The Safran Touch

Ten percent of Myanmar's populations are monks.  Is that right?  Maybe not, but I know that it's a big percentage.  So it's alot.  In Myanmar, every boy must spend at least a little time in a Buddhist monestary at some time in their lives.  The resistance of the monks to military rule in the 80's is sometimes referred to as the "Safran Revolution," referring to the color of their robes.

Girls can be monks too, but I don't think it's as big a tradition for them.  This girl was an orphan, that is why she is at the monestary. 

The monks live off of donations of food and clothing.  Sometimes they live in temples, like the one below.  Sometimes in monestaries. 

Many of the younger monks come to the tourist spots to chat with the foreigners to help them learn foreign languages.  Antoine was often approached, and the first question was always, "Where do you come from?" the second is "How old are you?" The boy talking to Antoine in this picture is 16 years old.  He was surprised to hear that Antoine is only 12! 

We visited a Buddhist university near Myanmar. Here is a dorm room.

These guys were supposed to be studying, but it was a bit difficult with the foreigners distracting them.  They didn't seem to mind, however.

The ladies dress in pink, the silver bowls tucked under their arms are for collecting alms,

and they often had lovely umbrellas with them to protect from the sun.

This guy is taking pictures of my boys.  For some reason, there was a group of ladies that wanted to have their pictures taken with the boys, one at a time.  The monks were responsible for approaching us and asking our permission.  After the first lady had her picture taken, others lined up.  The boys were willing and patient through a few shots, but once we started gathering a crowd, they became a little uncomfortable and we moved on.  After sneaking and asking for so many shots ourselves, it was funny to have the cameras turned on us!