An e-mail I sent home….
Thingyan was a blast. The government requires payment to set up stages in every city where neighbors water hoses to splash people who walk by or INTO cars as they drive by. People deliberately strip down their cars in preparation, leave their windows open, get into a super slow line to get hosed down, and go through the same routine at every single stage. The whole city is chaos sitting down for a meal is impossible without getting drenched. Without turning your back, it’s evident whether you’re being hit by a local or foreigner; locals use bottles and buckets. Foreigners use water guns that shoot only at close range. My friends and I bought water guns. Ultra conservative Burmese blast rock n’ roll, dance on trucks, relax in trunks of cars, and get drunk, while the country soaks for 4 days. There’s a stage on almost every block.
I hung out with a couple from the guest house, hopping onto the backs of different trucks and getting sprayed down. I laughed off a marriage proposal from a boy in a passing truck who guzzled from a bottle of Johnny Walker.
I met a little boy who’s parents own a mohinga stand at the corner of 33rd and Aung San Road. He’s 8 years old and we’ve got standing dates for ice cream everyday on Mahabandoola. I was trying to give the family some business, so I basically ate mohinga or noodle salad every single day - several times a day. I’ve been bringing everybody I meet. Cheap (100 kyat a bowl - the $ is trading at about 800-850 legally.) When I left, I gave the mom a gift, and she gave me something that cost her 900 kyat. 9 bowls of noodles……a ton of money here. Her son protects me from getting hosed down everytime I walked out the door. With his little arms spread out, he walks ahead of me shouting in Burmese, “Leave her alone! She’s my friend!”. He also lectures me on how foreigners often get taken advantage of, especially in Mandalay. The stand has been in their family for over 60 years….They’ll most likely still be there every time I go to Burma….
I stayed at the monastery in Mandalay again. They’re an large, ultra conservative institution, that is well taken care of by the community. The pongyis and kuoyin rarely leave the compound, don’t handle money (so you have to hold it for them when you go out with them). No adornments (sunglasses, watches…), etc. I told them I wanted to go to Maymyo and they wanted to take me, so we stayed at one of their relative’s house. I got a personally guided tour of all the attractions up near there…caves, water falls….They paid for everything…including things I bought. I wasn’t allowed to take out my wallet. They were so happy to see me and basically took care of everything from arranging for my train ticket back to Yangon (while I was in Maymyo) to making sure that I was eating about 5 times a day. Of all the time that I spend here in Burma, being at the monastery with the monks feels like home.
On the flip side, also went to a monastery in Yangon where the pongyis were smoking outside. They about America, women in bikinis (they got on the Internet when they visited other monasteries abroad), and my relationships…..humourous contrasts in discipline.
K. Logging off. I’ll mail again in a few days. Checking bus schedules
to get out of BKK and onto Mae Sot for the real journey ahead…..