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Published: July 11th 2010
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Every month, I have to renew my visa for another month, at the Immigration Office, at a cost of $2 per day, for a total of $60. After two renewals, I have to leave the country, and re-enter with a new visa, at a cost of $36. One month I went to the Immigration Office and was told there was a $2 charge for the processing, so I’d have to pay $62. Suspiciously, I said, really? It’s always only $60.
The officer said, OK, you don’t have to pay this time. But next time you do. OK, I said.
The following month, I came in and was asked to pay $62 again. This time he insisted. But when I gave him a $100 bill, and he gave me back two $20 bills from his wallet, I didn’t have the $2 additional he was seeking. I had about 5000 kip, or 85 cents, so I gave him that.
That was fine. Apparently, that was close enough to the processing fee he was seeking to suffice. That also went in to his wallet. Although I don’t condone adding on random fees at one’s own discretion, government workers like him don’t
get paid enough to support their families, and do need to find creative ways to make extra money as result. An average government salary is about $20 a month. With that kind of salary, an extra 85 cents to $2 a day makes a big difference.
The other night I cooked some Thai red curry with sticky rice for myself, and knowing I’d have way too much, decided to bring it to share with a few Lao friends working nearby, who often seem to be eating too-small meals. All three friends ate the food, and deemed it good and spicy, but only one friend ate more than a few bites. Lao people are very polite and will often eat a bite of something, say its delicious even though they hate it, and then ever so kindly refuse anymore. Unless it's a really strong food, like almonds or cheese or sushi, and then they'll spit it out and make terrible faces.
The friend that was actually eating the curry, half-way through eating, suddenly realized that his long held desire to marry a foreigner was flawed.
"Oh no. If I have a falang wife, I’ll have to eat falang
food", he exclaimed sadly while eating Thai food, the closest possible cousin to Lao food. If Thai food is exotic and sub-par to him he may have an issue with some other falang (foreigner) foods. He is now in a mid-twenties crisis, reconsidering his future plans in order to save himself from a future of terrible non-Lao food.
To most Lao people, any food that’s not what they’ve grown up on is falang food, and is not good like Lao food. Outside of the few big cities, there’s no exposure to non-Lao food, so it’s not surprising that most people are afraid of food that’s different, having never experienced it for most of their lives. You can cook your food for Lao people, but you’ll often be left with a big plateful of food, and a room of hungry Lao people. It’s a bit disappointing; better to just eat with the majority, and eat Lao food when with Lao people, falang food when with falang people. Of course there are some exceptions, and I know a few Lao who adore falang food and can't get enough.
Another friend recently got hired as the assistant chef of Lao food
at a fancy new hotel, yet to open. Initially they told her she would work 9-5, seven days a week, for $500 a month, a very good salary here. She accepted. Then she was called back for another interview, with a different manager and was told her hours would actually be 4AM - 6PM, with one day off a month. She told them she wasn’t happy with those hours and they told her she could work part-time if she’d like. Part-time would be only 49 hours a week, for a $250 salary. She still accepted, as she’s a great cook already and wants to improve her cooking. But imagine! 49 hours a week is considered, "part-time".
Riding in a shared tuk-tuk from the bus station to town a few weeks ago, I over heard an older grey-haired American man speaking to a young Russian woman.
“I’ve been in Laos for five years distributing bibles. I’ve been arrested four times. It’s illegal in Laos. Do you have a bible?”
The Russian said she did, back home in Russia. That satisfied the man.
As the woman dismounted the tuk-tuk, the man said, “See you in heaven. But don’t
forget your visa. You can’t get in without it.” As the tuk-tuk traveled on, I was humored and relieved that the man didn’t attempt to speak to me. He must have seen on my face that I didn’t have the visa.
A month ago, after traveling by long, overnight bus to Thailand to get a new visa, I decided I’d fly back to Luang Prabang. Or maybe I’d fly up to Phongsali, a town far north of Luang Prabang that I’d long wanted to visit, but hadn’t wanted to take the long bus ride. But I was unsure if this flight was still available.
At the airport, I was directed to the Lao Capricorn office, a newer airline that operated as the only competition to the one other Lao airline, Lao Airlines. I say “operated” because when I visited the office, impressively modern and staffed with people who seemed to be busy working, I was informed that they no longer had any flights operating. The friendly woman I spoke to informed me that they formerly had three flights, each to a far-off place in Laos that has always required a long bus ride.
These three flights had
been achieved with the use of one old Bulgarian-bought plane complete with Bulgarian pilot. But every time this plane took off, the woman told me that she was scared for the passengers, because they had problems with the plane and because the airports they were flying to weren’t very good.
But Lao Capricorn didn’t halt their flights. After about a year, the government intervened and paused all of their flights until the airports they flew to had improved enough to pass government inspection. She thought they might be resuming flights by August. Although impressed by this woman’s candid nature, I was dually terrified by her airline. I couldn’t help but feel happy the flight to Phongsali was no longer available, as if it had been, I would have been on it, and unknown to me, this woman would have to have been terrified for my safety.
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Fred Appel
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Pleasant Food Anecdotes
Yes another great blog with just enough pleasant food anecdotes thrown in ! Great , Uncle Freddy.