hello hello,
time has most certainly been moving quickly these days -- leaving aside the fact that i've been delinquent in maintaining this blog thus losing much of my potential readership and ensuring that i will forget many of the details of the past six months -- i am trying to make some amends
because i have fallen in love with at least one aspect of the law (the affinity for lists) this entry will be relatively concise...
today during what was potentially the best massage of my life i got to reflecting upon my time in Lao and how it has changed (and not changed me) ... to summarize:
changed:
1. danger certainly has a new meaning -- in this country i have driven a motor bike daily, jumped out of tree houses on unsupervised ziplines over the forest canopy and taken a speed boat that the rough guide considers 'life risking'
2. language -- broken english has become one of my vices (add that to shortening my words and i'm virtually incomprehensible)
3. patience- - this blog may not make it seem like it, but i'm definitely more patient than before -- case in point: when someone almost hits me on the road these days i just laugh.. no yelling, no cussing, just laughing (this might also fall under danger, come to think of it)
4. sticky rice -- i knew i loved it before i ate it, and i will miss it
5. humility -- dont get me wrong, i still think i'm right about most things -- but my job has also taught me that on a fair amount of subjects, i dont have a clue
unchanged:
1. i still cant look someone in the eye who is picking their ear with a key and also maintaining a conversation with me
2. i still cant stop laughing when they try to crack every bone in your body during massages (even during the excellent ones)
3. i love me some bread and yoghurt -- never caught on to that noodle soup all the time thing
4. my wit-- assuming you agree with me that i once possessed some, being around people from around the world who do not find me funny has not stopped the wise cracks (ps, i wouldnt say that now is the time for a crack about how people at home are also not amused -- let me have it, at least till i get back!)
On that note, I'm going to go to bed -- t-9 days left of work and counting. Rest assured that a 'serious' entry is on its way!
much love,
c
Monday, March 03, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
why sometimes i can see a tim hortons mirage in the distance...
hello and happy new year!!
I'm sorry to not have been updating this blog properly -- owing to 1 part laziness, 1 part nothing really happens out here on a regular basis and 1 part a suspicion that no one really reads this! (hahaha, that is not accusatory, i only read it because i write it)
However, some of you have taken note of this and mentioned it to me in recent months.... and finally, i have a new story to tell -- a story of working for free in a country... but being ineligible for a proper visa...
now speaking of visas... although i am working here for months the government has refused me a proper visa --- i probably have told you that i have to go to Thailand every month and get a new tourist visa to stay here -- in the interim, i'm stuck in Lao!!! in addition to being terribly annoying ... they also insist on taking a new page in my passport to put a visa on and i've had to give them all 6 of my travel photos... but i begin to digress...
which leads me to yesterday: most recently i got a courtesy visa that didnt cost the usual $42 usd ... i was told i could extend it from here in Vientiane and couldnt leave the country until i go home to Canada.... fine... then on wednesday they say, we need a picture of you (i wonder, where the f are they keeping the other 6 pictures that they already have of me???!!) ...fine, i go and get them.... then yesterday they say 'we cant extend your visa from in Vientiane' -- so that means that I have to go to the border .... as we pull up to it around 4:30 i think to myself, this might be the last time i come to this border, then i think, maybe the last time in my entire life... i ask myself -- do i feel sad? i laugh, the answer is no. i suspect keysonne (the leader of the Lao revolution) heard me from beyond his grave....
i get my passport stamped to leave the Lao -- i only have 2 pages in the book and before can say anything (assuming it would have been understood) the damn woman stamps one of them... i cross the border into Thailand and come back to Lao... i go to get a new visa and they say they cant give me one because my passport is full... i show them the blank page --- apparently its the observations page that can only be filled by my government... (who knows that???) anyway i say, but i live in Vientiane, i work there, cant you just put it over an old Lao visa then? (there are, afterall, 4 in my passport already) --- i cant exactly go to my embassy in Bangkok right now... the dude says he cant help -- i'm incensed -- it was the knobs at his border control who took the last valid page of my passport to begin with!!!
i tried calling my boss and the assistant here -- but they wouldnt answer their phones.... this was remarkable because everyone answers their cell phone in every situation here... anger = rising... i then called a friend to send me the number of our embassy.... i cant tell you i was happy just then, i cannot. finally i got ahold of our assistant who spoke to the customs dude to no avail, she managed to get ahold of my boss who spoke to him for a long time and also with our project driver (who had the misfortune of waiting for me) and finally they gave me this special insert visa and let me go -- but its only good for 30 days!!!
that means i have to try and get a Canadian passport from Bangkok in a month! here are the ways that is difficult:
1. no one here has known me for 2 years
2. no one here has that damn stamp we need to put on the back of our photos
3. i need to send my passport and drivers licence to Bangkok, so i'll have no id and i'm flying domestically twice next month!!!
4. my citizenship card is at home -- so I need someone to go to a customs office and have them fax it to Bangkok
5. it takes 3 weeks to process and by monday i'll have expended half of my week of buffer period......
to summarize:
cost to leave Lao: 4000 kip
cost of shuttle bus accross bridge: 4000 kip
cost of shuttle bus back to Lao: 20 Bhat
Lao visa: 42USD
Canadian passport: 105 USD
someone at Australian Embassy to certify my existence: 49 USD
picture of my self with stamp (if this manifests itself): 40,000 kip
express mail to thailand: 20 USD
staying in Lao 2 more months: priceless????? (i wont tell you what i think the answer to that question is)
please note: if i end up living on the bridge between Thailand and Lao like that dude in the Tom Hank's movie who had to live in an airport -- i expect that you use the above information to save me!!!
at least i cant say this week hasnt been interesting, hey?
with any luck, i'll see you guys soon!
c
I'm sorry to not have been updating this blog properly -- owing to 1 part laziness, 1 part nothing really happens out here on a regular basis and 1 part a suspicion that no one really reads this! (hahaha, that is not accusatory, i only read it because i write it)
However, some of you have taken note of this and mentioned it to me in recent months.... and finally, i have a new story to tell -- a story of working for free in a country... but being ineligible for a proper visa...
now speaking of visas... although i am working here for months the government has refused me a proper visa --- i probably have told you that i have to go to Thailand every month and get a new tourist visa to stay here -- in the interim, i'm stuck in Lao!!! in addition to being terribly annoying ... they also insist on taking a new page in my passport to put a visa on and i've had to give them all 6 of my travel photos... but i begin to digress...
which leads me to yesterday: most recently i got a courtesy visa that didnt cost the usual $42 usd ... i was told i could extend it from here in Vientiane and couldnt leave the country until i go home to Canada.... fine... then on wednesday they say, we need a picture of you (i wonder, where the f are they keeping the other 6 pictures that they already have of me???!!) ...fine, i go and get them.... then yesterday they say 'we cant extend your visa from in Vientiane' -- so that means that I have to go to the border .... as we pull up to it around 4:30 i think to myself, this might be the last time i come to this border, then i think, maybe the last time in my entire life... i ask myself -- do i feel sad? i laugh, the answer is no. i suspect keysonne (the leader of the Lao revolution) heard me from beyond his grave....
i get my passport stamped to leave the Lao -- i only have 2 pages in the book and before can say anything (assuming it would have been understood) the damn woman stamps one of them... i cross the border into Thailand and come back to Lao... i go to get a new visa and they say they cant give me one because my passport is full... i show them the blank page --- apparently its the observations page that can only be filled by my government... (who knows that???) anyway i say, but i live in Vientiane, i work there, cant you just put it over an old Lao visa then? (there are, afterall, 4 in my passport already) --- i cant exactly go to my embassy in Bangkok right now... the dude says he cant help -- i'm incensed -- it was the knobs at his border control who took the last valid page of my passport to begin with!!!
i tried calling my boss and the assistant here -- but they wouldnt answer their phones.... this was remarkable because everyone answers their cell phone in every situation here... anger = rising... i then called a friend to send me the number of our embassy.... i cant tell you i was happy just then, i cannot. finally i got ahold of our assistant who spoke to the customs dude to no avail, she managed to get ahold of my boss who spoke to him for a long time and also with our project driver (who had the misfortune of waiting for me) and finally they gave me this special insert visa and let me go -- but its only good for 30 days!!!
that means i have to try and get a Canadian passport from Bangkok in a month! here are the ways that is difficult:
1. no one here has known me for 2 years
2. no one here has that damn stamp we need to put on the back of our photos
3. i need to send my passport and drivers licence to Bangkok, so i'll have no id and i'm flying domestically twice next month!!!
4. my citizenship card is at home -- so I need someone to go to a customs office and have them fax it to Bangkok
5. it takes 3 weeks to process and by monday i'll have expended half of my week of buffer period......
to summarize:
cost to leave Lao: 4000 kip
cost of shuttle bus accross bridge: 4000 kip
cost of shuttle bus back to Lao: 20 Bhat
Lao visa: 42USD
Canadian passport: 105 USD
someone at Australian Embassy to certify my existence: 49 USD
picture of my self with stamp (if this manifests itself): 40,000 kip
express mail to thailand: 20 USD
staying in Lao 2 more months: priceless????? (i wont tell you what i think the answer to that question is)
please note: if i end up living on the bridge between Thailand and Lao like that dude in the Tom Hank's movie who had to live in an airport -- i expect that you use the above information to save me!!!
at least i cant say this week hasnt been interesting, hey?
with any luck, i'll see you guys soon!
c
Sunday, November 18, 2007
you know its hard out here for a pimp (and me too)
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?
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 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!
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