Meeting Maung-Maung Reflection

The prominent theme is that no matter how much money or education someone has, experience will always outweigh those aspects of life. Despite Maung-Maung's degree in mathematics, he still chooses to work with tourists. He emphasizes that "Experience ... is the best teacher," which shows that he would rather be immersed in the tourism and make less money than utilize mathematics to make more money. "All tourist people are my bread and butter" stood out to me because Maung-Maung uses the common phrase of bread and butter in comparison to how he makes a livelihood. It seemed unusual to describe people as his means of making money, which shows how important of a role the tourists play in his life. Iyer's use of dialogue and translations of money amounts allows the reader to understand his values better, as well as break down the barrier in culture. If Iyer did not include U.S. dollars, there would not be as significant of an impact of how little importance money has to Maung-Maung.