Peace, Burma

 January 11-12, 2011--Bangkok, Mae Sot (border)

1.11.11

The Burmese, being a superstitious people, tell me this'll be my lucky year with all those ones in my birthday. I have to admit though, spending it alone in a foreign country where I don't speak the language was a little underwhelming. Your virtual bday love was thus much appreciated--texts, emails (with and without adorable pics), etc. I'll get back at ya when I'm in the states.

This trip has been an interesting peek into my...heritage, for lack of a better word. Seeing all the places where my parents used to kick it, meeting relatives I didn't know I had. My parents' date spot was super romantic--right by Kandawgyi Lake, complete with shady tree, lily pads, and a view of Shwedagon and the floating restaurant.

From an analytical (but not technical) perspective, Burma to me, is like an onion. In trying to get at the heart of what's going on with health care, the government, and the people, I've found that there are several layers to unfold and that each one gets not only closer to the heart of the issues, but also a little more complicated and at times, disturbing, to see (thus, the tears).

I talked to family members from Yangon, villagers en route to Mandalay, and people from UNICEF, getting a slightly different perspective from each. Everyone seemed to be more optimistic than the situation calls for, and although some were more candid than others, everyone seemed to display some restraint in what they were willing to say aloud. After talking to people here in Thailand, I'm not surprised given that most people believe 3/4 Burmese people are government informants. My Thai contacts have been a lot more pessimistic, or perhaps, realistic in their descriptions of the health situation, particularly on the border. But more about that later...For now, I'm going to give you my top fives from Burma.

this pagoda had some 7,000 mini-temples

Five things I learned from Burma:

1. "Pole Star Fashions" doesn't necessarily imply anything scandalous befitting pole stars.

2. A motorcycle is an awesome, rather romantic way to check out the scene. Less so, of course, if you're hanging onto your dad's cousin instead of your man (or woman or whatever), but I'd recommend it anyway.

so good, so spicy

3. Trying new, mysterious food can be fun, but avoid biting into a big chunk of something with chili without first having something readily available to tame the ensuing fire in your mouth. (Apparently, fresh lime juice with sugar works great.)

4. The greatest compliment the Burmese can give your looks is that you must be an actor/actress. Take for example, the kids from the island paya. I should also add that they prayed for me to have enough money to buy a Pajero, which I didn't know was considered the utmost in luxury.

5. If you give someone money on the street or in a pagoda, you best be ready to hand out dolla bills to everyone else within 30 seconds. I probably spent more money handing out these bills than on anything else in Burma. I guess I'm kind of a sucker when it comes to that.

the wishing bell thing...they echo all over the pagodas

5 Things I Miss (excluding people):

1. Spinach, Trop 50 Blueberry Pom juice

2. Running, yoga, boxing, swimming (aka gettin back on my game)

3.My bed (these hard ass beds suck) and scented candles

4. House and DesHos

5.Mani/pedis, massages, and blow dryers (aka gettin my groom on)

Five favorite things:

1. Food (minus the pool of grease and sugar)

2.Sunsets (best I've seen not over water)

3. Shwedagon Paya

4. The gold pagodas everywhere and the ancient ones in Bagan

Tata Temple

5. The stories behind the pagodas. Tata Temple, for example, (not its real name) was built in response to a challenge by the king. At some point, she had tripped, revealing her tatas. The king then instructed the present men to construct a pagoda in the likeness of her breast, and that whoever succeeded would get a prize. Naturally, the one who did, was killed. The other cool story I can remember explains the presence of lions in all the pagodas. Legend has it that the princess was one banished to the forest for "being naughty." If I were to interpret my family's speech, I would say this implies something sexually oriented. Anyway, the princess somehow got pregnant by the lion in the forest and carried the human baby to term. After the king died, the people decided to look for the proper heir to the throne by following a magical carriage that moved on its own, with the crown placed on top. This carriage rolled itself throughout town, and into the jungle, finally stopping at the threshold of the little cottage where the banished princess and her young son lived. This boy was then brought back to be king. As he got older, he started wondering who his father was. When he found out, he was so embarrassed, he killed the lion. Afterward, bad things happened. (I can't remember if it was that he was sick or having nightmares or something.) He consulted the monks who told him that he needed to pray to his father to make these bad things stop. Too proud to pray to the lion, the king asked for an alternative. The monk then suggested that he build statues of lions in front of the pagodas so that when he went to pray there, he could indirectly pray to the lion. And so, lions stand guard at pagodas to this day. Pretty silly, but interesting all the same.

Five things I won't miss:

shrimp eyeballs. ew.

1. These hard-ass beds

2. Eyeballs in my food

3. Foot fungus-breeding grounds. Everyone has to be barefoot in all the pagodas...including the one built into an extensive network of limestone caves...no sunlight, lots of drippy water, lots of stanky feet. Ew.

4. Squatmaster toilets

 5. censored internet

my grandparents' graves

palm candy aka sugar (Dad smashed my fingers in the car door)

Tanaka is this paste made from some type of wood. They use it as sunscreen, but ready-made containers of the paste call it "skin whitener." Pale skin is all the rage.

Dunno what it was, but it was pretty good.

yeahhh, check out that bling. the market is packed with jewelery.

the youngest at all pops' parties, by at least 30 years

Pomelo, or whatever they call it...so good. I had five huge ones

This poor owl was so scared. They trap them, then sell them to you to let free...which I did. Ha.

Dad's old office