Inle lake is a serene body of water nestled between two mountain ranges in the mid-west of Myanmar. About 10 hours north of the central city of Yangon, the name, Inle Lake, often refers not only to the lake itself but also to the many villages that rest along the shore that depend on the lake for survival. A true fishing town, the lake is famous for the traditional fishermen who row their long wooden boats by wrapping a leg around an ore and using a specialized cone shaped fishing net. 

Taking advantage of a few days off from work thanks to a full moon holiday, Kim and I took the opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of city life and search for some peace in one of Myanmar's "must see" areas. We took an overnight bus through the twisting dirt roads and got dropped off at 4am at a road-side stop in the seemingly middle-of-nowhere. Blinking our sleepy eyes awake we flagged down a pick-up truck taxi, with two rows of wooden benches in the bed, and squeezed in with a couple other weary travelers. The air was cool and the sky was blacker than we have seen it in months, all signs reminiscent of the quite country landscapes we left back in Maine. 

After a few hours of rest in our sparse but comfortable room at Zawgi Inn, we woke up ready to explore. Following the advice from the aged Burmese Inn keeper, we borrowed two of his bicycles and, hand drawn map in hand, began our trek around the lake. Welcomed sites of dirt trails, stretches of green fields, and mountains in the distance, greeted us at every turn. 

After a couple hours of biking we had rode around the top of the lake over to the other side where we hired a boat to take us across. This was our first glimpse into life on the lake which was filled with houses on posts, children playing in wooden boats, and an expanse of water perfectly reflecting the sky above it. 

Chasing the sunset back to the hotel, we passed small pagodas positioned precariously next to gas stations and continued on the single dirt path back into town. It was a truly adventurous day filled with equal parts wandering and serenity and we simply could not wait to see what the next day was going to bring. 

The day of love has arrived and it is very apparent in Yangon. Shop fronts with heart decorations, bakeries with pretty cookies, red roses for sale on every corner, lovers holding hands as they walk down the sidewalk, and restaurants filled with couples enjoying special treats. Although this may sound like any western city around Valentines Day, I am speaking of the sights I saw walking around Yangon today. The young generation of Burmese just love to celebrate western holidays and Valentines Day is certainly no exception.

Kim and I don't usually do anything too special for Valentines Day. We have made the occasional meal for one another and exchanged cards or small items of sentiment but the day has always stood as more of an opportunity to have an excuse to be extra thoughtful towards each other. Since this was our first Valentines Day as a married couple and the first major holiday we have been able to spend together in a while, I thought it would be nice to start a new tradition: Valentines Day Scavenger Hunt!

The plan:
Step 1: Go to the Japanese $1.60 Store and buy each other funny gifts
Step 2: Get picnic food
Step 3: Go to the park and enjoy a quiet picnic
Step 4: Hide the gifts from each other in the park and create a note/picture/treasure map to the gift
Step 5: Exchange said note/picture/treasure map, find gifts, and laugh

What actually happened:

Step 1 went off without a hitch. We made it across town to the Japanese $1.60 Store and went in one at a time to buy each other gifts. 

Step 2 was a little more challenging. We then went to purchase some food for our picnic but when we got to the grocery store it was very difficult to find food that would be suitable for picnic eating. We were at a different grocery store than usual and had a hard time finding anything that would transport well. Instead we decided to wander the streets and pick up some street food along the way. As we were looking for something tasty we stumbled upon Spaghetti Italian Kitchen. As you probably know, Kim and I are BIG Italian fans so it was just meant to be. 

Step 3 After our super tasty lunch we walked to the park only to find a huge festival there. See today is the 100 birthday of Bogyoke Aung San who was a Burmese general back in the 1940's. He was responsible for bringing Burma's independence from the British and is well praised by all Myanmar citizens. Throughout the park there were booths selling food and merchandise, concerts, photo exhibits, tributes to Aung San, and other celebratory areas. 

While we were there we found a caricaturist who happily drew cartoon versions of Kim and me as a crowd of interested bystanders looked on. The final product is quite . . . um . . . interesting. Introducing: Gangster Kim and Long-Faced Alisa

The park was very busy due to the festival, the fact that it was a Saturday, and that it was Valentines Day. Going to the park is a favorite activity for young couples, they usually pick a nice grassy spot and set up an umbrella or two for privacy then spend the afternoon smooching and cuddling. This made it impossible to follow Step 4 of our plan because there was no way we would be able to hide anything without someone running after us to return what we obviously left behind. 

On the bright side the busy park made for great people watching. I noticed two prevalent Valentines Day themes. The first being GIANT teddy bears. Seriously, I think the requirement for buying a teddy bear for your significant other is that it needs to be at least half of their size. 

The second custom I noticed was matching clothing. All over the city we saw couples with matching shirts, or specifically designed two part shirts. For instance, a man was wearing a shirt that said "Will you marry me?" and his partner's shirt said "Yes, I do." Sometimes I noticed a mother and daughter following the trend, or two friends, or even a group of people. I tried to be sneaky and grab a few shots of these shirts as we walked through the park.

Step 4 Since we couldn't complete our scavenger hunt at the park we decided to finish it in our apartment building later in the evening. We took turns going out into the building and hiding the gifts then making our notes/drawings/treasure maps. I was giddy with excitement as we exchanged our notes and followed each other around the building. It was so fun, I think as Kim got close to her gift I was literally jumping up and down. 

Step 5 Kim's note said "It's up high, you can see gold and hear lots of noise from the street."
This led me up to the top floor of the building where we had gone up once and noticed that we could see Shwedagon Pagoda. I found a bag tide to the railing with my gift inside. Kim had picked me out a funnel which is simply perfect because I make my own juice every morning and have the hardest time pouring it into the bottle that I drink it from. She is so thoughtful.

For my note I drew a treasure map along with this riddle: 
"You will find your gift on the floor above the fifth
but don't be fooled, it's not on the sixth. 
You will know you are in the right spot
if you hear singing and see 3 plants in pots.
Behind what you would use if a fire was in sight.
Don't be distracted by Shwedagon, the bright."
I hid the gift on the fourth floor (the third floor elevator door has a 5 on it) behind a fire hose. For the gift I chose a funny Japanese game that involves a gorilla who shoots out of a barrel when a certain peg is pulled out. The last picture is of Kim's face after she finally pulled the peg and the gorilla shot up to the ceiling and hit our kitchen light. 

It has been such an eventful day. A fantastic random restaurant find, a surprise festival, Myanmar culture mixed with western traditions, a warm day in the park, a caricature of ourselves, a SUPER fun scavenger hunt, and starting a new holiday tradition with my love. Happy Valentines Day from Myanmar to you!

The biggest Fire Balloon Festival in Myanmar is located in the mountain town of Taunggyi which is about a 12 hour drive north of Yangon. I took an over-night bus up for an impromptu weekend getaway with my friend Ashley to see the festival. Being the biggest, I knew it was going to be a lot of people at the festival but I have not been anywhere in Myanmar with quite that amount of people all in one place before. If I were to guess I would say that there were probably a couple thousand people all gathered for the festivities. As we walked up to the festival grounds we were greeted by our first sighting of a fire balloon - and this one had fireworks on it! It was quite the site shooting up in the sky. (If you are impatient and just want to get to the action scroll all the way down for the video)

It was probably about a half a mile walk up to the main area of the festival and all the way up was lined with booths with vendors selling all sorts of things like clothing (traditional and modern), trinkets, gadgets, more clothing, accessories (purses and wallets), to name a few. There were a lot of warm clothing for sale especially hats and scarfs, although it was only about 50* or so people were dressed like it was freezing. I guess they are not quite as used to the cold as I am. 

Of course there was food, all sorts of food. Mostly traditional barbecue (below), noodle dishes, lots of greasy fried things, and don't forget the rice! Along with the food were the beer stands. You could get beer just about anywhere and walk around with it. Or you could pop into one of the clubs that the beer/alcohol booths had set up behind. These closed in spaces had private DJs and lots of flashy lights. 

There were lots of game booths also. There were the traditional prizes I was used to like stuffed animals or cheep plastic toys, but then there were the booths where you could win beer or cigarettes (above) or you could go straight for the bottles of liquor (below). Just make 2 baskets and it's yours! 

Temporary tattoo anyone? This man had all sorts of stamps that he lines with thick black ink that supposedly lasts for about 5 days. I almost got one but I couldn't find a design I liked. 

Two other types of booths were the monkey booth and the photo booths. When I peeked into the monkey booth I saw two monkeys sitting on hanging loops with a string attached to their legs. Ashley said that it was set up for people to pay money to see the monkeys to various tricks. The photo booth was kind of like glamor shots, where they dress you up in fancy or funny clothing, do your hair and makeup, then take your photo to be printed out and sent home with you. 

And then there was the ride section. This looked like most carnivals that I knew, with kiddy rides, jumping houses, and a few bigger power rides. What was not so normal was the fact that the ferris wheels (there were three of them) were all human powered. By that I mean that there was no motor, instead amazingly skillful men would climb up the wheel and, when aligned, would all power it by leaning to one side and using their weight to spin it. To stop it they would jump back on to the bench parts of the wheel and use their weight to pull it the other way. It was quite the sight to see these men nimbly making their way all around the beams of the wheel and swinging around like acrobats. Check out the video below for the full effect.  

  

Now off to the field to see some of the Fire Balloons up close. Fire Balloons are similar to Chinese lanterns in the way that they are lit using the hot air from fire and let off in the sky to burn. Yet this is like Fire Balloons to the extreme because these balloons were GIGANTIC!!! If I were to guess I would say they were somewhere between 10 and 20 feet in diameter. Each balloon is sponsored by a different village, organization, or company and these are represented on the sides of the balloon in writing or symbols. Besides just good fun the general idea is that you send a wish or good thoughts out into the world to get the universe to fulfill. 

But the balloons are not the only things that are lit, they are also adorned with hundreds of small candles. These mini lanterns are colored so when arranged they reveal an image of sorts. They are hooked onto specific spots on the balloon, this has to be done very quickly as the balloon is filling but before it gets too full. Lots of helpers are needed for this part.

Fire is slowly built up below the balloon and fills it with hot air to make it inflate. Many skilled people are needed to help with this part as to not burn the balloon itself. After it gets filled enough one main fire is lit under it and the sticks are removed, these are just placed aside within the crowd. The process of filling the whole balloon up takes only 10-20 minutes.

While this is happening there is also a whole other section of the balloon being worked on. This section is completed by taping wooden frames together then placing more of the colored mini lanterns on it to show another symbol of sorts. The rows of lights here were quite stunning. 

Finally the sections are attached together and lifted off. 

Sometimes instead of the mini lanterns, the balloons are decorated. These specially decorated balloons are always accompanied by a box of fireworks underneath them (instead of the wooden frame with mini lanterns). The fireworks start shooting off almost immediately and stretch right above the heads of the crowd. As you can imagine this is extremely dangerous. I later found out that the night before there was a huge accident where one of the balloons fell back into the crowd. Apparently somewhere between 1 and 3 people died and somewhere between 15 and 30 people got injured. The news is all hearsay here so it is difficult to get the specifics. Luckily all was well and good the night I was there. 

Here is the video of the full process: 

I had a dream last night that I was a high school teacher in the States. I had a class that was so unruly, distespectful, and unmotivated. They would unshamely talkback to me, purposefully do things to irritate me to test what I would do about it, and considered school in general to be a joke. I might consider this more of a nightmare consisting of some of my fears of teaching at the high school level back home. I student taught at a high school in Maine and it was the largest group of unmotivated people I have ever seen. I was constantly trying different ways to interest them and get them to care about their artwork and their education. Unfortunatly my short stint with them didn't change much.

Before moving to Myanmar I had a lot of people interested in how I felt about moving from the elementary level to the high school level and I gave each and every person the same exact answer: “There is no way I would be able to teach high school here in American public education at this point in my life.” The challenges that public school teachers face every day are so far beyond most people can comprehend. See in the states many people consider teaching as a lower level career. The old saying goes “those who can, do and those who can’t, teach.” Teachers are some of the lowest paid and most underappreciated professionals. We often work far outside the normal workday hours while we plan lessons, prep materials, work on professional development, take extra classes to learn about the new buzz topic, give students extra help, decorate our classrooms and so much more. After everything a teacher does and all they give to the students they still feel like it is not enough. I do not know of one teacher that feels like they have done enough, we always strive to give more time, more resources, more energy, more love to our students.

When looking to go abroad I began getting introduced to the international classroom and let me tell you – it is a whole other world. When moving here I had been looking forward to seeing if the research that I had found was true, in particular the fact that teachers are highly regarded in Myanmar. What I had heard was the hierarchy whet something like: Monks, Government Officials, Teachers, and so forth. What I have experienced so far this is in fact correct. Ask any teacher in my school why they love to work here and I garentee you each and every one of them will have the same answer: the students. I know most teachers continue on each day for the benefit of the students but these students in particular are phenomenal. They great me each time they walk into the classroom, their personalities are bright and positive, they are each intrinsicly motivated to do their very best, they always complete their work – most often beyond my expectations, they are bright and willing to be challenged, and don’t even get me started on the quality of work they submit which is far beyond what I could imagine for students at this age. Most relevant to this topic is how respectful they are to teachers. They listen when I speak, not just because they are supposed to but because they are actually obsorbing what I am saying. They express their opinions in polite ways, never to backtalk or undermind others.

Beyond the person to person, respect is ingrained deep in the culture of the Myanmar people. It is a part of the Buddhist philosophy to be appreciative of where you are and not envious of those who have more. This is easier to do when you believe that you have a seemingly endless amount of lives, each of which will keep on improving if you gain enough merit. One way of the many, many ways to gain merit is to pay respect to those you honor, elders, religious leaders, and teachers.

Next week is a big Buddhist holiday called Thadingyut where it is especially important to pay respect to anyone you consider a teacher in your life. There are many community events where they feed and pay respect to the monks in the neighborhood. On the day of the holiday my students told me that they will go out to the elders in their family and  show them respect. In the middle school they invited their family elders in to watch a special performace in their honor. In the elementary school they held an assembly for the teachers where the students knelt on the floor and chanted to show their respect. In the high school students will individulally pay respect to teachers by giving them gifts leading me to why I received a $50 bottle of wine on Friday. Many other teachers received special gifts also, many got wine or liquor like me but some were given longyis (the traditional Myanmar skirt type clothing that men and women wear) and others got food of sorts. The bus ride home was like Christmas morning with each of us showing off our gifts.

I feel very lucky to be a part of this society where they understand the importance of what I do and show that in both special ways and ordinary day to day tasks. When the occasional taxi driver asks (in broken English) what I do here, I am proud to reply that I am a teacher – a response that always receives a big smile and a respectful nod. 

After our 4th of July weekend in Vermont we packed up the tent again and set off for the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Amanda, Josh, Kim, and I had a blast on our mini road trip which included multiple stops at gorgeous look-outs throughout the White Mountain region. We set up camp at Jigger Johnson campground at the end of the Kangamangas Highway and were joined shortly after by Dad, Pam, Drew, Autumn, Brian, and Kirsten. The next couple days were spent sitting around the campfire or exploring various watering holes/ waterfalls. Family meals were shared, trails were walked, and great times were had all around. 

We returned from our almost two weeks of camping on Tuesday to the reality of our lengthy to-do list. The first major task was to buy our plane tickets. We had put this off for quite a long time due to the questionable pet situation, but we could not wait any longer. We sat down that evening and purchased one way tickets from Portland, Maine to Bangkok, Thailand. Eeeeeeekk!! No time was wasted on Wednesday jumping back into packing. So much was still left to get done.

Taking a break from everything we headed to Water Country on Thursday to celebrate Autumn's Birthday. Although her real birthday is not until September we knew we were not going to be here and wanted to be sure to do something fun! And boy was it! Drew joined the three of us for a day of water slides, wave-pool jumping, and tube floating. Afterwards we grabbed a pizza and went to a drive-in movie. It was a wonderful day and I'm so glad we took time to have it. 

First thing Friday we were back at it starting by going over to Augusta to get our PO Box. We will be forwarding all of our mail there for Andrea to get, she will be taking care of those kind of things while we are away. Stopping into both of our banks we got some financial things taken care of. Then we went over to sign the paperwork for our storage unit. We went with a 10' x 15' space. We wont be keeping much of our furniture but we wanted to have plenty of room.

Before we knew it another week was over, time is just flying by! Crazy to think we will be in Myanmar in less than two weeks!