"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." ~Confucious
...and here I am in Burma!! Just to get a few things of my chest. $1,000 Myanmar Kyats for 60 minutes Internet use (EXCUSE ME?!!! Yeah it's equivelant to $1 USD but it's not the point! It took 20 whole minutes to get online! Yes I knew this was going to happen if I had access to a working computer, etc but it is still annoying. Dang us American and our high speed everything!!!)Anyhoo....
First let me begin by telling you how my first few days in Southeast Asia has been. I had to take a later flight from Bangkok to Yangon because I was NOT going to leave without my backpack but more importantly the $60 box of supplies (cost of what I paid to get onto the plave) that my woderful friends had donated to the orphanage (apparently my things were never from transferred over from my last flight) anyways whatev. So I spent nearly all my $60,000 kyats bcause I am a sucker for those less fortunate thus why I am majoring in Nonprofit. So a buck here and there and my mama is going to kill me-although they have already to Western Union funds to me if need me. Lets hope it won't have to resort to that!! These folks/kids are relentless! Funny but true story that happen earlier this afternoon. So 3 older ladies came to me asking for me-I had a $100 kyat and $200 kyat which I gave away to the first 2 older ladies. Then a third woman came and I come on, it would have not been fair if I didn't give her something!!! Needless to say the only bill I had (accessible at the time) was a $1-the other two lady gave me this murderous glare and held out thier palms AGAIN!!!
Now-you know the whole sterostype thing about Asians driving all crazy and what not, well my dear friends it seems like the norm around here. The driver I had that drove me 4-5 hours to get to Golden Rock Pagoda and the orphanage average driving speed was 100mph on a VERY narrow, overly crowded with pedestrians and moterbikes. Back home in America the average would be 20-35mph depending on what your surrounding is!!! Speaking of-the 4 wheel vehicle is the king of the road!!! These people LITERALLY make thier own roads!!! You've got hundreds of peoples crossing the streets in between passing cars!!! There are NO stoplights and pedestrians crosswalks and there is no usage of car signal!! It is mayhem here!!!
AND let me tell you about my crazy ride on a OPEN TRUCK on my way to Golden Rock. 45 minutes on a steep, winding, unsafe mountain road. Basically they lay planks out for people to sit on and you are hanging for your dear life!!! Speaking of-they have these buses full of people sitting on top of the roof, hanging on the front, side and back of the struck. Insane!!
However, through all this madness-Burma is absolutely enchanting, unspoiled and surreal.
Until then ALL MY LOVE TO YOU,
Anna Shenikki
