Navigating with my hands...

I'm getting really good at charades.  That's what happens when you find yourself in a country in which no one speaks English and you don't speak a lick of their language or anything similar.  I'm currently in the country of Myanmar (Burma), in a small village near Inle Lake.  I don't think I've ever been this removed from society and it is both liberating and isolating.  The isolation is compounded by the fact that it is the tourist low season, and as a result, there are less than a handful of tourists, in other words, its me and the locals.

Its a truly exciting time in the country of Myanmar.  Their transition from a traditional closed society to a free and liberated one is happening at the speed of light.  A year ago, there were few cars on the road, solders on every corner and a general lack of freedom.  Today, there is a sense of liberation in the air.  People talk about whatever they like, they are allowed to visit any webpage they like and there are pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi everywhere.

With all the changes however, somethings still lag behind.  The only note of currency available is the 1,000 Kyat, which is approximately worth 80 cents.  So as I write this there is 180,000 kyat in my pocket, which means a stack of 180 pieces of oversized paper.  The country is one of a couple in the World that is not part of the international banking system, which means ATMs are non existent.  Because it is a cash only society, can you imagine buying a computer? car? house? When I say bags of cash, I mean bags of cash.

The biggest annoyance is that while yes USD are accepted, they have to be in pristine, brand-new condition.  Any tear, discoloration or even bend, renders it worthless.  Out of the 25 twenty dollar bills I brought, only 3 were usable.  Luckily my cousin changed the rest out for me.

Myanmar, while closed off to the West for the last couple of decades, has not been closed off to the East.  Development has been occurring here, unbeknownst to us, at a constant rate due to the efforts of China and Malaysia. This means to say that there is a fairly decent infrastructure for a country that just emerged from a several decade rule under a military junta.

As a 6 foot, 220 lbs black man, the stares I receive here are numerous, but its different than other places where I have experienced them.  People here just seem more perplexed than anything else.  They really want to meet you, but the language barrier is almost insurmountable here.  Its actually frustrating for both parties as we want to get to know each other, but charades can only get you so far.  Most interactions I've had so far have been pleasantries and smiling. Lots of smiling.  

One of the more interesting aspects of staring that I notice with people here is that it is interpreted as a positive thing.  In the States, when someone stares at you, our reaction is, "wait, is there something on my face?" We assume that kind of attention to be negative.  Conversely, here the assumption is "wow, what about my face are you admiring?"  I think we all should strive to see the world like the people of Myanmar.

Tomorrow I venture to Lake Inle to see the floating villages.

Til next time.