Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Portra 400NC
May Thinn Soe called me over to her "longyis & more" stall when I was wandering the market, exhorted me to sit, eat her mom's cooking from her lunch box, and to help her with her English phrasebook. Only 21 years old, she was already married to a 24-year-old man who subsequently went off to Brunei for work.

I quickly formed friendships with her and her buddy Than Than Win who worked the next stall, selling the same collection of longyis and homemade cotton bras with her older sister. Both were intrigued with fashion, but 25-year-old Than Than Win was more clear with her desire to move to the US and work in the field. It's easier to fantasize when you're still single, I guess.

I'd met them in the middle of my time in Mrauk U, and stopped by the market to bid farewell on my last day. They ended up picking me up at my hotel later, giving me small locally-made baskets as souvenirs, treating me to dinner and drinks—almost paying me back for the 2 longyis I'd bought from them—as I physically fought against them trying to get the waitress to take my money instead.