If you ask anyone about a highlight of Burma, most will answer that the people are some of the friendliest they have encountered. And with good reason. One will never know when a meal will create a conversation with a local, or when waiting at a bus stop will turn a frustrating moment into a photo shoot with a family. I’m pretty sure this is the only country in which a women whose picture I am taking will offer me some of her noodle dish at the market.
Everywhere in Burma experiences exist like this, but what is even more amazing is that these notoriously friendly people also happen to be living in one of the most repressive countries in the world, under a paranoid dictatorship that has stunted economic growth, arrested individuals for expressing their thoughts, murdered thousands, and participates in one of the worlds highest rates of child military.
Upon coming to Burma, I knew that the topic of their government wasn’t to be brought up by myself, that many locals didn’t feel comforatble talking about such issues. However I was quickly surprised by how much it was brought up by them; how much they wanted the conditions of their state to be known, and spread first among the tourists that visited and eventually back to their home countries. These are some of such people that I encountered during my travels around the country:
In Yangon, while sipping on local tea at one of the city`s markets, I met a man who struck up a conversation with me, telling me of his family and his jewelry shop. He also talked about his government, and how it may appear to the outside world that their grip has been loosened, that steps towards democracy are being made, however in reality, the government still has much (too much) control on its people. I asked him which he preferred, Burma or Myanmar. He smiled at this and said that the country was first Burma, thats what he grew up with, but suggested that maybe I call it Myanmar because that’s the way the government likes it.
Outside Mandaly, at one of the dozens of temples that dot the landscape, a conversation starts with a man named Lin Lin. Again he brings up the present government and the look in his eyes tell us that this is something that occupies his mind often. He tells us how the government is more concerned with material progress than social progress. That 50% of the county`s kids aren’t in school and that too many instead become members of the child military. In his opinion, the socialist state that existed 25 years ago provided a better life, and I’m sure that many other Burmese would agree. Even though the government has changed its colors on the outside, he explains, they are still the same government underneath it all. Lin Lin tells us to go back home, and tell people in our countries of what he says. A major belief among the majority here is that they are too helpless to do this on their own, that only intervention from the outside will make a change in the right direction.
Also in Mandalay, at yet another temple, I meet Cherry. Cherry with bright green eyes and perfect English. She is an English teacher and tells me that they need books. To ask anyone I know coming to Mandalay to bring English books with them. We start talking when she sees me hesitate in font of the temple entrance, as I don’t have the proper attire on. “Make a strong face and go in,¨ she said to me, ¨then no one will bother you.¨ When I come out, I sit next to her and and we talk. Her grandmother was from San Francisco, her grandfather from Munich. When I ask her if she wants to visit either of those places, she shakes her head. ¨We are like birds in a cage, we can´t go anywhere, we are not free.¨ At the end she offers to buy me some ice cream and when I politely decline she offers one last piece of advcice; ¨Dont pass up a good offer.¨
The Moustache Brothers are a trio of brothers who put on comedy shows inside their home. The walls are covered with both national and international media they have received, with pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi, Bill Clinton and other famous people from around the world. They’re an energetic bunch and to be honest the comedy aspect is less than satisfying and the endless self-promoting could be a little tiresome for some. But they have a story and they have a message. Jailed in the past for jokes made about the government, they have been under the threat of government interference for years. But the show goes on, with several pauses in which they insist we take pictures to bring back home. Again, I hear the importance of our role as visitors to the country, of how we can help steer the country in a democratic direction through pressuring our own governments to act against the notorious acts of the Burmese government.
All these atrocities and still these people can appear with smiles so warm. It’s a wonder to me, how these two worlds coexist. In her book, ¨Letters From Burma,¨ Aung San Kuu Kyi tells of a gathering of friends after the government had recently imposed harsh restrictions. When a reporter asks why all the smiles in the midst of a grim situation, her response was “to us, it was just another challenge; and the knowledge that we were facing it together with proven friends was simple reason for good cheer.”
It makes me think of a documentary I have recently seen, ¨I Am¨ by Tom Shadyac. In it he says that those living in the western world have a mental illness in which we are made sick by the material world we live in. Could this theory be proven in Burma? In a world where they have to fight for so much in order to get so little, and yet they still find happiness in the actions that make everyday life. They carry out their tasks with positive attitudes, just grateful for the ability to live another day without too many repercussions and with their loved ones by their side.
Things are starting to change in this country, although the steps are small and the limits are prevalent. It is my hope that the Burmese can experience a life of freedom, and until then they are my inspiration to not take the small things in life for granted and to appreciate the moments I have, and the people in my life to share them with.
thewanderingdamsel 