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!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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
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