Luang Prabang

My first work trip is well under way. We flew out of Vientiane Sunday evening (after a 3 hour delay for our 40 min flight). Arrived late, had a quick Lao dinner and crashed for the night. I just stayed in the same guesthouse as my Lao colleagues. We all get a per diem for food and lodging. Food is 70,000 kip or just under $10 and lodging is 150,000 kip or just under $20. My colleagues choose to go the route of spending as little as possible by eating cheap cheap Lao food and staying in the cheapest hotel possible and sharing a room. So my room cost 80,000 kip or $10 and was horrible. The bathroom sink pipes weren't connected so water in the sink spilled out onto your feet, the shower had only cold water and was far from clean. Luckily I was exhausted and ignored the gapping holes in the ceiling and missing stairs in the stairwell and crashed for the night.

Today things started to look up. Work went well. I spent the day at the Luang Prabang provincial hospital and rehabilitation center. An hour and a half of that time was spent getting their new sewing machine up and running for them. I'm quite proud that I was able to successfully do it!!!! I feel like I've come along way from my days of swearing and cursing at the UC sewing machine.

In the morning we took a tour of the hospital and met with the director. Walking through the hospital, a number of people commented on how beautiful I was in my Sighn (Lao traditional skirt). My assistant, Soksai, made the point that I don't have a boyfriend. Then after pausing to consider that statement, he said "Maybe she wasn't beautiful in her country, just in ours." Uh, thanks for keeping my ego in check, Soksai. You do have to laugh at all the insults that happen due to cultural and language barriers. Keeps things interesting.

After work, I got one of the P&Os from work to help me find a better guesthouse. So now I happily have a clean, cozy room with wifi and walking distance to a coffee shop for some morning breakfast! Luang Prabang is really expensive for Lao and is also a gorgeous little town. In fact, I'm already considering when I can make the trip back for a holiday. My little guesthouse is $40 a night and on the cutest street in town.

We walked down to the infamous night market tonight and did a little shopping. I bought some beautiful silver earrings for next to nothing. I had to restrain myself from going overboard with buddha sculptures, paintings, and beautiful fabric.

We also had a fantastic buffet dinner at this makeshift alleyway buffet that rivals the SF food truck event. Lao women cook up ridiculous amounts of food and then sell plates for 10,000 kip. $1.20 for all you can fit on a plate and it happened to be some of the best Lao food I have had so far. AMAZING!!!!

Celebrating Lao Style

I attended my first ever Lao bbq yesterday. The interim directors hosted a big bash to celebrate their new status and have any excuse to party. I must admit that I don't think I'm quite cut out for Lao celebrations. Let me explain how yesterday went and you can be the judge.

I showed up around noon....apparently late since the party had started around 9 am.
Because I was late, I was given a shot of Whiskey and larger beer glass.
The Lao karaoke was in full swing when I arrived, so conversation was a struggle....even without the language barrier.
My beer glass was then filled to the brim and I was asked to cheers. Cheers in Lao happens repeatedly throughout the party and implies that you down half or all of your beer. It is seen as rude if you refuse to do this. Needless to say, I was quite rude or I would have been in the bushes vomitting in no time.
Raw beef was served up. When I questioned this, I was told that Lao over 40 years of age have poor teeth and eat raw meet due to ease of chewing. I asked about parasites and received a blank stare in return.
So I chose to wait for some cooked meat, which there luckily was.
All the while, cheersing and downing beer, while also trying to politely refuse more shots of whiskey.
I was then coaxed into Lao dancing, which involves lots of hand gestures and minimal body motion.
Luckily I avoided karaoke by claiming ignorance of the Lao language.
So by 1 pm I was pretty well smashed and dying of heat exhaustion. So, I followed my falang friend's lead and snuck out the back before anyone could notice or stop me.

I then went home and slept away the rest of my Saturday. All in all, a waste of a day.

I think I need to figure out s scheme for future events, as they are sure to happen and peer pressure in Lao is worse than highschool.

Things I am Thankful For Today

Electrified tennis racquets for killing mosquitos - definitely need to import these to the US
Hammocks
Singha soda water
Tuk tuk drivers who speak English
Sunsets over the Mekong
Aircon
The availability of tasty cheeses in the falang markets
Great new friends
A wonderful new housemate
Sinhs (the skirts I wear to work)
The endless variety of tasty cheap foods
Beerlao
Sunshine....every day
Skype - which makes the world feel so very much smaller
Lovely family and friends who write and call
Laos patience for stupid falang like myself
My kindle
Sticky rice
COPE ice cream
Sane working hours
A healing ankle
That I wake most mornings to the sound of gongs from the neighboring temple
Monks in orange robes
The Laos pace of life
Meditation
Yoga

It's the Little Things

that you forget to appreciate until they're gone. But it's also the little things that make you so very thankful and appreciative. I guess the pendulum swings both ways. Since being in a developing country has had countless moments of missing little things from home and equally as many moments of appreciating all that is here.

Most recently I took advantage of one of two Western style gyms in town. I'm not up to running yet but was able to cycle some and am well on my way to rebuilding some muscle. Even that the gym exists is pretty amazing, that it's dirt cheap ($200 a year) is an added bonus. The fact that is doesn't carry towels, water fountains or the power comes and goes are the little things that I find myself missing. That aside, the gym does has a killer view of the Mekong and most of your standard gym equipment.

Another given that I failed to truly appreciate stems partially from living in the bay area for the past years. Red wine, when served in Laos, is a complete gamble. It is likely to be iced rather than room temperature and just as likely to have come out of box (Wendy, this country really is meant for you). So rumor is that Gin & tonics are the beverage of choice, second only to beerlao of course. However, tonic is currently out of stock in Laos. Yes, you heard right. The entire country is out of tonic. Apparently, the floods in Thailand knocked out the tonic factory.

On the other hand, Vientiane does boast a Swensen's Ice Cream....originally founded in San Francisco. It's definitely not the same and doesn't rival COPE's homemade ice cream. But sometimes you just need to take what you can get. And any kind of ice cream helps when the temperatures get into the 100s.

I was invited today to attend a work party. Apparently our acting director purchased a cow, and invited everyone to partake. I'm imagining an entire cow turning over an open spit....but that probably isn't quite accurate. I'll take my camera and be sure to let you know. We will most certainly be partaking in the Laos version of bocce ball. They use metal balls but the game is universal. It makes me think of wonderful times in Pe Ell and Manson.

Well, I'm off to dinner with some girlfriends. French cuisine tonight....which surely means some tasty wine as well. So cheers!!!

Whistle While You Work

Life isn't all fun and games in Lao.....mostly, but not all. I'm also working quite a lot and thoroughly enjoying it. COPE, the organization I work for, is great and working in the NGO sector has been an eye opening experience. It's a huge change from clinical work and a welcome one, at least for now. COPE has a couple of different facets to it but primarily is an advocate and support for the Prosthetic, orthotic, physical and occupational therapy aspects of the PMRC, physical medicine and rehabilitation center. COPE runs an amazing visitors center to inform tourists about UXO (unexploded ordinances) and their affect on the Lao people. It also assists in development of clinical staff (my role here) and provides outreach to spread awareness and access to rehabilitation services.

The visitor's center has over 10,000 visitors annually and is a huge success. I've learned some amazing information from my visits there. First of all, Lao is the MOST bombed country in the world. During the "Secret War", a bomb was dropped every 19 minutes along the Ho Chi Min trail out of Vietnam and into Lao by the USA. These bombs lay dormant in Lao and are activated by heat (from cooking fires) or people trying to recover scrap metal for money or children who don't know any better. Just recently a couple of children were killed, when they had a bonfire that heated an underlying bomb which then exploded. It's crazy to think that we did this to this country and these sweet and innocent people. It's hard not to feel pangs of guilt. I have to remind myself that I am here doing all that I can to help.

I have been spending much of my time developing curriculum for the P&O staff here. We had a meeting today to discuss potential topics and needs for training. Let's just say that the list is extensive and a bit overwhelming. In addition to trainings, I'm working to source materials from the US to expand our range of orthoses we an provide. New materials mean more training as well of course.

I've also been working on outreach materials to try and educate patients on their disabilities and treatment. It's amazing how hard that is in a country without roads or education. Lots of the villages don't have schools or if they do, only until grade 2 or 3. It can be overwhelming with how much need is here.

Froggy days

Having moved into my new house last week, I haven't had Internet access except at work. Thus, my blogging has gone by the wayside. So a little recap of what I've been up to the last week or so. I had another stomach bug and finally broke down and went to the French clinic for some antibiotics. I'm now happily back to eating whole foods and venturing further than 30 feet from the bathroom. All in all, things are looking up. I started physical therapy for my ankle last week and have been doing exercises while standing in a bucket of ice for 25 minutes a day. Not exactly enjoyable but if it speeds this recovery process along, I am all for it.

I've also enjoyed a number of tasty meals. There are a couple of great French restaurants in town that I've been to now. Quite a bit of good wine as well. I had some great California Zin last night which only managed to make me a little homesick. The beer lao flows like water and I often have to turn down a lunchtime beer for fear that I will be comatose on my computer by 2pm.

Myself, Ponsivet, Kerryn and Donna at lunch. The plate in the middle is frog curry.

A couple days ago we celebrated the 20th birthday of a patient here. His name is Ponsivet or Peter Kim. On his seventeenth birthday he picked up a UXO (unexploded ordinance) and ended up loosing his eyesite and both hands. He was brought to COPE for treatment shortly after the accident and has lived at the National Rehabilitation Centre ever since. He spends most of his days hanging around the visitor's centre, chatting with visitors in English and making friends. He's an incredible person and a great reminder of how amazing the huma spirit is.

The frog "hands" were pretty creepy looking.

Someone was playing with their food.

For his birthday, a bunch of the COPE expats took him out to lunch at a neighborhood restaurant. We teased him about having lunch with four beautiful older women. We also ordered all his favorite dishes, which included frog curry. We all tried the frog at Ponsivet's request but he finished off most of it.

We then had birthday cake in the visitor's centre as well. All in all, I think Ponsivet had a wonderful birthday.

Living Laos Style

I finally got around to taking some pictures of my new casa.....I must say I think I found a pretty special spot. And we have two guest rooms for visitors :). Yes, that's an open invitation....





This is my house, view from the front gait. Note the giant wagon wheel hanging on the wall.



Sunset. This is a little hut that the monks sit in to meditate and
watch the sun go down over the Mekong. Feels a bit like my own
asian paradise.



My porch, perfect for beerlao and watching the sunset. Mosquitos can be a pain
but repellant does wonders and it's well worth it.

The Buddhist Wat next door. Yes, they do wake me every morning at 6 am
with the morning bells....and occasionally at 4 am.....but it's well worth it to
have such a beautiful temple next door and the bells are quite pretty as well.

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The stairwell....I love the wooden parts of the house. So beautiful.



My living room. I love the lamp on the right....looks like a little man.



A little R&R on the deck.

How picturesque is this? Have you bought your ticket to come visit yet?

The Mekong is such an amazing river....I love the stillness of it.

The temple next door has these great little table and chairs where you can
sit and overlook the river or watch the sunset. There are often monks sitting here
as well. They are happy to chat and practice their English.

Home sweet home

It's official, I'm no longer a vagabond. Last night I went to Basi (a Laos blessing ceremony/party) for a friend's new house.....and now my new house as well. She just moved to Laos around the same time I did and found this beautiful house a bit out of town, right on the Mekong river. Lucky for me it's four bedrooms, and she wants a housemate.

It's a really neat Laos style house with a large balcony overlooking the river and a huge downstairs guesthouse. It has a beautiful lush garden with a little outdoor patio. It's also right next to a cute little Wat, with monks and all. The only downside is a longer commute into town but some friends who live just across the road said it's easy to grab a tuktuk or even bicycle in during the cool season. I figure you only live in Laos once so why not feel like you're living in Laos. It's also nice to have so much space for guests and Zoe, my new housemate seems like a good fit as well. She is a wildlife veternarian working with the world wildlife fund.

The Basi itself was interesting. It's a blessing for goodluck and to remove any past spirits or remenants of the past. A village elder comes, does some chanting and then we all tie string around one another's wrists while offering them a blessing for the next year. All the time, everyone is drinking beerlao and snacking on tasty lao food. Our evening ended with some dancing with one of the little old Lao ladies. I was sidelined by my ankle but got some good photos at least.