A few friends and I watched "The Sound of Music" on Sunday evening. Well, to be honest, I punked out after the children sang "So-long, Farewell." Everybody else finished it. Doesn't matter. The point is, I have been humming songs from the movie ever since. I decided to use it as inspiration for this post so maybe I can move on and get a new group of songs stuck. These are the things I like about living in Laos.
When a traffic accident occurs, the police use white spray paint and outline the vehicles involved. When I am driving around, I see lots of shapes on the road and try to imagine what happened. This morning I notices a HUGE rectangle (must have been a truck) in a new place. It also makes me thankful I haven't been involved.
Fresh fruit and vegetables. I was told before I arrived that there wasn't much as far as grocery stores go. It's true. There are some shops where I can find familiar foods, but it isn't the same. However, there are tons of markets. They are outdoors and I love them. I am particularly fond of my fruit stand. It is actually a shop, but I always think of it as a stand and it is about a 3 minute walk from my house. They have really delicious fruit. I have in my fridge a recently purchased pineapple that is actually good enough to write home about.
The French influence on this city. Considering this is an Asian country, I find it remarkable that it is possible to get really great pastries and desserts here-and they are affordable. This is wrecking havoc on my waistline, I need to quit thinking of those chocolate croissants as miracles. I also love that it is possible to get a great bottle of wine or some really delicious cheese and bread.
I can fill up my gas tank for about $2.50. My water bill last month was $1.50. I got a few things on my motorbike fixed on Monday and the grand total was $6.38. Tuesday morning, I had a flat tire and it was just over $.62 to patch it. Unbelievable.
The sunsets. I have seen some of the best sunsets I have ever seen in my life. They are incredible.
There isn't really an abundance of road rage here. People may pull out in front of you or cut you off, but it seems to be a fact of life and people don't get mad and try to get even. Having said that, I battle road rage almost every day. I have realized that any time a car decides to pull out in front of me and it messes up my commute, I think, "Those jerks, they decided to pull out in front of me because I am a foreigner." It is ridiculous. That isn't really the case. I am trying to relax.
Lack of horn honking. This one goes along with the previous item. Occasionally a bus will honk so people know it is coming (they aren't frequent here). I also have heard big trucks honk-as if they aren't obvious. But, I am pleasantly surprised that in this land of people constantly cutting others off, there are blaring horns all the time. I am again the exception to this rule. I honk when I am trying to cancel my turn signal. I get these buttons confused on a regular basis and it always results in two things. One, I scare myself. My horn is really loud. Two, I get a lot of stares...a LOT. It happens more than it should although it is getting a little less frequent.
My house. Compared to my last living quarters in Iraq, this place is great. I got new curtains from my landlady and a new couch and coffee table. It is very comfortable now and I like my neighborhood. I like this place.
Ok. I think that is it for now. There is a lot to like about this place. Will write more soon. M.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Fire
I have noticed that it pretty much always smells like something is burning in this country. A few nights ago, I was totally convinced that someone was standing right behind my house smoking a cigarette. I did what anyone would do, grabbed my scariest looking knife and went to investigate. Don't worry, My landlady lives behind my house on the opposite side of the fence. I could have yelled. Well, the cat who has decided to hang out in my yard hissed at me, but that was it. I guess my neighbors were burning something.
While smelling smoke is a normal occurrence and seeing smoke even less so, actually laying eyes on the flames, is almost unheard of. I don't know exactly how long ago this was, but I feel like it happened sometime in the last 2 weeks. It was nearly dark and I was out trying to finish up some errands. I wanted to stop by the DVD shop on my way home to pick up some new stuff to watch. It is on a one-way street. I turned and headed down the street. I didn't make it very far before I saw a woman running towards me. I quickly noticed that not only was she running, but she was motioning for me to turn around and yelling. I don't know for sure what she was yelling because it was all in Lao, but I imagine it went something like this, "TURN AROUND NOW. SAVE YOURSELF WHILE YOU STILL CAN. DO NOT GO ANY FARTHER ON THIS STREET. YOU WILL REGRET IT." I didn't stop and turn around so after I had passed her, she decided to throw one more yell my direction. I am relatively sure it was, "YOU CRAZY FOREIGNER. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. I TRIED TO WARN YOU." Really, I have no idea what she was yelling, but it seemed serious.
Instead of turning around, I decided to just park where I was and walk the rest of the way to the shop. There isn't a ton of excitement in this city, so it seemed foolish to just turn around and not see what all of the commotion was about. There was quite a crowd gathered outside of the DVD shop (it seemed there were many people picking up movies). They were all looking up the street at the electrical fire taking place and the attempt of a few people on a third story balcony to put it out. They were spraying it with a fire extinguisher. They would spray for a little while, stop, the flames would appear again, most of the people in the crowd watching (there was a big crowd) would scream or gasp or gasp and scream, then they would spray again. I watched this for a bit, found it to be anti-climactic and decided to go get my movies before everyone else decided to. That plan didn't work. A big family came back in and were talking about the fire and movies and trying to decide. All of a sudden, a really loud set of screams came from outside. The young boy decided to run out and take a look (I am not so dramatic as I used to be, so I stayed inside). He came back in saying that the fire was HUGE. So we all went back outside to look at it. It turned out that the HUGE fire was actually a street light that came on while we were inside the shop but was somewhat hidden because of the immense cloud of fire extinguisher smoke in the air. I went back in to finish shopping.
I made my selections and left. I decided that I would stay just a little bit longer because it was a little bit fascinating. I have no idea how many fire extinguishers they went through. Eventually, the power went out on that side of the street. Everyone was covering their noses and mouths. The fire did go out and stay out long enough for me to decide I had had enough excitement. I jumped on my motorbike and went back the way I came. I was hoping to see the yelling woman so I could give her the, "See. I made it just fine" look but I didn't. As I turned off the street, I noticed three things. First, I heard a very faint siren that could only belong to the fire engine. A little late, but they were on their way. Second, there was a remarkable fog in the street behind me from all of the extinguishing. Finally, I really need to quit breaking my cameras. Love, M.
P.S. I wanted to give this post a more creative title. I can't figure out what a fire engine sounds like written down. I even googled it and didn't get a satisfactory answer.
While smelling smoke is a normal occurrence and seeing smoke even less so, actually laying eyes on the flames, is almost unheard of. I don't know exactly how long ago this was, but I feel like it happened sometime in the last 2 weeks. It was nearly dark and I was out trying to finish up some errands. I wanted to stop by the DVD shop on my way home to pick up some new stuff to watch. It is on a one-way street. I turned and headed down the street. I didn't make it very far before I saw a woman running towards me. I quickly noticed that not only was she running, but she was motioning for me to turn around and yelling. I don't know for sure what she was yelling because it was all in Lao, but I imagine it went something like this, "TURN AROUND NOW. SAVE YOURSELF WHILE YOU STILL CAN. DO NOT GO ANY FARTHER ON THIS STREET. YOU WILL REGRET IT." I didn't stop and turn around so after I had passed her, she decided to throw one more yell my direction. I am relatively sure it was, "YOU CRAZY FOREIGNER. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. I TRIED TO WARN YOU." Really, I have no idea what she was yelling, but it seemed serious.
Instead of turning around, I decided to just park where I was and walk the rest of the way to the shop. There isn't a ton of excitement in this city, so it seemed foolish to just turn around and not see what all of the commotion was about. There was quite a crowd gathered outside of the DVD shop (it seemed there were many people picking up movies). They were all looking up the street at the electrical fire taking place and the attempt of a few people on a third story balcony to put it out. They were spraying it with a fire extinguisher. They would spray for a little while, stop, the flames would appear again, most of the people in the crowd watching (there was a big crowd) would scream or gasp or gasp and scream, then they would spray again. I watched this for a bit, found it to be anti-climactic and decided to go get my movies before everyone else decided to. That plan didn't work. A big family came back in and were talking about the fire and movies and trying to decide. All of a sudden, a really loud set of screams came from outside. The young boy decided to run out and take a look (I am not so dramatic as I used to be, so I stayed inside). He came back in saying that the fire was HUGE. So we all went back outside to look at it. It turned out that the HUGE fire was actually a street light that came on while we were inside the shop but was somewhat hidden because of the immense cloud of fire extinguisher smoke in the air. I went back in to finish shopping.
I made my selections and left. I decided that I would stay just a little bit longer because it was a little bit fascinating. I have no idea how many fire extinguishers they went through. Eventually, the power went out on that side of the street. Everyone was covering their noses and mouths. The fire did go out and stay out long enough for me to decide I had had enough excitement. I jumped on my motorbike and went back the way I came. I was hoping to see the yelling woman so I could give her the, "See. I made it just fine" look but I didn't. As I turned off the street, I noticed three things. First, I heard a very faint siren that could only belong to the fire engine. A little late, but they were on their way. Second, there was a remarkable fog in the street behind me from all of the extinguishing. Finally, I really need to quit breaking my cameras. Love, M.
P.S. I wanted to give this post a more creative title. I can't figure out what a fire engine sounds like written down. I even googled it and didn't get a satisfactory answer.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Fond Memories
For those of you who know my family and I well, you probably already know that my Grandma Arwood passed away this week. She was 87 years old. She lived a good life. Made a difference in a lot of lives. I am sorry I can't be home with my family during this time of mourning, and more importantly, this celebration of a life well-lived. Again, if you know the Arwood family at all, you probably have heard a story or two. It seems to be a family blessed with the ability to tell a good story. I know that I am missing out on a lot of good stories. I am one of many grandchildren. We are pretty spread out in our years. I know that we all had different experiences with Grandma. I guess you could call this blog entry the highlight reel of my memories of my Grandma Arwood.
Some of my earliest memories of going to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Arwood involve a telephone that I thought was much louder than necessary. And who knows, I haven't heard that phone ring for a long time, but for some reason it is super loud in my memory. I remember Grandma making sweet tea for Grandpa. We never had sweet tea at our house so it always was such a treat. I remember being afraid of the furnace in the living room because it too made loud noises. I remember spending the night with my sister, Bri and Grandma sleeping on the loveseat in the living room with us. The front door was kind of scary too. Of course, now that I am older, I know there was nothing to be afraid of, but I was just a kid. I remember Grandma and Grandpa coming to Clinton to visit us and taking us to McDonalds. Another great treat for some kids who didn't get to go very often. To this day, whenever I eat one of the plain Hamburgers or Cheeseburgers, it makes me think of them and getting McDonalds gift certificates for Christmas. I would have to say that my favorite thing about going to visit was knowing that I would get frozen grapes. In all of the times I went to visit, expected or not, I can remember ONE time going to the freezer to get some grapes and not finding any. I loved them so much I tried to freeze them at my own house and it just wasn't ever the same. My fridge here in Laos sometimes freezes fruit. This week, I have munched on frozen watermelon chunks, but last week some grapes were frozen-no kidding. I popped on in my mouth, discovered it was frozen and smiled.
Later in my life, when I was in college, Grandma came to stay at our house. It was after she fell and before her new house was finished. I happened to be living at home during that same time. My mom and I used to sing her hymns before going to bed. It was just one a night but I know a few times we forgot some of the words, but she never did. I would take her to Holy Rosary with me when I was teaching P.E. She would hang out with the Kindergarteners. Man-oh-man, they loved her. We always stopped at Caseys on the way home for a Dr. Pepper and a donut. She really liked the Pumpkin donuts.
I hope I never forget her smile. I remember one day we put a red hat that had little feathers on her head. She smiled about it, but you should have seen her face when we put in on my Uncle Jim.-she beamed. Love, Sunshine (Grandma's name for me)
Some of my earliest memories of going to visit my Grandpa and Grandma Arwood involve a telephone that I thought was much louder than necessary. And who knows, I haven't heard that phone ring for a long time, but for some reason it is super loud in my memory. I remember Grandma making sweet tea for Grandpa. We never had sweet tea at our house so it always was such a treat. I remember being afraid of the furnace in the living room because it too made loud noises. I remember spending the night with my sister, Bri and Grandma sleeping on the loveseat in the living room with us. The front door was kind of scary too. Of course, now that I am older, I know there was nothing to be afraid of, but I was just a kid. I remember Grandma and Grandpa coming to Clinton to visit us and taking us to McDonalds. Another great treat for some kids who didn't get to go very often. To this day, whenever I eat one of the plain Hamburgers or Cheeseburgers, it makes me think of them and getting McDonalds gift certificates for Christmas. I would have to say that my favorite thing about going to visit was knowing that I would get frozen grapes. In all of the times I went to visit, expected or not, I can remember ONE time going to the freezer to get some grapes and not finding any. I loved them so much I tried to freeze them at my own house and it just wasn't ever the same. My fridge here in Laos sometimes freezes fruit. This week, I have munched on frozen watermelon chunks, but last week some grapes were frozen-no kidding. I popped on in my mouth, discovered it was frozen and smiled.
Later in my life, when I was in college, Grandma came to stay at our house. It was after she fell and before her new house was finished. I happened to be living at home during that same time. My mom and I used to sing her hymns before going to bed. It was just one a night but I know a few times we forgot some of the words, but she never did. I would take her to Holy Rosary with me when I was teaching P.E. She would hang out with the Kindergarteners. Man-oh-man, they loved her. We always stopped at Caseys on the way home for a Dr. Pepper and a donut. She really liked the Pumpkin donuts.
I hope I never forget her smile. I remember one day we put a red hat that had little feathers on her head. She smiled about it, but you should have seen her face when we put in on my Uncle Jim.-she beamed. Love, Sunshine (Grandma's name for me)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Home Sweet Home
I had a couple of friends over for dinner and borrowed a camera to take some pictures. I got a new couch today, so they aren't 100% accurate, but you will get the picture (pun intended).
That last picture of the lizard has a funny story. I have seen a bunch of lizards outside of my house and was thankful that they didn't seem to ever be in my house. Today I came home and found this guy in my dining room. I rolled my eyes, thought, "oh great" and started hatching a plan. My first thought was to put a bucket over it and scoop it up and take it outside. Well, he was quick. My second idea was to scoop him into a box (somehow this was a better plan than the bucket). Then I tried to trap him between the bucket and box. At some point I got the broom. I had accomplished all of this without screaming like a little girl and was thinking about how proud my mom would be of me for not being scared of a little lizard. I finally got him into the box, picked it up and started to the front door. I made it 3 steps before he poked his little head out of the box. At that point, I screamed. My neighbors, who were outside in their yard stopped talking and I felt ridiculous. I decided that I had tried to get the lizard out nicely for far too long. I decided to sweep him the rest of the way. It worked. I was taking the photo of him when one of my neighbors wandered over and asked me to come over for a drink. They must have thought I was a little traumatized. I politely declined. I can only imagine what they must think of me-a loud scream and then seeing me standing over this lizard with my iPad trying to take a picture...ridiculous. Love, M.
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| Outside my house. My laundry room and motorbike |
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| My living room and old couch and chairs |
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| The Kitchen...sort of. |
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| Guest Room |
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| My Room |
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| From the front door looking in. Glass door on the left is the kitchen, then my room, then guest room on the right |
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| My effort to smash the fluff out of the pillows-they are extra poofy |
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| The unwanted house guest I had to chase out. |
That last picture of the lizard has a funny story. I have seen a bunch of lizards outside of my house and was thankful that they didn't seem to ever be in my house. Today I came home and found this guy in my dining room. I rolled my eyes, thought, "oh great" and started hatching a plan. My first thought was to put a bucket over it and scoop it up and take it outside. Well, he was quick. My second idea was to scoop him into a box (somehow this was a better plan than the bucket). Then I tried to trap him between the bucket and box. At some point I got the broom. I had accomplished all of this without screaming like a little girl and was thinking about how proud my mom would be of me for not being scared of a little lizard. I finally got him into the box, picked it up and started to the front door. I made it 3 steps before he poked his little head out of the box. At that point, I screamed. My neighbors, who were outside in their yard stopped talking and I felt ridiculous. I decided that I had tried to get the lizard out nicely for far too long. I decided to sweep him the rest of the way. It worked. I was taking the photo of him when one of my neighbors wandered over and asked me to come over for a drink. They must have thought I was a little traumatized. I politely declined. I can only imagine what they must think of me-a loud scream and then seeing me standing over this lizard with my iPad trying to take a picture...ridiculous. Love, M.
Monday, October 31, 2011
I am number 4,536,956,329
The big news this week is 7 billion people alive on the planet. There has been a lot about it on CNN-which is one of 6 English channels I get, so I have heard a lot about it. However, my favorite story was one today. You can go to the following website, enter your birthday, and find out where you stand in the line-up. According to the website, I was the 4,536,956,329th person alive on Earth when I was born and the 79,177,333,121st person to have lived since history began. Pretty cool right? Find out where you stand. Lots of Love, M.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515
PS There is a margin of error. I have no idea what it is or how accurate the count is, but it is kind of fun nevertheless.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15391515
PS There is a margin of error. I have no idea what it is or how accurate the count is, but it is kind of fun nevertheless.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
What's in a Name?
Laos, Lao, Lao PDR, officially, the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Whatever you decide, I have arrived. Tomorrow will be one month since my arrival in this beautiful, land-locked country. A little bit of general information for you. Nearly 6 million people live in the country which is just a bit larger than the state of Minnesota. The average annual income is approximately 500 USD. The Mekong River, one of the longest in the world, flows for almost 1,000 miles through this country. It is a massive river. I like to go look at it when I get a chance. It seems to be moving fairly slowly, but it is enormous. There are 5 countries surrounding Laos. They are, China, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It is hot, humid and dusty. I have also heard on multiple occasions that it is only going to get hotter-hooray. After this country, I am done with hot weather. I think I might move to the North Pole. We'll see. One more fun fact, this is the most bombed country in the history of the world. I am sure there will be more on this one later.
I stayed in a guesthouse for just over a week upon my arrival. I found a house and had to wait to move because of a holiday. I was so tired of living out of a suitcase and I was starting to go a little crazy. I wanted to cook my own food, and do my own laundry. I put my first load in the washer only to find it didn't work and I ended up ruining a bunch of clothes because of a new towel I had thrown in. Oh well, that is how those things go. My house here is like a palace compared to my tiny CHU in Iraq. I have a living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. My camera got broken in Colombia, so you will have to wait for pictures. I live about 25 minutes away from the university and have purchased a motorbike for transportation. Traffic is sometimes a little bit of a challenge, but I am starting to get used to it.
I know this is a short update and I have more to write, but I wanted to give you a little bit of information. I promise I will write again soon. Love, M.
I stayed in a guesthouse for just over a week upon my arrival. I found a house and had to wait to move because of a holiday. I was so tired of living out of a suitcase and I was starting to go a little crazy. I wanted to cook my own food, and do my own laundry. I put my first load in the washer only to find it didn't work and I ended up ruining a bunch of clothes because of a new towel I had thrown in. Oh well, that is how those things go. My house here is like a palace compared to my tiny CHU in Iraq. I have a living room, dining room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. My camera got broken in Colombia, so you will have to wait for pictures. I live about 25 minutes away from the university and have purchased a motorbike for transportation. Traffic is sometimes a little bit of a challenge, but I am starting to get used to it.
I know this is a short update and I have more to write, but I wanted to give you a little bit of information. I promise I will write again soon. Love, M.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
One is the Lonliest Number...Colombia Part 2
So, after spending the weekend on Gorgona, I had mixed feelings. I was looking forward to seeing this beautiful country, but bummed that I had to do it alone. I mean it is always nice to have someone to share the experience with. When I talked to Kyle, he mentioned that he had some time off, so I said, "Please come to Colombia and hang out with me." And he did. I flew to Bogota the night before he arrived. He had enough time for a nap and a shower before we were off on another great adventure.
First stop, San Andres. It is a spectacular island in the Caribbean. They say it is in the sea of seven colors. I kept trying to remember this to tell Kyle, but couldn't, calling it the seven blue sea or something like that. It is surprisingly far away from Colombia, and felt more islandy than Colombian. Nevertheless, it was great. We stayed in a great hotel where Kyle fished from our second story balcony. He raced around the island on the worlds slowest golf cart while I tried to remember the thing about the seven colors and kept saying, "I can't believe how beautiful it is here." Kyle spent the first two days talking about catching a barracuda, and then did, from the balcony. Then decided to tell me about how barracudas attack swimmers when we were snorkeling over to pick up a fly he lost in the water below our room...ridiculous.
Parque Tayrona- When I first flew from Bogota to Cali I saw a picture of this place and put it on my list. It is a park and had a place run by the same people who do all of the parks in Colombia. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of stairs, but it was great.
The last place we went in Colombia was the region of Boyaca. We flew back to Bogota for a night before meeting Mr. Nixon, not the US President, who drove us around for the next 4 days. It was a lot of driving, but we got to see a lot and had a fun time. We got to see the Great Salt Cathedral-where I discovered the busted camera, lots of beautiful towns and churches, great flowers, and the thermal waters. Very nice.
First stop, San Andres. It is a spectacular island in the Caribbean. They say it is in the sea of seven colors. I kept trying to remember this to tell Kyle, but couldn't, calling it the seven blue sea or something like that. It is surprisingly far away from Colombia, and felt more islandy than Colombian. Nevertheless, it was great. We stayed in a great hotel where Kyle fished from our second story balcony. He raced around the island on the worlds slowest golf cart while I tried to remember the thing about the seven colors and kept saying, "I can't believe how beautiful it is here." Kyle spent the first two days talking about catching a barracuda, and then did, from the balcony. Then decided to tell me about how barracudas attack swimmers when we were snorkeling over to pick up a fly he lost in the water below our room...ridiculous.
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| Happy Reunion...at least for one of us |
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| Standing over the blow hole...which never blew |
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| Barracuda bait in the sink |
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| Sunrise over the boat wreck |
Parque Tayrona- When I first flew from Bogota to Cali I saw a picture of this place and put it on my list. It is a park and had a place run by the same people who do all of the parks in Colombia. It was absolutely beautiful. There were a lot of stairs, but it was great.
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| Ecohabs-third from left is ours |
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| Not swimming at the super deadly beach |
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| Sunrise |
The last place we went in Colombia was the region of Boyaca. We flew back to Bogota for a night before meeting Mr. Nixon, not the US President, who drove us around for the next 4 days. It was a lot of driving, but we got to see a lot and had a fun time. We got to see the Great Salt Cathedral-where I discovered the busted camera, lots of beautiful towns and churches, great flowers, and the thermal waters. Very nice.
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| In the Salt Cathedral |
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| In front of the first of many beautiful churches |
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| By one of the 5 blue pools |
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| At the lake |
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| In front of Simon Bolivar's hacienda |
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| The end of the vacation |
Well, as you can see it was a great trip. We had a lot of fun. A big thank you to everyone who helped make it so great. My next post will be all about life in Lovely Laos. Lots of Love, M.
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