People do workshops here in style!
Sometimes a workshop feels more like a three-course meal interrupted by some talking than what I’ve come to known as an all-day training in the U.S. There is always a break mid-morning (10:30 a.m.) and a break mid-afternoon (2:30 p.m.), in addition to lunch. And when I say break, I don’t mean a bathroom break or just coffee.
A break is practically a full-on meal-- it’s been spring rolls and cake for a morning snack, it’s been a bowl of soup and mohinga (a traditional noodle dish) for an afternoon snack. And it’s not one item or the other, it’s both.
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| Morning Snack Day One |
The snacking at our two-day Mock Trial Workshop in Dawei has topped it all.
Delicious Myanmar and traditional dishes that I can’t resist. Eating every hour and a half pretty much makes me feel like I’m just stuffing my face the whole day. I have forgotten what hunger feels like. One perpetual food coma :)
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| Morning snack Day Two |
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| Lunch |
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| Afternoon Snack Day Two |
Dawei has been amazing change of pace. It's not on the tourist track at all. A small sleepy town down the Southeastern tip of Myanmar, the first thing I noticed after I landed was the quiet and all of the palm trees. Compared to Yangon, anywhere seems quiet and traffic-free, but I am always struck by the absence of those things that I have become accustomed to in Yangon. It feels very different from Monywa in Central Myanmar also. In Monywa, there were leafy trees and it looked relatively dry. Dawei is very tropical, green, and humid.
One of the unique aspects of our trip to Dawei is how different the Law Department is here. The law department is very small and as a result, the students, teachers and the Professor Head are like one big family. Dawei University has only about 120 law students whereas law departments at other universities may have 1,500. The Professor Head is a warm matriarch with her teachers and students always buzzing around her. Even the Rector (the Head of the entire university) came and had lunch with us the first day.
Visiting Dawei University felt almost like visiting a long-lost relative. The Professor Head had two students take us shopping to pick out longyis, which were her gift to us. She had a teacher take me to pick up some personal items.
And then on the last day, the law students and teachers who had participated in the workshop and us all went to Maungmagan beach (about 45 minutes over the hill). She had everyone over for dinner at the bungalow she was renting with some teachers for the night. It was so unpretentious and reminded me of my huge family gatherings back home.
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| Little crabs make these beautiful fireworks in the sand |
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| The view from my room |
Everyone was so hospitable and warm that we were all sad to go back to Yangon. Freda and I stayed at the beach the last night before heading back to Yangon. It was like breathing a big sigh. The water was warm and the beach uncrowded. Local guys played soccer at dawn and dusk.
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Photo Credit: Tim Dickey
Dawei's International Team: Freda, Tim, and Me |
I'm really loving going to these cities that are just normal functioning towns, not tourist spots.
I can tell by by the loud evening karaoking that this is the real deal Myanmar.
And the fact that there are monks staying in the beach front rooms a few doors down. I suppose monks should get to enjoy the beach also...
And then on the last day, the law students and teachers who had participated in the workshop and us all went to Maungmagan beach (about 45 minutes over the hill). She had everyone over for dinner at the bungalow she was renting with some teachers for the night. It was so unpretentious and reminded me of my huge family gatherings back home.
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