the old-school guestbook archives
my amazon wish list... my favorite astrologer... my favorite artist... yerba mate revolution! erowid: a travel guide for interior journeys... no more war: MoveOn.org United for Peace and Justice True Majority seek the truth: Common Dreams Unamerican Activities The Nation people I adore, diaries I read: rev.raikes ariana cubiclegirl epiphany glitter333 laurakay wammo the music: the asylum street spankers backyard tire fire blue highway bill camplin wendy colonna freedom tribe joules graves guy forsyth band hamsa lila hanuman libby kirkpatrick leftover salmon pamela means medeski martin & wood the motet the nice outfit nickel creek open road rose polenzani railroad earth south austin jug band string cheese incident taarka tha musemeant the devil makes three tim o'brien band trolley wild sage keller williams yonder mountain string band |
beautiful lao ~ February 2, 2003 - 2:49 p.m. being back in laos is like a dream... or lao, as it's called locally. really, the full name of this country is the lao people's democratic republic, or lao PDR. lao. the weather is absolutely stunning, especially considering the single digits I left behind in milwaukee. it's like warm summer weather, without being stifling. sunshine, sunshine, sunshine... oh, how I've missed the sun. speaking of which, I broke down and signed up with aol instant messenger, because it's an easy way to chat with my friends on the other side of the planet. aol is evil, but it's widely available over here. I may sign up with yahoo, too, just to have a friendlier alternative. so anyway, if you should happen to want to chat, look me up... my AIM handle is dreamingofthesun. I am reveling in the sun I've been dreaming of. it's just so gorgeous, and green, and warm. the shy giggles of the kids who do a double-, then a triple-take at my long, red hair. the friendly "sabaidee!" called to me by storekeepers and neighbors. the good-natured haggling with tuk-tuk drivers who try to charge me four times the going rate because I'm white, and western. falang. my room is huge and lovely, a giant bed that still leaves space enough to practice yoga. big windows with screens and shutters, looking out onto the lush green backyard with its giant palms and riot of bird chatter. vientiane is a city, true, but there are small villages within the city, and mine is called nasai. small dirt alleyways, barking dogs, giggling children. a life I can easily love. I start at the school on monday, working in the kindergarten, where they need me most. noemi was showing me around on friday, and when we opened the door to the k-1, a little girl ran up and wrapped her arms around my waist. I spent yesterday wandering around and around the market, finding things I needed in bits and pieces... clothes hangers, a soft gray blanket, mosquito netting. thank god for the netting, because the house was aswarm last night, and I choose not to take the toxic malaria pills. plus it makes my bed feel like a princess bed, like the canopies I coveted as a little girl but never got. I met a sweet girl named nong (spelling approximate) at a chinese new year party on friday, and she's going to help me learn lao in exchange for help with her english. so far I can say hello, thank you, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. next I'm going to learn the words for bargaining, which you do more or less every time you buy something in this part of the world. and to take a hard conversational left... I just read about the shuttle crew, and it filled me with grief. so strange, that it happened just a few days after the anniversary of the last shuttle disaster, the one where we lost krista macauliffe. I remember this because it happened on my birthday. I'm glad that I'm far enough away that I don't have to hear bush's hollow condolences. don't ask me what makes me think of them as hollow, except that I tend to think that that man's heart must be hard and black as a stone. I suppose it's time I moved on... I'm only paying about 1 cent a minute for this, but it does add up... time to go find some good, cheap food...to head home to put my room together... to prepare for the day to come. monday, my first day of teaching. I know it'll be beautiful.
(((rings))) |