What’s It Like Living in Myanmar?

I’ve been here for more than 6 months now so what is it like? Life is routine for me. Work, an occasional meal or outing with colleagues, and cooking on the weekends. I read. I get the occasional mani/pedi. Nothing extreme or out of the norm as if I were back home or in the US.

Do I wish I was jet setting to a new town or country on the weekends? Of course! But those weird things called bills and responsible spending happen and one must think about long term goals and rewards. For now I enjoy the interesting finds at wet/farmers markets. I found noni juice!

I really should get more physically active, but I’m working on it. I’ve joined football (soccer) with my colleagues. This is monumental because never in my life have I ever enjoyed running and my motto is the only reason you should run is if you’re running for your life, which leads to the fact that you don’t need to run fast, just not be the slowest one. I know, horrible but it’s worked thus far. My friend Shagerra would be proud. She’s the soccer star and I’m the cheerleader of the soccer star.

I live downtown near a port, so it can get noisy just from street traffic and the many buses that pass each day, but I’ve gotten used to that. I’ve even gotten used to the dogs, the occasional train passing through the night and hustle and bustle of the morning market and monks (and baby monks that pass through). What I cannot get used to is the incessant noise that happens during these religious celebrations. Noise pollution is real. Like I really felt like I was under psychological warfare. 5am to 10,11pm every day for 3 weeks straight.