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.
