Myanmar/Burma, part 1.

Now, let me take you back a couple of months to one of my favorite ports... I must warn you, this will be long, but hopefully interesting. I'll probably break it up into different posts for your reading ease.

Myanmar/Burma was the port that I'd been most conflicted about since I began reading about it and also the port that I knew the least about before the trip began. It was also the first country that I've traveled to that is governed by a military regime.

I learned that it is a country in which many folks have protested travel due to the oppression of the government on the people, the lack of support from the UN and other various reasons. A lot of tourism money gets put back into the government and it's important to be really careful where the tourist dollar or rather, the kyat, (pronounced chat) goes if one doesn't want to give a percentage to the government.

Myanmar's/Burma's name was changed by the military government in 1989. The folks that changed it felt that Burma was a vestige of European colonialism. There are many opposition activists that don't recognize the name change because the argue that such a drastic change should be approved by a national referendum, thus, it is a political issue.

I had no idea what to expect while traveling in this country and opted to do a couple of the SAS trips as I wasn't quite sure how difficult/safe independent travel would be in Burma. I'd signed up for these trips early in the voyage and after I began reading more and more about Burma and travel within the country, regretted it, as I didn't know which companies we would be using and how much of my money would go somewhere I didn't want it to go.

I had been assigned as a trip leader for 2 of the trips and decided not to back out of that privilege/responsibility. As it turned out, I'm glad I didn't back out - even though we all know how I feel about group travel - I could have not experienced some of these things that I'll write about on my own.

Life between the voyage and now.

Well, I'm sorry that it has been so long since I've posted. I'll try to briefly explain life over the past few weeks and then jump back into the voyage - as I'd rather be there right now anyway!

After arriving back in the states I got the opportunity to visit with some family and friends in Florida and St. Louis. I headed up to Ames for a visit and to meet the movers and just before I got there found out that my grandmother passed away. I then spent a night up in Ames and headed back to the St. Louis area for the funeral.

I then headed to JC and KC to see the family and friends. The day after Christmas I headed to Omaha and had a blast visiting with a few friends from undergrad - a great mini-reunion of sorts. From there, I took off on my trek half-way across the country in order to begin the next chapter of my life here in Oregon.

Luckily, I didn't have to make the drive alone. Hassan offered to drive it with me and we had a good time. Four days in a car with one person is a lot to ask of anyone - especially after not having seen that person, or really talked, in 3 months! =) I'm surprised he didn't leave me somewhere along the highway! =) Just kidding... Needless to say, we didn’t drive each other too crazy.

We took 80 West all the way to California, visited Ang and her family in Salt Lake, spent a day bike riding in San Francisco, and took the scenic route up the coastline of CA to Oregon. All in all it was a nice trip, but I was definitely antsy about getting to OR.

I began work the day after we arrived and have been going full steam ahead ever since. I'm beginning to settle into my duplex and will post pictures once I have cleared the boxes. Oh, and maybe after I acquire some furniture as well. =) I really like my new job thus far and am enjoying the students. It has been hard to be back in the states and, although I've been so happy to see everyone, I miss the ship, the people and ship-life desperately.