A Busy Week

The week of 9-17 was crazy.  Everyone was in high spirits because it was convention week in Yangon.  Monday we had people over after the family WT study.  I did a different job every day because of people being gone for this and that.  We home workers got an official tour of the site:

Look, WALLS!!!!

Wednesday evening we didn't have meeting, due to the convention.  So some of us got together and went downtown for an evening out.  As we left our gate we saw the snails were out:

Told ya they were huge!  We went to the same place that we went to the previous week after meeting.  We had pizza and played pool.  I had a couple amazing shots, and the rest were something less than that..  I think Matt started out super impressed, and then it all went downhill.  He started saying things like, you are supposed to hit SOMEthing.  Hmm.  It was still fun!  Outside we spied a cat having a catnap.. What are the chances?!?

Friday was the first day of the convention and with most of the workers gone they used the opportunity to turn the water off and do some plumbing work.  In the laundry we got everything washed by 10 am. We started at 7 though and had to miss breakfast. We made up for it with a long tea time in our house after we had the washing done. The kitchen was mostly off duty but a few sisters had made plans for a special BBQ lunch for the workers that were left.  Rob manned the BBQ:

The results were YUM!

Matt was one happy camper!

We finished up a bit early, especially in laundry since we started early.  In the evening we prepped some food for dinner Saturday.

Saturday we met with some friends at J Doughnuts and had a nice visit.  In the afternoon I went secondhand shopping with Vynka in a very hot building.  We scored some good deals.  I was supposed to look for shirts for Matt but I ended up with 3 skirts, 3 tops and he got a tie.  That's how the cookie crumbles! Honestly I DID look for shirts for him, but the only one I found was in centimeters and I don't know how to size things in strange measurements like that!  Later I found that it would have been the right size.  Oops.  I was totally wiped by the end of it though and ended up heat-sick.  Which cut our dinner party short.  Matt had to finish making the food and I didn't feel better til long after the guests were gone.  On the upside though, the curry was good and at least they DID get to eat.  I still felt bad:(.  You have to pace yourself here, the heat just takes it out of you!

(Just a side note on how hot it is here.  I don't just get heat-sick all the time.  It takes alot.  The last time I remember getting heat-sick was 10 years ago when I hiked down and then back out of the canyon next to Twin Falls, Idaho with only one medium sized bottle of water in like 95 or so degree heat in the middle of the day.  So.  Compare that act of stupidity to simply shopping, inside I might add, a VERY HOT building.  That gives you some perspective on how hot it really is.  I'm just saying.)

The next day we slept in, I was still tired from the heat the day before.  We had intended to go to the whole day of the convention but ended up only going in the afternoon.  We only knew the name of the center but the taxi driver knew it too.  We only had 2500 kyat to our name, that was all our money and the driver took pity on us.  We rode to the convention in air conditioned comfort in a clean cab with an English speaking driver.  I'm telling you it was a gift from above.  Seriously.  Otherwise we wouldn't have made it.  We made it in time for the drama and the rest of the afternoon.  We didn't understand anything (except a few words) but it was thrilling to be there.  I have never been to an international convention and this is as close as it's going to get for me I think.  I loved it!

It was neat to see the drama again, even though we couldn't understand it this time around.

For the second part of the afternoon session we sat with the sign language section and were able to understand more!

After the convention we went home on the bus that was rented for those from Bethel, but not before we took some more pictures!

Me and Hkatom, one of my best friends here.

On the way home we sat in traffic for awhile and I got take a picture of a boy selling flowers.

When you are stopped in traffic here people walk amongst the cars selling things.  These flowers are very fragrant and  they use them as air fresheners in the cars.  They can be used to offer at the shrines but it's OK to buy them just for scent.  People sell other things too like betel nut, cigarettes, maps and books.  Sometimes beggars will come to the car and ask for money.  No matter where you are stuck in traffic there is always something to see around here.

A Full Weekend

Something that is a pretty regular feature here is the market.  We go frequently to visit with people and don't forget the shopping.  Saturday 9/15 we went to the market with Nuah to check out some places.

 Matt saw an interesting poster at the markets:

Don't know if you can see what it says, but it is a chart of foods that you shouldn't eat together.  They are rated according to the side effects.  Vomiting. Dead. Etc. The people here take them quite seriously.  In fact there used to be one in the kitchen.  Good things to know. ;)  Mentos and Coke isn't on there though.  I find that strange.

Our taxi had seen better days, although that is true for many taxi's here.  This taxi was quite unique with the driver's unusual seating arrangements.

On the way to the supermarket we passed the place that Matt and the guys get the electrical whatsits from:

So many have been hospitable to us here and after we had been here awhile, er 3 months, we finally tried to get it together and return some hospitality.   At first you are just so tired that it is just hard to organize anything.  Plus people invite you over all the time so there isn't time to plan.  Then after you settle down a bit you realize, hey, if I want to hang out with people, I'm going to have to step up!  So I splashed out with a new recipe, Thai Green Curry. It was pretty good!

My first one, so I had to take a picture!

Sunday I had arrangements to go with KitKit shopping.  We walked up to a shop and on the way saw a momma dog with her new pups:

Later we went to Hledan Market to drop off some material for dresses. It was my first time into the depths of this market.  Its very interesting to look around.

Mission accomplished, we returned home for another week!

Goodbyes Again

When we got back from Bagan we had to say goodbye to Andre and Heidi.  We say goodbye in style here in Myanmar.  We had a goodbye trip (that was to Bagan, and they went on to another place when we went back to Yangon).  We had a goodbye tea-break.  We don't skimp on snacks either!

Egg-rolls and sticky rice too!  The egg-rolls I like.  The sticky rice, well, I am trying to like it.  I want to like it.  But I am not there yet.  The tea-break was also for Kyaw Min who has been on construction since the beginning but who moved to another assignment in Bethel.  We miss him on site!

Kyaw Min, Morris and John our overseer.

That evening Andre and Heidi had organized an auction for their surplus things they didn't want to pack back to Australia with them.  Brian played the auctioneer and the rule was, whoever had their hand up first wins the item.  Some items were very popular.  Like this one:

Yup, that's a J.Lo CD.  And who wants it?  The boys.  They love them some J.Lo songs.  Laughs all around!  Other items were so popular that they inspired competitions!  I mean, demonstrations of strength.  The french press for instance.  It was so popular that the sisters did push-ups for it.  I could have beaten them all but didn't want to run out of steam and embarrass myself.  Later that night I checked to see if I could have and I did.  Rats.  Next time, confidence and go for it!  You wouldn't think that re-fried beans would be worth arm-wrestling for but as this picture shows:

They are!  Morris won after a championship round.  No party would be complete without some live music:

In case you were wondering I won a packet of chili powder.  I had my eye on that can of coconut milk but Sandar beat me to it.  Grr!

Thought you would like to see a picture of the progress.  It's different now but as we are proceeding in order..

We were awoken earlier that week by a massive rustling sound and boom.  Turns out a tree had fallen over in the neighbors yard.

We are in the white house.  Picture taken from roof of new building.

I was excited at first since it meant the stupid birds weren't right outside our window in the early morning.  Then the sawing started. To cut up the tree. It lasted a month and a half.  Then they started rebuilding.  Still no sleeping in.

Wednesday after meeting we went out with some from the congregation for the final goodbye!  Here are the girls:

 Well, it was almost the final goodbye because then we said actual goodbyes the next morning.  No pictures of that.  It is hard to say goodbye to people you have become so close with and have worked and lived with for months.  I don't even want to think about when we will leave.  Nope.  Too hard.

They made it home safely and hopefully we will see them again on a later project!  One thing about it, you always run into people again sooner or later!

Bagan, Day 2

Well, Day 2 in Bagan was much tamer than Day 1.  We had a little bit of a lazy morning.   Took some pictures of our view.  Now, remember how I said that the people live and work among the ancient ruins?  This is just an example.  Also, this is still our view from our ROOM!  Now, all of you know I don't like to brag, but this picture is pretty good. At least, I think so.  I am just waiting for the offers from the major magazines and travel books to pour in.......Crickets.....Huh.  Maybe not.  Oh well!

Then after breakfast we hired a horse drawn carriage. Oh yes we did.  For the day.  It was SO COOL!   We clippety clopped around and were passed by this clickety clackety tractor.  He was so happy to be passing somebody.

We went back to the Golden Cuckoo Laquerware shop since one of our friends had missed it the day before and like I said, you don't want to miss it.  It was great though because we learned more this time around.  This picture is the progress the same girl had made since the previous day, as shown in my previous post.  So intricate!  She may have worked on other pieces in the meantime, I don't know but it certainly would require such patience, concentration and good eyesight!

One other bonus about returning again was I got a second souvenir!  One for each visit dontchaknow!  This time I got a bracelet from the special shop in the back.  It was the cheapest  thing in the pricy section and all I could afford anyways.  Matt got the hint after I kept aimlessly sorting through the bracelet bowl and trying on this and that and asking his opinion.  Then I'd wander away, and somehow drift back.  Ahem..  I do love my bracelet though!  The way they make it laquerware is so detailed, I have tons of pictures and I would love to show them on request but I don't have time to get into it all now.  So if you want to know, feel free to ask!  After not one but 2 visits to the Golden Cuckoo we are pretty  much experts.  Almost.  Minus the artistic creative genius bit.

This is the front of the shop.  Check out the cow cruising through!

I just realized I got excited over a cow.  Must have been away from Wyoming too long!  Around the time we left and saw the cow it started to rain.  So we sought shelter and food.  Our poor driver tried to find shelter too but he got soaked.  I felt terrible for him.  But he kept smiling!  He was a great driver, we had such a nice day.

We checked out the view from one more place before we headed back to the hotel.  I found a bird to take a picture of for my dad.

Here is the view:

As we left the last site I almost got attacked by a vicious dog.  Fortunately I was able to get away unscathed, thanks to my amazing reflexes and the aid of an obliging local.  We crowded in the back of a little truck for the ride back to the bus and off we went.  9 more hours on the bus.  2 toilet stops.  One of which was very questionable.  I don't want to talk about it. 2 persistent snorers, very persistent.   Arrived at "ridiculous o'clock" in the morning.  Taxi drivers tried to rip us off again, reasoning with us that they had been waiting since eleven at night for the bus.  So naturally we should pay you more, because you don't have the sense to come for the bus when you know it will be there rather than 5 hours ahead.  Anyways.  Rant over.  We got home and were able to sleep a bit:).  That concludes the Bagan adventure! If you come to Myanmar, you might not want to miss making your own  trek to Bagan! ( Although if you have the cash, you could consider flying.  The bus is totally fine, and I recommend it to all who are interested in saving some money and don't mind the adventure of it.  But if you have the money..... )  We had a great time and would go again, given the chance.  It was great to see how normal people live here, outside of the city that is.

Til next time!

Golden Cuckoo to the Golden Sunset

After very nice conversation over a yummy lunch of Thai Green Curry we headed out for more sightseeing.

 

By the way it is pronounced Bah-GAHN.  Just in case you were wondering.

Our first stop was a laquerware  workshop, of which there are many in Bagan.  Traditional Myanmar laquerwear is an amazing process that take months to produce one piece.  It's very intricate and delicate work.

 Each detail is carved carefully by hand.

 The artistry is amazing.

 I will not go into all the details, I would like to but I am afraid we have been a little short on time lately and so I will share the highlights as I can.  However, if you ever visit Bagan, drop in at the Golden Cuckoo Laquerware Workshop.  It's well worth your time!

Bagan is set in a plain that is littered with hundreds of stupas, pagodas and temples that are centuries old.  It is absolutely unlike any other place I have ever been.  It felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie!  In fact, It would make a great place to set a film!  I will share just a few pics with you.  This is Ananda Paya.  It is almost one thousand years old. 

 

Notice the excellent droolage on this ancient statue:

 

 The temples are scattered everywhere and the people live and work among them.

 After seeing a few of the more important structures we raced to the Sunset Pagoda to see the...you guessed it....The Sunset.  The name kind of gave it away.

And it was a beautiful sunset!

 Recognize these two adventurers?

 Told ya it's like an Indiana Jones movie.

Well, that was the end of, ONE day.  Yes, all the adventures from the bus to the sunset took place in 25 hours. Ok, one day and one hour.   Phew.  We were a little tired.  I lie.  We were totally wiped out!  So we went to bed (after a nice meal with a puppet show)  and the next day came bright and early!

Mt. Popa and the Monkeys Who Live There

We drove up to Mt. Popa to see the view over the valley.  We didn't get to the exact spot we wanted (we figured that out later, oh well!) but we still had some nice views.

 

 We went into the village area at the base of the large rock you see above and saw the local wildlife.

 That's right, free range monkeys. The place was absolutely crawling with monkeys. At first we were all thrilled and snapping pictures right and left of the monkeys.  As you can see we got some good pictures.  Then we realized that they are pests and annoying.  Fun to look at on the one hand but seriously gross on the other.  They look cuter in the right setting.  On the plus side, it was the first time for us to see monkeys in the wild!

We took in the view that we did have and did a little shopping in the town.

 

Then we headed back down the mountain for lunch and more touring.  Oh ok.  One more monkey picture. 

 Patti, we thought of you the whole time we were hanging with the monkeys.  We know how much you love them.  Wish you were there with us;D