Although traveling here was exhausting, sleeping was not going to happen last night. Between the gongs heralding prayer at the waht across the street to the morning cries of the neighborhood roosters, there was little quiet. I guess I'll wear ear plugs tonight.
Getting up around 6:30, I joined Mark and Nancy at the kitchen table, which for all intensive purposes serves as the wifi hub of the house. Due to the very low cost of food and despite having large kitchens, few people actually cook at home. While they caught up with emails I continued my search for an apartment. No luck so far.
Mark and I finally left the house at 7:45 to head into the office. Everyone was very friendly and I even have my own office! (Well I share it with Barbara Lewis, an American who works part time for WE). It was all set up with a stapler, pad of sticky notes and a cup of assorted pens. Needless to say I felt welcome. I met with the Lao country director who is leaving for a month in the states tomorrow and was frantically trying to figure out what Lao gifts to bring with her. After Japan I know how stressful that can be!
Insisting that I needed coffee, Mark and I walked to a nearby coffee shop that specializes in a mango sticky rice pancake. We had to try one and it was delicious! The coffee here is strong and certainly kept me up for the rest of the morning. Around 8:30, Nhang, one of the administrative assistants, and I went out to buy a sihgn, a traditional Lao skirt that I will need to wear in government situations. They expect very little from me in terms of office dress code, but when we interact with officials it is best to look the part. The company driver took us to the marketplace where we wandered to a fabric store. The selection was overwhelming but I finally settled on one pattern. I don't love the look, but I really only need one. The market was very similar to that of Mombasa and I was brought back to my mumu shopping days. Luckily it was cleaner and far less crowded though.
Getting back to the office, Mark gave me a grant proposal to edit and a couple documents to familiarize myself with. The grant, which was due this afternoon, was for the Australian embassy and was requesting funding for furthering the crafts and handiwork sales of the UXO survivor community. WE has several different programs for UXO survivor families, most of which are up country. Speaking of which, Mark, Barbara and I will be traveling up to Xieng Khoung on Monday for the week to tour the newest office and analyze the progress of the sanitation project up there. If all goes well I will be spending about half my time up there and while I like the city so far, the country will have a lot of character. Its about a ten hour drive up to the city, that is assuming the rain doesn't wash out the roads.
Lunch time is taken very seriously in the Lao workplace (as is Happy Hour, or at least in our office). In fact, the two questions almost every staff member asked me were: Are you vegetarian? and Do you drink beer? They were thrilled that I was willing to partake in their daily routine and look forward to future Beerlaos at 4:30. For lunch Mark and I walked to his favorite Nudle shop down the road. I get the feeling he is there alot! Although the noodles were great, the best part was the existence of DIET COKE!!!!!! Yes Mom, I'm already enticing you to come visit!
After lunch, I called it an afternoon and was sent back home to nap. I finally was able to fall asleep and woke up in time to grab dinner with Mark and Nancy. We went to a delicious restaurant run by a Belgian expat. He imports fresh mussels on Friday and Saturday from Thailand and they were great.
Tomorrow I am meeting some people from Couch surfing for brunch in town. I think Mark is impressed that I'm already going out with strangers, but I also don't to impose on their weekend. In the afternoon, Nancy and I are going to dragon boat racing practice. She coordinates one of the local teams and recruited me to join in. They train to compete in a big race at the end of Buddhist lent in October. It should be interesting and I hope my war canoe experience comes in handy!
Getting up around 6:30, I joined Mark and Nancy at the kitchen table, which for all intensive purposes serves as the wifi hub of the house. Due to the very low cost of food and despite having large kitchens, few people actually cook at home. While they caught up with emails I continued my search for an apartment. No luck so far.
Mark and I finally left the house at 7:45 to head into the office. Everyone was very friendly and I even have my own office! (Well I share it with Barbara Lewis, an American who works part time for WE). It was all set up with a stapler, pad of sticky notes and a cup of assorted pens. Needless to say I felt welcome. I met with the Lao country director who is leaving for a month in the states tomorrow and was frantically trying to figure out what Lao gifts to bring with her. After Japan I know how stressful that can be!
Insisting that I needed coffee, Mark and I walked to a nearby coffee shop that specializes in a mango sticky rice pancake. We had to try one and it was delicious! The coffee here is strong and certainly kept me up for the rest of the morning. Around 8:30, Nhang, one of the administrative assistants, and I went out to buy a sihgn, a traditional Lao skirt that I will need to wear in government situations. They expect very little from me in terms of office dress code, but when we interact with officials it is best to look the part. The company driver took us to the marketplace where we wandered to a fabric store. The selection was overwhelming but I finally settled on one pattern. I don't love the look, but I really only need one. The market was very similar to that of Mombasa and I was brought back to my mumu shopping days. Luckily it was cleaner and far less crowded though.
Getting back to the office, Mark gave me a grant proposal to edit and a couple documents to familiarize myself with. The grant, which was due this afternoon, was for the Australian embassy and was requesting funding for furthering the crafts and handiwork sales of the UXO survivor community. WE has several different programs for UXO survivor families, most of which are up country. Speaking of which, Mark, Barbara and I will be traveling up to Xieng Khoung on Monday for the week to tour the newest office and analyze the progress of the sanitation project up there. If all goes well I will be spending about half my time up there and while I like the city so far, the country will have a lot of character. Its about a ten hour drive up to the city, that is assuming the rain doesn't wash out the roads.
Lunch time is taken very seriously in the Lao workplace (as is Happy Hour, or at least in our office). In fact, the two questions almost every staff member asked me were: Are you vegetarian? and Do you drink beer? They were thrilled that I was willing to partake in their daily routine and look forward to future Beerlaos at 4:30. For lunch Mark and I walked to his favorite Nudle shop down the road. I get the feeling he is there alot! Although the noodles were great, the best part was the existence of DIET COKE!!!!!! Yes Mom, I'm already enticing you to come visit!
After lunch, I called it an afternoon and was sent back home to nap. I finally was able to fall asleep and woke up in time to grab dinner with Mark and Nancy. We went to a delicious restaurant run by a Belgian expat. He imports fresh mussels on Friday and Saturday from Thailand and they were great.
Tomorrow I am meeting some people from Couch surfing for brunch in town. I think Mark is impressed that I'm already going out with strangers, but I also don't to impose on their weekend. In the afternoon, Nancy and I are going to dragon boat racing practice. She coordinates one of the local teams and recruited me to join in. They train to compete in a big race at the end of Buddhist lent in October. It should be interesting and I hope my war canoe experience comes in handy!
No comments:
Post a Comment