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!