Rangoon Continued

On Friday (December 12), I went to the Aung San Bogyoke Market early to pick up a few pieces of lacquerware. This is a huge jumble of stalls catering to locals for clothing, shoes, bags, food and other dry goods, mixed in with arts and crafts and jewelry aimed at the (few) tourists in Rangoon these days. The sheer volume can be overwhelming. The vendors are feeling the downturn in business, and for the first time I was hassled a bit, but it was nothing compared to other countries and it didn’t bother me much. Lunch found me again at the home of Ba Hla Thein, and I was delighted with Burmese dahl curry (lighter and less spicy than the Indian version), paratha (Indian flaky fried bread), sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, and fresh sugar cane juice on ice. As is typical for guests in Burmese homes, my hosts did not eat with me, and instead sat with me while I ate (alone!), pressing more and more food on me. I was so stuffed; I did not eat again until the next morning.

On Saturday (December 13), I put on my one longyi (traditional long skirt) and Dr. Htwe Lay picked me up and took me to a special Christmas program for the children of the Adventist church that they had out at Kandawggi Lake. The children were all very excited, especially when Santa Claus (times 2) showed up and handed out presents. I couldn’t resist snapping off a load of photos of the kids as they sang and danced. Dr. Htwe Lay then pressed me to “tell a story” to the children to close the program. Uhhhh, I stammered in response, I don’t have any stories! I am not around kids much these days and my mind came up blank. The 3 Little Pigs, do they know that one in Burma?? Then I realized that my father’s story of growing up poor in a small village outside Rangoon might resonate with the kids and Dr. Htwe Lay agreed. I told the story and she interpreted, embellishing with local details. The lesson of the story (there had to be a lesson!): WORK HARD. When we finished the story we revealed that the little boy who worked hard and grew up to be a success in America was my father, much to their surprise.

So far I have not mentioned the heat, which bearable in the morning so long as there is shade. In the afternoon, even the shade is a bit stifling, and I would retreat to the air conditioning in my room, unable to muster the energy to take on this frenetic city. My feet looked like pink sausages and I was glad that only flip-flops were required to go anywhere. Luckily, my sister and I did a lot of sight seeing when we were here before, and I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.