La Kohn!!

“Wow. Just… Wow.” These words were all I could utter right after waving goodbye to my family, friends, and boss to check my luggage at the Vientiane airport (which is what they called it. I would call it a quaint office building with a small plane attached that the sons of Orville Wright probably handmade). Though obviously profound, these were not the words I had imagined two months before that I would say under my breath while searching for my passport, about to leave Laos. I also hadn’t imagined my host mother crying or my host father hugging me tightly while advising me to take care, succeed, and stop losing things. I would “lose” clothes, toiletries, medicine while in the house and ask everyone to search their drawers for the things, only to find them moments later right under my nose. Well, everything except my cell phone, watch, and favorite mechanical pen, which hopefully someone in the village is enjoying using right now. And my Paw would always say the same thing: “next week we’re buying super glue, for two reasons. One, to fix your two pairs of sandals that broke, and two, to glue all of your belongings to your body.” So on the day I left Vientiane, I finally bought the glue, ironically a two-for-one deal for 5,000 kip (55 cents) and gave one to my family. I guess on May 20, while boarding my flight to Laos, I thought I would come away with a checklist of feelings. Accomplished, enthused, changed, empowered, moved. All of those buzzwords that service programs use for advertising. I DID feel changed, moved, etc., but I had skipped over the biggest one, the fact that I was humbled almost to embarrassment. These months were not full of me-help-you activities and benefactor-beneficiary relationships, but rather personal and emotional growth, sharing of quirky habits, and scolding when the other did not listen carefully enough.

This past week was a blur. I took the 1.5 hour bus ride to Vientiane on Wednesday to receive non-existent mail (thanks, Boss) and pick up little diplomas for my top 20 students, only to find that I needed to write the last names of the children on the diplomas. So I decided, instead of typing their names, to write their Lao names (with English transliteration) with a ballpoint pen. When I got back to Ban Phao, I tried to jump this hurdle. But do you know how hard it is to say in fractured Lao “My boss wants me to write last names on diplomas. Does everyone have a last name? What is little Endah’s last name? No, I will not write that your last name is Poop. What is that boy’s name over there? Yes, the Asian one with black hair.”? It’s hard. On graduation day, Friday, my boss (and my new coworkers) came to Ban Phao. The coworkers are quite nice (re: the week before, Sunday night), yet my boss was hopping mad to see that her seal was on fake diplomas WITHOUT LAST NAMES!!! The horror! How to make it up to her? The principal invited us all to his house to drink BeerLao and eat rambutan after the ceremony. So Lao. Which brings me to my next segment, titled Top Ten Reasons Why Ban Phao is “So Lao”

The first three are in comparison to my habits.

1. Many people know that, as a Thomason, I can, and will, eat whenever, wherever, whatever. Which incurred a problem in the village, not because they are lacking food, but because everyone shares the same food, family style. No one has their own plate or cup. It’s a free-for-all. At the Thomason home, it is ALSO a free-for-all. But that means eat as fast as you can so that Steven won’t take the seconds and the thirds again. Eating quickly has no benefit at home in Laos, because everyone takes their time, and there is no “finish your plate.”

2. I have a reputation of running late. Not horribly late, but enough for people to notice. I have noticed this about the Lao people as well. “Meet you at 6:00pm” means “I’ll walk to your house once I’m done feeding the ducks and herding the cows,” and more relevant to me, “School starts at 8:00 sharp” means “Come to school about an hour and a half after you wake up. If you had a rough morning, make it 2 hours.”

3. Though I run late, I have a habit of becoming impatient. Hypocritical, I know, but I’m working on it. And have had to work on it A TON here. Because that is probably the worst thing someone could do, to harp on someone else for being late. It’s a way of life.

4. When it rains too much, people do nothing but sleep.

5. When it’s too hot and sunny, people do nothing but sleep.

6. After work there is a daily ritual every man in the village must follow. Go to the store, buy 2 big bottles of BeerLao, and drink them with friends.

7. The cows chill out in the middle of the road, even when a car is speeding towards them. It is a game of “Chicken”, and the cow always wins.

8. Waterbuffalo, with huge, sharp horns and the ability to trample anything in their path, walk beside you with disinterest, and you walk by him in a likewise manner. I know if I saw one anywhere else, I would freak out and call the police ASAP.

9. They abbreviate everything, but not like in the US, where people do it to be trendy. They do it because it gives them more time to not speak, aka rest and do nothing.

10. The #1 thing to do on a Saturday night, whether you are 15 or 50: sit in a circle, drink BeerLao, and, well, just be.


Thursday was the day I got to go to the big Buddhist temple, and I was able to talk to the #1 monk, who wanted to practice his English. He showed me countless pictures of him at the birthplace, death place, and tree of Buddha in India. I even got his cell phone number. This is the equivalent of getting the governor’s cell phone number. Needless to say, my entire family was ecstatic to see the bracelet on my wrist, a cool symbol that people all around the world are kind. On Saturday morning they hosted a thank-you-good-luck ceremony for me, which a student named Zachary at UMass, who lived with the family for about a week last summer, came to. It was cool to talk to him, because although his accent was terribly different than mine, at that day we knew enough about each other, and we were able to share in the knowledge and understanding that only those who have an experience like we have had can. It was full of people and smiles, with many pictures, and I even sang a little.

Sunday, the day of departure, we toured Vientiane. I didn’t realize until looking at other villages on the way to the big VTE that Ban Phao is interesting. Though fairly big, no one knows about it. There is nothing extremely special about it. Except its name. As a review, “Ban” means “village” in English. To get from Ban Phao to Vientiane, you have to go through cities with creative names such as Ban AlotofPeople and Ban Km. 36, which incidentally is 36 km from Vientiane. The village extends for exactly 1km, hence, the name. But Ban Phao means “village of the coconuts.” On the first day of school I wrote this on the board and told the students to write and memorize their village name in English, and then asked about the history of the name. They then said, word-for-word, none of which I understood “Stupid Westerner, it’s because our village is full of coconuts.” After asking them to repeat those words 20 times, writing them down, then frantically looking in my $9 dictionary/phrasebook, I understood. For the first week, much of my free time was spent looking around the village, especially for this multitude of coconut trees. And though I am not extremely knowledgeable about the difference between coconut trees and other trees, I did not see many coconuts. During the second week, I asked one student to show me this abundance of coconut, or “Phao” trees, to which she responded with hysterical laughter and much pointing. You see, Ban Phao has exactly 2 coconut trees, which produce exactly 2 coconuts each. It must be named for the same reason why Greenland was named; to confuse foreigners into thinking there is plenty when there is in fact very few. But I enjoy the village nonetheless, with its stubborn cows and easygoing people.

During the day (my flight was at night), we did the Lao version of a US history tour. The Prime Minister’s Mansion (White House), the big expensive structure (Empire State Building), the victory Arc (Statue of Liberty), and the Peace Gong (Liberty Bell). Leaving, though sad, was hopeful, with telephone numbers in hand. Maybe I will be able to go back sometime in the future. Either way, the people won’t be forgotten. Wow.

Now at an airport in Detroit, I see around me: 1 Starbucks, 1 Caribou coffee. People in clothes too tight for them. 3 wide-screen TVs. One-third of us typing frantically on our laptops. Another third talking/yelling on their cell phones. And the last third listening to their I-Pod in one ear, talking to a friend via webcam, and texting another on their BlackBerry.

So American.

Dii, Sua, Baw Ngaam

This week (from July 5-12) has been up, down, and all around, full of Dii, Sua, Baw Ngaam (the good, the bad, and the ugly). I have been quite busy preparing for my last week, so this week will just be a list and less of a story; once I get home, the last e-mail will cover in more detail this past week as well.
Good: Saw an elephant, got a partial tan, had more fun teaching, touched a camel, went to Buddha Park (pix to come) and saw awesome statues; ate 6 cent icecream (half off at school), made friends and went out with some people, got to go running, I'm now able to read Lao (equivalent to an 8-year-old).
Bad: The elephant was far away, didn't get to ride it because we went late in the day, got sunburned (and rained on A LOT), lost phone numbers of the friends I made, and my "mom" wouldn't let me run far because she was scared I would be too tired.
Ugly: The teachers just pick random classes for me to teach, instead of giving me a schedule; the pictures and diplomas here are QUITE expensive because they are all expensive, which means I don't have enough money in my budget for EVERYTHING I want, people now get mad when I make a mistake, since I should know better (aka when I stepped over a peice of food; it is AWFUL to do that because feet are so dirty/ritually and religously unclean.
More to come soon, Hope life is grand!!!!!!!!!!
-Will

Moo Lai

These past 2 weeks have gone by quickly, (though admittedly some of the days went by slowly), and the Lao word to describe these weeks either means "alot of friends" or "alot of pigs," depending on which tone you use (I mix up these tones often). I have come in contact with people who know about North Carolina, and have even lived there, and I even came across a UNC grad! It’s comforting to know that these people know where I’m coming from and share in some of my excitement, while understanding my frustrations.

The week of June 21-27 was largely uneventful, except for key events which helped both me and the community understand each other better. On that Tuesday, it rained, and because we are in monsoon season right now, when it rains, IT POURS, to the point where we have to yell to understand each other, and constant leakage into my room. And when it pours, no one does anything. One of my newfound friends has coined the term “so Lao” to refer to anything that had Lao tendencies, aka laid back, even lazy at times. And the tradition of doing nothing when it rains is so Lao. I barely had any students that day, but for those who came, we had a "meu muan," a fun day. As a treat, the majority of the day was spent doing the three things they ALWAYS want to do: sing, color, and talk quickly in Lao to me, expecting me to understand every word. That is the curse of finally being able to pick up the basics of the language; if I ask a somewhat complicated question, I am given a response that is 10 times faster and more complicated. Even worse, I can’t fake it, because there is no Lao word for yes. Instead, they respond by repeating the verb. For instance, if I say “Will you go to school?” They say “Go.” So when trying to understand others, I simply pick one of the words they said, hope it’s a verb, and either get a smile or laughter (the majority of the time).

That week I also bought my first Lao music video DVD (they don’t have CD players, just DVD), not because I necessarily enjoy the music, but because every morning after the rooster crows at 5:15, the music is turned on, which can be heard from about a 90-foot radius. And it is the same music, every day. I “generously” let them use my DVD to mix things up, because if I had heard the Lao girl sing about her lovely hairless boyfriend one more time, I might have had to break something. Local ice cream was another first time for me, because before I had gotten the packaged stuff. But this ice cream, probably made from rice like everything else, had a bitter taste, and for 1000 kip (12 cents) I could get 2 scoops. Expensive, I know.

Last weekend was packed with research. I forgot to mention, but I edited the English and gave input on the structure of a bilingual Lao-English children’s book that SEDA is sponsoring and distributing, and met with some people to finalize the words, pictures, and design. I also contacted representatives from Room to Read, started by the Microsoft CEO. These people are the ones who set up the Library which I gladly organized. Their goal is to encourage the locals to write, edit, translate, produce, and distribute books to students, as well as hiring locals to teach English, but the English is not correct, with an uninteresting, sporadic storyline. I found that the HR director graduated from UNC, and because I did not have her direct e-mail, I did the next best thing – I Facebooked her. Hopefully, we can improve this program to distribute better, more correctly written books.

This week school started, which I was unaware of until 8am on Wednesday, when I came in my checkered-shorts, only to find everyone in white uniforms and black slacks/skirts. I had a hunch when the first two days they had seemingly random people running around at the school, preparing for the school year. I was sent to the principal’s office to sleep (what they would gladly do for the majority of the day, and talk about often), but, itching to do something, opened a closet to find heaps of old, torn, unorganized books, papers, and other materials. So without asking, I organized the closet as well. This took 2 days, considering book repair and trying to find which book had a picture of a pig on page 27, because that was the first page of the torn book I would be holding. With that out of the way, I was ready to start teaching again. The government decided last week to start school on July 1 this year because Vientiane is hosting the SouthEast Asia (SEA) Games, a mini-Olympics, in December. Everyone is pumped, because this is the first time they have hosted it, and it hopefully can be a boost to the economy, which is one of the lowest in all of Asia. I have found this frustrating, because after making leaps and bounds with my summer students during the first 5 weeks, I had to start all over with “Repeat: ‘What is your name?’” and counting from one to ten. Now I have structure classes, teaching 2 classes of older students in the morning (supposedly from 8-9:45 and 10:15-11:30, but actually from 8:15-9:40 and 10:30-11:30… so Lao) and one class of younger students, from 1:30-3:30, with a break in between. This schedule was settled yesterday. From 5-7pm I teach my cousin (Mom’s sister’s daughter), not because I want to, but because she was brought to the house at 5, and my mom said “teach.”

While going on the bus (aka pick-up truck with a bench) to Vientiane yesterday, I met a foreigner from Australia who does Eco-work in a government building near my village, through a program similar to the Peace Corps. After talking for a while, she invited me to her and her friends’ house; we ate pizza, and discussed everything from Australian football to the Lao language. I was invited to a July 4th/housewarming/birthday/I-just-want-to-party party tonight, which should be exciting. I think I’ll go over to the American Ambassador’s Residence today – apparently he is having an open house for people with an American passport. Hopefully I can get in without a personal invite!

Hope everyone is tanning, cooking out, and preparing for fireworks today!

Stayin’ busy (and hot),

Will

Neung Deuan!

It’s been neung deuan, or one month, since I’ve left home, and I have one month to go!

This week has definitely flown by! With many reports and other duties this week, I have not found time to write, so this update will be brief. I am so used to having time to myself, but this week it was “Go, go, go!” While I was at the EXTREMELY slow internet café sending my update last week, a guy started up a conversation with me, and after a lot of small talk, he invited me to go out with him and a friend of his. I ended up becoming friends with these two people, named Haley (from Seattle) and Brandon (from Ottowa, Canada) who were traveling just for the heck of it. They decided to come down to Ban Phao on Monday, and stayed the night, helping with the classroom and observing the village. At this point I realized that I have become somewhat proficient in the Lao language! They saw that I could hold conversations without looking at my phrasebook (which until then was my lifeline), and after commenting on it, I made it a point to communicate without the book at all. That was an epic failure. Although I am proud of how far I’ve come in learning the language, I realize I have so much more to learn in the coming month.

Wednesday was a day of rain, and I’m talking flooding, reasons why the houses are built on stilts, rain. Because of this, My parents told me not to teach in the morning, because no students would come. They also did not work, and instead showed me passports, family pictures, certificates that looked like high school diplomas, and friends. This was fun to see more about their life prior to my visit. I was getting ready to take a nap when I was told to come down, because some children were at the house. Surprisingly, some of my students came to the school hoping I would come, and when I failed to arrive, they walked to my house. We proceeded to have class, right there, because they wanted to so badly, then walked up to the school to find even more children waiting. What an awesome feeling to see children excited to learn!

On Friday, I awoke to find that my mother and sister had gone to the farm, and my paw told me to stay home again, and not teach. I found this extremely confusing, but after a while he just said “go to school” and I hopped on the back of his motorcycle. Not realizing how nicely he was dressed, I arrived at school seeing all of the children of the village dressed in their school attire. I thought “Great! Finally they have all come to learn English,” but when the parents came as well (also in their Sunday best… yes that is a joke considering a. Sunday is not the Sabbath for them and b. they do not dress up for worship) I realized that this was a special occasion. I went into a room next to the principal’s office, which my paw proudly said in English was the “Room to Read.” At first this confused me, but while looking around I saw books everywhere, in a horrible disarray, many of them labeled with a sticker that said the same words. Apparently “Room to Read” is Lao’s reading initiative, equivalent to D.E.A.R. (for those of you who forgot, or never had the privilege of participating, it was Drop Everything And Read, in elementary school). We sat for a while, and when it was time, I was herded to a classroom, cleaned, and with a fake tulip sitting on the teacher’s desk. After much chatting, clapping, and presentations, certain students’ names were called, they came in and bowed twice, and were given a certificate just like the one my paw showed me that his children had. Apparently Friday was graduation from regular Lao school! After the cookies and rambutan refreshments accompanied by the highly-acclaimed BPEB-ZEE soft drink, the principal told me to go home. But I was itching to go back into the Room to Read. I have a weird hobby of organizing other people’s things, but never bothering to organize my own. So I spent the day organizing, not stopping for lunch, and putting together broken books, separating the Lao, Lao-English, Lao-(insert Asian language here), solely English, and English-Spanish (what the heck) books. But that was not enough. Then I moved on to the arts and crafts section. At last, with dust on my clothes and paint on my hands, I left to go to Vientiane, in preparation for my visit to Thailand on Saturday.

The visit to Thailand was bland, to be honest. The purpose was to obtain a visa for another month, because it was cheaper than extending the visa, and that is about all that I got from it, other than delicious Thai tea mixed with condensed milk. I forgot my camera so did not go sight-seeing, and did not want to buy anything, because where we were it was all American products. I went with my boss and Brandon, the new friend, and they had already been, but the city (Nang Chai? Nani Thanh?) was not a very important one. The best part was leaving, crossing the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge and the beautiful sight of the Mekong river.

I have spent the majority of my past 2 weekends in a restaurant called Joma, which serves western food and gives free WiFi, and this weekend finally got up the courage to talk to the waiters in Lao instead of English. Though embarrassing, it was fun to stumble through conversations, but they loved the fact that a westerner decided to speak Lao, because almost no one in the restaurant speaks any Lao. As soon as they saw I could hold a tiny conversation, they spoke 900 words a minute, exactly 7 of which I could understand. I counted.

I got yet another student today, who I did not ask to teach, making a total of 6 students that I teach on Sundays. Though fun at times, the unknown aspect of who will show up is somewhat frustrating. The one physically handicapped girl that I teach is the best, always smiling and happy to be given attention. Apparently the family does not care for her as they should, giving her minimal attention and care, which is probably why, at 12, she is still at minimal movement of her body. But she learns quickly, pointing to different objects correctly if I ask where they are.

I’m about to be picked up by my brother, hope all is well wherever you are in the world!

Loving Laos more and more each day,

Will

Koi Sia Jai

Koi Sia Jai, I am sorry, for not sending the other e-mail (titled Kop chai lai lai) last week. It was supposed to go, but the stupid internet here is unbearably slow, and I had to return to the SEDA-Laos office to get my visa extended. Just pretend like it’s been a week since you have read the last e-mail, and are now reading this one with full anticipation. (Just kidding).

It is Saturday morning, at around 7:30, and I have been awake for a while, stuffing rice and cow manure into bags and loading them onto a wood cart, watching my sister wash clothes while she refuses to accept my help (probably because she thinks I will mess it up, which is very likely), and preparing to go to my Paw’s cassava farm! I was supposed to go last Saturday, but it rained and poured, and we were not able to make the trip. This week, I have come to realize more things about the Lao culture. First, they have no sense of personal belonging. Everyone shares, which in theory is great, until a westerner like me, with his bubble gum, peanut butter, laptop computer, and fancy cell phone (which I bought in Vientiane to communicate with my director, e-mail if you want the number), arrives, thinking everyone is stealing and taking/borrowing my things without permission. In reality, they do not realize anything is even slightly impolite, and gladly share their food and beer. Speaking of beer, this week many friends o my family came over to the house on Wednesday to celebrate my father’s recovery from a fall 2 weeks ago. Incidentally, he fell because he was inebriated, and he celebrated his recovery none other than by becoming even more inebriated. Which brings me to my second epiphany about Lao culture: they will have a party for anything. For all of you Andy Griffith watchers, it reminds me of the episode where the flower ladies are only allowed to sell moonshine on holidays, and end up making up holidays every day of the week. Off to the farm...

Back from the suan(farm), and surprisingly not tired or extremely dirty. I traveled a long way by boat through river Num, and by boat, I mean a canoe with a motor. I could tell my paw is proud of his land, and works hard to make it fertile. He owns a big chunk of land filled with cassava plants, looking out onto the beautiful puu khao kuay, the Bull Mountains. As I arrived onto the plot, I thought that the land could be better used as a resort to bring in tourists, because I could see myself loving the tropical feel of a land enclosed by forest, next to a river, with a beautiful sight of a mountain range. This week I managed to break not one, but two pairs of sandals, and thankfully brought other shoes to wear in the meantime before I buy superglue in Vientiane to glue the sandals back together. Sadly, I did not go to any weddings this week, but at the moment, while I am waiting for the bus, my family is preparing to go to yet another one.

Kop chai lai lai

Kop chai lai lai, “thank you very much” in Lao, is something that I have said countless times these past two weeks because of the generosity of my family and the people of the Phao village, and something that I’ve realized I have neglected to say to close friends, family, and teachers back at home. Whether it was a kind word said during a stressful time, a much-needed e-mail, or an offer to chat, I am indebted because of the impact that you have had in my physical, emotional, and spiritual growth in various stages of my young life. That being said, a report from the life of a nineteen year-old rising sophomore at UNC, located in a village near Vientiane, Laos, spending 8 weeks teaching English to the local children during the week, and to adults in Vientiane on the weekends:

This week at school was stressful, and the key word I had to keep telling myself was “patience.” Although many of the kids enjoy the class and learning, there is obviously a wide range of interest, ability, and drive to learn. I went from having around fifty children attend class last week to about thirty, but only fifteen to twenty come each day, varying on the day and time. I have seen the dwindling numbers for mainly two reasons; a drastic drop in tangible and edible incentives to do well and try hard, and a rise in the learning-to-playing ratio. Every once in a while, a new game or song will catch their attention for a good 5 to 15 minutes, but there is a constant struggle to find the balance between work and play. I kind of like having fewer children, because I can give each one more attention, and have started to learn almost everyone’s name (although I probably will never pronounce them correctly, and am laughed at when I try a new name). I have students ranging from four to thirteen during the week who attend school irregularly between 8:30 and 3:30, with a 2 hour break for lunch. I am expected to arrive at around 7:45, leave at 11:45 for lunch at home, always consisting of sticky rice and some combination of protein and vegetable, and always accompanied by hot sauce of varying tastes and degrees, seemingly depending on the weather. If it is only mildly scorching hot outside, we must have a hotter sauce to make up the difference. Barb and Dave, you would be proud of my ever-increasing tolerance of spiciness. Before the first day was over, I had learned the word for spicy, “pet,” and had repeated it at least ten times. When I return at 1pm, some of the children, standing next to the classroom door, eagerly wait for me to unlock the building so they can play with the baan (soccer ball), playing cards, or puzzle that I brought. April, that ABC puzzle has been a hit! At 3:30, when the children leave, 2 students, siblings, ages 16 and 20, come in to practice their English. They have already had some training, and one can already read, but just needs to learn more and more grammar and vocabulary. The other one is learning to read, which is quite exciting. I have about 5 children on the brink of having the ability to read. The English alphabet is so weird. Why does the letter “H” (aych) sound so different from the sound it makes in a word? And why does “C” exist? There is already a letter for both of the sounds it makes, “K” and “S”. This, along with other random instances, has made it harder to teach English than I thought. It can be frustrating, because the English language comes so easily to me, to see others struggle to read a seemingly simple word. I have explanations for some things, but alas, what I have been led to say (in Lao) to students when I do not know the answer is “No ask. Remember.”

I have a newfound respect for the entity of school; not because of the drive of the Lao children to learn, but because I now know the work that teachers must put into planning and executing every hour of every day. To you teachers out there, I see how rewarding, but also how exhausting it can be. I have gotten a taste of everything, posing as a kindergarten teacher one minute, a foreign-language teacher the next, a middle-school teacher telling students that the next note I see, I will make them stay longer to help clean the room. Lao children are essentially the same as American children. They would rather play than work, but when work is fun they love it, and they appreciate kind words and the good feeling of success when they’ve gotten the answer right. They help each other and cheat sometimes, and are quite competitive, which I have been able to use to my advantage, creating games to force learning and memorization. Songs have been great, ranging from “The Alphabet Song” to “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”

With school over at 5, I walk home to help my 16 year-old sister with household chores that she is responsible for. That is her job, day in and day out, to cook meals, sweep floors, do laundry, and make everyone else feel better after a long day. My mother and father own a potato farm and a rice field, but last year both lands were flooded, so this year they are having to work extra hard to make up for lost profit. My grandmother, at 86, is the only grandparent left, and spends her days at a Laotian-style spinning wheel, making religious decorations of some sort (I still do not know what their importance is), and conversing with other people of her same age. Although in general Lao people look very young for their age, there is a point when they go from middle-aged to old, and I have not seen a middle ground. I think because of their lack of health, once they reach a certain point, hair and teeth start to fall out and skin wrinkles deeply. It is sad to see this, but they are accustomed to that type of aging, and have come to expect it, though I see a change in the younger generation, who more ardently wish to brush their teeth and wash their hands.

Today I was supposed to go to the potato farm with my father, but it began to rain, and here, it RAINS. It is the start of monsoon season, which everyone seems to be extremely thankful for after the long hot dry season, but it had put a damper on some of my activities. On Monday, I was at a wedding in the village, and it started to pour, thankfully right after we made the ceremonial walk around the village to the tent where the second part of the ceremony is held. If there is a reverent part to the marriage, I have never been invited to that part. I only see partying, merry drunkenness, and laughter. I don’t know why, but there have been many weddings and parties here recently. I have already been to 3, and my sister, Tawng, nicknamed Lem-Bo, (meaning big-boned, I think, because she is a little heftier then her pint-sized siblings) attended another today. They love to dance, but not at all like my parents dance, and DEFNITELY not like I dance. Everyone pairs off, one guy and one girl, but we do not touch, and all we do is sway from side-to-side, and move our hands like we are in a hula dance. I am always asked, “Muan baw”, or “Fun, no?” And it is all I can do to keep myself from saying, “You’re missing out on the FUN of dancing!”

Another week under my belt, and I don’t know how I feel. I do miss people at home, but also love that I am getting settled into my niche in Ban Phao. Time is moving slowly and quickly at the same time, and what I know is that I have six more weeks of struggles and fun, new experiences, and definitely more memories to make. That’s it for now, have a great week!
Will

Sabai Dee!

Sabai Dee (Hello) friends and family! I am in Vientiane right now, about an hour by car and 2 hours by bus from Ban Phao, where I am teaching English during the week. It has been difficult to teach, with the children ranging from ages 4 to 13, but it is great! I thought I would also be working with Microfinance, but it turns out I am only able to observe.
Thank you for your kind words before leaving, I am already missing home; especially the food! As you know, I LOVE to eat, and though I am not a very picky eater, EVERYTHING here is spicy. I tried to bring some food from home, but ants got into all of it. Ants are everywhere, and I have learned to enjoy the crunch of a nice ant in my white sticky rice, which I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have eaten beef, fish, and pork, but also crickets, frog, and other crazy things. One thing I can say: everything is fresh. And I mean FRESH. In the next e-mail, when I attach pictures, I will attach a yummy fresh cow head! I have an older brother (and 6 other siblings, all adults) who sells fruit, a peach-like fruit that is red on the outside and white on the inside. I think it's called mangosteen. They sell the fruit at the night market, which is crazy! I have helped them sell things twice, and there are people coming a going, yelling and laughing, all in Lao, which I knew none of last week, but have started to pick up more and more each day. As far as drinks, they don't drink water with their meals. I have to remind myself to drink water, because no one else does. They drink BeerLao in Ban Phao every day, they also drink Lao Lao, or Whiskey Lao, and LOVE to do that as a pasttime. My brothers and sisters have tried to get me mao (drunk) multiple times, all in jest.
I was able to go to a holiday, bon fai, or Rocket Festival, which is kind of like the State Fair, and each village hosts this in May. I was able to get Khalem (ice cream) there, which is great, considering the weather. It varies from hot and dry, hot and sticky, hot and wet, or very hot. This festival is for the coming of rain for the rice fields; the tradition is that the bamboo rockets, which are shot quite high, will pierce the clouds to make them pour.
My family has electricity, and my paw (father) is on the haed village committee, like the town council, so we are a little richer than some of the others. For instance, we have a car and a motorcycle, and a TV that works about half of the time. There is a toilet that does not flush; you have to put water in it after use every time, and there is no toilet paper. Showers are always cold, and you clean yourself by pouring water on your body. For fun, we play baan te (soccer), sit around... or sleep. They take naps every day, and when they are not working they sit. I was able to see them work and I was able to go to the wat (temple), where I had to sit cross-legged for about an hour. It was beautiful. Everyone is Buddhist, but when I told them I was Christian they were okay with it, and we were able to (barely) talk about the differences. I showed them pictures, one of my family at Easter, and they had NO CLUE why that holiday existed. I have a Lao-English Dictionary and phrasebook, which helps immensely. Without it, I could not communicate.
At school, I get there at 7:30, start teaching at 8, go home for lunch at 11:30, and come back at 1 to teach until 3:30. The kids ar eloud, but some pick up the language very quickly, especially when they get cookies for their good work. I didn't realize, but during the weekends I have to teach people in Vientiane, and one girl who is handicapped. It is mentally and physically tiring! I was able to go out last night, and attend a wedding on Friday, which was fun. Hopefully I will be able to attach pictures today. If not, next week. Hope everything is great in the USA!
La Kohn (Leaving first, how they say goodbye if they are the ones leaving)!
Will

Getting prepared for an exciting journey!

Hello friends and family,

In about 2 and a half hours, I will board a flight that, after many layovers and 1 and a half days, will send me to Vientiane, Laos (which borders Thailand and Vietnam). I will be staying there for 8 - 10 weeks, teaching English and working secondarily with a microfinance initiative, through one of Vientiane's local non-profit organizations. This listserve is to keep family and friends informed, and, especially for those who my parents talk to, less worried. This should be a growing experience that, although probably not always easy, will hopefully teach me and help mold me into a stronger individual. I will be writing once a week on Saturdays, and will be attaching pictures as well.

Thank you for your support. In one way or another, you have either directly or indirectly helped me take this plunge into the unknown, whether by words of encouragement and advice, or a constant person in my life.

Will