thanake

in myanmar most women and children (and a small number of men) wear Thanake (TH awn uh kuh).  it comes from making paste from the bark of a certain kind of tree.  it is said to protect skin from the sun and keep you cool.  i definitely wanted in on this cultural experience - so heather and i invited MaSenDa, their language teacher, to show us how to do it.  

we went into the market and found the bark and special stone used to make the paste.  then we went to work - making the paste and then putting it on.  i always thought that it was only on the circles or squares that you see most prominently on the face, but i found out that they put a thin layer on all over their face (and usually arms or other exposed skin as well) to provide skin protection.  the designs over the top, i learned, are simply for beauty.  of course, these designs were pretty hard to see on my pale skin, since it dried to a pale yellow.  oh well!  it was still so much fun!

              

       

we didn't get any pictures of us with our thanake completely dried on heather and i - but you get the idea!