April 26, 2007

Still in Myanmar....

Our 3rd full day here. We're getting comfortable with the electricity going out randomly. I'm sleeping through it! Most of the day we had air con...but mainly b/c we were in govt. buildings. Our clinics today went so well. We could tell that the winds were happy to see us again. We did a morning clinic with the full orchestra, an afternoon clinic with the winds and a later afternoon clinic with the horns and trumepts..private sectional style. The longer we're here, the more our fascination turns into depression. But I have to keep reminding myself that we're doing what we can to help an impossible situation.

The senior member of the orchestra enjoyed our classes so much that they took us out to a nice Indian food lunch.It was the first Indian rest. I've ever been to where people eat with their hands!!!! I actually kind of got grossed out by it...I totally used utensils. Something about it is just so weird to me. It goes against everything I learned as a child. haha. Anyway, we felt very welcomed by the orhcestra and administration and are sure we could come back to work again...if we want too.

I feel like we've dove into thick, messy layers of the political scene by the work we've been doing. Today we found out about the history (very brief) of the University of Rangoon. I guess it used to be THE school in se asia back in the day. Now, it's a desolate wasteland. The govt. closed it b/c the school has always been a center for democracy and students have always been the leading role behind the democracy movements in Burma. So of course, the govt. just closes it. It's such a beautiful campus and it really is disgeartening to see the whole campus overgrown with weeds.

It's really frusterating to see the pverty. The way people are forced to live....ahh, but then something soo beautiful is that the musicians we've been working with have come out of this lifestyle and are incredible! I've never taught such enthusiastic student. Isn't that amazing? For such energy and passion to come out of such oppression is just baffling!

Dave and I splurged a bit tonight on dinner. The cuisine here is so different than anything we've ever had. Not as spicey as Thailand, not the same spices in Indian curries. It's somewhere in between. Dishes tend to be served in miniature portions that are usually shared and several varities are eaten at any given meal. After we eat, we usually don't feel quite right..so we splurged on some Italian. The gnocchi was actually impressive! The restaurant was set against the back drop of a famous Burmese sunset and a peaceful lake...ahhh.