When I announced to friends this week that I’d be flying off to Myanmar for the rest of July and most of August, the general reaction was “I thought you had kissed public health goodbye?”  My response to that question has been, well if someone is going to pay me to go somewhere really cool, then why not?  So when an old boss asked me if I could be in Yangon, stat, my response was an unwavering YES!

Seven (slightly stressful) days after that fateful email, I’ve got an Airbnb waiting for me, a smattering of pals who moved there from Phnom Penh that I can’t wait to see, so many tips from Cait, and this wonderful lady (in the most beautiful of coinky dinkies) is holding a Disappearing Brew Bar at Port Autonomy in Yangon this weekend!

Plus, I hear that Burmese creatives are the coolest.

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”

On one hand, it’s like that quote from The Godfather.  Paid work from a very large international body has its benefits.  And if it’s going to satisfy a part of me that spent seven years invested in a topic, and take me to cool places that I can share with you here, I’ll say yes to that.  I don’t mind staying hyphenated because it somehow opens up so many more opportunities.  But there are some key rules that I’m following: only if it feels right.

And I can’t wait to pop my Myanmar cherry.

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Photo by Tiffany Tsang. Please request permission for use.