I've only been away two weeks!!!

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Two weeks ago, I left Ottawa-I’m amazed it was only two weeks ago-so much has happened.

Still very, very hot. Some days, the overcast ones, are not as bad as others. And, until about 9:00 a.m., you can walk around without sweating too much. But after 9, it heats up until the late afternoon. Not sure how hot it is-I have never seen a thermometer here. No one ever talks about the weather-it’s just hot or hotter. And, most Lao have no concept of temperature. I told one of the students at BBM that it was only about 12 degrees in Ottawa, and he replied that he thought it was about 13 in Luang Prabang. Some discussions are worth explaining/pursuing, and others are not.

I was trying to explain what a rabbit hole was (the students read books,and copy down the parts they don’t understand.....) so, we started with the rabbit part-that went well-they knew what a rabbit was. then I had to explain a hole, which meant I first had to explain “dig” and “shovel”. Anyway, we finally got there, and I said, so, a rabbit hole is where a rabbit lives. Lee, one of the brighter students, looks at me and says, no,they live in a cage, which he pronounced “Kug”, so after he wrote out the word, and I explained how to pronounce it, I told him that not all rabbits live in cages, and that before they are caught they live in rabbit holes. I don’t think he believed me.....they also have a hard time believing we don’t eat rice every day, and that buffalo is not a big thing for Thanksgiving. Finally explained Thanksgiving by saying it is the “giving thanks” celebration after the harvest is in....that, they could understand. Asked how many rice crops we grow a year, and I explained we grow and eat potatoes instead.....

I met an American, Nicole, who is over here trying to set up an NGO. The Lao government really does not welcome NGO’s, and makes the process(if there is one) very difficult. The small group of people who are here doing things are either doing it “under the table”, or have found an odd entre. Of course, the large organizations are here-in droves. FAO and UNPD have a large presence in the country. Rice from FAO is often available in the market, for a reasonable price-actually, I have not seen that in L.P., but did see it last year in the south of the country.

Anyway, Nicole and I had lunch, and hit it off. She heard of a Loa guy who was teaching free English and Japanese classes every week day evening at one of the local schools, just outside of town. She asked me if I would help, and I agreed. I offered to teach the Japanese class. Well, I might as well have. A new definition of terror: facing 45 young adults, with another 10 or so peeking through the windows (no glass, only shutters) who have No idea what you are saying when you start to speak. At one point, I actually said you have no idea what I’m saying, do you? And, they all looked at me. So, I had to revise my plan (not really a plan,I had just brought along all my notes from the morning BBM session, and thought those would provide enough starting points). So, we did body parts for almost an hour. They are very useful, cause you can point to them, and then they can understand what you are talking about. When we did bum, they thought that was funny, but other wise a very serious bunch.

Nicole is going to have to figure out how to best serve all these folks....maybe alternating evenings for beginning and more advanced students would be a good idea. But, for now, I have not said anything...hers to sort out.

Friday BBM took a modified book party to the local orphanage. The staff certainly did not have the energy they had at the village party, but neither did the kids. I tried, very hard, to leave aside my North American way of looking at things, and place the orphanage into the Laos context. Interestingly, access to the orphanage is not open to all-we had to go through a gate to get in. I’m sure that if I had showed up on my own, I would not have been permitted to enter,but I don’t think the guard noticed the one white in the van load of Lao, with lots of supplies and chest of ice balanced on the top of the van.

The class rooms don’t look much different from those at the village we visited on Monday. The sleeping rooms are another story: dark, with bunk beds, bare concrete floor and bare concrete walls. This was just from trying to peer in as I walked by-not on to try and do more.
The kids seem to have a variety of bedding, from Barbie sleeping bags to grey blankets(may well be left over from the war years). The kids clothes are really, really tatty and old-much worse than the clothing of the kids in the village. And, heaven help me, they smelled really bad. Not just b.o.., but an old, musty smell. Poor little things. I kept wondering if it was me, cause trust me, I am no pleasant parcel by the afternoon, but no, it was them. I did not see any evidence of a shower room-I’m sure they have some facilities for washing, but they are not adequate. I kept wishing I was not so repulsed-it was a very unhappy way to feel, but it was really hard to be in the classroom with them. Outside was a lot better. Come to think of it, this was not a problem at the village book party. Not pretty,but this too is part of my Loa adventure.

One of the BBM staff who does the book parties has taken a shine to me-her name is Linda-at least, that is what she calls herself..no doubt her parents gave her another name at birth-or perhaps not. I have learnt that in some of the hill tribes, they do not name their children. The government passed a law that all children had to be named, but if you are way the hell up in the hills, who is going to check???? Anyway, public displays of affection are very rare in Laos, and she gave me a big hug. Not sure what I did to become her friend, but I will take it.

On the way back to L.P., we stopped at what they called the “Chinese market”. All the stuff comes from China, and what an assortment of stuff. Bad clothing, cheap jewelry, fake I-pods, truck parts, T.V.’s and computers-not sure if they are real or fake, but they had Sony and Samsung logos. Interesting place, for sure. Also saw much of the “handicrafts” that are now sold in the night market. That is one thing that has really changed since last January-the night market used to have actual Hmong and Asha weavings.

BBM is closed on Sundays, so today was my “rest day”. Too bad some guy decided to wash his truck right across the street at 7 a.m., with his Thai music blaring loudly. No dirty vehicles here-everyone washes their bike,motorbike or truck daily, it seems.
By far the majority of the trucks are commercial-if you see a private car or truck, you stare at it-it is that rare. I have probably only seen 4 or 5 since arrival.

Walked up to one of the fancy hotels with a spa, and had an hour manicure (yes, me a manicure) and pedicure-took 2 hours and cost $25.00-for both, including tip. No polish, though.

Then, around town on a hunt for one of the dance headdresses. You know-the tall gold crown type things that you see on Thai dancers? Figure it would make a great conversation piece, and I wanted one last time I was here. Even more impractical than an umbrella to brng home, I know. Will probably never find one, but fun looking.

Have remembered that my I-pod can be plugged into the computer,and I can play all the songs from my I-pod on (Meg’s) my laptop,so Bozz and I are just fine. Harry Manx sends his best too.

I am really starting to crave cheese-specifically parmesane and goat cheese. Think I am out of luck on both counts, though.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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