I cound't resist

 I saw this when I was going home the other day. For me it is still surprising to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's picture everywhere. For many years, even her name was not said out loud, with everyone referring to her as 'The Lady" . So seeing her picture on the back of a car is such a huge step forward.

I debated a whole half minute about whether or not I could /should take my camera and record it. Obviously, I couldn't resist.

THE VISIT is over

Since we had an unexpected long weekend, we went to a favourite teashop of ours.  After all, we could take it easy and be out of the house for a little while as well.

When we arrived, the live coverage of President Obama’s visit was about to start. It was filmed at the airport and it was obvious that he hadn’t arrived yes. Even though there wasn’t much to see, all eyes in the teashop were glued to the TV set in one corner.

We saw him land (on TV) and how he greeted the reception committee. There was an intermezzo in which probably some formalities took place on the airport side. We saw a short recap of Barack Obama’s life.

We left while President Obama was driving along Pyay Road towards his meeting places. The streets were lined in students in their traditional school uniforms of white top and green trousers or longyis.

A friend who lives very close to Pyay Raod told me that her street was repaved this week and that all the owners had had orders to paint their gates. Heaven forbid that President Obama would look into a side street and find a street full of potholes and badly maintained fronts!

I do wonder what he has made of Myanmar. Just looking at some of the buildings that he would encounter like the international airport with its bumpy landing strip; some very modern and recently constructed business properties along Pyay Road, the houses along New University Road (since he would visit Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who lives along that road and the American Embassy is there as well), and the beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda which he managed to visit briefly.

It was odd seeing President Obama and Hillary Clinton decent from the plane. I’ve been here a few years now and it still surprises me how fast some things have changed. Myanmar has gone from a country you couldn’t talk about to a country everybody is discussing. From a pariah state to a country that has seen more dignitaries in the last year than in the previous 50 together.

Don’t get me wrong, I thing that this visit has been good for Myanmar. By the look on the faces of the people in the teashop what probably counted most for them was the fact that this visit was happening at all. It must have been something they thought would never ever come to pass. For the people here, the fact that he has been here must have been the biggest boost of confidence they have had in a very very long time. 

Daw Aung Suu Kyi

Until very recently her name was not even mentioned but people always knew who they were talking about.  This morning we bought a book with pictures of her European tour and our local teashop's news stand.

Over the past year there have been many changes here but this openness about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still one I have to get used to. It started with posters of her and her father being put up for sale downtown and now you can get books about her everywhere.

Also, general Aung San's museum is now open every day. Until recently you could visit only once a year on the 19th of July.  I'm not sure whether the change about the daughter has affected the attitude regarding the father, but now there is a project under way to make a movie about his life. And Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is on the advisory board.

I'll have a proper look through the book tonight. A teashop is not the best place to browse a book at leisure.

An enjoyable trip around town

Yesterday we took the new teacher's around town. We started of in a very Myanmar  way. Breakfast in a teashop. For some it was their first taste of Mohingha, the most Myanmar of dishes and one that every teashop serves.

We saw a few pagoda's, the big reclining buddha in Yangon and even the recently opened for real Bogyoke Aung San Museum.It was great fun and very interesting. Especially Aung San's museum. It is small but we all considered it the highlight of the day. They even have his service car tucked away in a tiny shed. I wanted to post some pictures here but my card reader is refusing to help me out. I will post them soon.

After lunch we went to Bogyoke Aung San Market for a quick look around. It is a market best visited by oneself since there is so much to see. We rounded of the day by visiting a long-established but still to many people unknown DVD-shop where you can spend a lot of money on DVD's you always wanted to have but never found before. I drooled over a box-set of Star Trek and I couldn't resist Lassie and The Muppets  in space.