Menglaba!!
We’ve been in Myanmar (aka Burma) for two weeks!
Traveling to Myanmar here was a little rough (22 hours of bus rides and walking on the 90 degree heat with all of our stuff).
Myanmar, Burma, is an interesting place… my leader described it as “basically the same as India”.
So, the men wear skirts, the woman wear skirts, we have to dress very modestly, there are always speakers blaring with chants to Buddha, the woman wear white paste on their face, there is no paved roads or road sings, the honking is continual, there are just “pet” stray dogs that come into the school, and it is sooooo hot.
It is soooo hot and it is winter, I can’t imagine summer (it was 94 degrees today).
We have an amazing ministry this month, we work at a bible college teaching English to some really cool students and we get to speak in church and help with children’s ministry in Sunday’s.
We teach from 8:30 to 3:30 everyday, we teach a lot of pronunciation and cultural norms. We also play lots of Burmese games and ping pong (who would’ve thought?).
I absolutely love getting to be around people my age everyday. It is amazing to be with students who are studying the word so that they can go and share it with their village.
All of the students are from different states (areas of the country) most of the states are 2-5 days travel away.
So all the kids are at least trilingual—they know English, Burmese, and one or two of the dialects from their home states (yikers!!).
It’s inspiring and encouraging to be with peers who chase Jesus so boldly.
There are only four of us world racers here at this ministry this month so we get to spend a lottttt of time together. It can get hard to talk to the same 3 people all the time (I think we know all of each other’s stories and it’s only month 4) but it is also has made it possible to have a lot of really amazing conversations, dance parties, Netflix dates, and just laugh a lot.
We eat cold noodles or rice everyday for breakfast and we get a little cup of coffee(yum). For lunch we eat traditional Burmese food which is a lot of rice and veggies along with some pork or chicken, and for supper we eat fried rice.
Needless to say, we also work out everyday because carbs.
So far I really enjoy Myanmar, it is amazing to be able to experience a culture so different from my own and to also be able to encourage and by encouraged by believers of another country.
Ta ta (Burmese for bye)
-elli
