In the afternoon of Saturday, February 6th, we said goodbye to Mandalay and boarded a rickety plane, with what looked like a flat tire, and headed back to Rangoon. Over the next few days we dove into master classes at the Gitameit Music School, the American Club and the Mary Chapman School for the Deaf. I must mention that we had to leave poor Vanessa at the hotel, she had the stomach flu. Thankfully, Yayoi and Quilet took turns watching over her.
The outreach classes were a great blend of dance and social interaction. The students were wonderful participants and seemed willing to step out of their comfort zone and into ours. The Mary Chapman School for the Deaf presented some unique challenges, but it was a great success. Teaching while not speaking the language can be difficult. In this particular case, we needed interpreters for the Burmese language as well as teachers to use sign language. We seemed two steps behind. There was also a huge age range in the class from, perhaps, eight years old to teen years. Daniel and Yayoi, the leaders for that session, rose to the occasion, split the group by age and moved forward. By the end of class each group had found a successful rhythm and all seemed to be having fun. My favorite part of that outreach was when we were leaving and saying our goodbyes. Suddenly the students came pouring over to us and began shaking our hands. They used elaborate and complex patterns and tricks almost like secret handshakes. It was so much fun to have them share with us!
Professor Higgins continued to share this amazing country with us. In the evenings he would take us on tours of the city. He even took us to the Shwedagon Pagoda. It is believed that hair of the Fourth Buddha is enshrined in it. Much like a European cathedral, the Pagoda is so huge and so beautiful that any picture cannot do it justice. It is a place in which Buddhists from Burma must try to make a pilgrimage once in their lifetime. As we walked along the white marble and witnessed the statues and gold and worshipers we were awed. It was so unfamiliar to see so many people so focused on prayer. It was so quiet and intense even though there were crowds of tourists, like us, taking pictures and commenting on the art. It really was beautiful. As we were walking I really appreciated the quiet time, breathing in this amazing place. It was quite a site to see and I felt honored to share it with my friends and to witness such faith under circumstances much different from what I experience at home.
Liz
The outreach classes were a great blend of dance and social interaction. The students were wonderful participants and seemed willing to step out of their comfort zone and into ours. The Mary Chapman School for the Deaf presented some unique challenges, but it was a great success. Teaching while not speaking the language can be difficult. In this particular case, we needed interpreters for the Burmese language as well as teachers to use sign language. We seemed two steps behind. There was also a huge age range in the class from, perhaps, eight years old to teen years. Daniel and Yayoi, the leaders for that session, rose to the occasion, split the group by age and moved forward. By the end of class each group had found a successful rhythm and all seemed to be having fun. My favorite part of that outreach was when we were leaving and saying our goodbyes. Suddenly the students came pouring over to us and began shaking our hands. They used elaborate and complex patterns and tricks almost like secret handshakes. It was so much fun to have them share with us!
Professor Higgins continued to share this amazing country with us. In the evenings he would take us on tours of the city. He even took us to the Shwedagon Pagoda. It is believed that hair of the Fourth Buddha is enshrined in it. Much like a European cathedral, the Pagoda is so huge and so beautiful that any picture cannot do it justice. It is a place in which Buddhists from Burma must try to make a pilgrimage once in their lifetime. As we walked along the white marble and witnessed the statues and gold and worshipers we were awed. It was so unfamiliar to see so many people so focused on prayer. It was so quiet and intense even though there were crowds of tourists, like us, taking pictures and commenting on the art. It really was beautiful. As we were walking I really appreciated the quiet time, breathing in this amazing place. It was quite a site to see and I felt honored to share it with my friends and to witness such faith under circumstances much different from what I experience at home.
Liz
