Well the last week has been one of many celebrations … Friday was International Teacher’s Day and Sunday was the Boat Racing Festival. Even though this sounds like only two days of partying you are wrong … there were four! There always seems to be a warm up day before every big event … ie classes were cancelled on Thursday so we could start partying and clean up in preparation for the actual Teacher’s Day on Friday! And Saturday was spent “warming up” for the actual Boat Racing Festival on Sunday! Then when I turned up to work today … I was asked why I was there because everyone else was home recovering! These people really know how to have a good time … and take time off from work! (Although the poor things work so many night jobs and weekend work to survive that they deserve a rest.)
On International Teacher’s Day the students all put in some money and spent the day cooking, then serving the teacher’s food and beer all afternoon and night. Lots of Lao dancing to bad music as well … but I tried to focus on my dancing style rather than the beats that accompanied it. They have a lot of partner dances and I really do feel like a complete giant next to all the men over here. If you wondered why I sent some of you so many texts on Friday it was because I was trying to stimulate my brain during a 3 hour meeting that was a review of the year that has been … in Lao. Every known and again I heard the words “falang – foreigner” or “Ajan Katie – Teacher Katie” and just looked around and smiled a bit … and then got back to trying to keep my brain alert. It’s kind of annoying being so conspicuous at these moments because there is no room for nodding off, falling asleep or looking bored!
The weekend was rather fabulous … Every town in
Laos has a boat racing festival around this time of year to celebrate the end of the rainy season. Ironically it was pouring rain all day and has been ever since! So hundreds and hundreds of people line the banks of the river to watch many crews of long boats sprint their way to the finish line. Lots of drums, cheering, dancing etc etc I tried to keep dry for about 5 minutes of it and then gave up and waded out in the water for a better view. They were singing a lot of Lao chants and kept trying to give the loudspeaker to me for some Australian ones … so I pulled as many Swimming Carnival war cries from the recesses of my memory that I could find and then just started making some up! (I’m embarrased to say that I was even singing some QUEEN at the top of my lungs as well … although keep that on the lowdown.) That’s the handy thing when the people around you can’t understand English … doesn’t matter if what you’re singing doesn’t make any sense!
Adorned with flowers from the students at International Teacher’s Day. I am with Sonemany … she is probably my best friend over here at the moment. She comes and stays about once a week and we teach each other some language. I am nearly crouching down just so we can be at the same height in this photo!
These are four of the boys that I work with … we are lunching over in the teacher accommodation at the dorms. L-R Somlath, Aeyai, Phousinh & Sinhakon. Do you like the safari suits two of them are wearing??!!! This is their official workwear.
Cheering on the banks of the Nam Tha at the Boat Racing Festival … this is me attempting to sing a Lao war cry and make a beat at the same time … a lot of coordination going on.
This is one of the winners of a heat coming in for some beverage refreshments! Apologies on my poor photography but I was scared of my camera dying in the rain!
These beautiful girls are from the Lanten tribe - one of the minority tribes in
Northern Laos. They all wear this same outfit which I think looks stunning. It’s kind of ironic though … even though Lao women always cover up their legs and shoulders, the Lanten skirt is actually quite short and sometimes even above the knee … and they are probably the least exposed to western tv and culture out of all Lao people.
Aaargh … the last month I will ever enjoy being in my 20’s has arrived! And the days are passing so quickly! Preparations are already underway for a big birthday event so any of you people who are considering a trip to the hills … book it in for the weekend of the 28 October. I am ensuring it will be an all weekend affair! For those of you who know her, my beautiful buddie Kylie aka Pazza also gets married on the 28 October so this month also signifies her last days of singledom! Such a momentous time of year.
The last week has been a time of many lessons which I will share with you …
(1) Don’t ever leave the front door open after 5.30pm at night … not even for 5 seconds … OTHERWISE … your entire house will be full of cockroaches, cicadas, crickets, mosquitos, flies, bees and a thousand other unidentifiable flying insects. I am still battling this mistake 7 days down the track!
(2) Keep your candles and matches in a safe place aka one that you WILL remember for when the electricity decides to turn off.
(3) If you invite Laos friends over for dinner ask THEM to bring the Sticky Rice … don’t think that you will be a master of it in one week when they have been cooking it for thousands of generations! (I had a couple of girls over for dinner last Thursday night and proudly served up sticky rice to them – which they eat with pretty much every meal. I thought it tasted the same as any other I have eaten and was very proud of myself … UNTIL the next day when my Director came and said to me “I heard you had Sonemany and Miaow for dinner last night”. I of course answered yes, to which he replied “They told me that your sticky rice tasted terrible and they couldn’t eat it”! I simply thought the girls were just small eaters!) Hmmm … still getting my pride back in check.
(4) If you notice the water working, stop whatever you are doing and take a shower then and there. Don’t leave it for when you feel like taking a shower because more often than not it will decide not to work. Murphy’s law …
(5) If you cook food for Laos people, make sure whatever it is has a title ie not just a thrown together combination of many ingredients (of which I specialise in!) If they haven’t eaten it before and it doesn’t taste exactly like they are used to, they will simply take it back to the kitchen, rummage through your sauces, vegies, spices etc and re cook it. Another pride killer!
(6) When riding a motorbike, ensure it is always in neutral when you start it … can be very embarrassing when you are trying to rev the engine in the morning and it is already in gear … I’ll leave that one to your imagination.
(7) When going for a run with white “falang” legs, do your best to avoid off the track roads where they are groups of men working in rice fields who have never seen a woman’s legs (let alone white ones) before! Either that or run in tracksuit pants.
(8) When riding a motorbike at nightime, keep your mouth closed to ensure you don’t swallow a selection of bug life.
(9) When asked to sing and play the keys at a Laos party, don’t try and open their minds to a selection of tasteful music … it is far more successful to put a drum beat on, select “brass” and play a horrible high pitched whiny tune … they love it! (They asked me to play an Australian disco song – of which I know none!! – so I made up some ridiculous song entitled “I want to dance” … that I just repeated over and over and then threw in a broken hearted love bridge section … and they thought it was fabulous!!) I tell you each to their own tastes eh!
(10) Don’t try and eat a fish (eyes, head, body, tail and all) just to prove that you can also eat like a Laos person … my stomach complained for a very long time afterwards!
