What Would Happen If...: ... Nothing was more genuine than a smile?

Smiles on smiles on smiles. Burma is so incredible that my face hurts from too many friendly interactions (and I'm not complaining at all). I'm currently sipping the best $0.30 chai tea in a chaotic yet adorable Indian spot called New Delhi with Rachel and Shasta. We spent the day wandering Yangon and stopping to try every bizarre street food we could get our hands on. I don't think we were disappointed by a single thing - the fried quail egg was probably the favorite. The people here are incredibly nice and open, and extremely curious about these white people wandering around. We've seen about two other tourists the entire time we've been here and have been greeted countless times on the street by friendly Burmese people wanting to practice their English or help show us around. Even coming out of the crazy busy Bogyoke Aung San Market, a nice man named Haman offered to show us to this restaurant since it was on his way home.

Our first day in Yangon (yesterday) was pretty packed but fun. We went to the zoo and got super close to some interesting animals as well as some not so interesting ones (lots of deer, rabbits and guinea pigs... Which I was obviously into). While we were snapping photos of all the animals, we quickly realized all the other people at the zoo were snapping pictures of us. I guess we were more exotic to them which was pretty amusing. We had a fantastic $2 lunch of Burmese food (think Indian and Chinese combined) which was spicy and delicious, then headed to the famous Shwadagon Temple which was by far the coolest temple I've ever seen. We went close to sunset and were completely overcome by the size, intricacy, and brilliance of how the light bounced off the gold buildings. We spent a few hours walking around and taking in the smell of incense and the massive beauty of the place.

I had a pretty interesting chat with a monk who had a book of English phrases and wanted help with pronunciation so we stood and went through Christmas phrases (wreath, Santa Claus, sleigh), then American Football phrases (tight end, referee, goal post), then careers (hair dresser, waitress, doctor). He asked me what my career was but unfortunately none of the options were even close. It was pretty amusing though and we ended the night by lighting candles and all listening to the chanting prayers taking place in front of Buddha. It was peaceful, beautiful and moving.

We're hopping on a night bus tonight to head to Bagan - can't wait to see even more of this beautiful country and meet more Burmese people! If everyone is as kind as they have been in Yangon I think we'll be set for a pretty amazing trip.

Our ride to the zoo