on being falang

first, for those of you who havent had the pleasure of south east asia, 'falang' is the term used for westerner (or maybe just foreigner, or maybe white, although i'm defnately one.... sorry to add confusion!) in thailand, laos and maybe some other places...

let me start this post with a fitting example of what i was planning to describe: right now i am sitting at a cafe, using my laptop and watching as vientiane floats past me... thats right, floats past --- we've been getting the tail end of some nasty tropical storm for what seems like forever but might actually just be the last 4 days or so.... today i went out to run some errands (most of which i didnt accomplish because everything was closed) and thought i'd defy nature by not bringing my raincoat -- big mistake... i am now a hostage at this cafe (capital sigh) --- and soon, to the delight of the locals, i will venture outside and ride home in the rain, a soaking wet eyesore falang....

when you are a foreigner here, I would say that you are a form of amusment for the locals -- here are some examples:

1. most people ride little girl bikes with baskets and no gears... there are two falang bike shops in the city where you can get a mountain bike with gears -- this in itself draws looks -- i've been told its 'hi so' (high society!!!)

2. we live in gated homes... which i suppose is not the unusual part -- the size of our homes is! i'd say that our place is about 1400 square feet for the two of us -- which is small in comparison to the homes on our street --- believe it or not, vientiane is considered a hardship posting for the UN... meanwhile the lao homes ive seen are substantially more modest...maybe thats why the teenagers are trying to jack us...

3. on a day like today you can see most local people wearing these body length light plastic raincoats (which actually makes a lot of sense) ... you will see poor falangs like me in our sports store gear, getting our asses soaked

4. there are lao prices and falang prices for absolutely everything -- even the airline has a foreigner rate!!

5. there is no such thing as yes or no, essentially only 'maybe' --- i have found this is an excellent way to divert giving any sort of answer and will probably bring this handy trick home with me.... (that being said, when you want an answer, its enough to make you want to beat your head against the wall -- old falang habits die hard)

6. lao is a tricky language... perhaps because someone was bored or in order to confound outsiders, there are many words that mean multiple things and are differentiated by tones that i often cant hear, let alone pronounce
for example:
moo = friend if pronouned up or pork if pronounced down
coy = me if pronounced down, mens genitalia if pronounced up
kai = firstly 'K' is pronounced "G" and there are like seven things associated with this word, only one of which i know (chicken)

ok, i'll stop with the examples and say something a little more serious.

this week i learned some troubling things about the law here:

1. children can be detained indefinately, without trial
2. children are detained with people of all ages
3. there is no common birth registry system which leads to a number of potential problems

This is one of the hardest things about the work I do right now. There seem to be so many huge problems that need to be 'solved'. However, I also understand that so many people have come before me, have thought about these issues, and yet they remain. Its very difficult to envision what I have to contribute to the field of development. Its also hard to imagine how things can be changed. It makes me really admire the people that you read about who see things like this and who resolve not to stop until a change is made. I think that it takes a lot of fortitude to adopt that kind of attitude against the odds. We were forewarned that we were not going to another country to make some big change and i had prepared myself for that -- but what i wasnt prepared for is the possiblity that my presence might not evoke any change at all -- and i still am trying to reconcile that with the hope that i still hold that protection for the most vulnerable people that we share this world with is an attainable goal...

and with that, i'd better get out of here -- the rain has subsided a bit and maybe i'll make the 15 minute ride without being knocked off my bike by the torrential showers!

hope you're all well.

happy thanksgiving!

c