Maggie and Saw Etamu

It may be difficult to see Maggie in this picture, but she is behind the stroller. She loves to push her big stroller up and down the driveway. Saw Etamu, our gardener, is so sweet to help her and play with her. Here, he is supervising the stroller-pushing to make sure Maggie does not hurt herself. Also, Maggie is not as strong as she thinks she is. She thinks she can push the stroller by herself, but almost every time, Saw Etamu is standing behind her, helping.

On the bus

The ladies in the "English group" are so gracious to take me out and allow me to experience the culture of our country the way they do. On one of our outings, we took the bus.
This picture was taken while standing in the middle of public transportation in Yangon. The bus was actually relatively empty on this day! I really enjoyed riding the bus with them, because I was so glad they were there to tell me where the bus was going!

School yard games

These Burmese school children are having fun with a playground game. The kids link legs and jump around in circles. These kids kept showing us different games they play...the jump rope tricks were amazing! They kept inviting Chad and me to join them...as if we could do this!

PaO worship at Ketku

While up north, we also had the chance to attend a huge festival held by the PaO people. The traditional dress of the PaO is the long, black garment and brightly colored "gaung-baung" (headwrap) you see here. It was very interesting to see so many people in this traditional dress. The festival spanned at least three days, and at night we were able to see a talent show. Villagers from all over the Shan state had practiced traditional singing and dancing, and performed for all of their people. In the morning, worshippers visited this temple, often having traveled many miles with their offerings. The importance of the religious aspect of the festival shows the strong influence Buddhism has on the daily lives of the people. Thousands and thousands traveled to worship. It was a sobering sight to observe so many without the hope we have, speaking a language which so few of our brothers and sisters even understand. The frontier remains.

Hindu temple in Kalaw

While I (Alysia) traveled to Kalaw, a town north of our city, I was able to find out more about H people in our country. While in Kalaw, we visited a Hindu temple and learned about the number of Hindu people living in the area and how they worship. This is a picture of a Hindu temple we saw and the Hindu lady who lead us around and told us about her religion.

little big girl

This is Maggie in her sunglasses sent from home (thank you Mrs. Rita and Tara!). She loved wearing her glasses on the beach like a big girl.
She had so much fun playing on that beach!

The family

This is a picture of us on the beach one night with the sunset in the background. It was incredible!