The Lao Down (sorry, I had to)

After waking up late yesterday at 8, I was up and at it by 6 this morning. Those of you who know me (yes, the grand total of three people who actually read this) are probably scoffing in disbelief, knowing full well that "late" for me usually qualifies as in the PM. But life starts earlier here and after a couple of days, it's obvious why: IT IS SO FREAKING HOT. No wonder people get their walks and runs in at sunrise; it's BROILING by mid-morning. Low to mid-90s never felt so brutal at home, but I guess you feel the heat much more without frequent retreats into air conditioning.

And things like that are strange. I don't know if these constant revelations I'm having should be called "culture shock"--it's closer to a steady stream of realizations of all you can, and most people do, live without. Do I REALLY need water pressure, a dishwasher, eyeliner, a cell phone? Is getting incredibly sweaty walking the four kilometers home really going to kill me? What's really so bad about a gecko hanging out in my pots and pans? Maybe some things are less convenient and maybe a tad less sanitary, but it's not the end of the world. And I'm not going to turn this into a rant about environmentalism and the gross excesses of the Western world, but it makes you think about how relatively painless it would be for us all to live a little more simply--and how that money saved could be so much better employed.

Which brings me to Tu Hkawng, the intellectual also living at Jacqui and Roger's place for the next few days. Tu Hkawng is from Myanmar, staying in Vientiane until the uproar over a bombed dam simmers down. Of course, he had nothing to do with the incident but was targeted anyway because he had spoken out against dams that the Chinese are erecting. These dams are destroying entire villages and throwing numerous species into endangerment with flooding, drought, water pollution and contamination from pesticidal runoff, etc. I've been having really awesome conversations with Tu Hkawng and learning a ton about the politics and conditions of Myanmar, a place which, admittedly, I knew very little about even 48 hours ago. Dinners and even breakfasts can extend a couple of hours as we all get wrapped up in these absorbing and jarring conversations. Tu Hkawng and Jacqui are so incredibly knowledgeable because they've lived and seen all these tremendous and horrifying things. I sometimes think I am learning more at each meal here than I did in some of my semester-long courses. More and more I'm seeing how there is so much about the world that you cannot know no matter how much you read. You have to talk to people. You have to want to learn.

This was supposed to be a food/pictures post, I don't know what happened. I promise that's up next.

In the meantime (because clearly you are all sitting around idly waiting for my next entry), check out Alex's blog, Laoder Than Words. Decent name, I guess. Just kidding, his is actually much more in-depth and less tangental so get up on it.

La kawn!

sabai di!

Finally, FINALLY, we have arrived in Vientiane, the capitol of Laos/our home for the next few months. Travel was...as painless as multiple-day travel can be. My flight from Newark to Tokyo was uneventful--I watched four movies (yes, I watched Babies for the third time...) and marveled at the ability of the couple next to me to not use the bathroom once during the thirteen hour flight. I met up with my cousin at Narita and, about seven hours later, we were in our Bangkok airport hotel--where we spent a grand total of seven hours before hauling back off to the airport for our early flight. My first impression of Southeast Asia: HUMID. My hair hasn't been this curly since I was eight. It's pretty hot too--probably 90 F, but it was 90 in New Jersey when I left (thanks, global warming).

So, after gawking at the modernistic Bangkok airport for an hour or so, we flew to Laos in a tiny but festive plane and Jacqui, our wonderful host, picked us up. Her house is incredible--tons of open space and light, views of the arresting Mekong River on three sides, bamboo all over, and, most importantly, the darlingest little kitty that already I have fallen in love with (never mind the fact that it has fleas). I thought I would be pining for Snuggle Bottom but now it's like Snuggle who? Anyway, we just finished a flavorful squash soup-ish dish for lunch with some delicious almost sour juice made from a local rosella. Jacqui's housekeeper has gamely agreed to teach us how to prepare some Lao dishes while we're here, which is awesome. Also, due to the opportunity to try tons of new dishes and the general impracticality while traveling, I have decided to suspend my pescetarianism for the duration of this trip. Bring it on, edible insects.

Well, the fact that I've only gotten about 10 hours of sleep in the past 3 days is finally catching up with me. I'm off for a nap before dinnertime. Pictures coming soon!

leavin on a jet plane

I'm not exactly sure where to start with this whole blogging thing, so I guess why is as good of a place as any. I never imagined taking off time during school; I always thought I'd want to go straight through. But last spring I found myself feeling increasingly uncertain--not because I didn't love Brown but because I really had no idea what I wanted with my college experience and felt that I was wasting something precious by just going through the motions. It was a hard decision, but in the end taking a leave of absence this semester feels like the right thing for me.

I'm leaving in two days for Vientiane, Laos (via Tokyo and Bangkok--ahh, the joys of 48+ hrs of travel) where I will be living until Christmastime. I'll be working for an international convention on cluster munitions. The summit, a meeting of about 110 nations who signed a treaty banning the production and use of cluster bombs in 2008, is being held in Laos because this country has the regrettable distinction of being the most bombed in history. From 1964-1973, the United States (in violation of the Geneva Convention and without Congress approval) dropped over 78 million tons of ordnance on Laos, 30% of which failed to detonate during the war and to this day causes hundreds of deaths annually. Hopefully this meeting will be an important step in implementing change to prevent future such tragedies.

And I'm not one of those kids who's all "I'm going to save the world," so this is pretty weird for me. But I think that's what I need right now. Perhaps pouring myself into something that has nothing to do with me will somehow give me direction (and hopefully not malaria). I think it's sometimes hard to see yourself and what kind of role you play until you realize how narrow your human experience truly is. There isn't one "correct" path, but many.

...Just reread that and gagged. I swear future posts will be less "deep."

And, for some comic relief, this is my new fave accessory for the trip:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWEfmCvu8R8