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!
