Americans in Yangon – Days 1 and 2. December 22 and 23, 2016

Yangon, Myanmar

Mayttar nhang kyarr litepareat – I think this means “greetings”

Although most people seem to say “Maingalarpar” – which I think is “Hi” .. a sort of informal and friendly greeting. Arrived in Yangon yesterday at about 4:00 pm after an 8-hour flight from Tokyo. Got through customs and immigration fairly quickly… Everything is very organized and people form easily into singular file and wait their turn. Got out bags and then headed to find a taxi which turned out to be very easy and unlike most developing nations where everyone is yelling for you to take their taxi and bargaining for prices. Here there is a taxi desk; you stop there and tell them where you are going; they tell you the price and walk you outside to a waiting (legal) cab. It cost about $5 to get from the airport to the Savoy Hotel. https://www.savoy-myanmar.com/ ..  It’s a colonial style building about 15 minutes from the hustle and bustle (and noise and chaos) of “downtown”…  We settled in (room is lovely and they have an amazing pool…surprised us that there even was a pool; we don’t have any bathing suits with us, so the fact that it is here is pretty much useless for us)… and then took off to find a place for dinner.

Took a taxi right to the thick of the chaos and ate at Monsoon – an interesting place that from the outside looks abandoned and totally in need of repair, but the inside is fine and food was quite good. It’s an eclectic Asian menu with dishes from Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. We stuck with Myanmar and had a chicken with yogurt curry and an eggplant dish with some kind of chili peppers. All good; tried Myanmar beer which was not too exciting, but perfectly fine. Decided to taxi back; by then we were pretty exhausted, having started out at about 6 am and it was now about 11 pm and there had been a 2.5 hour time difference. (I hate these places with the 30 minute time difference – like Tibet.. and now Yangon… makes it difficult to figure out time back home.) 

Woke up this morning to tend to some office-related issues, including the construction of the new space which seems to be going well; I get pictures each day so I’m in the loop and my architect checks it all out as well. I seem to be in good hands with Angela and Fanny at the helm. Following breakfast which was a mix of American style eggs and pastries and Asian dishes – we hopped in a taxi again (about $2 each trip) to get to the big market called Bog Yoke Aung San which has more than 2,000 “stalls” – some of which are about 100 sq. ft. and have six people working in them.

The aisles between the “shops” are about one meter.. You could probably spend a day just drifting through the fabric sections, the jewelry cluster, etc. Eventually we reached the food area and checked out produce and other goodies. We spent about two hours meandering the place and then started to walk the streets which are filled (as they are in most large cities in developing countries) with packed buses that can are puffing out outrageous amounts of fossil fuel, pedestrians trying to get from place to place, cars, taxis and trucks.. and of course the unbelievable amount of construction and construction debris which sort of just sits there without any kind of barricade. And the sidewalks appear to be just concrete coverings of the sewer system, so it’s not so pleasant in the heat. Anyway, the streets are fantastic – packed with people. Everyone seems very friendly although no one speaks any English.. Store signs, however are in English and Burmese and “some” streets are labeled with English as well as Burmese so we can sort of manage to find our way. One interesting thing is that Yangon doesn’t seem to have any “tuk-tuks” like you take in Thailand and India and in most other Asian cities. I think that without the tuk tuks, traffic is much worse.

We walked to the Sule Temple – about a mile or so from where we were. Sule Pagoda is one of the largest pagodas in Myanmar and apparently a critical space in recent Burmese politics. Supposedly it was built before the Shwedagon Pagoda (which is the most famous one) about 2,500 years ago. It has been a rallying point in the 1988 uprisings and also in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. The blending of religion, culture, spirituality, politics, and daily life is evident everywhere. Like in Tibet, the temple is completely surrounded by shops on the first level (sort of “under” the pagoda) and has some overpasses (crosswalk bridges that literally connect right into the side of the temple .. clearly after thoughts once cars and buses were blocking entry). As we walked the stairs of one overpass and stopped to photograph, a young guy asked if he could be helpful. His English was pretty good. Turns out he spent one semester at UW studying English! Those Huskies certainly get around.

As we approached the entrance (sort of stumbled on it as you emerge from the overpass), the rules were clear.. no shoes and no socks and lots of signs about what you can and cannot be wearing. Mike decided he didn’t want to hassle the socks and shoe deal and was tired and hot and sweaty (it’s about 90 during the day and pretty humid if you are in the sun; in the shade it’s bearable). I gave up my sandals and went barefoot as required, but was stopped at the next entrance because my legs were exposed (I was wearing a simple sleeveless dress). I needed to be in either long pants or in a Longy – a sheet of cloth that is wrapped around the lower part of your body and held in place by tying a knot. It goes from the waist to the floor.  It’s worn by both men and women in the streets… Not sure what they wear under the longy, but everyone seems to always be adjusting their knot. Anyway, they loaned me a longy and in I went.. Charming fashion with my little striped dress. 

Once inside (which is sort of like a little village with lots of shrines and areas to pray in front of each, so it’s a little like walking between houses), I strolled for a while and then saw a group of girls sitting on the floor taking pictures of themselves. They were trying to take a group picture but naturally one person was always out of the photo being the photographer. I made motions that I could take the picture and then they could all be in the photo, and they giggled and agreed.. So I took the picture and then they each decided they really needed a picture with me … one at a time. So I was at the temple a little longer than planned. Anyway, they were adorable as shown here.. The peace sign is used a lot – sort of like the 60s in the US.. I then retrieved my shoes, returned my longy, and met up with Mike… We then decided to walk (about another mile or so) to the only synagogue in Myanmar. We saw it on the map and decided the walk would be fun (although more sweaty)… and that it could be interesting to see. Along the way, as we kept checking out map to see if we were headed in the right direction, a young man stopped to see if he could help. Turned out he was Japanese; living in Yangon for the past 7 months selling real estate to foreigners. I think he thought we might be good prospects. Anyway, he did lead us to the right street which was helpful.

It was a longer and more messy walk than we had contemplated, but we got there… It is smooshed between an Indian-run paint and hardware shops and a Muslim shop. It’s about 120 years old – the Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue. It was open so we went inside. We were the only ones in there. It was cool and had ceiling fans so we sat for a bit. No fee, no security guards, no literature but there was a not too well put together exhibit about the building. They did have a little basket with kippahs.. Mike donned one.  I did a little research and learned that Myanmar once had a thriving Sephardic Jewish community that arrived with the British from India, following the teak wood trade. There were about 2,500 Jews.. but most fled during the Japanese occupation and then the others left when the Burmese army took power in 1962.

Now there are just 20 Jews spread out across the county…. But, as Samuels says, there is hope for preserving the community and the important role it had played in Myanmar’s history. But according to the article I read, the relationship between Muslims and Jews is good (and that seems to be evident when you sense that the area near the synagogue is populated mostly by Muslims.

Then we were in search for food. – essentially a good noodle shop… We thought we knew where to head, but we were really lost in the cacophony of the street life… Anyway, we were having a good time checking out tiny streets and moving about the narrow alleys and amid all the teeny shops. By the way, I think I know where all the e-waste goes! It’s sold on the streets of Yangon.

Along our “walk” we ran into a guy who asked if we could take his picture on this tiny street with all the shops and good around him. I said “sure” and then we learned (and met) that he is Indian, but his father grew up in Burma (we then met the father and the uncle and took a family picture for them. I’m guessing that maybe they lived on that street. The son, who lives in Mumbai is a banker (worked at JP Morgan for a decade and lived in London and Mumbai). We chatted briefly in the street (messing up traffic even more)… and then we parted.

never did find the noodle place and by 3:00 we were hungry, tired, dripping wet, hot, and ready for a taxi. We decided to just eat a late lunch at the hotel.

Mike is resting and I’m writing this and then moving on to deal with purchasing new printers for the new office (the wonders of the Internet), getting my flights for January and February (Oakland – Seattle – Oakland) and working on my syllabus for Winter Quarter. Doubt that I’ll get to all of it today, but I need to start devoting some time to it each day…

Tonight we will go to the Night Market and then find a place for dinner in that area.

Best..

Fern

PS – Sorry for the length. Read or toss!