First of all, my parents visited! It was very good to see them and fun
to show them around. After showing them around Vientiane, we
travelled up to Luang Prabang for a few days, which I had never been
to before, so it was good for me to be able to see it too. Luang
Prabang is the old capital of Laos and is known for being very
beautiful and historical. We found a nice guesthouse and spent the
next few days around the city, seeing temples, buying cloth and riding
elephants. Then we were back in Vientiane for a few days before they
left. In addition to places and people they saw and met, my parents
also got to go to a Lao wedding and baci, so they experienced some
cultural aspects as well. I was pleased they were able to see as much
as they did and things just seemed to work out well. Having them here
also reminded me how accustomed I've become to doing things the Lao
way.
Immediately afterwards, Pi Mai Lao (the Lao New Year) preparations and
celebrations began. Using American terms, I think Pi Mai Lao is best
described as spring break, graduation parties and summer vacation
combined into a celebration that also manages to celebrate the
Buddhist New Year in a week. The celebration is technically only three
days, but school was closed the other two weekdays which meant that
with two weekends, I had a week+ of vacation. During Pi Mai, water is
used to bless images of Buddha, monks, elders and everyone else. But
mostly everyone else. And virtually no one is exempt if they venture
outside their house. Pouring water on others is seen as a blessing for
a long and happy life.
The Sunday before Pi Mai, my ban (neighborhood) held a huge feast at a
local school. This lasted all day. A vivid memory was seeing my
neighbor dressed completely in red and a ridiculous hat getting picked
up and dumped into a tub of water. She didn't mind a bit. Getting wet
was quite a relief from the heat we've been having recently, so I
really didn't mind getting wet either.
Most of the week was spent feasting and getting wet at family and
friends' houses. On the last Saturday, we had our own feast at home,
featuring four ducks. (To everyone's surprise, one of them laid two
eggs earlier in the week!). During this time, Laos also has bacis for
the new year. (I've described them before, but a baci is a blessing
held for special events and is marked by tying strings around each
others' wrists as a blessing.) We held one at school and a smaller,
informal one with my extended host family. After the family baci, we
ate and talked with a few family members and some neighbors. Or so I
thought. As my host mom's oldest brother was talking to me, he
mentioned he was the first and pointed around until he had listed all
8 of his siblings! Everyone was related! Only one sibling wasn't able
to be there. I spent the rest of the evening matching up the spouses
and wondering how I didn't see the resemblances before.
All in all, it was a fun and relaxing time, but after a week, I was
ready to get back to work this past week. We've got about a month to
go before school's out for the rainy season. It's been pretty hot and
humid the past few weeks and I'm looking forward to the rain coming in
a few weeks.
I hope you all are enjoying a wonderful spring!
Justin
