Why We Travel Response

One of Pico Iyer's reasons for traveling that resonated with me was that traveling allows us to both see and feel our surroundings. I know that often I feel disconnected from the world, merely a passerby, but when I travel, everything is brand new, forcing me to take time and comprehend what is going on around me.

Another reason Iyer gives for traveling that it exposes different perspectives not only to us, the travelers (or tourists, as some would call us) but to the locals as well! We interact and learn more about the different kinds of culture that we do not often think about, from simple things such as eating habits in different countries to more complex cultural ideas such as the use of the left hand for eating being forbidden in India.

My favorite reason that Iyer gives is the fact that "our greatest moments come when we're not stationary." This locks in snuggly with my brain, making perfect sense and also being a reason that I never thought of. I can say with certainty that I had a much better time zip lining in Costa Rice the summer of 2013 than I did afterwords when I did nothing but watch Netflix on my couch!

Why We Travel- Pico Iyer

I loved reading what Iyer had to say about travel. What resonated with me the most was how he related traveling to love.  He wrote, "For if every true love affair can feel like a journey to a foreign country, where you can't quite speak the language, and you don't know where you're going, and you're pulled ever deeper into the inviting darkness, every trip to a foreign country can be a love affair, where you're left puzzling over who you are and who'm you've fallen in love with" (3). The feelings you get when you're traveling to a brand new place resemble the feelings of love, and I have experienced this when I travel on vacation with my family and friends.

Another thing that resonated with me was when Iyer talked about travel as showing us the sights, values, and issues we have about ourselves that we might usually ignore. Through traveling, we   travel to moods and states of mind that we don't necessarily visit often.

One last thing I liked about Iyer's essay was the idea that all the significant movement we ever take is internal. We don't have to physically travel the world to have a journey. Journeys can be meeting new people, watching a movie, or reading a book. I think this is important to note, especially for people who can't afford to travel to extravagant places.

-Rachael Adkins

Meeting Maung-Maung

I think the theme of Meeting Maung-Maung by Pico Iyer is that one’s positive outlook on life and relationships formed in life are what truly matters. When Iyer first meets Maung-Maung he is suspicious of Maung-Maung’s intentions. When Maung-Maung offers him a gift, a jade rock, he wonders, “..was he framing me, or cunningly putting me in his debt? What was the small print? What did he want?”(19). Iyer fails to realize, until later, that Maung-Maung is just trying to be a good man and form a friendship with Iyer.

I think Iyer’s most effective language is converting Kyats to U.S. dollars. This conversion constantly proves how poor Maung-Maung is, but it also shows the deep contrast between Maung-Maung’s attitude and income. Although he is dirt poor Maung-Maung is a very positive and friendly person. He shows how money is not the root of happiness and is not what truly matters in life.  Another way Iyer writes effectively is by showing us Maung-Maung’s broken English in the dialogue. “..If I hit horse in this life, in next life I come back as horse”(20) The dialogue really brings Maung-Maung to life. I appreciate his effort to speak English even more when Iyer explains how Maung-Maung taught himself English.

Describe a Place (Fenway Park)

Fenway Fantasy 

For as long as I can remember my family has followed Red Sox baseball. Most people from Dubuque, Iowa follow the Cubs and have the luxury of going to games often. Due to the fact that Boston is 1,161 miles from Dubuque it wasn’t until the summer of 2015 that I got to experience Fenway Park for the first time.  

Walking up onto Yawkey Way was like an experience I had never felt before. There were so many people I could hardly take a step without the fear of crushing somebody’s toes, and the amount of people yelling different things, all in the hopes of selling you an overpriced roster or a five-dollar water bottle, was overwhelming. Waiting in line I could feel my anticipation building as I could see the Green Monster, Fenway's famed outfield wall, towering above me. The moment my family and I stepped inside the stadium it felt like my chest was about to burst with joy. The sound of thousands of voices all talking at the same time mirrored my excitement, it sounded as if one large roar had just escaped a lion’s mouth.  

When I finally got to my seat on top of the Green Monster I felt like I had traveled into a fantasy, being so high up and having a view of the entire stadium created an essence of power. I was on top of the world. There was something so magical about looking down onto the field of freshly cut grass, and freshly watered dirt that left a picture perfect image implanted in my head. As the batting practice rolled on you could here the faint ding of a ball every time one was crushed into the outfield, and although it was just practice, the crowd cheered as if the player had just hit the game winning homerun. The smell of peanuts, popcorn, and pizza was so intense you could almost taste it and you could feel the energy bouncing off of people as they were waiting for the game to start.  

The humidity in the air was almost thick enough to touch, as if an entire cloud had decided to sit down and join us for the game. The only escape was the slight breeze that would move through the stadium, but it was gone as quick as it came. It was a true feeling of euphoria as the sun beat down on my face and beads of sweat trickled down my temples. My stomach growled when I got in line with thirty other people all anxiously awaiting the savory taste of a hot dog, and all anxiously awaiting the first pitch to be thrown. From high in the stands I felt as if I were right at home, comforted by the fact that I was surrounded by nearly 40,000 people that had at least one major thing in common with me, the love of the Red Sox. 

Meeting Maung-Maung Analysis

Pico Iyer's "Meeting Maung-Maung" revolves completely, not surprisingly, around the character Maung-Maung. However, this, in conjunction with the narrator never ultimately affecting the overall plot, suggests that this story is told in 2nd person. Therefore, the theme must derive from the true protagonist, Maung-Manug, which I believe is the importance of selflessness and faith. The lovable appeal of Iyer's remarkable guide may be due in part by his intelligence and humble origin, but it's mostly delivered through his sincere happiness - he's always learning and possesses a remarkable work ethic and sacrifices himself so much yet achieves a self-actualization  not in spite of but because of his Buddhist responsibilities and desire to serve people.

The language is most effective when Iyer captures the simplistically pure persona of Maung-Maung. When the two take a detour to Maung-Maung's house they "[pull] up before [his] hut, fronted with weeds. Smiling proudly," he leads a stranger he's never met into his humble home, fascinating the reader with both his sincere trust in others and admiration toward his modest living quarters. The dry skepticism of the narrator also juxtaposes the innocence of his trishaw guide. Iyer's dour expectations for Maung-Maung to "drop a drug in [his] tea or pull out a knife" as to explain his seemingly perfect personality highlights just how amazing Maung-Maung is when he instead ultimately shares with the suspicious narrator his most treasured possessions.

A Response to Meeting Maung-Maung

The main theme of Iyer’s essay was, at least to me, “the subversion of expectations”. There are several pieces of evidence for this. For instance, Maung-Maung is a college graduate, yet drives a taxi, a profession that requires almost no education. When Iyer received the jade from his driver, he expected foul play of some sort, yet was only given it to have a souvenir from his travel, to remember Mandalay and Maung-Maung fondly. When Iyer is invited into Maung-Maung’s home, he expects to be mugged, or something of the like. Furthermore, in his essay about himself, Maung-Maung writes of a time in which his parents had no money to pay for school, and against all odds, managed to put himself through college. Yet, his is what we expect from the character we now know: the completion of his studies and his own car for tours. In a way, though, isn’t ending a story with so many subversions of expectations in an expected way a subversion in and of itself?

Two interesting uses of language I found:

The way Maung-Maung speaks and writes. The broken English really helps with the setting of the story and makes the character seem more vividly foreign, as well as more real. It also ties with one of the reasons he drives: to improve his English.

Maung-Maung’s list. It breaks the format of the paragraphs that came prior to it, however briefly. The message itself, though, is presented in an interesting fashion: Three of the things are pretty standard rules for nice people: abstinence from violence, to be helpful, and to be kind. Abstinence from intoxicating substances is also a pretty common rule. The fact that he bothered to include abstaining from illicit sex, though, speaks volumes for the society this man lives in, in which it would be such a big concern that he adds it to his only five rules. 

Meeting Maung-Maung

In my opinion, the theme of this article is just telling us a story about meeting Maung-Maung. Even though Maung-Maung lives on tour guide, he still has his own life faith, dream and keeps kindness and happiness. He even has a pledge about service to tourists, “All tourist people are my bread and butter. So I need to help everything as I could. If I do not help them, they will never forgive me because I fully understand their love or sincerity. I don’t have enough money, but I need to pay their gratitude at one day.” As seen, he is a very kind and conscientious tour guide.

“A scrawny fellow in his late twenties, with a sailor’s cap, a beard, a torn white shirt above his lungi, and an open, rough-hewn face- a typical tout, in short.” This description is really vivid. I can imagine what this person look like.

“But in this job, I can meet tourist and improve my English.” Though this sentence is simple, it shows that Maung-Maung is a very ingenuous person.

Meeting Maung-Maung

I believe the theme of Meeting Maung-Maung by Pico Lyer is humbleness leads to happiness. This educated man could get a more glorious job, but instead he choses to tour people around the city. He remains humble when talking about his previous experiences getting enough money to attend school and his future goals and ambitions of getting a higher degree. He says that although he doesn't have money, he has friends and life experiences that are more valuable. Therefore, he is happy.
The language he used to describe Maung-Maung's house was effective because it further portrayed his humbleness and how little Maung-Maung needed to survive. Lyer says that there is only a bed and a chalkboard in his entire tiny house with weeds in the front and Maung-Maung's "valuable belongings" were a thick black notebook and a sociology book. These items show that Maung-Maung lives his life without riches or fancy items, but he is utterly happy with what little he has.
Another effective language strategy was to include the U.S. dollar amounts of the kyats Maung-Maung needed to afford his goals. The dollar amounts put into perspective how poor he really is. However, he remains humble and doesn't pity himself, but knows that he will have to work hard to achieve and afford his dreams.

Meeting Muang-Muang

The theme of Meeting Muang-Muang by Pico Iyer is that the it's the little things that count. This can be shown by Muang-Muang's positivity and happiness despite living a life that some may see as less fortunate. Muang's happiness is derived from making others happy and seeing his work. The tone of the passage furthers this by staying upbeat and happy and makes you feel better after reading it. Two examples of the language that struck me as effective are, (1) "If you put air into volleyball and throw it against wall, it bounces back. But if you do not put in air, what happens? It collapses against wall." I like this quote because it shows the simplicity of Muang-Muang's philosophies on life. It is simple but yet so complex and deep when you further read into it and I think it adds to depth of Muang-Muang's character, and (2) "All tourist people are my bread and butter. So I need to help everything as I could. If I do not help them, they will never forgive me because I fully understand their love or sincerity. I don't have enough money, but I need to pay their gratitude one day." I enjoy this excerpt because it better helps understand why Muang-Muang does all that he does for so little in return. You can better see his beliefs in action with this quote. It really makes you sit down and think about how you are living your life.

Meeting Maung-Maung

I believe the theme of "Meeting Maung-Maung" is recognizing one's own privilege. Throughout the story, Iyer highlights privileges for the reader. For example, by writing "...two hundred fifty kyats [US$30]", Iyer quantifies the level of privilege for a teacher in the United States (20). He compares a small salary of a teacher in Burma to a salary in the United States, demonstrating the hardships of living in Maung-Maung's country and the benefits of living in America. Also, Maung-Maung is  grateful for the ability to attend university. He sacrifices his relationship with his family, cutting ties for a year, to continue his studies. His struggles and goal to receive a "Further Certificate", emphasize not only Iyer's privilege, but also the readers' privilege to have access to education.

I enjoyed the line "Maung-Maung did nothing to dispel these suspicions as he pedaled the trishaw off the main street and we began to pass through dirty alleyways and down narrow lanes of run-down shacks...[s]miling proudly, he...asked me to enter [his hut]" (21). The line highlights how Maung-Maung is never ungrateful for what he has, despite all the hardships he's been through. Instead of complaining about his situation or drinking away his sorrows, he only wants to spread kindness and help tourists. Another line that I enjoyed is when Maung-Maung describes his ability to be independent. He says, "'I have hand. I have head. I have legs...I wish to stand on my own legs'" (23). This line demonstrates how hard he has worked to learn English, and his determination to overcome the barriers of a life of poverty, expanding his education.

Meeting Maung-Maung

I think the theme of Iyer’s Meeting Maung-Maung is gratitude. Iyer showed Maung-Maung was poor through describing Maung-Maung’s look, his home, and his stories. However, Maung-Maung was not living as a poor man. His job was a tour guide, riding a trishaw although he had an undergraduate mathematics degree, but his is grateful that he could know more people and learn English from this job. He did not have any valuable belongings, but he was grateful that he could collect letters from the tourists he had helped and treasured them. Furthermore, he wanted to express his gratitude to his parents, wanted them to attend his graduation, even though his parents were upset about his doing and he would need a long time to save money. Maung-Maung was grateful with what he had and believed in himself. Iyer, thus, wrote about Maung-Maung to suggest an attitude we should have towards our own life.

I love how Iyer first narrated questions he had in his head, then, instead of answering them in his perspective, he put the dialogue right after as the answer. Such as in the beginning when he was suspicious about the motive for Maung-Maung to give him the jade, he asked the question “What did he want?” followed by Maung-Maung’s quote “I want you…to have something so you can always remember me.” It not only showed the personality of the character, made it more alive, but also presented a more efficient respond compare to writing it in the author’s own words. I also love how Iyer used other situation to describe the scene in the story, such as how Maung-Maung passed the English dictionary “as gently as if it were his Bible,” or how Iyer was confused and felt “as uncertain as an actor walking through a play he hasn’t read.”

Meeting Maung-Maung

I think the theme of Meeting Maung-Maung by Pico Iyer is the importance of the goals and dreams of people met while traveling. Maung-Maung shares his whole life with Iyer and shows him what he really cares about, making Iyer's travels very different from what it would have been without meeting Maung-Maung. This theme is evident as Iyer presents all the precious writing Maung-Maung shows him, and all the stories he hears that are so open and honest. The focus of the story is what Maung-Maung shares with him.

Iyer's language is very honest, showing a lot about the author. While describing Maung-Maung and things around him, the reader learns a lot about Iyer. This language was an effective way to see how Iyer was really thinking at all times. For example, Iyer writes "Maung-Maung did nothing to dispel these suspicions as he pedaled the trishaw off the main street..." This describes what happened in the story, but also how the author was feeling.

Iyer also uses language such as "Made quiet by this labour of love" to show more meaning in a small phrase. Instead of going on about how important Maung-Maung's writing was to him, he put all that meaning in a simple phrase, effectively conveying his point.

Meeting Maung-Maung

I believe the theme of Pico Iyer's "Meeting Maung-Maung" is kindness and the love of strangers. Throughout the story, Iyer is constantly questioning why Maung-Maung was doing the things he was, and was skeptical of his actions. Iyer "instantly wondered, was the catch-was he framing me, or cunningly putting me in his debt?" He also thinks later "here comes the setup." Iyer is very skeptical but in the end, all Maung-Maung wants to do is help Iyer and to share his knowledge with every tourist he comes across. By bringing Iyer back to his home and so graciously showing his most prized possessions, he is showing genuine feelings and is proving to Iyer he is somebody that can be trusted. Purely through the kindness in his heart.

One effective use of language that Iyer utilizes, is in his description of Maung-Maung. Not only does he describe his basic physical attributes but he also describes how Maung-Maung speaks, such as "he assured me with a quiet smile" and "with a mixture of shyness and pride, he handed over a thick black notebook." The way Maung-Maung carries himself shows a glimpse into the kind of human he is, gentle, kind, and loving.

Another effective use of language is the simile "but I also felt as uncertain as an actor walking through a play he hasn't read." Not only was this effective, but it was also relatable. There are many times when I have ventured blindly into something, not knowing if what I was doing was right or wrong. Iyer was touched by his trust and kindness but was still struggling with the idea that somebody who had so little, could give so much.