A Lesson in Empathy

We spent our first day in Myanmar in Yangon, the capital city.  Our group expanded for this part of the trip! We had quite the sizeable crw - myself, Marsh, Kristina, Matt Kristek, Matt and Carlyn, Jen, and two new additions - Aaron and Carols (Matt Kinn's friends from post-college life).

Our 'tour' of Myanmar only included one day on the front end in Yangon.  The entire coutnry has been under military rule since 1962, so you are not allowed to take pictures of anything remotely military related.  However, starting in 2011, when a new president was elected (Thein Sein), Myanmar started changing.  Businesses started opening in the country.  Construction on hotels began - a drive to attract tourists.

Myanmar is also known as Burma - the name officially changed in 1989, but the name change is still a contentious issue because many countries do not want to recognize the military rule.

Some other interesting facts:

• It is the 24th most populous country, with 60 million people!
• It also seems to be a rich country - with 2011 GDP around $83 Billion USD
• The wealth comes from precious stones, oil, and natural gas... though not sure if the opium production is included in the GDP calculation.  Our guide said that it is still widely grown on the northern border, but they are trying to crack down on it...
• Even though the GDP seems high, most of the parts of Burma look like one of the poorest countries I have been to - from my last post - only 25% of the population has electricity
• Burma is home to 135 ethnic groups, each with their own language - though there are 8 predominate languages throughout the country

And another fun fact about Myanmar - it was the first place I got TERRIBLY sick.

I would like to lay this out for you, but it would not be fun for any of us to relive.  Here's the short version:

• 7pm (Feb 15th) = We all went to a restaurant in Yangon that our guide there recommended.  A real "Burmese" place.  The food was awesome!  Got some great noodle soup with an awesome, spicy sauce
• 10pm = Head to bed early, want to rest up for the start of Myanmar.  The guys stay up with some Tiger beers
• 8am (Feb 16th) = Early the next morning, we fly to Bagan - the land of thoudsands of temples!
• 2pm = Carlos goes down, pretty dang hard (and side note here - he's an Army Ranger, so when got sick, I started getting nervous)
• By this point, you hear a few murmurings of people not feeling 100%.  I start telling myself it's all in my head.  Don't let it get inside my head - and I decide I am not getting sick today...
• 5pm = Four of us were down (Carlos, Kristina, Jen, Carlyn.... in that order...)
• 6pm = Marsh goes down while some of us are out visiting temples
• Around 8:30pm = Six of us are down (adding Matt Kristek to the tolll).  I start realizing this really may not just be in my head.  I decide to take a Zithromax
• 9:30pm = FOOD POISONING HITS!!!!  I feel like a cheese grater has been taken to the inside of my stomach.  Terrible....
• 10pm = A true lesson in empathy occurs for me.  I now know what it's like.  What it's like to feel terrible and sick and want to cry and just have everything better!  Never again will I think that someone who is about to throw up just needs to buck up.  Prior to this day, I knew that lack of empathy was a weakness of mine.  Well, the Man Upstairs definitely taught me a lesson this time.  After this night in Bagan: (#1) I will not be complaining next time my stomach just kind of hurts!  And... (#2) I will have genuine empathy for others that do feel sick!
• Lesson learned....