Myanmar, Meditation, and More!

I was on a flight from China to India when an Indian lady approached me. She had overheard my talks with my flight neighbor about health in different countries and asked if she could swap with my neighbor to discuss her journey of health & wellness through years of yoga, talking with people, and meditation. We chatted for a bit about the different things she has studied and what has worked best for her. She then recommended that I do a 10 day Vipassana meditation course. I had wanted to dive deeper into something older since leaving China so I thought this may be a great opportunity and told her so. She then told me that she usually does not talk to people and when she does she only says one or two sentences. She said that she was just a medium to convey a message from a higher power. That she was pushed to deliver this message and that I could do with it what I want…

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I am writing this at a restaurant in Pyin Oo Lwin after eating some breakfast of a khmeer pancake, strawberry milk shake (lots of fresh strawberry), and tea. I figured I should post something before I go off the grid for a 10 day meditation course at Dhamma Mahima Vipassna Center. I decided to do the course last night after hearing there was an available one. I looked at the schedule and this was the only one that worked with my time in Myanmar so I didn’t have much choice! I bought a night bus, showered, drank a big, cold Myanmar beer (no beer at meditation so had to get a last one in), and then took a taxi – night bus – “taxi” to where I am now. After writing this my quest will turn to finding a longyi to wear while I am meditating. I wore one at a temple and they will be much better than the jeans I have for covering my knees while I am there. Then it is time to check in for 10 days of no talking, no eye contact, no touching, and definitely no laughing! I’ll try my best on that last one.

Myanmar is a very special place to me on this journey. In most of the countries I have been to my goals are to study healthcare in that country and to see and experience the local culture while I am there. Vietnam during Tet holiday (everything is shut down and nobody is available to meet) and a majority of my time in Thailand and Cambodia were more about vacation and being a typical traveler without any cares. After India I was starting to wonder if by studying and traveling, that I was missing out on being a normal traveler. I was still able to meet with some good people in Vietnam and in Thailand I met with a doctor, a nurse, and visited a couple hospitals but the balance was more towards travel, sightseeing, and leisure. It may have also been because I met a beautiful Indonesian girl who was traveling the same route so we decided to travel together… Now my journey is transitioning once again.

The reason Myanmar is special to me is that my grandparents uncle and aunts lived in Burma back in the 1960’s. My grandparents had a sense of adventure so my grandpa signed up to work under the famous Dr. Gordon Seagraves at the Namkham Hospital. Whenever I think things things are difficult in my travels I always think back on how much harder it must have been back then and how much crazier of a decision.

Back then was much different traveling than it is now. There was no internet to give you information about a place, translate, or book last minute things. Either you coordinated things well in advance or you would chance it hoping things went your way. The communication to learn what to bring, what to expect, and to answer any questions to Dr. Seagrave was all done by mail. Because of these letters and my grandparents journals and notes, I am able to live through their journey traveling to a foreign land by freighter with all of their household and medical equipment. Things have sure changed!

Because of this, Myanmar is an opportunity of reflection, learning about my family’s history, and planning for the future. From here I will transition into volunteering in Tanzania so this is a good reflection point. Unfortunately, I was planning on hunkering down and cranking out blog posts showing some cool places and different things I have learned but that will have to wait until after my meditation. I probably have enough material for a book!

I would write more and edit this but I have to go find a longyi and check in. I am excited to see what 10 days of meditation does for me and my mind! It sounds intense and crazy but I think it will be worth it. Let’s just hope the mosquitoes aren’t too bad! (One of the rules is you can’t harm living things, even mosquitoes…)

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