Awakening: Five Days in Burma Part 2

The soundtrack, just in case you love it as much as we do, or want to hear the song that goes with all the random lyrical interjections.


Every Nation Church Yangon
We spent a little extra money on airfare in order to fly back to Bangkok on Sunday night instead of Sunday morning.  Our reasoning was that we wanted to be able to attend church in Burma before we left.  We got the contact information for this church from a friend who had previously attended there.  What a privilege it was to worship with them!  There is an Every Nation church in Bkk as well that I attended once and really enjoyed.  It was awesome to witness what God is doing in Yangon.  Basically every person there outside the pastors had come to know Christ through this church, primarily through their English outreach program.  I had the opportunity to talk to one girl who came to the English program and came to know Christ 7 years ago after finishing high school.  Since that time her brother has also become a believer and they are praying for the salvation of their parents.  We met many other young people with similar stories and spent time talking with them and the pastors about the challenges their church faces.  While the government is somewhat tolerant, they were shut down a number of years ago and have had to start over.  In addition to worshiping in the house of God and hearing a sermon about being dedicated to the cause of Christ, we were also able to connect with people and get information on how we can continue to pray for their church and for Myanmar.

For the world You love
Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me

Aung Sang Suu Kyi's HouseOne thing we wanted to do while in Yangon is see Aung Sang Suu Kyi's house, where she had been under house arrest for so many years.  On Friday afternoon we were looking for a taxi to see if someone would take us there.  A taxi driver stopped for us, even though he already had a passenger in the front seat.  I'll just drop this guy off first, he told us, just right over there.  We laughed and asked him if he could take us to Aung Sang Suu Kyi's house.  Her house?  Why?  We told him we just wanted to take a picture.  Pictures?  No.  No pictures  But you can look.  We agreed, and after dropping off this other dude, we headed up there.  Funny thing was, after we turned down her street, he told us to get our cameras prepared and he would give us a count of three to take pictures while he drove past.  He made one pass, then did a U-turn to head back towards downtown and we had a second go.  All you could really see was the white wall around her house and a row of flags sticking up above the wall.  As we went back passed the driveway, an SUV pulled out with two men riding in the back.  Our driver told us that these men were democracy party leaders, very high up.  My friend gave them a Thai wai and he waved back- but the best part of all was our driver's exhilaration!  After we took the pictures and this guy waved to us, he was all giggles and shrieks and goose bumps.  It was fun.

In Your presence
In Your power
Awakening

"Blending in" 
Living in Asia is very different from Buenos Aires: I can't hide, can't blend in, no matter what I wear or how I carry myself.  It has its pros and cons.  On this trip, we all stuck out, which made me feel a bit better.  One thing we noticed right away, and asked our guide/friend Lilly about was a yellow 'powder' that many women (and even some men) wore on their faces.  What is it?  What is it for?  It's a bit like make-up apparently, but one that is worn not only for beauty but also for sun protection. Ahhh, smart.  (As a side note, this is another umbrella-in-the-sun carrying nation, even more so than Bangkok.  While I hadn't brought my umbrella, I did frequently wear my sunhat without shame.).  We decided that we wanted to get, and wear, some powder too.  Easier said than done.

On Thursday we set out to find the Myanmar Compassion Project HQ in order to hopefully connect with a children's home or two.  We had an address, but the phone number we had didn't work, so we and our taxi driver did teh best we could he eventually dropped us off at a spot that he said was the address, and we got out.  There was a shop there, and a vaccination clinic, but no MCP.  We walked down the road a bit to look for it, but soon decided to head back.  We tried asking in the shop for directions, but the language barrier proved too much.  We did, however purchase some of the yellow power from them :)  It came in a small rectangular block, like a bar of soap almost.  We weren't sure how to use it, but at two for 20 cents it was worth the risk.  Next we stopped in at the clinic to see if they could help.  We had to wait there for a bit, so we tried out the powder bar, much to the amusement of the girls who worked there.  They did come to our rescue a bit to indicate that we needed to put some water in our palm and rub the bar in the water in order to make a yellow liquid and spread that onto our faces, not just rub the bar on directly as we had first tried.  We still couldn't get it to work all that well though.  Once all the people there had gotten their shots, the nurse (only one who spoke English) came out to talk to us. She was extremely kind and helpful and got us pointed in the right direction. 

Within a few minutes we had arrived at MCP and were greeted by one of their English teachers, Chan Chan.  She told us that a team had gone out to one of the homes that morning and would be returning Friday night.  They didn't usually send teams out on the weekend, and we were leaving on Sunday, but Chan Chan agreed to arrange some visits for us on Saturday.  We were thrilled.  We then were invited to join her for lunch at the small shop/food spot next door.  What a treat it was to not only spend time with her but also to have a translator help us with food!  After we finished eating, we asked Chan Chan for help with our powder.  The people at the 'restaurant' were incredibly entertained by our laughter and feeble attempts.  But man, did we have a good time!

Chen Chen shows us how it's done.

Chan Chan was very brave to let some American girl put the powder on her face! 

Saying good-bye until Saturday!

Blending In, Part 2
I think the very first thing I noticed about Myanmar, even before leaving the airport, was the skirts.  Everyone was wearing them.  And by everyone, I include the men. Here's a picture with our driver from the airport to our hotel to illustrate:

All the skirts were long, ankle length, and straight.  The men's skirts seemed to be one large circle of fabric that they would knot in the front.  The women seemed to have to varieties, one that I couldn't quite figure out and another that was a wrap around.  While exploring the market on Thursday afternoon we each picked out fabric for a wrap around and had them made (15min each) while we had tea/smoothies.  On Saturday, when we met back up with Chan Chan to visit the kids, we wore our skirts and our powder- we did find an easier form of the powder at the market and used that instead.  We still may not have blended in at all but it was neat to see people's reactions and appreciation for what we were wearing.  Saturday, as we ran around, played with kids, got up and down from the floor and climbed in and out of cars, buses, and the back of a pick-up truck, may not have been the most convenient day to wear our new skirts, but it was probably the best day culturally.  Plus, if I'd been wearing anything any shorter you'd have been able to see the sweat running down my legs.  Bonus for me. 

 Heading out from the hotel in the morning

We felt a bit like penguins at times, but I really enjoyed my new look!