I usually sign up for Google Alerts for daily emails of top articles related to the country that I am researching each month. The articles from Burma have been more varied and related to really significant change compared to any other country I have virtually traveled to so far. I have a feeling that the people of Burma themselves are talking a great deal about some of these topics as it seems their country's status internationally is at a moment where it could go one of two ways - gaining respect from some of the peace-keeping/humanitarian allied countries, or drawing increasing criticism for the oppressive leadership and human rights issues.
A crowd of relatives and friends wait in front of Insein Prison in Rangoon on May 17, 2011, eagerly looking for their loved ones to appear as part of a general prisoner amnesty release.
Here's some recent articles if you want some more detailed info on recent events:
Protesters in Burma offer prayers at the Sule Pagoda after they agreed to call off a rally when asked by the authorities to do so, in downtown Rangoon on September 26, 2011
An article was just posted at Time.com that is worth a read - a great rundown of recent events:
I try to keep up on the news for the countries I am checking out for my blog, and I was happy to read that some website restrictions in Burma have just been lifted! This is a step by the repressive government to show that they are attempting to lift some restrictions and improve international perception of Burma and boost internal morale.
BBC, Reuters, Radio Free Asia, and YouTube are some of the websites that have been blocked since a time of protests in 2007. The lifting of the censorship coincides with a recent visit from a U.S. envoy as well as the United Nation's "International Day of Democracy" which celebrated Nobel Laureate and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who said she believes "changes are on the horizon."
Aung San Suu Kyi
Although the lifting of web censorship is a positive step, TV broadcasts still remain tightly controlled by the government and foreign journalists are mostly barred from reporting in the country.
Inspired by the Seinfeld clip in my last post, I will now tackle the Myanmar/Burma name debate, so I can move forth this month using the correct name (unlike in January when I erroneously called the Democratic Republic of the Congo simply the Congo for weeks).
Map of Burma
Officially, the name of the country is Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw, which is translated by the US government as the "Union of Myanmar." Part of the confusion around the name of the country stems from the usage of both terms by the Burman people. "Myanmar" is the term usually used in forma settings and in written sources. When speaking, the term "Burma" is most commonly used.
Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw in Burmese.....
I don't think I could learn this language if I spent the rest of my life working on it!
In 1989, a ruling military junta changed the name of Burma to Myanmar, also changing the city Rangoon to Yangon. The United Nations and some countries, such as France and Japan, recognize the new name, while the United States and the UK still use the name Burma. Due to the familiarity of the older names, many news outlets still use "Burma" and "Rangoon."
In a statement, the British Foreign Office commented "Burma's democracy movement prefers the form 'Burma' because they do not accept the legitimacy of the unelected military regime to change the official name of the country." Sometimes the usage of the name Myanmar by individuals or organizations is taken as relative acceptance of the military regime. Although there are calls for democracy in Burma, some thing the name will continue to be Myanmar even if the military junta is ousted and democratic control comes into power. A linguist at the University of Western England, Richard Coates, feels that the adoption of the name Myanmar is an attempt to break from colonial past - from 1824-1948 the country was under British control.
Soooooooooooo, what am I going to call it.......well, although I think Myanmar is a funny name to say, I think I'm going to stick with Burma. I made this decision not particularly based on political reasons (although I will spend some time in an upcoming post learning more about the political situation in the Union of Myanmar), but more because in my blog I celebrate the culture of different regions, and "Burma" seems to reflect the culture of the Burmese people better and is a less formal, more colloquial term, which is closer to the spirit of this blog!
Well, my two months in India has come to an end. I slacked off a bit in the last two months and wrote about half as many posts as usual, which is why I stayed in India double time. I hope to be back on target in September!!!
It was fun learning more about India. I certainly spent a lot of time learning about food. I probably cooked Indian food six or seven times and visited a few Indian grocery stores. I looooooove Indian food, and Indian leftovers are even better with age:) I was blown away by not only how many spices I used in the food, but by the quantity of those spices...tablespoons sometimes!!!! I will definitely keep cooking Indian food and thanks to sweet Manjula for all the great recipes!
I started reading a couple books by Indian authors and I'm sad to say I have as of yet not finished either, but I will! I'm reading "A River Sutra" by Gita Mehta, which is the story of a retired Indian bureaucrat who retires along the banks of a holy river and encounters varied passersby who tell him the stories of their lives. I also am reading "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy, which tells the story of two fraternal twins growing up in Southern India in the late 60s and shifts to them being reunited in the 1990s. The book touches on the impact of communism and the caste system, weaving these themes through the stories of the well crafted characters that enter into the twins lives.
Altogether, I enjoyed my time exploring India in the last two months, and especially eating a ridiculous amount of Indian food.
For my next month, I'm not traveling to far afield from India. Due to my monthly blog dinners, cousin has requested Myanmar as my next country - no good Burmese restaurants here in San Diego, so it's time to take our love of Burmese food into our own hands!!!
I've gotta be honest - the first time I can remember hearing about the country of Myanmar was because of the show Seinfeld! Here's a clip to refresh your memories.....
Hahaha! Man, I love Peterman. But, why the name switch????? To find out, check back in with my blog in a few days - my first post will look at the name change and a bit of the history of the region.
