Celebrations

December 9-18th the South East Asian Games came to Vientiane, Laos. This was a big deal. In the previous 24 SEA Games, Laos had never hosted. A year in advance, there was a screen downtown counting down the days until the games started. Fortunately, I was able to attend both the opening and closing ceremonies with my family and neighbors. The opening started with Lao songs, special effects, and a grand entrance by the athletes from all eleven participating countries. Later dances performed by thousands of dancers depicted scenes from Laos. The grand finale included all the dancers and many fireworks. It was great to see the Lao people excited about their country.

The sports in the games are a variety of world-wide and Western sports along with more traditional SE Asian sports. Quite a few types of martial arts. On a Saturday, I went to see sepak takraw which is similar to volleyball except the players can only use their heads, legs and feet to hit a plastic ball a little larger than a softball. A very exciting sport featuring very flexible and creative athletes.
Men's football (soccer) was by far the most popular sport for Lao fans to watch and I think for fans of other countries as well. Someone told me it's the most popular because it's a team sport. I think the worldwide popularity of football also has something to do with it. The Lao men did better than ever before, making it to the semifinals. Unfortunately they lost in this round, but I was able to see the third-place match in person. It was a very hot day and I hid underneath my jacket and many others did the same. (Lao, especially Lao women don't want to get tan, and often walk around under umbrellas even on sunny days. I just didn't want to get burned.) Unfortunately it was not Lao's day and they surrendered three goals before scoring one of their own in the closing seconds. Due to the heat, the game wasn't quite what I had hoped it might be, but watching the Lao cheer on their team was great. It sometimes seems like Lao don't get excited very often.

Seeing Laos host the SEA Games also made me realize what a small world Laos is. For instance, roughly 1 in every 10,000 citizens of Laos was an athlete directly participating in the games. My neighbor who is still studying at a university did an "internship" as a TV commentator and ended up working quite a few of the games. It was great to see my host Grandma's face light up the first time she saw him on TV. Also, a friend of mine knows the family of a choreographer for the dances at the opening and closing ceremonies. At least three or four of my neighbors worked at the SEA Games in some way. I've also seen many other instances where two people I thought were strangers to each other somehow had a connection. I think the Lao are more welcoming and friendly to each other because they think of each other as distant relatives. People usually refer to each other with a family name along with the given name. For example, I call the neighbor lady who is about the age of my mother, "May-Sun" ("May" meaning mother.)

Along the lines of thinking of neighbors as family, this past weekend the neighborhood hosted a wedding, and it certainly was a neighborhood event. I've been to a couple weddings already in Laos, but this was the first time I could get a behind the scenes look. My house was the "kitchen". On the day of the wedding, I slept until after 7:30 and felt like I had slept in too late. Already the women were washing and cutting vegetables and a group of men were chopping huge slabs of beef into smaller chunks. Around 10:30, there were cries that the groom had come already. Sure enough, the groom came trotting down the road with a large group of his family and friends. As is the tradition, the groom "fought" his way through the bride's family and friends, with everyone smiling and laughing. Below, the groom is in the middle, dressed in white and red. Inside the bride's house, a baci was held for the new couple. The morning baci is supposed to be a smaller ceremony, but I think there were 100+ people there. I think I've mentioned bacis a little before, but they are traditional Lao ceremonies symbolized by tying strings of blessing around each others' wrists. I wasn't able to actually see this baci because of the large number of people, but I already knew the gist of it. Afterward, a large meal was served.


The afternoon gave people a chance to rest up and get ready for the evening. A month or so ago, the free space behind my house was cleared and the grass was cut short. Now it was set up with lots of chairs and tables. A banner announcing the happy couple was set up and 10 huge speakers were hauled in. Around 7:00, people started arriving, but the tables weren't full until after 8:00. I think about 600 people were there at the peak moments. Since my host parents were two of the hosts for the reception, my host sister helped serve drinks and my host brother was in the band, I sat at a table with my uncle, aunt, cousin, another aunt or friend of my aunt, the "mayor of our village" and his daughter, a next door neighbor who can speak a little French, English and Russian but can't quite say my name right however many times he asks me, and two other men who I think are neighbors. (As you might have figured out, Lao are friendly but don't always go to great lengths to explain who they are and what connections they have to others, even if they have those odd connections I mentioned earlier.) From here on out, it was more or less like a wedding reception you would probably be familiar with: food buffet style, singing and dancing- but all with a Lao flavor to it.

Having all these celebrations also makes me think about the celebrations I'll miss. Since there are not many Christians in Laos, there are few reminders of Christmas although Lao are more than willing to celebrate a holiday they don't know much about. I have enjoyed attending church services and a "Carols by Candlelight" celebration in the Australian tradition of celebrating Christmas with a picnic lit by candles. I'm also pretty sure my host mother is planning a Christmas party, but it will be interesting to see how it turns out considering she thought Christmas was the day I celebrated the New Year. I'll certainly miss seeing all (or at least some:) of you during this holiday season and also the lack of religious moments, but I really have felt welcomed by the people of this country, especially in the time spent together the past couple weeks. May you have a terrific and meaningful holiday season!

My November

My schedule has changed a lot since school let out in late October. After a week or so of hanging around MCC and doing whatever little tasks needed to be done, I embarked on a trip to the countryside with Bounchan, a national MCC staff person who is kind of in charge there and who speaks very good English. We headed to the southern part of Xieng Khouang Province to the district of Tha Thom. Since it is mountainous and there aren't good roads, it can be difficult to get to. MCC had been trying to get a pick-up truck out there for the past number of months but due to the mud, when staff needed to travel there and back, they took a boat down the river and then traveled by bus. Apparently you could also hitch a ride on a big truck. But now it was early November and the rainy season had died down, so we could risk driving a pick-up. The first part of the journey went fine, but in the early afternoon we came to a river. The river itself wasn't the problem because it only came up to my knees at the deepest points, but a truck hauling motorbikes was stuck on the mud bank of the other side of the river. I gathered that the driver could call a bigger truck to pull him out, but the cost of that would pretty much negate any profit he would make upon delivering his load. It was a much better plan for him to wait for a big truck to come by, either on its own or summoned by another waiting vehicle in more of a hurry than he was. So we waited too. About three hours later a truck did come by and the road was clear again. Look closely at the middle of the picture below and you can find a stuck truck.


Tha Thom is quite beautiful with a lot of mountains and greenery. I learned on the trip out that this district used to be a ''special zone" directly governed by the Lao government because there was supposedly still a risk of people actively protesting the government which some have done for over 30 years. Historically, most of these people have come from the Hmong ethnic group. (That why when you hear about Lao(tians) in America many times they are Hmong.) The district was no longer declared a special zone roughly a year ago and much change has happened since. Tha Thom received electricity last April and telephone service. Before that time, the people depended on a few generators and the only phone was at the mayor's house. I hear the Internet is coming soon.


I stayed at the MCC office which doubles as the national staff's living quarters. I helped out with the technology we brought like computers, a copy machine and satellite dish. We also visited a number of villages MCC works in and saw school gardens and latrine projects there. These villages were quite simple and all the houses were built of bamboo or wood and raised on stilts in the traditional Lao way as shown above. Below is a picture from inside one of the houses. I took the picture while crouched in the opposite corner of the house. I think most families send the parents to work in the rice fields while the grandmothers care for the children and house. The animals seemingly care for themselves and only gather to eat. (Another one of my duties became chasing the cows and water buffalo out of the yard while the others were in meetings.)


We had quite a time getting back because we couldn't go back over Small Elephant Mountain we had crossed on the way in because it had rained recently and there was a pretty good chance we would get stuck often. Instead we headed north to the capital of the province. This road wasn't a whole lot better and was like driving through a construction site- actually it was as crews are working all over the main roads in the district. We left in the late afternoon but at 7:30 we pulled up to a bridge that had the gate down. We heard they were working on the road until 11 PM. We decided it would be a good time to eat the supper we had brought. We had stopped in a Hmong village so Von, the recently hired driver who apparently can speak Hmong, found us a house to eat in because it was dark and quite cold (in the 50s I think and windy). The family had a simple house but were quite welcoming. It turned out that night was the first day of the Hmong New Year and the father announced that he was honored to have us as guests. There was a family of maybe six or seven people, but we only ate with the father. The father spoke Hmong and some Lao, Von speaks Lao and a little Hmong, Bounchan speaks Lao and good English and I of course speak English and a little Lao. All that makes for an interesting (and slow) dinner. After saying goodbye, we dozed a little in the truck until 9:00 when they opened the gate. After getting through, it wasn't clear if the construction was done or not. The road was certainly not any better and we had to wait several times for backhoes to clear us a way. Finally at midnight, we arrived at the guesthouse next to the bus station. By 7:00 the next day, Bounchan and I were off on the bus. It was an all-day affair and we finally pulled into Vientiane at 5. With time added for the tuktuk driver mistaking the word MCC for embassy, I got home in time for dinner.

A few days after getting back, I went on a two day retreat to the beautiful Nam Ngum lake area with all the MCC Laos staff. We also toured a zoo and played many fun games with each other. I had a traditional Thanksgiving with Americans and Canadians a week before the actual day. A day before Thanksgiving in the US, my host mother had convinced me to make a dish for the family. (Making a whole meal was just too risky.) After figuring out what I could make with mostly only using food from the local market and what could be made over a charcoal fire, I came up with chili. So we had chili for Thanksgiving. I thought it turned out fairly authentic and the family said they liked even though they were somewhat hesitant to eat it.

The past few weeks I've worked at MCC doing various projects. I was going to start teaching English to a volunteer group MCC works with, but alas, only one showed up after a small group said they would come. No one came on the rescheduled date. I guess they were all afraid that they would be the only one to show up- so no one did. Maybe they also felt they had to say they would come because it would be rude to refuse, but in reality they were too busy or didn't want to come. But it seems like most everyone in Laos wants to learn English, so I've been teaching English to volunteers and staff at PVG, an after-school program for children which doesn't have much activity now that the schools are not in session. It is a pretty informal affair, but fun and it gives me a chance to learn and use Lao at the same time.

The very long awaited SEA Games have finally come to Laos, and Laos is ready. Unfortunately, I'm not ready yet to tell you about them- hopefully that will be soon!

Calendar

I just got back from Tha Thom, a very beautiful and rural place. Also quite difficult to get to and from. Hopefully I can write more about it when I have more time.

I just wanted to call your attention to the current MCC calendar. If you have access to one, you will notice this month features schoolchildren from Ban Sang Thong. While I don't work there, these children look very much like the children I teach.

Going to the temple

A few weeks ago I got my license to drive a motorbike after passing
the test, which is an interesting story in itself, and I received a
motorbike to use. Now I can get places faster and not be sweating,
either! My joy at having a motorbike quickly faded when it was stolen
a day after I received it. I came out of the National Cultural Hall
where I had watched a competition to see who would be emcees for the South East Asian games and crossed the street only to find my motorbike was missing. I looked frantically around and confirmed that this was were I parked it. I asked a man in the area if he knew what had happened and he directed me to the owner of a local guesthouse who tried to explain things to me, but ended up saying I should go to the police tomorrow. I assumed I had parked illegally and the police had taken it. I started walking, looking for a tuktuk home and called Khamseng, the MCC person I'm supposed to call with any problems (he can usually fix them!). He didn't quite understand and thought I should talk to a policeman, so I promptly turned around and headed
back to the Culture Hall where I knew there lots of men in uniforms.
(It turns out they weren't policemen- just military or security
guards, but it didn't really matter.) By the time I reached the
Culture Hall, Khamseng wanted to talk to the man I had talked to, so I
crossed the street, and ventured up the stairs of the guesthouse to find the owner watching TV with a few other men. I was able to get the owner to talk with Khamseng and while they talked, I gathered from the other men that one of them had seen two men walking away with a red motorbike. When I got the phone back, Khamseng decided he should come, so I hung up and wandered outside to talk with a young man who knew about the situation too and could speak a little English. He helped confirm and fill in a few details.

After I waited awhile, Khamseng called me back, saying he was coming, but then he was cut off abruptly. I checked my phone and realized it was out of minutes. I started walking down the street looking for where I could by a phone card, trying to stay in view in case Khamseng arrived. I asked a security guard where I could buy more minutes and he pointed me down the street. When I stopped and asked a woman, she pointed me farther down the street. Finally I stopped at a little drink stand to ask where I could go, and it turned out they sold minutes there at the tiny drink stall! Just as I was walking away, Khamseng pulled up. He took me to a policebox where he explained the situation to a policeman who said they would be on the lookout for it.

Khamseng then took me home and told me I could sleep well. I didn't
sleep great, but was later educated on the things I can do to keep a
motorbike safe. Apparently this bike has been stolen before and was
just recently returned to MCC in the past few months. I guess it was a lesson learned the hard way. This was reinforced less than a week later on the way to the office when my cellphone disappeared from my pocket and was lost forever. A Lao friend quietly suggested to me
that in light of this bad luck, I should consider going to the temple!

Though not right away, I did go to the temple- in fact I went to the
famous golden temple of Vientiane, Wat That Luang. I didn't offer
alms, instead I perused the many shops and stalls around it because
this past weekend was the celebration of That Luang which includes
many religious and nonreligious activities at the temple. I since
received a replacement motorbike and cell phone and strive to take
great care of them.

School went well up until the break which started last Thursday. Now
we have a two-month break until the beginning January. This break is
due to the SEA Games which Laos is hosting for the first time. I
think the long break is mostly to do with security concerns- they don't want anything happening to a school or anywhere else during this time, though I can't imagine that anything would. Not having school also takes more people off the roads and allows students- especially
college students- and teachers to return to their home villages if
they're not from Vientiane.

Now I get to do all kinds of different work, because I am not
teaching. I have been helping out at the MCC office, making charts,
moving and setting up computers, moving blankets, proofreading and
more! I recently finished helping interview candidates for IVEP which is the opposite of SALT- it sends young people throughout the world to live Canada and America for a year.

After this weekend, I will travel out into the countryside to a
province where MCC has a few projects. I will get to tour the
villages they work in and meet the people they work with. I hear like
many Lao, the national staff working there would be quite eager to
improve their English, so I might help with that. It will be nice to
take a break from the city and get to travel a little!

School and other activites

Sorry for the long break in posting. I don't always know when I'll get to the Internet because sometimes my plans have to be changed.

For instance, a couple Saturdays ago, I came out of my room with my laundry (I had checked the day before just to make sure it was ok that I did laundry) when my father stopped and asked me, wasn't I going with him? I had no idea what he was talking about, but soon learned he was visiting his parents out in the country. I quickly agreed to go with him, and remembered that "tomorrow" is always the better day to do laundry. My father took my sister and two neighborhood friends out into the countryside where I was reminded of what most of Laos looks like- roaming animals, bright green rice paddies, scattered trees, framed by an open sky and dark mountains in the distance compared to what I've mostly seen- "crowded" and busy city life in the capital. Soon after we arrived, I had a short tour which included a stop by the frog pit (they're not pets!). Shortly after a lunch which mostly included "bird" and sticky rice of course, the kids and wandered down to the nearby creek where we found a nearly submerged water buffalo relaxing in the river. The kids tried calling out a number of things, but only "Come here" in English worked. But boy did it work! Fortunately the buffalo was on a leash and didn't test his limits.

After we left, we took a different way home which included a river
crossing on a old barge and a stop at the Lao Zoo. After stopping to
take pictures with the mascots, we fed and rode the elephants. The
zoo had a nice variety of animals but for some reason had over 100
crocodiles (none of whom understood English).

Usually the change of plans works out somehow, and it usually more fun!

Since I updated last, I have started teaching at Nita school. It's a
private primary and secondary school with over 1000 students and
rapidly growing each year. I teach a little in each of the secondary
classes which range from 6th graders to 10th graders. Right now, I
have mostly just helped the Lao teachers out with pronunciation and
clarifications. I also help with games and songs.

It's been great to talk to the students and see their friendly smiles.
They are pretty curious about me and America, and after I talk to
them a little, they have many questions for me. They are also eager
to help me with my Lao. Already we've had a number of interruptions
to the school weeks with teacher's day, a holiday for the end of
Buddhist lent, monthly exams (where I try to prevent at least the
outright cheating- the school is run more like a business so the
students have more power to do what they want to, including cheating) and in the next few weeks, we will have a two-month holiday for the South East Asia games which Laos is hosting for the first time. The government is very dedicated to making sure they go well. (I just learned today that supposedly gatherings of more than 10 people are supposed to "register" beforehand).

Recently, I've been "partying" which certainly isn't unusual in Laos-
Thursday, I went to my first Lao wedding reception which wasn't too
different than an American reception except for a few of the
traditions and the fact there were about 700 people there. Friday and
Saturday, I went to birthday parties for an American and a little girl
in my neighborhood. Sunday, I was with a small group for Canadian
Thanksgiving with real Thanksgiving food!

I suppose I should be thankful for the warm weather I have and perhaps many of you do not, but I wouldn't mind if it was a little less humid! Thank you for all your encouraging emails and prayers! It is wonderful to have you and God with me during this time!

Lao Introductions

Much has happened since I last wrote, most of it good!

Life with my Lao family has been great. They have been very welcoming and hospitable. I have a mother, Mai; father, Paa; grandma, Mai-Tuu; a sister- Tuktik and nephew/ brother Lay. They all speak a little English except Mai-Tuu. I have also met quite a few of the neighbors and am gradually figuring out who is related to whom. They are a pretty friendly and close community, and I have been invited to a number of house visits, graduation parties and snooker games when Ihave "free time". Many of them also enjoyed practicing their English with me.

I've also been a part of several bacis- a traditional ceremony for important life events. Two of the bacis were for me- a welcoming from MCC Laos and also my family. I also went to one for a national MCC worker whose husband had just recovered from an illness. I have found these to be quite affirming as those participating in a baci bless each other, symbolized by tying strings around each other's wrists.

I've enjoyed the food as well. Usually for breakfast I have coffee and eggs or last night's leftovers. Lunch is usually phu or something similar. Phu is a popular Southeast Asian dish and is a big bowl of noodle soup with meat, vegetables and other goodies in it. Supper includes sticky rice which you ball up and dip into various dishes ofmeat and vegetables and also into jaew, which is spicier, kind of like salsa. There is also usually some type of soup or stew. My family is quite pleased I like their food and often ask if it is saeb (delicious). I've had chances to try different foods like chicken feet and duck blood, but they aren't served on a regular basis. My host mom told me she likes dogs (we have two) too much to eat them!

During the week I've been biking to language class in the afternoon. It's been great and tiring to learn more about the Lao language and how to pronounce it. We've learned the alphabet and the numbers, and now we're working on reading and basic situations like ordering food. It's also been fun connecting with other foreigners in class. The commute is not quite as fun because it is often hot and dusty. My first bike did not hold up very well and has pedal problems. However, I am content with a new bike, and am getting used to the commute. The weather has remained hot with highs somewhere in the 90s so it's nice when the rain cools things off.

I've not done a great job of taking pictures, but hopefully I'll be able to put some up in the future.

Hope you all are enjoying work or school!

Justin

First week in Laos!

Hello,

I'm in Laos safe and sound! I've done quite a bit of traveling since
last time, but it was not too much to endure. I made all of the
connections fine, although the two hours in LA were barely enough
time. The 16 hour flight to Bangkok went by surprisingly quickly with
the wonderful Thai Airways. (I think it was a combination of the food
and very colorful interior decorating.) I had a six hour layover in
Bangkok, but I was able to pass a good portion of it talking to a
Hmong Laotian coming back from visiting relatives in France.

Arriving in Vientiane, it was nice to see all greenery! Once I got my
visa and went through customs, I was met by MCC people: Wendy- the country representative, Ariel- who works with peacebuilding and who I knew a little from school and Khamseng- another MCC worker who has helped with much of my orientation. I was initially surprised at how small Vientiane seems. When they say it has almost 700,000 people they must include a lot of the surrounding province. I think it takes about 15 minutes to get across the bulk of the city if there is not traffic.

I've had "orientation" for most of this week, which is a mixture of
learning about MCC's operations, exploring Vientiane and meeting
people. I've already seen a lot of the markets and downtown and
visited the school where I will teach (NITA), met some of my host
family, and stopped by the school where I will learn Lao for a few
weeks. I move in with my host family on Friday! This is a little
earlier than I expected but I think some of them speak a little
English. It will be good to get to know my family and learn Lao even
if it might seem a little overwhelming at first! Next week, I will
visit a few historical sites before starting language classes in the
middle of the week.

I've also been enjoying the delicious Lao food (also Vietnamese and
Thai) although last night's spicy laap and papaya salad has been a
little hard on my stomach. The weather's pretty warm (in the 90s)
with quite a bit of humidity so I am eagerly awaiting the rain. I
still haven't seen the rain since I arrived even though it is the
rainy season. As Noy, another MCC worker who's shown me around a lot said with a grin, it rained every day before I came, but now it is sunny!

Now I get to go to the market for all the little things I'll need
before moving in with my host family!

Justin

Orientation is Over!

Hello all,

I finally got around to creating a blog!

I'm currently in Akron, PA after a week of orientation, but within
minutes I will be flying out. I've been enjoying orientation
here-meeting new friends and seeing old ones- even a couple I wasn't expecting to see! I've especially enjoyed talking with the Lao IVEPers (IVEP is a similar program where young people come from other countries to live and work in the U.S. and Canada.) They have told me all about Laos and in general been very friendly. Thanks to them, I already have an authentic Laos guidebook, two arrival forms (in case I make a mistake on the first one) and kind of know how to count to three in Lao. Getting to know these IVEPers makes me excited to meet more Lao! Overall, the week has been great- with informative sessions, unique interactions and much learning all around.

Feel free to get in touch of me, too! I think I will have fairly
regular Internet access.

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers during this time of transition!

Justin