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