and all these girls got together in various venues and places to cook up their best dishes and feed us all so happily
so the menu was … eggplant dip, rattonwood dip, green papaya salad, green bean chilli mushed up salad, freshly roasted pumpkin seeds (my contribution and the only thing i can apparently cook well!), fried kaffir lime leaves w garlic, sticky rice, steamed rice, fried rice, fried tofu, apple potato cauliflower salad. all so sooooo tasty!!!
and i feel a small victory today as many people noted to me how they had never had just a vegetarian party before, and actually just eating all fresh vegie based stuff was in fact great!!! nice!!
my greatest birthday cake stash ever!! on the left you can see the delightfully fake creamed fake chocolate fluoresescent green chinese bakery version, the middle a cake carved out of watermelon!! and the right is essentially a big pancake with some homemade uht cream variety garnished with steamed carrots and sultanas!! and the thing i love about all these cakes is they reflect what people perceive i love which is essentially quite true … big flowers on top of the choc one, my attachment to fresh fruit in the middle one, and my perceived over eating of vegies (coming from a culture of people who love meat) embraced in the steamed carrot garnishing. fab!!
i actually for the first time in the history of lnt sampled some of this fake cream stuff, and you know, it’s surprisingly just not too bad at all!! happily spooned in a number of mouthfuls!
well i am now in my usual transition koh phangan home enroute between laos and the next stop … which is melbourne for 7 weeks! have a fab opportunity working with an aus lady i met in laos actually … on various cross cultural training things, monitoring and evalution of project design type stuff, workshop preparation for various seminars w ausaid staff, abc etc etc … will be great
it will be a little bizarre being back in aus again for a permanent stint, but also totally looking forward to and intending to have daily doses of good homegrown live rock n roll, beach runs, VBs, daryl lea licorice and brushing up on my slang …
the last month in laos was spent working with akha ladies … amazing … check out www.towardsgenderparity.com (a few little layout font issues at the moment until i have better internet, but 95% ok) … or use the link on the left if you’re at all interesting in seeing, feeling, knowing more
well if you an aus person in my life … these are the movements
- arriving in melbourne 13th sept
- staying in st kilda with some lovely people (thanks rach & jess!) til 31 oct
- in g coast from 31 oct pm til 10 nov
- then laos again for a bit
so if you’re in melbourne, i’ll be seeing you soon … if elsewhere, book a wnd to melbourne!!! if gc or bne, c u in november, but definitely talk on the phone without any strange beeps fuzz or delays soon soon soon!
some pics of the last month below …
well there was a moment of being stranded during one of the recent field trips in laos due to flooding, due to muddy trails, due to car being stuck … due to a lot of things really … but these three men that i was with looked after me amazingly, and they cooked for me night and day … my fave? the bbq’d bamboo. truly amazing. and all three completely selfless. i think they were more uncomfortable than i was at the situation … most particularly with the sleeping arrangements which involved me squashed into the same room/ledge as them!
this is them preparing one of their amazing feasts from very few ingredients … but totally tasty!
… some activities with students from ban sobma, long district, luang nam tha … an akha village … but a pretty advanced near the road one
the girls helping tote the water for the family … and they did this time and time again … a lot of strength they have!
so can you see the white beads on this lovely lady? she is deputy head of the women’s union in ban donechan (sampanh district, phongsaly) … secretly i have been dying for some of these akha beads for ages, but never wanted to ask not being quite sure of the cultural, religious significance etc … but well the short story … she caught sight of mine (which are actually my beautiful girl pazza’s grandma’s) … and basically she tried them on, loved them and offered for the swap.
they’re gorgeous huh … a close relative of the akha family
and this is the normal gear … ie the housework, in the garden, every day gear … yeppppp … amazing
ban phou lou … one of the villages i stayed in … khua district, phongsaly … was a little dirty that day due to the cows becoming interested in my clothes for a morning snack, as i happily washed unknowingly post morning wakeup jog
some great little students proudly showing off a time mapping exercise during my last month in laos … the lines signify meal times … and the paper (study), leaves (playing, games, visiting friends etc), sticks (ricefield/garden work), stones (housework)
yep that’s right … a bit of a cheeky lao whiskey margarita … with our lovely waiter boy sith providing amazing service to us over in the night market … completely tasty with some cheeky bbq’d pumpkin seeds … an everyday fave!
… that’s correct … our very own beer drinking karoake bar under construction all of about 2 metres from the fishpond pad! and it’s a lot further on by now … and nearly ready to open! hmmm … great and really not at all great at the same time!
just around the corner from our place … and everywhere is like this, this time of the year … pretty nice, huh!
some of my favourite and most special lnt girls … at one of the thousand giving alms buddhist ceremonies … and yes this is how i doll myself up for work over there!! ok not quite so ladylike as these girls, but i do my best!
three girls from nam khone … fabulously confident and giggly … and these girls get to go to school
the water pipage system at ban pakha … you can see the lady at the end doing her washing, waiting ever so patiently for those drips of water to come through
