Min ga la ba from Myanmar :)

Min ga la ba! I'm not really sure how to put into words the intense and all-encompassing love I have for this country. I'm not even sure I understand it myself. Being back in my favorite country brought back so many old memories as I made so many new friends.

We docked in Myanmar just outside Yangon at about 3 in the morning but we weren't allowed off the ship until 7:45. As I waited to be let off the ship, I found time to just stare out into the Yangon river. I was reminded of the beauty of the country as the familiar morning haze took over my sense and I stared at a grey world. I spent the first day wandering the city with Valeria, Kelly, Myla, and Deanna. We left the ship on the first shuttle and I spent the 2 hours ride to the city center asking them what their least favorite color was and why. Yes, I am *that* person in our friend group.

Once we arrived and got off the shuttle by the train station, we began out a scavenger hunt for an ATM. Thanks to the shop keepers nearby it was a quick find the closest ATM which, as usual, was lined with SASers waiting to pull out some spending money. Like always, we waited in the line, only to find out that half our cards did not work. This is actually not surprising as in most countries there tends to be at least one person who's card gets declined. After we all finished - successfully and unsuccessfully - we began the walk towards the city center and the rainbow bank - City Bank. On our way we met a nice man who asked us where we were going - pro tip: never tell someone you are going to an ATM, rather tell them you are wandering the city or headed to a park. But, as we all know well, traveling is a learning experience, and learn we did. The man came with us to the ATM and, once we were finished (successfully!!) waited to ask us if we needed help getting our next destination. We respectfully told him no and bid him farewell as we headed towards St. Mary's church - the biggest church in Yangon.

St. Mary's church was beautiful, and as usual, Myla was so obsessed that it prompted a quick photo shoot in front of the church. We stayed there for about 10 minutes as Myla and Valeria wandered around and explored the inside while Deanna took shot and shot of the landscape and architecture. Kelly and I sat in the grass as we waited - Kelly was feeling a bit ill which is sad because she would usually be just as excited as Myla. The Myanmar Times building- the main (government) media in the country - was just across the street, which prompted my own photo shoot. Yes, if you haven't noticed we are a group of #nerds.

Afterward, we made our way back towards the city center as we walked to Independence Park. Here, we talked with local college students and some families as well. The park itself was filled with people hanging out and enjoying the nice weather as well as tourists looking for something to see. We left the park and set out to find lunch (where we would eventually get food poisoning from) and then headed towards the Bogyoke Aung San market - I found a book stand on the street and bought a book on the way!

When we first entered the market it was like de ja vu. I stood there in awe thinking this looks so familiar - it was like I had gone back in time. Turns out I had been to the same market a few years earlier, the first time I visited Myanmar. We spent quite a bit of time strolling through the market both the inside and outside portions. I even made it to the same painting shop where I bought my favorite painting which hangs in my room at home. I was so so excited which I think may have started to become annoying - oops. We finished out the day with a trek up to Shwedagon Pagoda, a famous gold Pagoda in Yangon. We were there for sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous. Little did we know as we were admiring the religious site that we would end up sprinting across the city to the bus an hour later in order to make the shuttle back to the ship. As we ran people would stop, jump out of the way, or even a select few started cheering us on. I will never forget how exhausted I was when we finally got there, poor Kelly was dying and tired and we almost lost her once but she made it!

Day 2 I had a field class for my Comparative Education class. The class was up in the air because our original plan was canceled and we were thrown into a program at the last minute. Nonetheless, it was a great day. We started by joining another SAS class for a women and development panel at a local liberal arts university called Parami. The school is extremely small - less than 30 students. We listened to the panel and then had lunch with students where I talked to two friends about their experiences with the government transition. It was a very interesting conversation and I hope to keep in touch with both of them. The boy, Twi, was interested in politics and was taking international relations course at the University of Yangon down the street. After saying goodbye to everyone at the university we made our way to the Parami monastery (not affiliated with the university despite the names).

At the monastery, we sat in on an English class with 200 students. From there we broke into groups to get to know the students better, some were training to be monks while others simple lived nearby and wanted to learn English. Even students who had started 2 weeks prior sounds like they had been speaking English for years. I was in Awe. We ended the day with the class as we had a "sing-off" where someone from our class would sing a song and someone from theirs would do the same. Eventually, we taught them row row row your boat while they taught us how to do a traditional dance. It was a great time and I learned so much from the students - hopefully, they learned something from us as well!

The next morning I woke up at 2 am to the beautiful effects of food poisoning. Luckily I had to be up at 3 am anyway for my trip to Bagan for hot air ballooning. The day passed by slowly as I managed to throw up on 4 different modes of transportation. Yet, being in Bagan again and finally being able to go hot air ballooning the next morning made it SO SO SO worth it. Between the time we left the ship until we went ballooning the next day we went to 2 local villages along the Irrawaddy River where we made our own sugar cane balls and learned about textile making as well as a local monastery. The monastery was super cool because it is located in an area which used to be filled with crime. I was able to spend a few hours with the students here and in that time we sang songs and danced to the ABCs and twinkle twinkle little star. The girls also picked flowers for me to give in an offering as they showed me how they pray - it was so fascinating tolerant about and see how excited they were to show me something so important to them.

The next morning we were up at 5 am for ballooning. The views were breathtaking and I felt like I could fly. So happy to have checked the experience off my bucket list. We finished ballooning at about 0800 and went to a local market to wander around. The market had all sorts of foods from fruits, veggies, and nuts to an assortment of meats. I even saw dead turtles and little chicks in bowls. It was a scene I'll never forget.

For lunch, we went to a local restaurant (which I soon realized I had been to before) called Sanon. The restaurant has student employees for training to help locals get on their feet. Employees live and work there for two years before entering the workforce with a job elsewhere. It is a great program with even better food! Yet eventually we had to make our way back to the ship.

I signed out of the program early, after the flight back to Yangon but before we finished the trip to the ship. I went to a local hostel in Chinatown, Yangon called Little Monkey. It was an amazing hostel - super safe and super cute. It was my first hostel by myself and it was definitely a success! I sat in the lobby and talked to other travelers as I connected to wifi to download some more shows and new music for the next leg of the sail to India.

I went to sleep in my little cubby and woke up the next morning refreshed. I walked through the streets towards the main market and the mall across the street. Before I got there I walked through local street markets with food as well as a local textile market. Here I discovered that the vendors at the tourist-y market actually buy their goods from this bulk textile market down the street and then resell the clothing and shoes to tourists. It was an interesting concept and as I walked through I definitely got some weird looks - oh well. Eventually, I met up with Jackie and we wandered the market before running into Brendan and grabbing lunch at a small place a friend recommended. The food was great and while I didn't have much of an appetite since I was still feeling the effects of the food poisoning, I managed to eat some sticky rice and soup as well as taste a local beer.

I think it is safe to say that Myanmar, you still have my heart!!