Well, I’m home. The 48 hour commute was gruesome. It dawned on me on the flight over the Pacific that I really did go to Laos for ten weeks. I will miss the morning drums from the temple, I will miss the monks in their orange robes, I will miss the warmth, and I think often of my new friends. Don’t know what impact this sojourn will have, and I’m not sure if there will be any profound revelations or epiphanies arising. Stay tuned..... It has been an amazing, fascinating time. Thanks for sharing it with me. Sa Ba Dee. [View Full Entry]

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It’s Tuesday night here. I leave in less than 48 hours. The last week has been unusual, to say the least. With the closure of the Bangkok airports, much time was spent trying to get a handle on what was happening there and sorting out whether there were any options for leaving Laos. I managed to find flights out via Hanoi and then onto Seoul, where I can join my original itinerary, which was L.P. Bangkok, Seoul. It sounds so easy now, just one little paragraph summarizing a change in travel plans, but it was so very fretful and stressful [View Full Entry]

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Thong picked me up after he finished work today (Thursday) and we took a tuk-tuk to the main market, where we caught a larger tuk-tuk (the Lao equivalent the commuter bus) to his village. He is Hmong-the Hmong are the ethnic group that the Americans recruited to fight with them in the “secret war” in Laos. As a result of this, they have been somewhat persecuted ever since. Many Hmong fled the country during or after the civil war. There is a huge Hmong diaspora on the States-mostly California and Minnesota (Minnesota???). Anyway, we went about 40 minutes out of [View Full Entry]

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My little friend Thong had his bike stolen. New bikes cost about $100-the equivalent of just over two months salary. He was just devastated. He admitted he had not locked his bike, but theft is a relatively new thing here, and folks are just getting used to the idea that they can’t leave anything of value lying around-sad, but true. The assistant manager at the place I’m staying had his motorbike helmet stolen in the two minutes it took him to dash into a store. Anyway, I ended up buying Thong a new bike. Just thought it was the right [View Full Entry]

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I know time is starting to run out-I made a list yesterday! I am ready to come home, for sure. I miss my kids and my friends, and I need to make some money. But, it is so beautiful here, and so warm. But, it is the people I will miss the most.-some of the falang I have met, but mostly the Lao people I have come to know-both the BBM staff and those students who drop in regularly. I have started to remind people that I leave relatively soon, so if they are looking to start new projects that [View Full Entry]

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wonderful change in the weather. after a week of hot, rainy, humid weather with dull gray skies, Saturday dawned with a blue, blue sky and much cooler temperatures. During the day were are still talking hot, but hot that is bearable, actually, more than bearable, it is actually pleasant. Early mornings and evening are cool-I have not had my fan on for three days now, and actually had a blanket on my bed last night. I wore my hair down today-for the first time ever. I have three things to tell you: 1. I thought I had seen everything in [View Full Entry]

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Many have asked me what the reaction in Laos was to the Obama win. (Of course, no one asked me what the Lao reaction was to the Harper win...) I've just had a long chat with the most educated, informed and well-read of the BBM staff. He is the older chap who hopes to go University in Australia or the US. He is also the one I called Jack Sparrow, cause I could not pronounce his name. His name is Pho Nghu. And, I am pleased to report that yesterday, I said his name correctly. The first name was not the [View Full Entry]

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It’s November 5. I leave Bangkok and arrive home a month today (the international date line is a wonderous thing). Knowing that my time here more than half over is an odd feeling-I’ve started thinking of all the things I still want to do, and my mind turns sometimes to what awaits me at home. I know it will be just wonderful to see my babies and my friends again. However, the economic situation has me somewhat frightened. I’m hoping it is not as bad as it seems from out here. In the last week, I have heard that Korea [View Full Entry]

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To-day is October 28-and I left September 28, very early in the morning, with both my daughters rising (note I did not say waking) to take their old mom to the airport, and my newly licensed daughter driving them both back from the airport. I feel this is a real milestone-another month, and it will almost be time to start packing. Yesterday was a very eventful day, so I decided to tell you about it while it is still fresh and current (I was going to say current in my mind, but I am not sure sometimes, that I have much [View Full Entry]

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I left Ottawa September 28, so I have been away almost a month. Sometimes it feels like I left yesterday, and other times it feels like I have been here longer than 3+ weeks. Suppose that is always the way with new places and experiences. Internet has finally arrived at my apartment. So happy I no longer have to trek up to the cafe, with my computer and power cord. The guy who installed the wifi is a Lao, who lived in Montreal and did internet stuff there. He has come back to Laos and opened his own company-very successful, [View Full Entry]

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