Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a great leader in Turkey who founded the country out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. He is deeply revered by all Turkish citizens. His statue and portrait are seen in restaurants and homes all throughout the country. At our school we have a photo of him in every single classroom. On November 10th the entire country stands still for one minute (9:05 am) to commemorate his passing. At school we had a large gathering that involved a speech, a wreath laying, and the minute of silent. Check out this short clip to see traffic stand still even on the bridges and highways. ​

Kim trying some street mussles

Ferry rides are my favorite

There is a "Fruit Garden" just down the street from us where anyone can go and pick fresh fruit for free, right now it's pomegranate season.

Our new weekend routine of going for a late Turkish breakfast every Sunday

I've been rolling with my kombucha brew this year and have expanded to Jun (made with just green tea and honey) as well as hibiscus tea kombucha. So tasty! 

This is Phoebe. She is a cat that hangs out in our apartment compound because she used to belong to a teacher that lived here but she got left behind. And then another teacher adopted her and left her behind again. So sometimes we let her come cuddle in our apartment. 

Until next time my friends 
xoxo

As I watched fall arrive in New England from afar, I enjoyed a month packed full of goodness. October seemed a little shorter due to the full week-long holiday at the very end, but it was no less demanding. This stretch of time between the beginning of school and the first break is the longest uninterrupted time we are in school all year! We turned over to the second quarter which means that students and teachers are both getting overwhelmed, overworked, and just tired. But I have been uplifted with the great happenings this month, from visiting friends, to photo events, to a trip to Bangkok, it has made October fly by!

The rainy season came back full force in the first two weeks, dumping loads of rain across the city. There were street flooding and rainbow sightings. But soon there was a noticeable coolness in the morning air and the sun didn’t seem quite as scorching during the afternoon. We are all excited about the cooler weather, the upcoming holidays, and the school breaks. 

Early in the month I had my very first visitor to Yangon! Megan is a fellow art teacher that I met at an AP Art workshop in Vermont the summer before I moved abroad. She is teaching art in Korea with Emily, a music teacher. They planned a short trip to Myanmar for their October break and stopped in Yangon for the last leg of it. It was so fantastic to show these two around and tell them all about Yangon. We went for Myanmar BBQ, walked the streets, did some souvenir shopping, and visited Shwedagon (the biggest pagoda in Myanmar). We had great conversations comparing living abroad and our different cultures. I only wish they could have stayed longer. 

​On October 8th I joined a group of photographers to capture some snap shots of our city. Every year Scott Kelby, a world famous photographer, hosts his annual World Wide Photo Walk. It is a time for photographers to get together and take photos of their neighborhood. It is labeled as the "social photography event of the year," as one of the main goals is to bring together a community of people with this common interest. On the single day hundreds of Photo Walks are held across the world with thousands of photographers participating. 

​The visa situation in Myanmar is very outdated and constantly changing. Even though we live and work here we (myself, Kim, and my coworkers) only have 70 day visas. This means that every 70 days we need to leave and re-enter the country to get a new visa. Other expats I have met have been able to get 6 month, 1 year, or even longer visas that do not require them to leave the country. The only reasoning I can find for the discrepancies is the connection or weight the business has with the government. Either way, it is most certainly a “don’t ask” situation where you must do what you are told.

​Last year they revealed the option to get an in-country extension, which means that we could get another 70 days added to our visa without leaving. Kim and I choose to do this for this visa round because we were not planning on leaving the country. We submitted the paperwork to my school in September for them to take care of.
It was the second week of school when the HR office emailed us to say that the extension did not go through. Due to the election coming up (more about that next month) the government was not allowing any visa extensions. With the sensitive nature of the elections, my school did not want to risk us being “illegally” in the country so with four days’ notice they sent us to Bangkok.

​Who can be disappointed by a free weekend in Bangkok? Yangon is a difficult city to live in due to the limited modernization so it was wonderful to be able to escape to the modern hub of SE Asia. We left Saturday morning and after an hour flight and a short tram ride we were in the heart of the bustling Bangkok. We spent our time wandering around, visiting a few western grocery stores, popping in a few HUGE shopping malls, trying to find somewhere to fix our external hard drive, and enjoying our western hotel accommodations.

​Of course, the majority of our trip revolved around eating! We indulged in deliciously crafted sandwiches, one in particular was a steak sandwich which ended up being a whole steak layered between bread – it was unbelievable. It was difficult to find the “right” place to eat since it was such a special treat, we ended up walking around for an hour or two one night in search for something that would satisfy our high expectations, and I’m so glad that we held out because we stumbled upon the cutest little food truck that served the most scrumptious burgers I believe I have tasted. We continued to gorge ourselves on all of the food that we can’t get in Myanmar: beef, milk, good chocolate, cheese cake, pizza cones, street kebob, etc. Looking back my only regret is that we didn’t drink more milk.
Spending time together was certainly the highlight of the weekend but the entire trip was delightful. It was refreshing to get away and be in a place where we are not gawked at while walking down the street. I can’t wait to do it again soon! 

​One of my favorite times in the week is when I get a chance to make some art. Through photography, painting, digital work, or something else, creating fills my soul. This month I continued to work on my art journal. This is simply a sketchbook that I have been filling with (mostly) paintings based on what interests me. It is refreshing to work on smaller paintings that don’t have a purpose, taking off a lot of the stress that artists can feel about making a finished product and focusing on just the act of creating. Here are the pages that I finished this month: 

​The last week of the month was a Buddhist holiday Thadingynt. We had the entire week off of school so Kim and I set off to explore more of Myanmar. We spent half of the week in Bagan and half of the week in Mandalay. I have lots more to tell you about the week and of course bunches to show you but that will need a post of its own. For now here are a few teasers. 

On October 8th I joined a group of photographers to capture some snap shots of our city. Every year Scott Kelby, a world famous photographer, hosts his annual World Wide Photo Walk. It is a time for photographers to get together and take photos of their neighborhood. It is labeled as the "social photography event of the year," as one of the main goals is to bring together a community of people with this common interest. On the single day hundreds of Photo Walks are held across the world with thousands of photographers participating. 

I joined in my first Photo Walk when I lived in Auburn (Maine, USA) two or three years ago and was thrilled when I saw the announcement for the Yangon walk. Taking my camera out to the streets is one of my favorite things to do but it was made even better by the great company. More than a few of these photographs have gone in my "favorite photographs I have ever taken" folder. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them! 

I took my students on my first Field Trip in Yangon today and the experience was so much more than I could have ever imagined. I had a simple intent, take the students on the train to practice their photography skills. As we have just finished our photography basics unit, learning the ins and outs of our cameras, and the students were itching to try their skills in real life situations. Pair that with not having access to our usual computer lab classroom (because of standardized testing) and you have the perfect opportunity for a one day field trip.

The train is an ideal option for this trip. There is a train station that is only a 10 minute walk from school and it takes a four hour loop around the city, returning back to the same station. After a few calls to the station from my assistant teacher, we had the schedule and a plan. The students were mildly excited mostly because they wanted to get out of school. They were less enthused by our 7:30 am meeting time. 

Permission forms were signed, the principal approved, and the day finally came. Nine half-asleep AP 2D Design students wandered into the lobby, cameras in hand. We set off quickly, knowing that the train waits for no one. We rushed through the bustling market and down the dusty streets arriving at the station already sweating in the tropical heat.  No sooner had we purchased our tickets then we were swept away on the train.

The students stayed huddled together as a group in a corner of the train car surrounded by people. My first thoughts were that they were frazzled by our hasty departure but as I observed them I noticed an interesting occurrence. The students seemed to act more like tourists, strangers to this place that they call home. They were nervous around the unknown people and hesitant to leave their well-known classmates. As I encouraged them to break off and explore down the train they stayed attached to the group as if they were in a foreign place. 

I began considering what I know about these students. Firstly, they are privileged. The school we come from is a private school for Myanmar’s wealthy class. Secondly, they are very isolated. Being ushered from school to tutors, from events to formal functions, from home to their chafer driven car, these students rarely experience the street life of Yangon. It took me aback when they showed up this morning in jeans, long sleeve shirts, and sweatshirts. I would have thought it obvious on such a hot day that we would need to wear cool clothes, but I later realized that these students are never outdoors. They have no reason to walk around the streets.  In essence they truly are foreigners in their own city, seeing and experiencing the life of a “commoner” for (perhaps) the first time. 

For an expat who spends her weekends exploring the streets on foot, riding the local transit, and eating at the street stalls, it was strange to be introducing these students to their own home, one that I have only been living in for a year. To think that I have experienced more of the daily Myanmar life in my short time then they have in their whole lives is mind blowing. 

As the train began to empty, the students got a little more adventurous, wandering to the lengths of the car in small groups. They moved from taking pictures of each other to being comfortable at taking pictures of the surroundings and the people. Having no separation between themselves and the local environment, they began to truly observe and record what they saw. No longer were they sitting in their fancy cars with a window detaching them from the world, they were immersed in it. 

We arrived at the main station to switch to the train that would take us the rest of the way around town and back to our station by school. We all took off running through the insanely crowded platform to catch the next train. I counted as each student stepped up into the train car but came up missing two. Hoping that they had gotten on through the next door, I hopped on the train and quickly searched through the adjacent car to find it empty of students. My worry heightened as the train began moving. I sped through the train, rushing past people, looking for the rest of the group in hopes that I didn’t see correctly and they actually made it on before us, but, no luck. Resisting the urge to panic, I had a student call the phone of one of the missing members, who were in fact left back at the main station. After insisting that they stay where they were we departed at the next stop and quickly grabbed the next train in the opposite direction where I found the two students sitting calmly on a bench taking a selfie. 

Reunited we quickly regrouped to make a new plan. Luckily my time in Myanmar has taught me a great deal about not being attached to how things are “supposed” to go, and always having a plan B (and C, and sometimes D). So after confirming the train schedule back to school we had a quick retreat at a local café to cool off and fuel up. Then we continued on to explore the downtown area while waiting for the next train. I led them through streets where they explored and (in some cases) interacted with the local community. 

One student ate as much street food as he could manage. It made me laugh when he bought something from practically every stall that we passed. Later in conversation I found out that his parents don’t let him have street food. They believe that it is not sanitary and prefer to eat in proper restaurants or at home. The last time he had street food was when he was young. He used the day as an opportunity to make up for lost time. ​

It was also interesting for the students to see how people treat me differently as a foreigner. A couple times on the train locals stopped to take pictures of me. At one point a woman excitedly pointed me out to her young son by pointing to me and then touching her face to bring attention to my skin color. In addition I got stopped a few times by sellers on the street hoping I would buy a bus ticket, a tour, or a souvenir. The students related these experiences to ones they have had in the US or Thailand or other countries but had no idea that it also happened here. As these students are being groomed to be the next leaders of Myanmar, they are gaining worldly education through international trips and mindsets but we forget to connect them with their own back yard.

As our short but eventful trip came to an end I was not the only one who had a sense of euphoric fulfillment. We walked back to school from our station drenched in sweat with huge smiles on our faces. Stopping one last time for a street snack of fresh squeezed sugar cane juice (the first time for almost all of us) the students excitedly talked about where else we could take a trip to. As they chatted about different possibilities I heard a different attitude in their voices, one of anticipation in getting to know more of their own country, their own culture. It might by my hopeful teacher brain but I think next time they might be looking forward to a little more than just missing school.   

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.