Pagodas and monasteries dot most hills and plains of Burma. Not really a surprise since 85% of the inhabitants are Buddhists. Monks are a common sight throughout the country. Each boy must spend a part of his life in a monastery as a monk. The initiation day, in Burmese "shinbyu", is considered a key moment in one's life. An auspicious day has to be chosen and the boy is allowed to let his hair grow long. The hair is then curled and the boy is dressed up in silk clothes. Expensive jewelry will also be worn for the ceremony. Families sometimes rent or borrow those jewels, but many do buy them. Some consequently end up with huge debts, eager as they are to give a perfect show. The ceremony is meant to be grandiose as the kid is suppose to look like prince Siddhartha - the Sakya prince who renounced his wealth and social position to become the Buddha -. The "little Buddha" is paraded across his village/neighborhood and huge amounts of foods are offered to monks and villagers. At the peak of the ceremony, the jewels and sumptuous clothes are taken away from the kid, and his hair is shaved. He is then given reddish or orange monk clothes. As a monk, he will have to beg for his food. The monastery will provide him with religious teaching. Novices and monks must follow the 227 rules of the monastic code. Most boys won't stay much more than a week in the monastery, though some do stay much longer. After his return to civil life, the boy/man can return to the monastery whenever he likes, even if he is married (criteria to be accepted back into the monastery is: having no debts and having no contagious diseases).
Monks are not allowed to cook food. They are not allowed to touch money. Thus all they get when begging is taken by helpers who will cook the food and use the money. Monks are not allowed to possess food after noon, nor can they take solid food in the afternoon. Thus they wake up early to eat their first meal. Then they go and beg thru the cities/villages, walking in lines with both shoulders covered: an attitude seen as enhancing modesty and blurring differences between individuals. People give food/money to the monks to gain merits and improve their next life. Sometimes, they even offer a meal to a whole monastery (see pictures of Managandayon in Amarapura and of Hanhnagiri in Sagaing). All the monks queue up and the donors serve them rice.
Monks do not possess any wealth, but monasteries are sometimes very rich (see donations to monasteries during Taunggyi festival). Some are really famous for their serious religious teaching. Kids from the whole country go there to study and exams are hard. In Kyakhatwaing in Bago, tests results are placarded on the walls and failure rates are pretty high. Final exams are national exams, taking place throughout the country at the same time. But most of the little monasteries we saw were not that harsh with their novices. In ethnic areas especially, we frequently saw little monks playing around, seeming not so focused on learning the rules of monastic life, nor the story of Buddha's life nor his philosophical teachings.
However Burmese Buddhists remain the most earnest Buddhists we ever encountered.