Feb 25 Getting ready to go into port
in Burma (LJ & SK—Have you found in on the map yet??)
Today we will dock in Burma (or Myanmar) later than we were supposed to. Apparently, there is a dredging operation near Yangon (or Rangoon) due to silt filling it in and also something about tides making timing everything. Burma is about the size of Texas with 60 million people. How many people live in Texas? About 70% live in the rural areas and there are more than one hundred languages! That's even more than Texans have! But, Burmese is the official language and not one of mine....
This will be my last post for awhile
since the government blocks out Internet. Apparently, this happened
in China earlier in the trip.
After World War 2, the local people
didn't want to be part of Britain anymore, and there was a struggle
for independence. One of the famous leaders of that struggle was
Aung San, and he was killed by the ruling military only six months
before the country became independent in 1948. His daughter, Aung
San Suu Kyi, promoted democracy too, and she was placed under “house
arrest” in 1989. Even though she was under house arrest, she still
won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for leading the effort for
democratic change. Aung San Suu Kyi is now a part of the new
government that will go forward with a democratic process. Both
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama have been here
since the reforms have begun to take place.
Almost 90% of the population are
Buddhists, and if you want to get ahead in the government and
military, you better be one—even though the government officially
says there is freedom of religion. Buddhism believes in “karma”,
a force generated by one's actions in the present life. They believe
good deeds bring good fortune and evil bring bad fortune. Being
considerate of others is a general attitude in Burma—especially
pointing out mistakes made by Nana's and other seniors. In fact,
most people bow slightly when they walk past the seniors (or the
elders) as they call them. Sounds good to me.
A young woman, Pann, talked to the LLL
and told us that every young person of the Buddhist tradition,
remember this is almost everyone, has to become an nun or monk
sometime during their growing up. It can be for any amount of time,
but it means that they go into the monastery and have to get food for
the day before noon by standing outside depending on people to put
food in the bowl to feed those in the pulmonary. When people put the
food in the bowl, they should not touch the bowl. Pann did this for
a week when she was seven years old! SK—You ready for this??
LJ—You still have time! It's kind of like going to camp with no
food served....BTW--When Obama came to Burma, the streets were so packed, Pann had to watch it on TV. She took a picture of the TV in order to get a picture of him!
Pann said primary school is free, but
you need to pay for high school and beyond. Both Burmese and English
are required in school, but you can take other languages as well.
Pann graduated from college majoring in English and now works for a
tourist company. Tourism is beginning to be a thing here because the
country has finally opened up. Pann wants to create and own a
company that is her's only. She and her father live in the same
neighborhood as her grandparents, but they don't live with them.
Although dressing like we do in the US
is common in the cities, many who live in the rural areas still dress
in the traditional style—men wear an ankle-length, wraparound
sarong tied in the front, shirt, round-neck jacket, and flip flops.
The women wear and blouse with the sarong tied on the side, In the
countryside, farmers wear the conical hat (like the doll from Vietnam
LJ has) and go barefoot.
Most people eat with their right hand,
but forks and spoons are used in the cities. Each person gets a
plate of rice or noodles (LJ & SK—does this sound great?) and
chooses from a variety of food in the middle of the table. Nana's
and other elders are encouraged to eat first! Using the left hand by
itself is considered impolite...(Must be tough on the lefties here).
Burma is an extremely safe country except for the snakes. We were advised to wear closed-toe shoes! No problem for me!
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