My Last Day in Myanmar

Hey everyone! I hope your week went well. I wish I could have blogged a bit more this week, but things have been quite hectic. As promised though, I have made today, my usual transition day, my last in Myanmar. This week has been very positive, I must say, and I have enjoyed "travelling" to this great country. Wearing the clothing of this culture (as best as I could still being in the U.S) has given me more respect for the culture than I went in believing that it could. The pawas I wore each day (the world of this country for a shawl) made me feel, well, pretty and for someone who does not always take their appearance as much into consideration as they should, I felt like the clothes that I wore this week showed me that it is possible to show that you care about how you look without feeling materialistic or too focused on looks. I got many comments this week in regards to the pawas that I wore. The comments ranged from "You look nice today" to "I enjoy your old lady shawl" to "I like your shawl" (which gave me the perfect opportunity to share why I was wearing it). I guess these traditional ways of dressing for the women of Myanmar is just normal dress. From what I have observed this week though, to us, this dress can be formal and very feminine (and maybe to some overly so). Sure we wear shawls here- I see people wear them all of the time, and sure the dress of the women of Myanmar includes a bit more than I was able to include in my daily life,  but an eighteen year-old high school senior wearing one to school is not exactly the norm for many people. Because of this fact, to be honest, I was a bit nervous about wearing a shawl to school at the beginning of the week (one because it isn't the "norm" and two, because I can be considered a "plain Jane" when it comes to my appearance). By the week's middle though, I found myself loving the pawas and blouses more and more. I am usually not too "girly", but this week, I was able to embrace my womanhood more than I usually and through that, I was able to see the beauty of the roles of women in this country. They wear clothes that make them look beautiful without a ton of makeup, hair dye, high heels, expensive purses and so on. I hope that the women of Myanmar feel as "pretty" and feminine as I did this week, not in a submissive woman kind of way, but more as a woman whose stunning inner beauty is as flowing, wispy and colorful and comforting as the pawas they wear as part of their culture. Thank you Myanmar for reinforcing for me the very deep meaning that clothing can bring when it is worn because of tradition, heritage and as an expression of the beauty of womanhood and the inner spirit. I feel close to this country, though I had heard very little about it before my "travels" this week. Thank you Myanmar for allowing me to embrace and live out your spectacular and irreplaceable culture!