[Above photo: Packaged snacks being loaded on a trishaw bicycle prior to delivery. Note one youth making the NLD support sign.]
25 March 2021
I arose at 5:58AM, took a shower, and had a cup of tea while chatting with Kelly. My pre-arranged cab arrived at 7, we loaded my two heavy suitcases, a pvc pipe with a canvas rolled up inside, and my day pack. The roads to the airport were clear at this hour until we arrived at the military blockade in front of the airport entrance road. There was a long line going through a metal detector at the door to the International Terminal. That negotiated, I wheeled everything to the Singapore Airlines counter, where another long line snaked around many times. Once my bags were checked and I paid the overweight fee, I headed for Immigration.
Like choosing a line in the supermarket, I got into the shortest which was also, by far, the slowest. At 10:05, after 2 ½ hours in the airport and 20 minutes before take-off, I jumped to the head of the line, after asking everyone when their flight left. When I finally reached the phlegmatic immigration officer, after much pondering she sent me to the Overstay Counter. What?! There I produced the letter that I’d been sent by the University of Medicine 1 with a note attached saying, “This is approval of your visa.” It was all in Myanmar script, of course. I could recognize the 24.4.2020-24.4.2021 and assumed it was, in fact, what I was told. No such luck. After more fiddling around and trips to speak with his superior by an officer in a very snappy uniform, a lovely Singapore Airlines employee approached me and asked if I was getting on the plane. The officer arrived and announced firmly that I was not. I owed $1495US in overstay fines, 335 days at $5/day. Needless to say, I did not have the cash.
I’d like to report that I was calm and took this in my stride. I strode alright. Pacing up and down, fuming inside as Mr. Snappy Uniform checked with various people about my faux visa letter. I thought, Don’t have a heart attack here, George. So I did deep breathing exercises, recalled how many more flies you catch with honey than vinegar, and, eventually, wondered what the Buddha would do. Clearly he wouldn’t rage. Or go volcanic. I settled on trying to live in the moment, not thinking about changing all my reservations or the ton of money I’d have to spend to leave Burma. I thought about how bad it really wasn’t, how it was actually nobody’s fault. It is mostly the fault of a thick bureaucracy with inscrutable regulations. And, I sided with my ambivalence about leaving my life here and the good company of my friends. I actually settled down.
Then I was escorted by a strong young man (To contain me if I exploded?) to the check-in counter one floor below to collect my bags, which were being removed from the plane. En route a soldier appeared from nowhere, demanding my passport. I suppose they are on the lookout for anyone not following the herd, even if that person is an 80yo American Professor of Psychiatry. He snapped a photo of my passport. It was a little unnerving, since thousands have been jailed, including physicians, and over 300 killed, including 30 children.
However, at the check-in counter, which now fronted a desolate hall, I was greeted by 4 lovely Burmese Singapore Airlines workers, all masked. Their eyes were so beautiful, they made me want to rock and roll! Could they help me in any way? Weary at this point I thought, “Let’s all go over to your house and have fun.” but happily didn’t say so.
Since the airport is closed, except for the 2 hours of morning flights, and barricaded by the military, there were no cabs. I called a friend who called a taxi who eventually came and took me home.
It was like Groundhog Day, going to The District Coffee Lounge down our street for a cappuccino and half a brownie with Kelly and Conner. I expected yesterday to be the last day I did that, at least for 6 months. Conner is a young man working with a humanitarian INGO who has moved in with us. Kelly hired him for his first job after Peace Corps. The isolation of his apartment in the midst of coup-vid with curfews made our company appear deceptively attractive. He has a darling Burmese girlfriend who is smart, well-educated, and independent but, like most Burmese women who are unmarried, she still lives with her parents.
Now, I must find $2000 US, although the banks are closed. I have to reschedule all the reservations. I’ll have to get another pre-flight covid test (at $140) 2 days before I fly. Money, at this point, seems like a tool I need but I am not worried about the expenditures. I just need to get out.
Later………..Aha, a friend who is the Consular Officer at the US Embassy has offered to front me the cash, which she can get from the Embassy as an employee. I just sent her a payment via PayPal and will meet her tomorrow after her work to receive a fat envelope. I was able to reschedule 2 of my 3 reservations with no additional charges. I’ll hopefully fly out next Wednesday, 31 March. Perseverance may be, overall, the single most important factor in success in most fields. Luck and knowledge, as well. Brute force in some fields of endeavor. There was shooting in one of the nearby townships today and at least two are dead.
This is it for now. It is remarkable how the Republicans all link arms and lie in unison. I swear, Susan Collins, the supposed “moderate Republican” and independent thinker billows with every GOP zephyr. They don’t break ranks, demonstrating that the Party is more important to them than Truth or Justice, and much more important than the welfare of the American people—-all of the people.
THE BIG LIE is so audacious that some will find it impossible to believe a person would dare to adhere to it if it weren’t true. It has been dismissed by 60/61 court cases, yet on go the Trumpers. A mass of snakes covered in Vaseline. Why allow Ted Cruz exclusive rights to that label? They know, and have said, that they cannot win if they allow all US citizens to vote so they’re working like crazy to suppress, and distort by gerrymandering, the minority vote.
A Psychiatrist in Myanmar 