On our first visit to Inle Lake it was not obvious to use that it is an ecosystem in trouble. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been. You feel like you have stepped back in time, but for the plastic containers and diesel boat engines. Agriculture and tourism are putting a strain on the ecosystem. Pesticides may make the water and fish unfit for consumption, but many of the people, like us on that first visit, may not be aware of the problems below the surface. 

I love to experience a culture through travel and food. Taking a 12 hour night bus for locals, not tourists, is a good introduction to another culture. If you can't make it to Myanmar to do this, check out Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown: Season 1: Episode 1 Myanmar, Apr. 14, 2013 on Cable News Network (CNN). It will give you an interesting look at Myanmar shortly after the military started to open up the country to outside visitors. https://www.cnn.com/videos/bestoftv/2013/04/15/ab-anthony-bourdain-episode-1-entire.cnn (last visited Jan. 19, 2019).

In the summer of 2018 I went to Myanmar to work as an International Clinician in Residence for BABSEACLE at Yangon University. I brought two students from Missouri Western to serve as peer teachers of clinical English to the students there, Britane Hubbard and Kaylee Sharp. Steve Rosenbaum, country director for BABSEACLE in Myanmar, met us at the airport and took us to lunch here, at General Aung San's former house and office. He and staff members like Y, Linn and Pwint helped put us at ease. Maybe we can do this project.
We were just beginning to learn about Myanmar and it's history. General Aung San's assassination turned then Burma's fate from democracy to years of military rule according to many. Over half a century later Myanmar still struggles toward democracy.