Caps

[Panamabob]

I didn't want to post this in the fez talk, but that is what I was thinking of. Many of my students wear these caps. I teach high school ESL to recent immigrants from Burma. There are about 5,000 Burmese of various ethnic and religious groups living here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I'll try to post some photos in another section.

 

[Chinaski]

From the look of the hat I'm guessing your students are getting them in Burma, not in Indiana!

Do you know any other information about the hats? Nice design on the one in the picture.

 

[mattfink]

Hmmm....interesting. Isn't it "Myanmar" now?

 

[Colby Jack]

Which would account for the large influx of refugees...
Question is...Why Indiana?...
It is a cool cap though...(to stay on topic)...

 

[Panamabob]

Isn't it "Myanmar" now?

Yes. Technically, many of the students are Burmese, but they were born in Thailand refugee camps. If you ask them where they are from you'll get Thailand as an answer. If you ask them what language they speak, they'll say Burmese. If you ask them what they read and write, you'll get a combination of the following: Karen, the other Karen, Burmese, Thai, Urdu, Arabic among others.

Question is...Why Indiana?...

Fort Wayne is one of several settlement areas, but it has been an area for so long and is so well established that secondary immigrants move here. I have students who started last year in Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, Newark, Virginia Beach, Buffalo, Hutchison, and Cleveland. I'm sure I'm forgetting some cities. There are a half dozen or so ethnic groups (Burma, Karen, Chin, Muslim, etc.) settled here already with banking, churches/temples/mosques, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. It is attractive to new immigrants, not to mention that many of them are related. Some families stay here while the fathers and former students commute back and forth to Chicago (3 to 3.5 hours wow!).

 

[Maguire]

That looks like some sort of islamic headgear, some sort of prayer hat, I know a few folks who converted who wear something like that, only its plain. Alot of the refugees from Myanmar are Muslim. If the Karen or christian groups wear it then i'm at a loss.

 

[Panamabob]

Oh, yes, only the Muslims wear the caps. The next time any of them wear the traditional dress, I'll snap some photos. Generally, the girls do, but the boys have stopped wearing their traditional clothing.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have a number of these. I know them as kufis (coo-fees). They are relatively popular among the drummers I play with.