Sabaidee!

Awkward Falong Support Group

2008-05-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that if it wouldn't have been for the friendships of the women in this picture, this year would have been a much greater challenge. Jessica and Katelin are other "SALTers" in my same program, and Kaylie (next to me) is here for three years working with the Lao Disabled Women's Development Center. From the early days, we called ourselves the "Awkward Falong (foreigner) Support Group" and would swap stories about culturally inappropriate things we'd accidentally done, or weird things people said to us, or the countless times people ask us to teach them English.

Lao New Year!

2008-04-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

Last week we celebrated Pii Mai Lao—Lao New Year. This was a three day festival that was fun and cultural and messy. Katelin and I went up to Luang Prabang with her host family.

April is undoubtedly the hottest month of the year, so it makes sense to have a giant water festival, which is used for washing homes, Buddha images, monks, and soaking friends and anyone who happens to pass by. At first it was very gentle, people asking to pour water on elders and monks for blessings of long life and peace. Then it turned into an all out war throwing not just water, but corn starch, paint, charcoal and water balloons.

Sand is brought to the temple grounds and is made into stupas or mounds, then decorated before being given to the monks as a way of making merit. However, most people went to the beach to make stupas. These sand castles are decorated with flags, flowers, white lines (corn starch), and splashed with perfumed water. We went across the river to the beach to make our stupa, which did get a lot prettier than this.

Unfortunately, we didn't get much prettier for the remainder of the trip. I'm still not sure how this police man stayed so clean...

Another way to make merit at this time is to set animals free. Buddhists believe that even animals need to be free. The most commonly freed animals are tortoises, fish, crabs, birds, and eels. Everyone got decked out in brightly colored clothing, our shirts were cool, trust me!

There is an annual pageant in Luang Prabang to crown Miss Bpee Mai Lao (Miss Lao New Year) in the Nangsoukhane pagent. After this parade she rode in, many went to the wat for a special blessing for the new year.

Visitors...

2008-03-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

So I've been lucky to have some very fun people come visit me these past couple of months. My brother Zach came with his girlfriend Annie to visit her old life in China, and then they swung down to Lao for a few days to see my life here! They were very good sports, bringing me treats from the west, eating as "lao" as possible and enduring my host brother's 4 hour long wedding video footage.

Then in February my friend Ashley stopped in on her Asia tour.

We visited a very cold Luang Prabang in the north of Lao and then hit the beach in Southern Thailand. We went with Lizzy, another teacher here at ARDA from New Zealand. The airline actually provided these attractive yellow umbrellas for the short walk from the terminal to the plane. Little did they know that we'd soon be laying on the beach soaking up as much of that sun as possible. (Don't worry...I wore SPF 30!)

We stayed on Phi Phi Island and there literally aren't words to describe it's beauty. This tiny island has no cars, and only a little path that connects the beaches and guest houses. Turquoise water, white sand beaches, Nemo fish galore. This is the location where they filmed "The Beach" but was also devastated in the tsunami of 2004. Startling contrasts to be sure.

We finished the holiday with a trip to the north of Thailand, Chiang Mai. We shopped through a lot of handicrafts made by many different ethnic groups, explored ancient temples, rode elephants and went on this bamboo raft....only tipping once!

Temples of Ankor

2008-02-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

So in January I had a break from class so I convinced my fellow SALTer Katelin to come with me to Cambodia. We flew into the capital Phnom Penh and my first thought was, am I in Europe?! I guess it's been easy to get used to the small, laid back capital of Vientiane. I was totally overwhelmed by the tall buildings, traffic and noise of Phnom Penh. It was so great to hook up with MCC Cambodia people there and have not only a free place to stay, but fun tour guides!

After a few days we took the bus up to Siem Reap, the gateway to the ancient temples of Angkor. These temples were built between the 9th and 14th centuries when the Khmer civilisation was at the height of its power. After its collapse, Angkor was abandoned and the temples were covered by the jungle. They were rediscovered in the 1860s by the French. There are around 100 temples spread out over this site and are a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was so crazy to see how the jungle was literally reclaiming the temples. Although they are falling apart faster than they can be restored, the structures and detailed carvings were fascinating.

Toui's Wedding

2008-01-01T23:07:00.000-08:00

So towards the end of December, my host brother got married. This is not an event, but rather a series of ceremonies and parties. I was so excited to be here for this time, and so thankful to my host family for accepting me as a regular family member. I was put to work in the weeks of preparation and included in all of the family portraits and the receiving line. It was also good for me to be busy during this time so I wouldn't have time to think about not being home for Christmas!

This is a shot of me with my host parents and their grandkids, Pinky and Mot.

Toui's in the middle of this picture with his beautiful wife Natt (pink flower) surrounded by friend's and family. The wedding photo shoot basically consisted of whoever could get in the picture before the camera flashed.

After the parade, Toui and Natt entering our home for the baci ceremony.

I don't know why I found it surprising that in this communal culture, people go on honeymoons with friends. Indeed, I went with the new couple and three other friends to Vang Vieng. A small beautiful mountain town on the river several hours north of Vientiane. At one point they talked about just getting two rooms, one for girls, one for guys. I drew the line there...it was their honeymoon after all!

Weddings

2007-12-10T02:18:00.001-08:00

Lao wedding season is here! These are proving to be QUITE the social events and SO fun to partake in. People typically only get married in the cool season, partly based on the Buddhist calendar and partly because it doesn't rain and the weather is nice for big parties outside. So far I've been to three such events, but my host brother will get married in a couple of weeks, and then an MCC worker will get married in January, so the fun will continue! Each wedding ceremony is different, and this past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a wedding in a village outside of Vientiane with my Lao cousin. The day started off with a big parade from the groom's house to the bride's. We were all marching and singing, and someone was banging on a drum. The groom is under the umbrella in the shiny gold pants.

About half way there, following tradition, we were met by members of the bride's family who tried to block our path, and wouldn't let us through until we bought them some treats from a roadside stand. The old women especially were getting SO into it. They even found some bamboo and started whacking people back with it! We were then again blocked to get into the house, and they had to push their way through to get the groom in.

Next was the baci ceremony which is a big part of the wedding process. Lao people have baci's for many reasons...new babies, welcoming, celebrating a guest of honor, etc. Someone officiates and basically wishes them a good life with many children and much happiness. Then everyone gets a chance to tie strings on their wrists with money and good wishes. It all happens around the little statues made out of banana leaves and marigolds with candles and other fruit (behind us in the picture).

After the baci comes the party. Lots of food and dancing. This is me "fawn" -ing, which is Lao traditional dance. Basically this is about as "action shot" as it gets. You just kind of stand there and bop to the beat a little bit and twist your hands. The trick is not to look too interested or look at your partner the whole time. Lao people could fawn all night long. And we did, this wedding event lasted over 12 hours.....

Culinary Treats Continued...

2007-12-08T03:12:00.000-08:00

This woman is cooking an assortment of fish innards...mostly their stomachs and eggs, wrapped up in banana leaves over the fire. To the left of her is a big pot used for cooking broth for noodle soup. Eating is a communal activity here, so they always cook enough for the whole neighborhood.

These guys are making "goi baa" which is raw fish cut up and mixed with lemon to kill anything weird and make it edible. It is then served with mint and scooped up with sticky rice. This is a typical Lao cooking space although this family has a kitchen inside as well mostly used for storing dishes and bags of rice. The cooking fire is to the right, and you can see a big bucket used for washing behind the old guy's yellow hat.

This lovely dish is fresh duck's blood. They pour it onto the plate and then wait several minutes for it to congeal. Then fresh mint is added with some pepper and chives. Not bad!

That Luang Festival

2007-11-25T01:39:00.000-08:00

This annual religious festival takes place over 3 days and nights over a full moon in November. Thousands of monks from all over Laos come to Vientiane and gather around the temple of That Luang. The city was literally flooded with the orange robes. It was almost comical to see monks as tourists...traveling around the different markets with their cameras, buying souvenirs. On the final day at dawn the public make offerings of food, flowers and money to the monks and in the evening there is a candlelit procession around the temple, with a firework show and big festival. We woke up early to get some pictures and eat kao lam... a kind of purple sticky rice cooked with sugar and salt in bamboo rods. I tried to take some pictures of the temple and all of the many people dressed in their finest clothes to make offerings to the monks, but it really became one of those moments where I just had to soak in the scene. As the sun was rising there was a calmness while the sanskrit sutra was being chanted. Everyone was filing into the temple grounds and lining up all around the outside. I think it was a holy moment for everyone present.

A group of young monks trying to stay warm in the cool morning air outside the temple. On the tables are their alms baskets where people put their offerings.

Vientiane Half Marathon

2007-11-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

One of MCC's projects here in Laos helps to support the Lao Disabled Women's Development Center. And to support them and their publicity the other SALTers and I decided to run the 5K portion of the Vientiane Half Marathon. However, they told us that we had to run the 10K as only people over 35 are allowed to run the 5K. Which is funny by itself, but the story continues. We woke up super early in the morning to get down to the National Stadium by 6am. The race didn't start for a good hour and even then we weren't exactly sure if it was our turn to go until someone pushed us across the starting line. Then we ran for awhile on streets that weren't officiated in any way, so everyone was turning when they felt like it or getting tuk tuk's (motorcycle taxis) when they got tired. When we completed the course (known just by following the crowd) it was in a record breaking time, and although I'd love to tell myself I'm just that fast, we're pretty much positive that it was only a 7-8 kilometer run. The best part was getting cheered across the finish line by a group of women, some in wheelchairs some with canes, all wearing our same shirts. Unfortunately the people running the half marathon had the opposite problem. Someone had knocked down the sign that was the turn around point, so they just kept running deeper into the rice fields. I think by the time they made it all the way back to the stadium it was around 28 kilometers instead of the 20 expected!

Boat Racing Festival

2007-10-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the Boat Racing Festival, which marks the end of Buddhist Lent. This date typically occurs in October or November, and the date is determined by lunar cycles. For the past several weeks, anticipation has been building with booths and new restaurants getting set up along the banks of the Mekong. Legend has it that the Naga (a sea dragon snake thing that lives in the Mekong and has something to do with a creation story) lets out a huge fire ball from the water and that officially marks the end of lent. Friday night I went down to the water with my host family and the streets were so packed we could barely move. Chains of people were holding hands so as not to get separated. Everyone had these little boats made from banana leaves and flowers and incense with candles lit on them. Although I'm still not totally sure about the significance, it was something about getting rid of darkness with the candlelight. So people would send these little boats out into the water as a prayer. It was quite a sight, all of these candles floating out in the huge Mekong river, and fireworks going off above it.

So then Saturday was Boat Race day and teams of rowers raced their long, narrow boats. It was SO impressive. These boats held up to 50 rowers and the shores were once again packed with people cheering and eating and drinking. Quite the event...I was also on Lao television. That's right, I'm famous. Actually we just happened to be standing right underneath the camera guy and they just kept scanning the crowds between races.

Some of my extended host family members and I at the festival.

Lao Food

2007-10-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

There is a joke around the MCC office that you can tell people from home as much cultural stuff as you want, but no one really gets excited about the fact that you are living abroad unless you can freak them out with weird food you've eaten. As Lao has been such a rural subsistence culture people basically eat whatever they can find. There is a family here that has some potted plants on their porch just because they look nice. I guess it is not infrequent that Lao people come up on the porch and take a bite of one of the leaves or flowers and ask each other how to cook it. I found this picture gallery on BBC...it explains it well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/asia_pac_unusual_lao_cuisine/html/1.stm

So to add to my collection of different animals and bugs and their various by products, at the boat races I had the opportunity to try "kai luu", which is a duck egg that already has a baby duck growing in it. Although the baby was small (about the size of a quarter) and there were no feathers (the only way my family got me to eat it) it took a few tries and pep talks to get it down, followed by some Beer Lao of course.

Family Picnic

2007-10-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

So my host family has some land outside of Vientiane where they grow different kinds of fruit and raise fish to sell. We took a picnic lunch out there last weekend. It was so nice to get out of the city and drive around the peaceful countryside.

This is Pa--my host father chilling on a hammock by the fish pond.

Toui, my host brother picking a ripe papaya.
The green ones are also picked to make Papaya Salad...a favorite spicy Lao food.

The picnic lunch, spread out on giant banana leaves was complete with grilled fish, sticky rice, and papaya salad (the green shredded looking thing). The woman in the pink shirt is my Mae--host mom.

Pakse part 2

2007-10-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

English teaching in action! I'm wearing a Lao skirt ("sin") teaching this beginner class, where the guys always sit at one table, and the girls insist on sitting at another!

Pakse is situated right by the Bolaven Plateau which is famous for its cool climate, waterfalls, fertile soil (coffee, fruit, cardamom and gorgeous flowers are grown here) and native ethnic groups. I purchased some cloth from this woman who weaves using a hand held loom.

My new favorite color is "rice green". If I didn't take this picture on an overcast day, I think the color green would be too bright for my little blog here to handle. This shot is taken just outside of Pakse, where each family group grows their food for the year. I went on a bike ride through this area, and literally couldn't stop laughing. Not only was it beautiful, and cool (to the point of needing a long sleeve!) but people would just stare at me until I smiled or waved or said "sabaidee!" and then they would go nuts greeting me back! Because for so long the only foreigners these people knew were French, many times I hear "bonjour madame!". Due to the different international influences throughout the generations, it seems as though most Lao people aged 35-50 speak French, most grandparents know some Russian, and young people are learning either English or Chinese.

Known in antiquity as the Land of a Million Elephants, I felt it only appropriate that I take a ride on one of these giants while in Lao.

Pakse

2007-10-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

So after an 11 hour bus ride south along the Mekong, my travels have brought me down to Pakse, in the Champasak province. "Pak" means mouth and the town is situated at the point where the "Se" River meets the Mekong. There is another branch of the school I'm teaching at here, and so they sent me down for some orientation, and also to cover for another teacher that had to go to Bangkok for several weeks. We are at the tail end of the rainy season, but it has rained fairly steadily since arriving on the overnight bus. I of course am loving it, we won't be getting too many more of these pounding rain on tin roof storms. Most of my work days include some orientation, including how Lao people learn, and some of the unique challenges they face in learning another language. Then I plan a lesson for a couple of hours, throw on my sinh (Lao skirt) and go! I am teaching mostly adults in two different classes. One group is learning can/can't, and the teacher of this class is British, so everyone here is laughing about how when she comes back all of her students will be speaking with an American accent "keeant" instead of "cont". The accent issue is something I've found interesting. The majority of the teachers at this school are Australian or British, and we use a British text, but it's true that out in the real world, these students will have to deal with all different accents, so why shelter them now I suppose. I have also found that I really enjoy teaching. To my teacher parents, this comes as a bit of a shock...this was always the one profession that I knew for certain I wouldn't be doing, and granted this context is rather unique, not only because I get to do it in SE Asia, but also that these students are SO eager to learn. Two fairly large motivators for me as a teacher.

The downside to being here is I haven't spoken a word of Lao since leaving the capital. Language study finished up last week, and although I was feeling good about progress, I'm worried about forgetting everything. I hope to continue with a tutor when I get back, and undoubtedly when I start working with the street kids I will be speaking Lao more consistently.

Snapshots

2007-10-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

Rice harvest

The four MCCers with our Lao language teachers, Nou and Kham.

Giant reclining Buddha outside of Vientiane

Motorbikes...

2007-09-13T23:27:00.001-07:00

"Eh" works at the MCC office and is our faithful and patient motorbike instructor. This shot is taken in the alley in front of the MCC office and the guest house where we stayed upon arrival to Laos.

Here Katelin and I are working on figure 8's.
Don't worry, I wasn't really scared, and we always wear helmets!

Some tasteful graffiti in the warehouse we practiced in.

Host Family

2007-09-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

So, I moved in with my host family last week. They are wonderful. When I first met my mae (host mom) she gave me two hugs, which is not common in the Lao culture but I knew right then that we'd get along just fine! She has 6 kids... five boys and one girl, all of them right around my age. Next door is her sister with her 5 kids, four girls, one boy, and then there are a couple of grandmas and some other random people who I haven't figured out a connection yet. In Lao there is no word for "cousin" the way we know it, so anyone who has some sort of relation is a "cousin". Everyone and their various spouses and children live in the same little cluster of houses behind the mini-market the family owns. I learned soon that basically no one is in the house all day, rather up at the market. That is where we eat meals and meet to go places. Two of my host brothers did the IVEP program which is the same as my program, only it brings foreigners to the US/Canada, so they know the drill when it comes to being a host/having a host family. All of the kids in my family speak English which is nice, but it is really motivating to learn Lao sitting around with the cousins, grandmas and Mae!

I had a "cultural experience" over the weekend when I went to the "spa" with a grandma, Mae and sister-in-law (none of whom speak english). I seriously had no idea what I was in for. We got there and put on cotton sinhs (lao skirts) but wore them like sarongs covering our whole bodies. We then washed our hair out of a barrel with a bucket and put conditioner (?) in it. Then we sat down at these tables outside and smothered weird food items all over our arms legs and faces. There was honey, milk, prunes, and some other indistinguishable paste. We then went into the sauna, but it had some serious herbal concoction cooking along with the typical steam. So we kept travelling in and out of the sauna, each time adding more goo to our skin. At one point, they started talking about how the sauna makes you loose weight (I picked up on this because my host brother's nickname is "Toui" which means fatty) and then they gave some sort of tea to everyone who was skinny and water to everyone who was not. Let's just say by Lao standards, I'll be drinking water for the rest of my life :) After we had enough herbal steam, we went back to the bucket/ shower rooms and washed everything off. Even though it was perhaps the weirdest "spa" I've ever been to, this is the type of thing that I was so looking forward to in planning a trip like this. Being in a position having no idea what I was doing, or why but trusting and loving the local culture and people. My family and I bonded through our honey pasted sweat!

Lunch at Tha Khek

2007-09-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

Lunch at the Buddha cave. We all sat up on little platforms and shared the meal with our hands from communal bowls.

Tha Khek Retreat

2007-09-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

So. Last weekend the whole MCC Laos group and families went on a retreat to Tha Khek, a town about 7 hours south of Vientiane. The group totaled about 45 people....of those 10 Canadians and me. As all of the other ex-pat staff is Canadian, the joke is that I'm having a double cultural experience. Not only am I learning about Lao culture from local MCCers, I also am learning new words, geography and culinary treats from our Northern neighbors!

The retreat was a good intro to the country. It is staggering the differences between the capital, where we live and the countryside just a few minutes outside of town. In the past several years, there has been a lot of money invested in Vientiane to improve the infrastructure and increase tourism while the countryside is more or less the same as it has always been. We had Lao food the entire weekend. Traditionally the food is put in bowls to share in the middle of a mat on the ground. There are no plates or silverware, you just grab a handful of sticky rice and start exploring! So we ended up with lots of sticky rice, fish, papaya salad (local favorite...super spicy!), dried meat, laap (minced meat with mint and lime), fuh (noodle soup) and rice porridge. All of us newcomers decided that we had to try something slightly scary, so rather than the snail, chicken foot or fish eye, I went for the squirrel brain. I put a big ball of sticky rice around it, but I still had to dig it out of a cooked hairy rodent head.

Due to the soft limestone mountains, there are a lot of caves in this region. So we had the opportunity to do some spelunking. One of the caves was just discovered in 2004. The man who discovered it was following some bats he was hoping to eat for supper and they led him up a cliff into a hole that ended up being full of these ancient Buddha statues. No one knows how they got there or exactly how old they are, but people come from all over to leave offerings in this cave.

Laos is about 60% Buddhist and 40% Animist.

The guest speakers for the weekend came from the Hope Center where I'll be working. The Hope Center is a new local partner for MCC, it just worked out well for me to get this kind of introduction. The center works with children aged 4-17 from all different disadvantaged backgrounds. Some are homeless and some live with relatives. Some of the children have escaped human trafficking in Thailand, and others have parents who are victims to the increasing drug problem in this country. The center has different resources available for the students. Academic, athletic, and musical activities, but more than anything, a safe place to come play and be kids.

PARIS!

2007-09-03T01:47:00.001-07:00

Jess and I in a cafe in Paris on our whirlwind city tour/flight layover.

Arriving in Vientiane

2007-09-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Family!
So, after being an "anti-blogger" for so long here I am, joining the club. Just so you all know, this is not going to be one of those "here is a detailed list of everything I did today listed in 10 minute increments" or "just got up and went to the fridge for a snack" BUT I figured since I am in somewhat of a new life situation there could be some people interested, and if not, I don't have to fill up every one's inbox with mass emails, so I'm taking the passive route. Is that enough of an excuse?!

Anyway, after a week of thought provoking orientation in Akron, Pennsylvania and a fun weekend in NY saying good bye to the country (thanks Lynn!) I have arrived here in Vientiane, Laos. I am working with Mennonite Central Committee, an organization focused on bringing service and justice to the world. I will be working at Hope Center, a community center reaching out to disadvantaged children, and also teaching English to young adults.

Right now, we are staying at an MCC guesthouse and taking Lao language courses. Learning a language where the tone of the word is more significant than the actual sounds made is proving to be quite a challenge. But then I go to the market or hear kids playing and I'm so excited to become proficient enough in this language to be able to feel a part of the culture. I will be in school for several weeks before starting my job.

Although I'm still in the "honeymoon" period and I still think everything is beautiful and everyone is wonderful and it's kind of funny sweating copious amounts every day, I really am so excited to be here and thrilled to see what kinds of adventures will be coming my way these next 11 or so months.

Mermaid Pose

2007-08-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Recommended by Lonely Planet as a proper way of sitting in Laos to avoid offending anyone by pointing your (dirty) feet at them while sitting. We thought we'd practice at orientation before actually arriving in Laos...