When I had my cultural awareness training our facillitator said at about two months into your experience you'll bottom out... has that happened? i'm not sure, but frankly i hope so!
here are some things that have been giving me some culture shocks recently!
the money exchange: i am travelling with US travellers cheques -- to change them into USD is 2% commission, to change them into kip is 1% commission.... however if i want to get both kip and us it is 2% commission.... no they cannot do them separately, yes i am still getting kip which is at a lower commission rate but somehow that doesnt matter.... although conceptually i could convert a cheque into usd and then come back five minutes later and convert the kip -- but it defies logic, how can i participate in that???? i have to get to the spa! (hahaha -- dont worry i've only been to one!)
eating: after years of reckless abandon around the world, i finally got a stomach infection -- amazing -- 6 days of being very aware of my stomach .... where did it come from? heaven only knows! thank goodness for bringing drugs from home!
working: i am learning that i am not a patient person. this does not bode well for working in the legal sector of a communist country!!! there is a ton of pressure to get things done at year end and i'm starting to fold .... even more concerning is the fact that the other two foreign staff in the office both finish work at the end of december -- yep thats right, i'm going to be all alone in my office -- i cannot think about this!!!
strange times: friday night after work i went for drinks with janice and my boss -- when we arrived my boss said that someone had called and wanted to meet him -- so he told him where we were -- but he didnt know who he was talking to!!! about 15 minutes later this 50 year old body builder comes up to us and sits down (at this point my boss remembers him) the dude is asking us about family laws here in laos on be half of a friend... my description of him wont do him justice: he had huge earlobe streching earings in, another set of thick metal earings in his ears (though i dont know where they attached), biceps the size of my head, a bandana...etc... he proceeded to regale us with tales of working for arnie in venice beach, being a stunt man and taking viagra as part of body building experimentation (yes, you read that right) ... he proceded to tell us that viagara is more than a sex drug -- it messes with your mind and makes you drive around town constantly looking for women (at this point i was shaking from trying not to laugh) -- what on earth???
stranger times: right now vientiane is hosting the francophonie conference (did you know that canada has a francophonie minister?) ... anyway, the whole city is on lock down -- curfew is being enforced (in by 11 for locals), the curbs all along the main street were painted, the schools and businesses on the main street are closed (i actually think that all the schools maybe closed) also, the food stands along the road sides have mysteriously disappeared -- i think all of this is to create the impression of order by having everyone abandon their daily lives (and let me tell you, this place is not what i would consider particularly chaotic) --- anyway, i went out for more drinks on friday night and did not have a vehicle to get me home (was planning on taking a tuk tuk) -- however, with the current state of lock down, there are no tuk tuks on the road at night -- i live about 7 k from the city centre!!! i was with my roomate who had her bicycle, but we were essentially stranded... until, i had a brilliant idea--- to double her home on her bike!!! thats right, i put on my motor bike helmet, laura got on the panier part of her bike, held her legs in the air because there are no foot pegs on her bike and i drove us home -- -what a spectacle!!! all the lao people we passed on the way were laughing like crazy! (at least we brought joy to someone, no?)
being in the middle of nowhere: yesterday we decided to go to buddha park -- a place about an hour from town.. we hop on the city bus and because its us we get off too early at this bizzare natural history park complete with dinosaurs, caged monkeys and traditional houses selling potato chips.... after about 20 troubling minutes in this park, we try to get a ride to the park we actually wanted to see ... no problem, right? we hail a tuk tuk and negotiate a pretty fair price to go up there (or so it seemed) --- until the tuk tuk driver took us to the bridge to thailand just down the street, told us to go into another tuk tuk and then tried to get us to pay him!!! i refused, the new driver wouldnt take us and so we walked back to where we were before, found another tuk tuk and agreed to pay a ton more. But then that tuk tuk proceeded to take us back to the bridge!!! at this point we were incredulous at what was happenening... luckily the guy didnt try to drop us off there again -- instead we left the bridge area, drove to a market area and he made us get out of the tuk tuk and into another -- but without all the funny business cause that dude actually took us to where we were going -- a park of random statues of the buddha everywhere.... the life!!
ok, my computer connection now appears to be failing so i'm going to end this -- as you can see life continues to be 'interesting' here in vientiane, which i guess is a good think, no?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sunday, November 04, 2007
too lucky for my own damn good
hello hello,
so i know that it seems that i hop from one fun(ish) looking event to another (which is generally true, we do find fun ways to occupy ourselves here) ... but i've actually been spending some of my time here thinking too... i'll make it brief because the first thing you learn in grade school is that thinking is boring (which is maybe a small part of why i've never been cool)
alas... lately i have been stressing a lot about 'what i'm going to do with my life' --- the fact that i'm only here for 6 months makes it pretty hard to feel as though i live here -- instead it feels like i've had to start planning my next move since i've arrived... i've found this stressful and have spent many a time feeling (somewhat) sorry for myself.
luckily one thing you get when you go somewhere like vientiane is perspective. i am actually feeling uneasy because quite literally i think i can do anything i want (which i understand isnt entirely true) but the point is i feel as though i have too many options to choose from. frankly, i'm uneasy because i'm too lucky for my own damn good... there are so many people that i've met here who would kill to have the choice of moving anywhere, working in a field they are interested in...
case in point: we had an interesting conversation with my lao teacher during our class the other week -- she spoke of how she was robbed of opportunities to study abroad or better herself when she was young here. we werent really sure what to say to her -- because what do you say to someone who feels (probably rightly) that they were robbed of their own potential? the truth is not much... as a start, though, i think i can live my life with a greater awareness of how fortunate i am and hopefully with less whining (you guys will have to call me on that, because i do love whining)
so i think i'll leave it at that.
miss you all
c
so i know that it seems that i hop from one fun(ish) looking event to another (which is generally true, we do find fun ways to occupy ourselves here) ... but i've actually been spending some of my time here thinking too... i'll make it brief because the first thing you learn in grade school is that thinking is boring (which is maybe a small part of why i've never been cool)
alas... lately i have been stressing a lot about 'what i'm going to do with my life' --- the fact that i'm only here for 6 months makes it pretty hard to feel as though i live here -- instead it feels like i've had to start planning my next move since i've arrived... i've found this stressful and have spent many a time feeling (somewhat) sorry for myself.
luckily one thing you get when you go somewhere like vientiane is perspective. i am actually feeling uneasy because quite literally i think i can do anything i want (which i understand isnt entirely true) but the point is i feel as though i have too many options to choose from. frankly, i'm uneasy because i'm too lucky for my own damn good... there are so many people that i've met here who would kill to have the choice of moving anywhere, working in a field they are interested in...
case in point: we had an interesting conversation with my lao teacher during our class the other week -- she spoke of how she was robbed of opportunities to study abroad or better herself when she was young here. we werent really sure what to say to her -- because what do you say to someone who feels (probably rightly) that they were robbed of their own potential? the truth is not much... as a start, though, i think i can live my life with a greater awareness of how fortunate i am and hopefully with less whining (you guys will have to call me on that, because i do love whining)
so i think i'll leave it at that.
miss you all
c
Sunday, October 28, 2007
good fortune
hello hello,
so last weekend i slacked on my update -- but i wanted to save up the good stuff for an entertaining post. Unfortunately, that hasnt really resulted in me having something interesting to say but whateves, i'm going for it!
this week has actually been a pretty eventful one in vientiane -- it was the weekend of the annual buddhist holiday (of whose name i cannot remember) -- and is a pretty big thing in the city because it is the boat racing festival.... i'll give you a run down of what this means:
for the week leading up to this weekend, its been pandamonium at the river -- there were stalls hawking anything you could think of lining both sides of the streets --- it was an excellent opportunity to stock up on the homemade stuffed animals that you've always wanted or the 12 boxes of tooth paste that you've been meaning to get but keep forgetting about... my personal favourite were these tubes of sticky rice (of course) that they sold in wooden husks -- i love rice so i give them two thumbs up although they had unidentifiable white cubes in them (back to the basic philosophy: if i dont get sick, then its fine to eat -- sorry mom)... i also got a shirt with a very hip black girl on it for when i finally venture to a club here as well as another shawl (i cant help it, they are so versatile!!)
thursday night we had a 'solidarity dinner' with the students who have been doing the lawyer training course at my work.... my best guess is that the term is a throwback to the revolution or something... anyway, it was absolutely HILARIOUS... after dinner everyone started dancing -- they do this thing with their hands moving in opposite directions -- much trickier than it looks -- after each dance, the older gentlemen who were trainers of the interns would announce the 'best dancers' read: it was initiation for yours truly.... miraculously after the majority of dances (i was a hot ticket partner) i would end up the best.... my prize? having to chug beer with the other 'best dancers' on the dance floor before being able to return to my seat (and asked to dance yet again!) -- people then started singing the songs themselves, which led to increasingly agile dance moves which eventually unravelled into kareokee as every good party does! it was the type of thing that you cant fully get if you werent there (and my writing isnt helping that) but hopefully with the pictures i post youll get the idea!
friday was the actual buddhist holiday and so i got the day off (whoo hoo) -- in order to maximize this i decided to go with my roomate and my work colleague to the temple to give alms to the monks --- at 6:45 in the morning!! so here we were, in our ghetto sins, three foreigners not knowing whats up, giving apples and oranges to the monks -- luckily there were bowls out --- because having to both kneel and try no to touch the monk when giving him an apple would have likely ended a religious faux pas .... the way it was we were still pretty ridiculous, but the locals here dont seem to care what the crazy falang are doing, so you never feel too awkward!!
friday night i hit the streets in the evening to witness the extravaganzaa --- people lit boats made out of flowers and banana leaves (and the next day i found out also styrofoam, because the refuse was floating down the river) and then sent them down the river -- it was really nice to look at and we took one down but the next day we all felt a little bad because essentially everyone just dumped pretty trash into the river... well essentially people just dumped trash everywhere, to be honest!!!! the crowds were huge, big stages with performers were everywhere and there was even a ferris wheel --- which i was trying to get to to test whether the merit making in the morning would actually pay off and i would survive the ride -- unfortunately the crowd was surging and threatening to strangle me so i opted out of testing the benefits of piety....
saturday i went to the actual boat races --- people ride long wooden boats - in teams of men and women from villages across the country --- its amazing how fast they go down the river -- everyone lines the river and sings and cheers and the races last all day!!! some villages are nice enough to let forigners row with them -- so i got to see a number of my friends actually participate in the race -- its pretty cool, people train for the races for a long time ... it was also freakin hot and after being there for 4 hours i was ready to get myself to a resto!!!
and now its sunday and i'm going to spend the day by a pool with a book, hows that for rubbing in the tropical lifestyle?
i'll write something of substance next time, maybe -- but do check out my pics on facebook if you can -- we're getting the internet at home soon so maybe i'll upgrade to flickr -- will keep you posted!
so last weekend i slacked on my update -- but i wanted to save up the good stuff for an entertaining post. Unfortunately, that hasnt really resulted in me having something interesting to say but whateves, i'm going for it!
this week has actually been a pretty eventful one in vientiane -- it was the weekend of the annual buddhist holiday (of whose name i cannot remember) -- and is a pretty big thing in the city because it is the boat racing festival.... i'll give you a run down of what this means:
for the week leading up to this weekend, its been pandamonium at the river -- there were stalls hawking anything you could think of lining both sides of the streets --- it was an excellent opportunity to stock up on the homemade stuffed animals that you've always wanted or the 12 boxes of tooth paste that you've been meaning to get but keep forgetting about... my personal favourite were these tubes of sticky rice (of course) that they sold in wooden husks -- i love rice so i give them two thumbs up although they had unidentifiable white cubes in them (back to the basic philosophy: if i dont get sick, then its fine to eat -- sorry mom)... i also got a shirt with a very hip black girl on it for when i finally venture to a club here as well as another shawl (i cant help it, they are so versatile!!)
thursday night we had a 'solidarity dinner' with the students who have been doing the lawyer training course at my work.... my best guess is that the term is a throwback to the revolution or something... anyway, it was absolutely HILARIOUS... after dinner everyone started dancing -- they do this thing with their hands moving in opposite directions -- much trickier than it looks -- after each dance, the older gentlemen who were trainers of the interns would announce the 'best dancers' read: it was initiation for yours truly.... miraculously after the majority of dances (i was a hot ticket partner) i would end up the best.... my prize? having to chug beer with the other 'best dancers' on the dance floor before being able to return to my seat (and asked to dance yet again!) -- people then started singing the songs themselves, which led to increasingly agile dance moves which eventually unravelled into kareokee as every good party does! it was the type of thing that you cant fully get if you werent there (and my writing isnt helping that) but hopefully with the pictures i post youll get the idea!
friday was the actual buddhist holiday and so i got the day off (whoo hoo) -- in order to maximize this i decided to go with my roomate and my work colleague to the temple to give alms to the monks --- at 6:45 in the morning!! so here we were, in our ghetto sins, three foreigners not knowing whats up, giving apples and oranges to the monks -- luckily there were bowls out --- because having to both kneel and try no to touch the monk when giving him an apple would have likely ended a religious faux pas .... the way it was we were still pretty ridiculous, but the locals here dont seem to care what the crazy falang are doing, so you never feel too awkward!!
friday night i hit the streets in the evening to witness the extravaganzaa --- people lit boats made out of flowers and banana leaves (and the next day i found out also styrofoam, because the refuse was floating down the river) and then sent them down the river -- it was really nice to look at and we took one down but the next day we all felt a little bad because essentially everyone just dumped pretty trash into the river... well essentially people just dumped trash everywhere, to be honest!!!! the crowds were huge, big stages with performers were everywhere and there was even a ferris wheel --- which i was trying to get to to test whether the merit making in the morning would actually pay off and i would survive the ride -- unfortunately the crowd was surging and threatening to strangle me so i opted out of testing the benefits of piety....
saturday i went to the actual boat races --- people ride long wooden boats - in teams of men and women from villages across the country --- its amazing how fast they go down the river -- everyone lines the river and sings and cheers and the races last all day!!! some villages are nice enough to let forigners row with them -- so i got to see a number of my friends actually participate in the race -- its pretty cool, people train for the races for a long time ... it was also freakin hot and after being there for 4 hours i was ready to get myself to a resto!!!
and now its sunday and i'm going to spend the day by a pool with a book, hows that for rubbing in the tropical lifestyle?
i'll write something of substance next time, maybe -- but do check out my pics on facebook if you can -- we're getting the internet at home soon so maybe i'll upgrade to flickr -- will keep you posted!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
death trances and internal propaganda departments
hola!
hope everything is well with you :)
over here things are as usual --- everyday bringing something both expected and unexpected.... i've started to settle into a more regular pattern over here which includes 4 days of language classes a week (I know, what on earth was I thinking???) Laura (my roomie) and I take private Lao lessons at our place twice a week and i also take a french conversation class at the french cultural centre twice a week for two hours at a time... the students are way better than me so i'm learning a lot, but it is kind of brutal to always have a lesson to go to!! also, who knows how effective it is to learn two languages at once, but whateves, dont tell me about it....
tired of my inadequate wordrobe (a result of my poor planning) i went out and bought material for no less than 4 sins yesterday (a little much, i know) i also bought a belt to wear with mine -- which seems to be popluar among 20 something women --so i figure i may as well just go all the way -- i'll post some pictures of my amazing style (i also bought three shirts of unidentifiable material to match with my new skirts) once i get my sins made! (i know, so hard to wait)
i also had the pleasure of going to vientianes only late night spot this weekend -- its this huge hotel on the river called 'donechanh palace' -- its a tacky disaster and i'm sure is barely used given its exhorbitant prices...but its the only place you can go out after 11 here (yes you read that correctly)... theres a dance club (which i thought looked hilarious but no one else was feeling) and then there are private kareokee rooms where you have to get bottle service in order to use them -- we did that and it ended up costing like 70 usd!!! (insane because a bottle of booze is probably at most 20 usd!) alas, we did have the priviledge of partying it up
'high so' style until 2:30 -- who can put a price tag on that??
saturday i had my first motor bike lesson --- it was a little tricky but not so bad! i'm not fully decided about whether i'll get one -- but i figure learning at least gives me the option... giving me some pause is the motto i saw painted on the back of a truck this week 'death trance' ... that pretty much sums up the roads here, people are driving in a death trance -- stop paying attention for a minute and someone is definately driving towards you on the wrong side of the road....
saturday i also went to a temple near my house where i had a herbal sauna and an hour massage for about 4 dollars.... while i was there i couldnt help reflecting about how i couldnt live like this in most places in the world and how ridiculous that this is the life i'm leading as a volunteer... i can see why people stay here long after their initial contracts end (dont worry, i dont think i'm on that boat yet, massages or not!)
i'll save work talk for another posting but i'll share one funny thing: we are setting up public legal education campaigns and one of the companies bidding on a contract to produce a tv show for us submitted a letter addressed to the 'internal propaganda department'--- how hilarious is that??? ok, maybe you had to be there, but i thought it was hilarious... we're considered the propaganda department???
ah, laos!
sorry this wasnt such an entertaining post -- i'll try to have pictures and some funniness next time! next weekend is the boat racing festival (i think) so that should definately make for some good pictures, at a minimum!
phop kan mei!
(goodbye)
hope everything is well with you :)
over here things are as usual --- everyday bringing something both expected and unexpected.... i've started to settle into a more regular pattern over here which includes 4 days of language classes a week (I know, what on earth was I thinking???) Laura (my roomie) and I take private Lao lessons at our place twice a week and i also take a french conversation class at the french cultural centre twice a week for two hours at a time... the students are way better than me so i'm learning a lot, but it is kind of brutal to always have a lesson to go to!! also, who knows how effective it is to learn two languages at once, but whateves, dont tell me about it....
tired of my inadequate wordrobe (a result of my poor planning) i went out and bought material for no less than 4 sins yesterday (a little much, i know) i also bought a belt to wear with mine -- which seems to be popluar among 20 something women --so i figure i may as well just go all the way -- i'll post some pictures of my amazing style (i also bought three shirts of unidentifiable material to match with my new skirts) once i get my sins made! (i know, so hard to wait)
i also had the pleasure of going to vientianes only late night spot this weekend -- its this huge hotel on the river called 'donechanh palace' -- its a tacky disaster and i'm sure is barely used given its exhorbitant prices...but its the only place you can go out after 11 here (yes you read that correctly)... theres a dance club (which i thought looked hilarious but no one else was feeling) and then there are private kareokee rooms where you have to get bottle service in order to use them -- we did that and it ended up costing like 70 usd!!! (insane because a bottle of booze is probably at most 20 usd!) alas, we did have the priviledge of partying it up
'high so' style until 2:30 -- who can put a price tag on that??
saturday i had my first motor bike lesson --- it was a little tricky but not so bad! i'm not fully decided about whether i'll get one -- but i figure learning at least gives me the option... giving me some pause is the motto i saw painted on the back of a truck this week 'death trance' ... that pretty much sums up the roads here, people are driving in a death trance -- stop paying attention for a minute and someone is definately driving towards you on the wrong side of the road....
saturday i also went to a temple near my house where i had a herbal sauna and an hour massage for about 4 dollars.... while i was there i couldnt help reflecting about how i couldnt live like this in most places in the world and how ridiculous that this is the life i'm leading as a volunteer... i can see why people stay here long after their initial contracts end (dont worry, i dont think i'm on that boat yet, massages or not!)
i'll save work talk for another posting but i'll share one funny thing: we are setting up public legal education campaigns and one of the companies bidding on a contract to produce a tv show for us submitted a letter addressed to the 'internal propaganda department'--- how hilarious is that??? ok, maybe you had to be there, but i thought it was hilarious... we're considered the propaganda department???
ah, laos!
sorry this wasnt such an entertaining post -- i'll try to have pictures and some funniness next time! next weekend is the boat racing festival (i think) so that should definately make for some good pictures, at a minimum!
phop kan mei!
(goodbye)
Saturday, October 06, 2007
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
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
Sunday, September 30, 2007
laying low in laos
I'm trying blogger out again despite all the frusturations from the last time (so lets cross our fingers that this actually posts!!!)
I've been in Vientiane, Laos for three weeks now -- it hardly feels like its been that long -- probably since sooo much is has happened! in the last three weeks i've:
1. lost and received my luggage
2. met a million people from australia
3. found a roomate (coincidentally another canadian on a cida internship)
4. after much aggravation found a house
5. moved into the house
6. searched for and purchased a bike
7. worked full time (still trying to figure out exactly what that entails)
8. eaten at probably a third of all the restaurants in this city
9. developed an addiction to chocolate croissants and
10. made approximately 4 friends (thats right, amazing, eh?)
so you can see why its taken so much time to get on this new project --- although also compounding it is that while there is plenty of email access there actually arent many computers that arent programmed in the lao/thai/chineese script so i cant read what the f is happening on screens that i am not familiar with... in the true spirit of how cheap this city is, i have treated myself to a 2 usd sunday breakfast which includes an hour of 'free' internet -- pretty sweet, eh? so i'm overcoming my constant fear of getting jacked in this country and have brought my computer out of its hiding place and to this restaurant.
because all of you who might read this have lives and jobs, i'll be brief since i dont actually have very much to convey... here are some of my first impressions of my new home
1. i think that every international ngo is stationed in vientiane -- there are a million expats and yesterday i was able to find pepperidge farms milano cookies to accompany my evening dvd session (pretty unbelievable, eh?) so in short i brought way too much stuff with me in anticipation that there would be nothing here (but am extra happy that i brought ziplock bags (ants in the kitchen) and drugs (i have yet to see a pharmacy)
2. life here is pretty damn cheap -- in south east asia fashion, beer is cheaper than water or milk -- so you can have a full meal and a 750 ml beer quite easily for under 3 dollars (this doesnt exactly make one want to cook) the only problem with this is that the lao staple is sticky rice which as far as i can tell can do nothing for your health... luckily you can get just about any food in a restaurant here (save sushi, but i think thats a pretty good thing) ... so far i've had some great indian and thai food not to mention there are some shi shi french restuarants (read 10 for a meal) that i'd like to eventually check
3. life here is pretty damn hard if you dont speak lao and you move out of the tourist area --- most people dont speak english... this resulted in me ordering fried rice for lunch several times last week when left to my own devices for lunch (its ht only thing i knew how to say) --- luckily i'm starting language lessons tomorrow and i also found a place near work where there is a menu in english (fantastic)
4. the roads are fn crazy --- there are a lot of one ways which cause people to drive down them the wrong way.... most people ride motorbikes but there has been a recent influx in a lot of cars and so its super dangerous -- roads that arent wide enough, cars and bikes jockeying for positions.... in addition there is tons of drunk driving (ridic) ... i've elected for the time being to ride a bike which i bought from a french dude because most bikes here dont even have gears, which is ridiculous...i figure its pretty good exercise to bike around and maybe i'll get a motorbike in a bit (sorry loretta)
5. security is questionable -- there are a lot of australians here on internships -- they get a lot of training and orientation and therefore have a lot of security concerns that no one had advised me about ... so now i live in fear of getting jacked as well as pushed off my bike for 10 dollars.... dont worry i dont think it happens to frequently, but still....i spend a lot of time thinking about security.... people say we should get a guard.. if you have facebook check the pic there (i'll try and figure out how to get my flickr working again soon) we have this shady room for him to stay in (what kind of guarding will he do while asleep?) we dont want to spend our nights with some weird dude around so we've decided on a 'maiban' (read maid) who will hang at our place 3 days a week while we're at work -- lets hope that does the trick....
6. work is inexplicable -- id say that my job might be 'co-ordinator'/proposal making assister/ not sure..... its kind of hard to understand what is expected of me right now so that is a little frusturating... coupled with the language adjustment -- most dont speak english (including in my office) so a lot of meetings and trainings that we are supposed to have input into or help with are conducted in lao -- which creates an interesting dynamic (read confusing)... but the people are really nice -- they helped me get a phone, get my sins (traditional skirts), find a house....etc etc... one even took me around yesterday for a tour of the city (again see facebook, sorry) -- so thats definately a redeeming thing
ok, well thats all for now just in case all this work was for nothing and blogger is as shitty as it used to be! (ok maybe i've jinxed it!!)
hope you have a chance to check my pictures and i'd love to hear whats going on on the other side of the pacific!
miss you all quite a lot!
c
I've been in Vientiane, Laos for three weeks now -- it hardly feels like its been that long -- probably since sooo much is has happened! in the last three weeks i've:
1. lost and received my luggage
2. met a million people from australia
3. found a roomate (coincidentally another canadian on a cida internship)
4. after much aggravation found a house
5. moved into the house
6. searched for and purchased a bike
7. worked full time (still trying to figure out exactly what that entails)
8. eaten at probably a third of all the restaurants in this city
9. developed an addiction to chocolate croissants and
10. made approximately 4 friends (thats right, amazing, eh?)
so you can see why its taken so much time to get on this new project --- although also compounding it is that while there is plenty of email access there actually arent many computers that arent programmed in the lao/thai/chineese script so i cant read what the f is happening on screens that i am not familiar with... in the true spirit of how cheap this city is, i have treated myself to a 2 usd sunday breakfast which includes an hour of 'free' internet -- pretty sweet, eh? so i'm overcoming my constant fear of getting jacked in this country and have brought my computer out of its hiding place and to this restaurant.
because all of you who might read this have lives and jobs, i'll be brief since i dont actually have very much to convey... here are some of my first impressions of my new home
1. i think that every international ngo is stationed in vientiane -- there are a million expats and yesterday i was able to find pepperidge farms milano cookies to accompany my evening dvd session (pretty unbelievable, eh?) so in short i brought way too much stuff with me in anticipation that there would be nothing here (but am extra happy that i brought ziplock bags (ants in the kitchen) and drugs (i have yet to see a pharmacy)
2. life here is pretty damn cheap -- in south east asia fashion, beer is cheaper than water or milk -- so you can have a full meal and a 750 ml beer quite easily for under 3 dollars (this doesnt exactly make one want to cook) the only problem with this is that the lao staple is sticky rice which as far as i can tell can do nothing for your health... luckily you can get just about any food in a restaurant here (save sushi, but i think thats a pretty good thing) ... so far i've had some great indian and thai food not to mention there are some shi shi french restuarants (read 10 for a meal) that i'd like to eventually check
3. life here is pretty damn hard if you dont speak lao and you move out of the tourist area --- most people dont speak english... this resulted in me ordering fried rice for lunch several times last week when left to my own devices for lunch (its ht only thing i knew how to say) --- luckily i'm starting language lessons tomorrow and i also found a place near work where there is a menu in english (fantastic)
4. the roads are fn crazy --- there are a lot of one ways which cause people to drive down them the wrong way.... most people ride motorbikes but there has been a recent influx in a lot of cars and so its super dangerous -- roads that arent wide enough, cars and bikes jockeying for positions.... in addition there is tons of drunk driving (ridic) ... i've elected for the time being to ride a bike which i bought from a french dude because most bikes here dont even have gears, which is ridiculous...i figure its pretty good exercise to bike around and maybe i'll get a motorbike in a bit (sorry loretta)
5. security is questionable -- there are a lot of australians here on internships -- they get a lot of training and orientation and therefore have a lot of security concerns that no one had advised me about ... so now i live in fear of getting jacked as well as pushed off my bike for 10 dollars.... dont worry i dont think it happens to frequently, but still....i spend a lot of time thinking about security.... people say we should get a guard.. if you have facebook check the pic there (i'll try and figure out how to get my flickr working again soon) we have this shady room for him to stay in (what kind of guarding will he do while asleep?) we dont want to spend our nights with some weird dude around so we've decided on a 'maiban' (read maid) who will hang at our place 3 days a week while we're at work -- lets hope that does the trick....
6. work is inexplicable -- id say that my job might be 'co-ordinator'/proposal making assister/ not sure..... its kind of hard to understand what is expected of me right now so that is a little frusturating... coupled with the language adjustment -- most dont speak english (including in my office) so a lot of meetings and trainings that we are supposed to have input into or help with are conducted in lao -- which creates an interesting dynamic (read confusing)... but the people are really nice -- they helped me get a phone, get my sins (traditional skirts), find a house....etc etc... one even took me around yesterday for a tour of the city (again see facebook, sorry) -- so thats definately a redeeming thing
ok, well thats all for now just in case all this work was for nothing and blogger is as shitty as it used to be! (ok maybe i've jinxed it!!)
hope you have a chance to check my pictures and i'd love to hear whats going on on the other side of the pacific!
miss you all quite a lot!
c
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