georgeaye:
A house party at Len & Moe's friends' house. They'd rented this lady and her cooking table , and bought this dish - it's every part of the pig that you normally don't eat. For hours, she sat there, slicing and spearing pig parts.
georgeaye:
Shwedagon Pagoda is the largest pagoda in Burma. It's entirely covered in gold. It's amazingly bright and surrounded by a palatial fairground of smaller pagodas, bells, and lots of monks and people coming to pray.
georgeaye:
You take your shoes off outside the grounds, so it's best to come at night. Otherwise, the hot ground burns your feet.
georgeaye:
It's traditional to buy flowers (which we did from a street vendor) and then lay them down at the pagoda.
georgeaye:
The inside of one of the many smaller pagodas surrounding Shwedagon. Burma is really into gold, and LEDs. Tons of Buddhas here had giant flashing LED halos around them, Vegas-style.
georgeaye:
Shwedagon is also surrounded by giant bells, which you ring for good luck. This one was the biggest, and Tom has childhood memories of running around and hiding under it with his brother Len.
georgeaye:
Here's us giving the offering. You bow on the ground, then you pour water over the Nat, a spirit, and pay your respects.
georgeaye:
There are 8 entrances to the pagoda, one for each day of the week you can be born on (there are 2 for Wednesday). We entered at George's entrance (he's a Tiger, born on Monday).
georgeaye:
Waves of teenagers wielding 2 brooms each came through the grounds of the pagoda, sweeping up in one big line.
georgeaye:
Apparently the sweeping of the pagoda grounds is a really good deed, which is why parents let their teens out at night to do this. It actually turns out to be quite a big night for teens to meet each other. :)
georgeaye:
This building (now a parking garage) used to be George's grandpa's house. Amazingly, this neighbor woman recognized Tom & George from when they lived there as kids!
georgeaye:
While he waited for us to walk around the old neighborhood, our driver dusted his van with a giant feather duster.
