L’shana Tova from Laos! As most of you spend the day
listening to the sound of the shofar, praying with your community and ending
with a delicious feast, I myself am absorbed in my own New Year, change of pace
and time of reflection.
Today Mark and I sat down to create a plan for my next six
months in Laos. While I have only
been here for 10 days, I have been able to experience cultural traditions that
many people never encounter. In
addition to the Lao immersion, I have already made some friends within the
expat community. During my time
here I will be working on several different projects: working with the Quality
of Life Association in Xieng Khuang to develop a more sustainable visitor
center and gift shop while working with the handicraft villages and quality
control trainers to do product design for marketable goods, mapping the rural
villages in Xieng Khuang to identify where potable water sources are located in
relation to areas of open defecation with the ultimate goal of teaching
villagers the health benefits of installing toilets in their communities,
searching for any grant funding available, brainstorming any additional
untapped avenues in Laos for World Education, learning Lao from my colleagues
(I had my first lesson today!), and editing reports and proposals for my Lao
colleagues. When I’m not doing any
of the above, you can find me near the closest AC unit!
The New Year has a lot in store for me. Many new adventures, interesting jobs
and run-ins with eclectic people are yet to come. In thinking about what I was going to write for a High Holy
Day reflection, I came across the Rosh Hashanah parsha. In Numbers 29, Jews are commanded to
present a burnt offering of pleasant odor. While this is not traditionally read at my own synagogue, I
thought it was funny. Not only are
the streets in Vientiane littered with street vendors selling charred meat,
fruit, vegetables (anything really), but the aroma in this city is a pleasant one. Maybe I just noticed it today (knock on
wood I’ll go outside tomorrow and step into a sewage pit), but I think it was
my Rosh Hashanah sign. Luckily
when we cooked our own meal last night (I celebrated Erev Rosh Hashanah with a
Jew who advertised the meal on Couch Surfers! We spent the whole day cooking
together at her house and then enjoyed a delicious feast with 6 of her
friends), we didn’t burn anything despite the finicky oven and spitting stove
top. In all, it was a day of sweet
aromas.
I wish everyone a happy, healthy and particularly sweet new
year!
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