Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 02, 2009
Vientiane, Lao PDR
I am in a coffee shop near the Mekong, using a crazy keyboard so forgive the non-conjuctions and missing apostrophes, sipping Lao coffee and enjoying the peace and quiet. Lao PDR is amazing. I can-t believe how mellow this country is. Lao people are absolutely wonderful. Kind. Polite. Helpful. It-s truly a pleasure to travel here. (Though to be fair, this probably isn-t the ideal destination for people who love hot water showers, air conditioning, or knowledge of what-s in their food.) Vientiane has strong roots pre-French colonialism. However, the architecture, cuisine, and city structure all serve as constant reminders of the extent of France-s influence. Though French is spoken by the older population, almost everyone in the hospitality industry speaks a tiny bit of English. I wonder what it would be like to teach English here... Lao itself is incredibly hard to decipher (at least for me). I-ve learned how to say "Hello," and "Thank you," and combined with my expert body language I-ve gotten far.
There are dogs and cats everywhere. None of them bark or hiss. Laos is a Buddhist country, and I wonder whether the animals are considered city-wide pets, as in everyone-s communal pets, or they-re tame because no one is mean to them. I-ve pet many and haven-t required a rabies shot yet. Yes, they-re a bit dirty. Yes, I still do it.
The traffic here makes me never want to go back to Korea or the U.S. for that matter. The best word to describe it is mellow. (I know I already used that word. I can-t think of a better one!) While riding my bike down the country-s most important street connecting the president-s palace to the Lao Independence Monument (think Arc de Triomphe) not a single car honked for me to get out of their way. In fact, they simply slowed down, which is saying a lot since traffic goes pretty slow anyway, to make sure they didn-t hit me or even cause me an inconvenience. It-s like everyone-s taking care of each other on the road and that bikers matter just as much as taxis and trucks.
The food is amazing. Spicy, fresh, and diverse. There are restaurants cooking all sorts of Asian food (Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Turkish!) and some tasty bakeries offering yummy warm baguettes and such. You can find fresh fruit being sold on every street corner. I ordered a "coconut shake" at a riverside stall and was surprised with a 10-pound green coconut with a hole drilled through the top. It was incredible.
I bought 25 dollars worth of books from a literacy charity here called Big Brother Mouse. Most Lao children don-t have books and don-t read that much. The charity writes books (in Lao, but many also in English and Lao) and translates stories into Lao, then prints them. The information materials said that waiters, clerks, and other working adults love receiving books as a tip since they don-t see them that often. I never imagined growing up without books. So, Chris and I bought a set of books that we can give kids when we travel to the rural north, but selfishly I-m keeping The Monkey King. It-s too hilarious to give up.
We ate lunch at a restaurant that trains street children in employable skills and gets them off the street. It has two sister restaurants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (which I visited on my last trip) and many other locations. The organization, Friends International, is wonderfully structure and extremely successful in its mission. Not only do they train kids to be chefs, waiters, mechanics, and managers, but they offer street parents jobs creating souvenirs to prevent them from sending their children to the streets out of financial necessity. Additionally, they offer " training on various topics ranging from communication skills, drug use issues, outreach work, reintegration strategies, and other child-centered activities." I-ve seen a lot of charities, but this one in particular has passion, empathy, pragmatism, and above all a genuine interest in the kids first.
www.friends-international.org
Were you thinking of making a charitable donation any time in the future, please keep this charity in mind.
Randomly, I was sitting on a bench and a Chinese woman holding a baby sat next to me for a photo. I don-t know why. I think she just wanted a photo with a Westerner. Her baby was adorable and wore shoes that squeaked at every step.
Next stop, Vang Vieng and tubing down the Mekong!
There are dogs and cats everywhere. None of them bark or hiss. Laos is a Buddhist country, and I wonder whether the animals are considered city-wide pets, as in everyone-s communal pets, or they-re tame because no one is mean to them. I-ve pet many and haven-t required a rabies shot yet. Yes, they-re a bit dirty. Yes, I still do it.
The traffic here makes me never want to go back to Korea or the U.S. for that matter. The best word to describe it is mellow. (I know I already used that word. I can-t think of a better one!) While riding my bike down the country-s most important street connecting the president-s palace to the Lao Independence Monument (think Arc de Triomphe) not a single car honked for me to get out of their way. In fact, they simply slowed down, which is saying a lot since traffic goes pretty slow anyway, to make sure they didn-t hit me or even cause me an inconvenience. It-s like everyone-s taking care of each other on the road and that bikers matter just as much as taxis and trucks.
The food is amazing. Spicy, fresh, and diverse. There are restaurants cooking all sorts of Asian food (Indian, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Turkish!) and some tasty bakeries offering yummy warm baguettes and such. You can find fresh fruit being sold on every street corner. I ordered a "coconut shake" at a riverside stall and was surprised with a 10-pound green coconut with a hole drilled through the top. It was incredible.
I bought 25 dollars worth of books from a literacy charity here called Big Brother Mouse. Most Lao children don-t have books and don-t read that much. The charity writes books (in Lao, but many also in English and Lao) and translates stories into Lao, then prints them. The information materials said that waiters, clerks, and other working adults love receiving books as a tip since they don-t see them that often. I never imagined growing up without books. So, Chris and I bought a set of books that we can give kids when we travel to the rural north, but selfishly I-m keeping The Monkey King. It-s too hilarious to give up.
We ate lunch at a restaurant that trains street children in employable skills and gets them off the street. It has two sister restaurants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (which I visited on my last trip) and many other locations. The organization, Friends International, is wonderfully structure and extremely successful in its mission. Not only do they train kids to be chefs, waiters, mechanics, and managers, but they offer street parents jobs creating souvenirs to prevent them from sending their children to the streets out of financial necessity. Additionally, they offer " training on various topics ranging from communication skills, drug use issues, outreach work, reintegration strategies, and other child-centered activities." I-ve seen a lot of charities, but this one in particular has passion, empathy, pragmatism, and above all a genuine interest in the kids first.
www.friends-international.org
Were you thinking of making a charitable donation any time in the future, please keep this charity in mind.
Randomly, I was sitting on a bench and a Chinese woman holding a baby sat next to me for a photo. I don-t know why. I think she just wanted a photo with a Westerner. Her baby was adorable and wore shoes that squeaked at every step.
Next stop, Vang Vieng and tubing down the Mekong!
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