Mmmm, fall.

I haven’t written much this summer. I think mainly because I wanted this summer to be a retreat of sorts, and it has been. I’ve made some good memories: camping at 11,000 feet, climbing a mountain early the next morning, lots of hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, days in Boulder book shopping and exploring, expensive sushi dinners and long afternoons at cozy coffee shops.

hike to shelf and solitude lakes in RMNP

I’ve been to a meditation sangha, joined a water aerobics class, seen my first rodeo, read lots and lots of Burmese history, and learned to enjoy country music (thank you Kelsey Walker).

kelsey and i during our last sushi dinner in boulder…

Overall, a largely uneventful and relaxing summer, and I’m so glad I gave myself the time to come back here and breathe for a few months.

relaxing at mills lake in RMNP

britani came out to visit for a week!

“Burma is at the beginning of a road. It is not the sort of road that you find in England: it is not smooth; it is not well-maintained; in fact, it is not yet there. It a road that we will have to carve out for ourselves. This is a road that we will have to build as we go along.

…Our road is one which is, as I said, one we have to build for ourselves, inch by difficult inch. And I hope that you will all be with us while we are doing this. I hope that you will understand that this road is there in our hearts and minds, but not actually there yet in real fact. And that we will need your help and the help of others all around the world to make sure that it leads to where we want our country to go.

And where do I want my country to go?

Where I want to go to, where I want our people to go to, is a place which will enable them to see for themselves how wide open the world can be, and how to find our own place in the world – which is also open enough and wide enough for everybody to be included.

…Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace. Every thought, every word, and every action that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.”

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I think this pretty much says it all, and I don’t have much to add, other than to clarify:

I’m not going to France anymore. I’ve rescheduled my flights, turned down my job, and cancelled my visa appointment.

In the past few weeks and months, I’ve come to realize that “traveling the world” is no longer at the top of my priorities, and that maybe my place is instead in one small corner of this world, in a captivating, challenging, and developing country in Southeast Asia.

I’m going back to Myanmar, because (and I can’t describe the feeling in any other way) I feel called to go there. Not by anyone, but by the hope that I could be even the slightest bit useful there, and the conviction that my life is not my own, I am part of a bigger world, and there is a need I can help fill for a more-than-deserving people in a country that has already given me more in life lessons than I know how to pay back in return.

Also, plain and simple:  I miss it. I miss the people, the landscape, the culture, the food, my students, and the lifestyle, and I’m starting to realize that me and “the West” just don’t mesh very well :)

This time around I’ll be teaching at a different school, a local school seeking to empower Burmese students, teachers, and families to pursue and carve out their own road towards peace, freedom, and happiness.

My flight arrives in Yangon late September, and I’m so excited to be going back! Stay tuned?

Alyssa

It’s the everyday things. The luxurious houses. The vehicles on the road. The clothes people wear. Computers. Gadgets. Restaurant bills. TV advertisements.

It’s my spending habits. I just moved from one of the poorest countries in the world to the richest, then immediately proceeded to spend what the average Burmese person makes in 8 months on the “necessities” I wasn’t able to purchase abroad.

In general, I think this: Shame on us.

I’m preaching at myself here more than anything, but really:

Shame on us.

Here’s a description of the average American household:

(I know this is long, but stick with me.)

“The most striking feature of household spending in modern America is its sheer volume. The typical middle-to-upper-middle-class household occupies more than two thousand square feet of floor space, owns at least two cars, a couple of couches, numerous chairs, beds, and tables, a washer and dryer, more than two televisions, a VCR, and has cable. The kitchen contains a conventional oven, a microwave, a food processor, and so many pots, pans, dishes, cups and glasses, storage containers, kitchen utensils, and pieces of flatware that they aren’ t even counted. Elsewhere in the house are a personal computer and printer, telephones, an answering machine, a calculator, a stereo or CD player, musical instruments, and many pieces of art – in addition to paintings and reproductions, there are decorated items such as vases, plates and statuettes, photographs in frames, and knickknacks. In the bathroom are a hair dryer, a scale, perhaps an electric toothbrush or shaver, and cabinets overflowing with towels, shampoos, conditioners, face creams, and other cosmetics. The closets are stuffed with clothes and shoes of all types: dresses, suits, pants, shirts, sweaters, coats, hats, boots, sneakers, flats, pumps, walking shoes, patent leathers, and loafers. And don’ t forget the jewelry. In addition to watches, the diamond ring, and other high-value items, there’ s usually a large collection of costume jewelry…”

(from The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don’t Need, by Juliet Schor)

And here are some facts:

80% of the world lives on less than 10 dollars a day.

More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.

Number of children in the world: 2.2 billion.
Number of children living in poverty: 1 billion

1.8 million children die a year as a result of diarrhea.
2.2 million children die each year because they don’t have immunizations.

1.6 billion people live without electricity.
1.1 billion people don’t have access to clean water.

And here’s the kicker…Americans and Europeans spend approximately 17 billion dollars a year on pet food.

(Statistics from Global Issues,  Poverty Facts and Stats: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats  )

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It’s funny, because I think we all know these things. We’ve heard the sermons, the guest speakers, read the statistics in textbooks, seen the documentaries on TV and the World Vision commercials. Some of us have seen how the rest of the world lives first-hand.

We know we are “privileged,” we know others suffer enormously, we know that almost no one else in the world lives and spends like us.

We know these facts.

So where is the disconnect? Why do we continue living the way we do?  If it’s not lack of knowledge, what is wrong with us?

Is it lack of exposure? Is it lack of empathy? Is it because poverty isn’t in our faces, is it because we don’t believe the facts, is it because we don’t care?

Is it because we feel too small, and too powerless to make any difference?

I think all of us, myself especially, should fear the day we must own up to our works.

Things turned out to be a bit different from my expectations, but despite this, in most ways they turned out better. Now, here I am a year later, teaching preschool in Burma, something I never dreamed I’d do.

I think a year abroad calls for some sort of celebration and reflection. So, here are the most important things I’ve learned about myself and the world during this past year in Thailand and Myanmar. They’re a bit random and unrelated, but here goes:

1)  The world is far more accessible than you think. I remember reading travel blogs before I went to Thailand wondering: But how do they do it? How can you travel from one city to the other without knowing where it is? How can you find a job and place to live in a foreign country you’ve never been to? How do you get around when you can’t speak the language? It only took 2 weeks of being in Thailand to realize: it isn’t just possible, it’s fun to navigate these challenges. People will be kind, someone will speak English, and things generally tend to work out when you’re on the road.

2)  College debt is so not worth it. I went to my second-choice university on a full scholarship, and I seriously considered turning it down to go to a school that would leave me with 40,000 dollars of debt at graduation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thanked my 18-year-old self over the past year for deciding not to take out those loans. In the ESL teaching world, a degree is a degree, no matter where it came from or how much money it cost.  Too many people my age are burdened by debt and unable to live the life they want to live because they have to work to pay off their education.  If I had student loans to pay off right now, I wouldn’t be here. Simple as that. I’m happy I had the foresight (and guidance from others) not to sign up for an education that would seriously limit me in the future.

3) Gender is a flexible concept. I’ve always said  I’m open-minded about gender issues. I learned over the past year, though, that I had a deep-seated prejudice buried under my open-minded words. I think this came, really, from a lack of exposure to different lifestyles gleaned from 23 years of life in Indiana. This all changed when I got to Thailand. In Thailand, boys like boys, girls like girls, girls who want to be boys like boys, boys who want to be girls like girls, men walk around in heels and mini-skirts while women wear mohawks and baggy plaid shirts…you get the point. Gender and dating relationships are very flexible here. And, on top of this, most people in Thailand have a “sabai sabai” attitude, and don’t get worked up about other people’s lifestyles at all. I remember watching a cheerleading competition at my school, where the captain of the team was a 15-year-old boy in a miniskirt, dancing to Shakira as all the senior administration at my school looked on, chuckling and smiling. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is this: There’s a long spectrum between “man” and “woman” and a lot of people don’t fit perfectly into one category or the other. People are people, they will like who they like and act as they like, and that’s great.

4) I want to be more generous, hospitable, and open-hearted. Today I went out with my adopted Burmese family again, for a day of sightseeing and temple-visiting in some villages outside of Yangon. I have learned so much from them, just in the short time period I’ve been here. Everyone in their family–mother, father, 2 cousins, and 2 little children set aside their entire day simply to show me around. From holding my hand as we crossed the street, to holding an umbrella over my head to keep off the sun, force-feeding me all varieties of Burmese snacks, waving a fan on me as I ate lunch, and driving an hour out of their way to drop me off and pick me up on the other side of the city…they may have gone a little overboard on the “protect Alyssa” front, but I can’t express how much they’ve impressed me with their extraordinary hospitality. I want to be like this someday. I want to be like this now, actually, but I think it will take some work.

5) I learned what I want to do with my life. And that is…exactly what I’m doing now. Traveling, teaching, and writing. I couldn’t be happier or more confident in this decision.

I think that’s a pretty good start for my first year overseas.  How about you: What’s the most important thing you have learned from your travels?

Answer: Shepherding a class of 13 4-year-olds around the zoo in Burma in 106 degree heat, trying to stop them from sticking their hands in animals’ mouths, deflecting tearful requests for ice cream, and keeping them distracted/entertained at all times to prevent a meltdown.

I really do love my students. Today was just a tad exhausting. Take a look at this shot (the boy is NOT my student):

Hippos are one of the most dangerous land animals on earth. Really?! Almost every animal at the zoo had a “feeding station” next to it, where you could pay to risk death or dismemberment by hand-feeding a giraffe, monkey, elephant, camel, or the like. Thankfully most of my students were terrified of the animals (for good reason) and didn’t want to try.

Anyhow, since I haven’t done it yet, I’d like to introduce you to the esteemed members of Pre-KG-A:

Here is my team of AWESOME assistants that do the hardest parts of my job for me:

Teachers Ei Ei, San Nu, Coral, and Cherry

And here are some of the characters up-close:

Moe Set Nyi

Thaw Lin Htet

Syt Min Khant

Romana, Thiftsalim, and Sumeyye

I’m sorry for the lack of posts lately. It’s really difficult to find a decent internet connection here, and I usually have to travel across town to a hotel to have a connection strong enough to access my blog.

That will all change in less than 2 weeks though, when I come back to the States!  I’ll be home for the summer, visiting in Indiana for a few weeks then climbing mountains in Colorado until September.  (Oh yeah, and working a bit too). I plan on heading “out” again in the fall to teach in another country. Destination TBD :)

For those of you who may be interested in coming to see Myanmar first-hand, I thought I’d type out some dos and don’ts to help prepare you for your trip:

1.  Don’t exchange money on the black market. In April 2012, the government officially floated the currency at 818 kyat (pronounced “chaht”) to the dollar, and this is close to the rate you should be offered at banks and hotels. Trading on the black market is now both illegal and unnecessary.

2.  Do be aware that politics are changing, the country is opening up, and people are more willing to talk about political issues. Don’t initiate conversations on sensitive topics, but don’t be afraid to ask locals their opinions if they open up to you first.

3.  Don’t stress about internet access. Yes, it is slow, and some sites are blocked, but you will be able to access what you need. Internet cafes abound in Yangon, and good places for fast wifi are Traders Hotel, Monument Books & Coffee, 50^th Street Restaurant & Bar, and The Strand Hotel.

4.  Do be sure your health or travel insurance has an emergency evacuation policy. The healthcare system in Myanmar remains one of the worst in the world. Thailand is an hour’s flight away for non-emergency situations, but in emergencies you don’t want a Burmese hospital to be your only option.

5.  Don’t travel by train unless you have to (or you really, really  want to). The rail system was built by the British in the 1950s, and it seems there hasn’t been much improvement or maintenance since. Unless you’re not afraid of stifling, sleepless nights, terror-inducing rocking, 12 hour delays, and bed bugs—taking a bus might be the better option.

6.  Do be aware that there are no ATMs or western banks in Burma. Whatever money you need, bring with you in perfect, crisp US 100 dollar bills (plus $5-10 for your taxi from the airport). There is no way to access funds outside of Myanmar, so bring enough money to cover your trip entirely.

7.  Don’t be freaked out by the red blood-like stains on the streets and sidewalks. They are stains from betel-nut, a chewing addiction held by many Burmese.

8.  Do watch your footing. Everywhere. Sidewalks are cracked, broken, and often missing large pieces. Many sidewalks are built over drainage systems, and you could fall in to a 3 foot hole if your eyes are not open. Avoid walking at night except in well-lit areas, for this reason only.

9.  Don’t agonize over whether to call it “Myanmar” or “Burma.” If you must know,  locals generally use “Myanmar” for the country and language, and “Burmese” to describe the people. This doesn’t seem to be the hot-button issue here that it is for westerners outside the country.

10.  Do be aware that Myanmar is changing fast, as the country turns towards a more democratic form of government, international sanctions are lifted, and tourists and developers arrive in large numbers. The best time to come was yesterday, but right now would be a good time too.