Myanburmar

The country we just visited is a combination of so many things. Even the name is complicated. The official name of the country has been Myanmar since 1989, however, it was called Burma for hundreds of years before that and is still referred to as Burma by much of the rest of the world. We spent one afternoon and evening in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), which is the largest city and near where the ship docked. Early the next morning, we left for a three-night trip to the Ngwe Saung area (prounounced "Wee Song"), which is right on the ocean on the western side of the country. 

Contrasts I noticed:

• Spectacular pagodas covered in real gold gilding, alongside tiny wooden homes with no electricity or plumbing
• Friendly, open, welcoming people who live in a tightly controlled country
• Beautiful, healthy children attending schools without walls
• Many western tourists visiting a country which has been closed to much of the world until very recently. Transportation of any kind, whether on tour busses, airplanes, or local bus/train was challenging, slow, and sometimes very exciting. On the last day, we had a police escort for the tour busses coming back from the beach to make it to the ship on time. 
• "Our" Nobel laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who now has the freedom to travel the world on the Semester at Sea ship, met with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese Nobel laureate, who was under house arrest in Burma for 17 years. See http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/02/27/tutu-meets-love-of-his-life-suu-kyi-in-burma and http://www.semesteratsea.org/news-from-the-helm/

Things we did:

• Visited the Shwedagon Pagoda (see picture of gold spires called "stupa" below).
• Rode elephants! (2nd pic)
• Visited several schools, including one where we were representatives for a monetary donation from Semester at Sea to a 600-student elementary-middle-high school in Ngwe Saung.
• Assisted an SAS student who is donating 500 soccer balls during the voyage donate several to the schools visited. Jr especially liked assisting with those gifts.
• Followed the recommendations of our hilarious and warm guide named MoeMoe to visit a lava island, great local restaurant, bonfire with locals, and taste all kinds of UEO's (UEO=Unidentifiable Edible Object).
• Purchased Burmese-style attire in the market on the way to Ngwe Saung. Wait until you see Sr's longyi. It looks just like the one the fellow on the bike is wearing below (2rd pic). Yes, he wore it every day at the beach and you will see it at bike races this summer.
• Swam in pristine, warm water on a white sand beach.
• Learned that body surfing is best done with the chest, not the face (Dave T, you would be proud of Sr's face at the moment).
• Said "Mingala-ba" to everyone we met in response to their friendly greetings of same. It means "auspiciousness be upon you" and is pretty much the Burmese equivalent of "Aloha."