I haven’t yet written about my trip to Myanmar (Burma) in February. We (my husband and I) went with a delegation from our city, Fort Wayne, Indiana, for the purpose of formalizing a “Friendship City” agreement with the city of Mawlamyine, in Mon State, Myanmar. This is the first step towards a Sister Cities designation.

The formalities were impressive–we met with the U.S. ambassador, the governor of Mon State, and many other dignitaries as well as representatives of NGO’s, and artists, writers, academics, and monks. We considered ways of establishing connections between people in different parts of our communities.

We visited Mawlamyine University, a high school, a hospital, a marketplace, a home, a factory. We travelled along a busy highway between Yangon and Mawlamyine, and drove on a small city street to an artist’s studio. We learned a little bit of history, a little bit of language and culture–just enough to make us want to return to see and learn more.

We didn’t have time to visit the beautiful places we heard and read about in other parts of the country, but others in our group were able to do that after we left, and they shared their pictures and stories with us.

What an interesting, exciting, and beautiful country.