14 Contextual Understanding of Myanmar Though women may become Buddhist nuns, female clergy do not have the same prestige as male monks, since nuns do not perform ceremonies for lay people. As a result, fewer females than males enter the clergy. Virtually all men join the monastery at least once during their lives. Their stay can be a few days or a lifetime. A family earns great merit when a son joins a monastery. This rite of passage, known as novitiation (shinbyu), typically occurs between March and May. It involves shaving the head, putting on a robe, parading around dressed as princes and declaring one’s faith in the teachings (dhamma) of Buddha. To gain merit, those who do not have sons of their own often recommend other people’s sons join a monastery. The Buddhist temple serves multiple purposes for the society. It acts as a religious school, a community center, a guest house, a place where the government and other agencies post information, a site for sports activities, a center for welfare services for those who are poor and ill, a morgue, and a center for music and dance. It also carries out economic services such as providing loans and renting lands and homes. Fried insects street food Traditional fish and pork rice salad famous of Bago 2.5 CALENDARS AND THE MYANMAR HOLIDAYS The concept of time is complicated in Myanmar. The traditional Burmese calendar is based on both sun and moon. The Burmese era began 638 years after the Christian era, so their year 1374 begins in 2012 and continues through April 2013 after which begins the year 1375. 12 The traditional calendar has eight days in a week and 12 months in a year. In order to make accommodations to the western calendar, Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon are counted as separate days. For purposes of holidays, however, Burmese use the Buddhist lunar calendar which is the same as the general lunar calendar except that it begins from the time of Buddha’s Enlightenment around 543 B.C.E.The Burman celebrate one major holiday, Burmese New Year, which falls in April. The four-day New Year’s holiday (18–21 April) follows the Thingyan water-festival. Thingyan falls near the end of the hot dry season and helps welcome the new year. During the festival, revelers splash water on each other and on passersby to 1 Emerald, C. (2013). Myanmar Calendar. Retreived from the website http://myanmar-calendar.cool-emerald. com/ 2 Yin, S.M. (2011). Chapter 7: Culture and Travel. Culture Shock! Myanmar: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (pp. 177). Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Editions.