My Whirlwind "Work-cation" Begins
In my first twelve hours in Myanmar, I spent a sleepless night fending off mosquitoes; learned and forgot how to say "Hello" and "Thank you" in the Myanmar language; strolled around Inya Lake, passed a few embassies, saw the home of Aung San Suu Kyi; and attended a planning meeting for a workshop I am co-running tomorrow.
On my second pass by the front gate of her house, there were a couple of car loads of people posing and snapping photos.
So I joined the small crowd and snapped a few quick pics. On the top of the gate is a photo of Aung San, her father-- famous for leading Myanmar to independence.
One big thing that has struck me on this trip is how long it's been since I was in Asia and how it feels like such a relief to kind of blend in, in a way that I couldn't in Africa or Southeast Asia. No shouts of "muzungu" following me everywhere I go. I see my face reflected around me. On the flight over, the flight attendant kept speaking to me in Chinese. In the Yangon airport, people spoke to me in the Myanmar language. I am almost just another black-haired head in the crowd. Being able to choose to reveal your Otherness is a privilege.
Before the meeting I decided I needed to get some sunlight to try to re-set my clock. I headed along Inya Lake, whose West shores are conveniently located just a couple of minutes walking from my hotel. The Yacht Club, Rowing Club, and Boating Club are also located along the lake's shores.
As I started walking, I realized excitedly that I was also heading in the direction on Aung San Suu Kyi's house. I guess my geeky tourist tendencies (like visiting the Courts of Appeal in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Morocco) have emerged pretty quickly. When I passed the gate, I wasn't sure if I was in the right place (I mean, why weren't other people stopped?) or whether it was okay to be stopping in that spot, so I just kept walking. Despite the elections earlier this month, I wasn't really sure what was happening on the ground. As I kept going and realized I could probably see the house from the Eastern shore of the lake looking back. In true stalker fashion I swung around the lake and used my zoom lens to take this photo.
On my second pass by the front gate of her house, there were a couple of car loads of people posing and snapping photos.So I joined the small crowd and snapped a few quick pics. On the top of the gate is a photo of Aung San, her father-- famous for leading Myanmar to independence.
One big thing that has struck me on this trip is how long it's been since I was in Asia and how it feels like such a relief to kind of blend in, in a way that I couldn't in Africa or Southeast Asia. No shouts of "muzungu" following me everywhere I go. I see my face reflected around me. On the flight over, the flight attendant kept speaking to me in Chinese. In the Yangon airport, people spoke to me in the Myanmar language. I am almost just another black-haired head in the crowd. Being able to choose to reveal your Otherness is a privilege.
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