Two Stories (From Burma)

by Brenna Holeman

 

Two Stories From Rangoon, Burma

I am still in India and still loving it; I am now in Pushkar, famous for being one of the holiest cities in the country. Here I’ve spent my days climbing mountains for the sunrise, drinking piping hot masala chai from street stalls, filling my plate with as much aloo chat and paneer pakora and raita as I possibly can, shopping for jewellery and saris, and trying to feed off all of this amazing energy. And that’s what has impressed me most about India so far: the energy. It seems as though I am never tired, never able to stop looking around and trying to soak it all up, soak it all in. India is my country, if you know what I mean.

I am off to Jaipur next, renown for the Pink City and for loads of shopping (as if I need any more; these markets are killing me). After that, there is Agra, Varanasi, a quick stop in Delhi for the Holi festival, then Amritsar, and possibly Udaipur again before heading to Nepal. Part of me, however, just wants to abandon the rest of the countries I’m going to (sorry, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia) and try to find a job in India. I’ll say it again…more than any other country I’ve been to, this feels like my country.

(With thanks for the beautiful Kerrilyn for uploading my videos to youtube. For the record, I do speak some French. And some Japanese. And if you catch me on a good day, I may even be able to converse with you in Russian. And damn, I hate seeing/hearing myself on video, but I must warn you…there are many more to come.)

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11 comments

Christine March 10, 2011 - 9:57 pm

I love your videos!!! You must upload more!

P.S. Thank you so much for the postcard, I received it today 🙂

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Oneika March 11, 2011 - 12:19 am

Wow!! Love the vids! How do you manage to look so gorgeous while travelling?!

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This Battered Suitcase March 11, 2011 - 2:45 pm

Christine – I will upload many more when I have a stronger internet connection…for now I can’t even upload photos! Glad the postcard arrived…

Oneika – Thanks! I felt like an old hag in Burma, constantly covered in dirt and dust, but thank you regardless. 🙂

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kay*(from india.with love) March 11, 2011 - 3:48 pm

i love LOVE hearing you say this about India. don’t know where i’ll be living yet or if I’ll have a roomie but maybe you should consider staying and we can share a flat – that’d be AMAZING! so excited to arrive next week and celebrate holi with you 🙂

love the videos. the gold temples in the background? amazing!

& i’m blown away that you can look so freakin’ stylish while backpacking. you’re going to have to teach me your secrets – i’m SO serious!

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mina March 11, 2011 - 7:16 pm

I loved those videos! What are you guys eating? At first I thought they were churros… but no, you’re in India. Vadai? (sp?)

I wish I was confident enough to post videos like that – you are adorable and a great story teller!

Is it horrible that I was hoping that that girl sanitized her hands after picking up that shoe?

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This Battered Suitcase March 12, 2011 - 9:03 am

Kay – If I do move to India, you will be the first to know! How awesome would that be?!

Mina – Thanks a lot! I have no idea what we were eating – it was in Burma, not India, and the people serving us didn’t speak English. All they could tell us was, “No meat”. Hmmm.

After being in India for a few weeks I definitely thought that about Kerri picking up the shoe, too…although at the time we didn’t seem to care! I am practically drinking hand sanitizer in India, though; my hands and nails are still almost black every day regardless. Ew.

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Cara-Mia March 13, 2011 - 6:29 am

Yes! More videos! 🙂

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This Battered Suitcase March 14, 2011 - 9:44 am

I’ll try!

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Ekua March 15, 2011 - 6:49 am

Love the train story!

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ashleigh March 16, 2011 - 4:03 am

wow….totally in love with these. i feel like they are just beaming.

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This Battered Suitcase March 16, 2011 - 9:02 am

Thank you very much, Ekua and Ashleigh!

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