A Post At Long Last

Note: I wrote this post on approximately June 1^st. I never got it posted because of the internet censorship that I will speak of and because of time. This will be the first of several retrospective posts on Myanmar. Following that I will blog about Malaysia where I have only just arrived.

First, I would like to apologize for the absence of an update. When I arrived I discovered that the internet is much more difficult to find and to use than in the United States. I was mentally prepared for this possibility, but I wasn’t practically prepared. First, the internet is hard to find. Wifi is but a distant memory now. Once you find it, it can be costly. Of course, it is not really all that costly in terms of the United States—only 2000 kyats (said chats with a long a) which is the equivalent of 2 dollars—, but on a limited budget getting on everyday or even every other day adds up. Second, the government controls internet usage and has blocked blogspot, so I offer my apologies again.

Well, on to greater things! I have few words to express the immensity of the beauty and power of my experience this first week, especially when compared to my troubles before arriving. So, in order for you to understand how freeing this first week has been I will present you with a list of my problems before arriving:

1. I was scheduled to fly straight to Singapore on May 18^th and visit Alicia Ong, Quack, and Isaac Chua for around a week but was forced to reschedule my flight and miss that first week going straight on to Myanmar May 28^th because my passport with Myanmar visa did not return to my house until Thursday May 21^st.
   
2. This next one isn’t really that bad, but it definitely affected my psyche. On the way from Houston to Moscow there was a VERY loud two year old Russian boy who would scream the scream of 1000 dying cats if the Chinese Malaysian woman who works in Cincinnati who was sitting beside me did not make faces at him. Needless to say I got no sleep.
   
3. When flying from Singapore to Yangon we had to land in Phuket, Thailand (quite a small, boring, and cold airport I should interject) because the pilot said we had a leak in our right wing. Well, when we disembarked it turned out he had candy-coated it a bit. Our engine had leaked most of its oil and was actually on fire when we landed. Really? Come on! We had to wait in the airport for nearly 8 hours waiting for a replacement plane to take us to Yangon.
   
4. When I arrived I realized that I had forgotten to withdraw the full amount of money that I had intended to. Cultural note: there is no banking system here. This means there are no ATMs, banks, credit cards, credit card machines, or wire transfers. So I was very, very much in trouble.
   

With all of this hanging over me I landed in Yangon International Airport at around 6 pm local time. Then I began to experience the culture. What a beautiful, colorful, unique, and diverse country! In this first week I have attended two house church meetings, learned enough Burmese to get around town decently, visited the giant and interesting Schwedagon Pagoda (Wikipedia it and be jealous), developed an tool for the assessment of the Methodist preschools of the Methodist Church (Lower Myanmar), assessed two preschools, led worship and gave testimony in a huge beautiful Methodist church, eaten more amazing Chinese, Burmese, Indian, Chin, and Shan food than any one person should, and attended the Global Day of Prayer event for Yangon. What a week!

There is too much to write about here but I will share a few points with you.

On arrival, both Audra and I expressed interest in the Buddhist culture here in Myanmar. Theravada Buddhism is the state religion. As such, there are Pagodas (Buddhist temples) and monasteries (and therefore monks) everywhere all the time. To reflect this interest Bishop and Dr. Mawia have decided to add a religious studies element to the internship and we will be adding a Buddhist studies and Methodist studies objective in each area we travel to. This opportunity excites me greatly!

Second, Myanmar is good for the self-image. I have been complemented and hit on here. It is entertaining and awesome. The most entertaining story of them all occurred two nights ago when the interns and Caroline Mawia (Christer and Hilary’s mother) went out to a Thai restaurant. There was a grovery store next door and I needed water so I went over. When I was checking out the most wonderful and amazing woman helped me. She smiled and giggled the entire time she was ringing up each item. When finally the total came up she pointed to it because she could not speak English very well. As I handed her the money (2000 kyats for a 1200 kyats total I believe) I said thank you in Burmese, “Kyei zu beh”. She laughed and smiled because white people/foreigners in general seldom take the time to learn Burmese. Then in the most fantastic, wondrous and magically broken English I have ever heard she said, “You are… so… beautiful.” I promptly said, “Thank you”. I then took a bow and pranced out. (Follow up: I encountered this situation at least 6 more times in Myanmar including the immigration agent on the way out. Myanmar is awesome)

Last, (if you are still reading I commend you) on Sunday morning I had the opportunity to share a testimony after leading in the contemporary worship section of the worship service at Methodist English Church. I will put of pictures of this church because it is beautiful. I think its beauty comes in its age and simplicity. It does not try so hard to be beautiful like many American churches. Anyway, I had an opportunity to share with the Myanmar Christian community a message not of fatherhood but of brotherhood. So often Christians from the united States come expecting to fix and lead the church in Myanmar. They do no need that. They need brotherhood and support. You have no greater faith or clout than any other person who bears the image of God (that’s everyone folks!). This was an encouraging message for me and thankfully it fell encouragingly on the ears of the congregation that morning.

Coming up next week: visits to Buddhist pagodas and a trip to another region, Bago. There we will experience a different part of the lower Myanmar Methodist Church and assess more preschools.