quite often not to just take my camera out of my bag and take a picture whenever I feel like. Yes, I see poverty in these countries everyday, and yes I see people’s pain and need everyday, but that does not make them photo exhibits. I think there are far too many people on this ship that do not think before they whip out their cameras and start snapping away. What would it be like if foreign travelers came into your neighborhood and started taking pictures of you as you were playing with your children in your backyard? I would feel pretty uncomfortable, so I have tried to translate that feeling to the people that I come across in my travels. I try to relate to the people before I put up the glass wall that is my camera between us. Some of the Burmese people see all of the American tourists putting these sliver shiny objects up to their eyes and pointing it at them and in reality they have no idea if it’s a camera or a gun. Ok, Leah get off your soapbox….

My first day in the city was quite interesting. Four of my friends and I went into the city and explored around. We ended up being adopted by two locals guys that spoke excellent English and told us they would take us around for the day. They showed us local markets, good places to eat, and also just clued us in on some basic information about living in Myanmar. Even though they are not supposed to talk about the government, they did confirm that the citizens of Myanmar do live in a very repressive society. After they showed us around for the day we went to the famous reclining Buddha statue which was just enormous. People from all over the country come to pray at the statue and to donate money. I don’t know the exact measurements but it had to be 300 feet long.

The next day I was off to Bagan to begin my 3 day trip to this fascinating city. We took a short flight for about an hour to the rural village/town with 2000 pagodas that are dedicated to Buddha and the Buddhist religion. Many of them were built in the 11th century AD and have remained in excellent condition ever since. They are literally everywhere you look. Some are hundreds of feet tall and others are only 10-15 feet tall. We toured the city by horse pulled carts, which is the way that many of the locals get around. As with many of the ports that we have visited so far, we took a trip to the local marketplace. At the marketplace in Bagan there was a section that was selling “fresh” chicken, fish, and other types of meat. I use the word “fresh” quite loosely because the meat was covered with flies and looked like it had been cut a while ago. But hey, its all an experience, right? The highlight of the trip was climbing up a 200 foot pagoda and watching the sunset over the pagoda filled skyline. It was simply a beautiful sight.

Well I am going to keep this blog a little short, because as I write this the ship is only a day and a half from docking in Vietnam (which is so exciting because I will be able to spend 6 days with my mom!!) and I have large amounts of work to do before we get there. Classes are going well and I think I only have about 12 days of class left. It is so hard to believe how fast this semester has been going. I feel like it was only a few weeks ago that I was in the Bahamas saying goodbye for 3.5 long months and now we are in the home stretch! As always, thanks to everyone for their love and support, it means the world to me!! Keep me posted on what is new and exciting in your life. I love hearing from you. Thanks again for everything.

Love,
Leah

Here is a special hello to Mrs. Houser and her 6th grade students! I hope you all are doing well back in Pittsburgh. I will see you sometime in May when I return.