blogging is SO HARD

But seriously.

Finally got bikes today. My bike is nowhere near as sleek & pink & pretty as my baby at home (which is chillin in the garage, neglected and lonely, with its leaky tube/flat tire), but it has more durability/tread. I sacrificed aesthetics for practicality because I intend on ridinnnn out on many a rocky dirt road. Alex and I are trying to outfit our bikes with boomboxes so we can blare da gangsta beatz, NBD. (Parents: you will be pleased to know that I did not get a motorbike, which is what 95% of people drive hurr). Anyway, it'll be nice to ride the 5 km into central Vientiane without having to hail a tuk-tuk. Slowly but surely decreasing our falang status.../nope, as long as Alex carts around about 40 pounds of camera equipment everywhere we go, we'll be straight falanging. Also, the fact that we're obviously white...


Lao version of Arc D'Triomphe. Waddup, colonialism.

So, apparently "winter" (mid-70s) is still a while off, because it's been in the low-mid 90s the past couple of days and my nose is now the proud owner of a truly flattering sunburn. I PINE FOR YOU, COLD WEATHER/SNOW/UNPLEASANT SLEET-RAIN-ICE MIX (I'm talking to you, Prov). Mmmm, coated in sweat by 10 AM. It's really lovely in the evenings though. As soon as the sun goes down at 6, it cools down really fast and the nights are breezy and wonderful. Not autumnal, but as good as it's gonna get for now. Speaking of autumn, I was worried I would miss all my favourite fall customs (Halloween, hayrides, leaves changing, apple picking, etc.), and, for the most part I am...except for pumpkins. No pumpkin patches or carving, but lots and lots of delicious soup made from them. Mmmmmmm. Def makin a pumpkin pie 4 thnxgiving.



All right, the sun is going down in and lightning is flashing over Thailand (what? how weird is it to say that!) and I want to get a little nap in before we meet up with our new friend--our first friend!--later this evening. Hope everyone is doing something for Day of Action! Oh, and check out this organization; we're doing some volunteer work with them and they're super!