Blessed

This week though tough as also been rewarding. With holidays coming rapidly I have been thinking more and more about home. I am learning though that homesickness doesn't have to overtake my emotions and send me in a downfall. And now it might be tough but my the end of the year I will miss these people and I will miss Laos. I am learning that we go through struggles and hardships to learn. In the future I will be able to say I am strong and can go anywhere and do anything. I am continuing to learn the value of process, of letting go and having faith, respect and patience for what lies ahead. I have learned to remember that my time here is for the work of God and focus on who God wants me to become, having patience for his time and his will and what purpose I have here in Laos as well as in the future. Remembering as well to keep busy and remember that I am only here for a short time and that I should fully enjoy my time here. It is best to get involved in everything here and to say yes to everything. My work at ARDA Skills has given me a new family here in Laos and I thank God for that. Inviting me over for Thanksgiving, going to Thailand to buy new sewing machines for the sewing class I am teaching next semester, inviting me to go to waterfalls and continually asking how I am doing the staff at ARDA as been like a new home for me. 

    Working at Nita can become draining; with back to back classes and more then 500 children shouting your name and no teachers that can speak English. I struggle and with learning Lao slowly, by the time I come home I am quite drained. Don't get me wrong, I do very enjoy working at Nita and the children there and am learning very much about teaching and children. But it is nice to go to my haven at the end of the week. It has been four months that I have been in Laos and I have been blessed in many ways, to have a host family that takes care of me and helps me in many ways, to have an MCC staff that cares for me and keeps me accountable, a work place that challenges me and keeps me diligent each day, to have a haven and loving new family at ARDA Skills, to have an abundance of friends from Naxay church, to have the opportunity to come to Laos and live here, to have many friends and family supporting me back home. I truly am a blessed girl. 

Freedom!

"What do you do before you leave the house?"
"You lock the door"
A twitch in his eye, and a glaring stare.
"For what? The motorbike?" (in Lao)
" Ohhh you check to see if everything is okay."

With many laughs, tears, long days, buses, tuk-tuks and smiles I finally got my motorbike license! The long process to get my license is finally over! In Laos to get your drivers license for a foreigner you have to have your visa first. So it all started when I gave my passport over to the school I work at. For there it took about two to three weeks to process the visa. Then we took a trip to Thailand where we filled out the papers and everything needed and I am back with a one year visa! After my they sent a work permit and a stay permit in the mail. Then we practiced. Countless hours in the garage at MCC to learn how to do a figure eight and a mall circle and I practiced until I felt ready which was about a month ago. You then study the theory for the test with a booklet and schedule a test. In Laos at this time there is many different holidays and so we had to wait three weeks for the test day. But the day finally came! On Tuesday, I woke at 5:30 and got ready then at 6:15 Youa came to pick me up we drove to the test area which is a village about 45 minutes away. We arrived at 7:00. Then I was able to practice on the court before the test for a little. At 8 we then went to the room and they played some gross gory videos and some funny videos too, just to warn you to be careful on the road. After that they went over the theory and talked about the test. I was sent to a back room because my Lao reading is not very good. They then ask you a series of questions most easy but some very general and hard. After they tell you to take your picture. It is very funny because they have jackets for the men to wear so they look more formal and they direct you for the perfect stance for literally five minutes. After you finish with the first part of the test you go outside and take the driving part. I had practiced on a court that goes a certain way so when I was told to go on the court that faces the other way I got nervous. I hadn't practiced on that way and was bad at it. I failed my first try and then I tried again and failed! Normally they wouldn't let you go a third time you were just done but for some reason the instructor was really nice to me and let me go again and on the other court the one that I knew how to do. I finally then passed! After many days of the bus I have freedom! No on to the streets of Vientiane!

Teaching at Nita

It all starts at 5:30 when I wake up from the sound of my alarm and some chickens crowing too. Now if waking up at 5:30 sounds outrageous; it is. I have learned to drink coffee everyday or else I am sleeping at lunch. At 5:30 I get up and take down my mosquito net, turn off my fan and stumble in the dark to find the light. I then shower and get dressed, wearing my best a sihn and a collar shirt. I am ready by 6 and then eat breakfast. Most days I have oatmeal and we last week we bought cereal. I drink my coffee quickly and leave the house at 6:20. I walk to the bus station which is about a mile and a half away and takes ten minutes. The bus comes at different times but most times comes at 6:30. It takes about a half an hour to get to the bus station at Talaad Sao. The buses are often filled with ten or more people and sometimes you have to sit on the back ( the buses or we call them jumbos they are like trucks with a covering on top and a step on the back). These jumbos are very cheap but can be very slow to get where you want. After I arrive at Talaad Sao I look for the Thong Pong bus but sometimes I miss it or it never comes so I go by jumbo, I arrive at about 7. One jumbo driver always flags me down and I accidently told him my name which causes him to yell it loudly. It is about 10,00 for the trip which takes about a half an hour. I arrive at 7:30 and the bell rings to go to class. I teach thirteen classes over three days. Each class has 30 to 50 kids. The kids are about 10 to 14. The kids are very funny and they make me laugh. Many times I ask the kids to repeat after me and after I say okay or gang lie ( means very good or very smart) and they repeat that as well we all laugh hard. I also brought some stickers with me and it has caused many riots. I had them play BINGO with the new vocab they learned and for if they got bingo I gave them a sticker. So many kids come run up and they tend to leave the bingo boards blank and then fill in as I say new word and so I try to catch the cheaters and then we play a new game and they want more and more stickers. They shout more, more! okay?! At Nita they have not the best black boards and not the best erasers. On the boards there is parts that are chipped and they are course and rough in areas so it is hard to work with them. I have gotten use to the boards and the chalk now. The first few weeks I had chalk everywhere and my skirts were white. I don't know how the other teachers do it but they have no chalk anywhere on them. For erasers most of the time they use a cloth and dip it in water which normally sits on the floor this last week they just bought some new erasers which are more like little pillows and work much better. The students thing that if they dip the cloth in pepsi that it will make the black board blacker and easier to see, the older kids sometimes buy a big bottle and just splash it on the board. This causes the board to be sticky and hard to write on. In some of the older kids class rooms they have board that are plastic and are green which work better and are nice! But this week the older kids and younger kids switched classrooms and so the younger kids used Pepsi on the board and it causes the board to stay sticky and not work to say the least. I mostly work on the board and most of my games and things are on the board so it give many new ideas on not using the board and trying new things. I have learned that with teaching you just go with the flow and even if I make a lesson plan and all these games with the board things happen and you learn to go with it learn new ways. So far teaching has been a joy and the children are so cute and fun. I have struggled but I have also enjoyed each day.

Learning

It's been about 103 days since I have been home!
It seems crazy to have been gone for so long and I feel like my time here in Laos is going by so fast.
Some things I have learned a far:
- I have learned to love toilet paper when you have it.
- I have learned to hate chalk
-I have learn to forgive the bus system
-I have learned to drink coffee every day
-I have learned to laugh at language mistakes
-I have learned to effectively organize
-I have learned to ride a motorbike
-I have learned to use chopsticks
-I have learned to eat more spicy food
-I have learned to refrain from eating interesting things
- I have learned to have patience
- I have learned that family is important
-I have learned to appreciated the little things
- I have learned a little Lao
-I have learned to love ice cream
-I have learned to take each day teaching as a gift and a joy
-I have learned to not hesitate when killing bugs
-I have learned to just let geckos be
-I have learned to cook with a Lao stove
-I have learned to love sticky rice
- I have learned to adjust to the heat
- I have learned the different currency
-I have learned to kinda of read and write Lao writing
-I have learned to not eat padeck (fermented fish sauce)
-I have learned to appreciate all that I have in America
-I have learned how to get up early
- I have learned to enjoy Lao music
-I have learned to love HBO and CNN the only English channels
- I have learned to love Unitel Internet
- I have learned to love Skype
- I have learned to constantly make lists of things to do
- I have learned to love Lao people and their sense of humor
-I have learned that helping and loving people is most important
-I have learned to forgive myself
-I have learned to love Lao markets
-I have learned to love Lao fruit
-I have learned to love Lao children and having them not like me
- I have learned to ride side saddle on a motorbike.
I am sure there are many things I forgot but Lao so far has been a wonderful learning experience.

Laos

Here are some things you might want to know about Laos:
-Firstly most people don't even know where it is. Laos is located in South East Asia in between Vietnam and Thailand. I live in the capital Vientiane.

-Laos was a french colony and gained independence in 1953
- Laos is a communist nation despite their name Lao P.D.R (Peoples Democratic Republic)
-Laos is a Buddhist nation and only 3% of people are christian. In some places like Luang Prabuang you can be arrested for sharing the gospel
-Being Buddhist, Monks are seen everywhere. Some things I have learned about Monks: You are not suppose to look at them, you are not suppose to touch them, you aren't suppose to talk to them you can talk to them only if they talk to you. In Laos they are viewed as Gods to the people and even themselves say they are not man they are better than man. If on the bus you must sit behind them, the only jobs monks can have are a teacher, they cannot where undergarments and have hair because it is seen as putting more sin on themselves.
-For Lao people food is an important aspect of family. All meals are eaten with family and never alone. Most meals are eaten on the floor. They have small tables or they use newspaper and mats. Communal eating is what I would describe as their style of eating. Everyone sits around the food, you grab a handful of sticky rice, then rolling a small you use your index finger and you're thumb with the rice on your thumb you take a little bit of the food and eat. My favorite Lao food is fried morning glory which is eaten with sticky rice. Lao people like spicy, the most spicy thing I have had is payapa salad which you think would be a fruit salad but it is more like a salty and spicy treat. The first time I had papaya salad I cried a little. Some interesting things Lao  people like to eat: Dog, crickets, cow intestine, congealed blood ( they put in soup), baby egg, frog, grilled rat, fomented fish sauce, grilled baby bird, guinea pig, chicken heart and butt, bat and snake. Here are some pictures:

                                                         Baby egg

                                                        Grilled Rat

                                                        Grilled Bird

                                                       Snake

                                                          Grilled Frog

                                 
                                                         Dog

                                                         Cricket
-Lao language is a tonal language and uses a sanscript writing. Well learning Lao has been fun, in all reality it is hard. With 26 constants, 56 vowels and 5 tones it has been a lot to learn. I feel like I know little but I mean it's only been two months. By the end of the year I hope to be able to speak fluently but who knows. Here is my Lao name Sengmany in Lao Script: ແສງມັະນີ
-Transportation is Laos is rapidly getting better. Japan donated buses to  Laos that work very well. They are very big and green, have air condition and mostly go everywhere, they are very inexpensive most cost only 3,000 Kip which is about 30 cents. The only downside is they are sometimes unreliable. On many occasions I have waited for the bus and the bus has never come. But not to worry because Laos also had tuk-tuks they are motorcycle taxis that can take you anywhere you want! Not only tuk-tuks Laos has jumbos which are smaller buses or trucks with a oning on the back. Jumbos have routes they follow. I mostly take jumbos to school each day for they are much more reliable. In Laos motorbikes are mostly used but there are many cars as well. One day eventually I will get a motorbike license be able to ride a motorbike to school instead of going by bus.
-Beauty is of importance for Lao people. Though much differently viewed then North Americans, beauty here is the opposite from many things we call beautiful. Lao people love white skin, they use lotions and body washes that have whitener in them, but in America we love to be tan. In Laos they like hair and think arm hair is beautiful as in America we shave everything. In Laos it is okay if you don't match where as in America you are expected to match. Lao people as well like to wear socks with sandals which I don't understand in this climate why you would want to wear socks. It is best to wear the least clothing possible. Laotians like to also where dust covers because the dust here makes it hard to breathe. When we first came I asked, " Do they wear those for fashion or for dust?" So not to worry, it is for the dust. Another common fashion choice is long finger nails. They sometimes grow them all out or they have just one finger they keep long. Once on the bus a women had her index fingernail about two inches long! The most important thing of beauty in Laos is the sihn. The sihn is very tradition clothing  worn by all women. They are skirts that are tailored to you and normally go to from your waist to your mid-calf. "You are beautiful in regular skirts, but you are even more beautiful when you wear a sihn," says Patti to me one day. Women notice when you wear a sihn and they tell you. "Ngam, ngam" which means beautiful is all you hear. Lao women also are not afraid to touch. When on buses, on the walk home, at church everywhere, will pet your sihn and your arm and tell you how beautiful you are. I have collected about 7 sihn's which is very much.

 

A tradition Lao outfit. 

Hope that gives a little insight on Laos and life here!

Aajaan Sengmany

Today was the first day of school!

I got prepared last night coming up with games and getting my clothes laid out for the morning and went to bed at 9:30 which is quite early then most nights. I woke promptly at 5:45 to my alarm as well as my kitty that doesn't like sleeping ever. I took a shower. Got dressed. Had some papaya and coffee. Woke my sister up and we drove to the bus stop. I first go on a bus that goes to Talaad Sao bus station and Talaad Sao (talaad means market and sao means morning) is a large shopping mall and the nicest one in Vientiane it even has air condition and sometimes when me and Patty go we just stand in front of the vents. After I arrive at Talaad Sao I pay the bus driver 3,000 Kip, in dollars that is about 40 cents. From Talaad Sao I catch a bus to Thong Pong the village my school is in. In the morning there is a lot of traffic so I arrive at my school at about 7:50 from leaving my house at 6:30. On Monday's the children do a flag raising where they sing the Lao National anthem and the school song. School starts at 8 and my first class was at 9. Students shouted Welcome Aajaan Sengmany and then I began. (Aajaan means teacher and Sengmany is my Lao name) I had high hopes of observing the first day but we say here in Lao "baw pen nyang" which means no problem. I just jumped in. My first students we're very fun and even though I made mistakes and probably made them confused they we're ever so gracious and nice to me. Knowing a little Lao is helpful because I was able to give directions a lot more effectively. I have 13 classes total and many many students. The school has a restaurant which is very inexpensive. I had regular rice with a fried egg and some green vegetables with soy sauce. After lunch I had two more classes which we're with the older kids. They made me laugh. I had them go up to the board and draw pictures of the vocabulary and they all laughed when I asked a boy to draw a farmer and he drew a cow. In the last class of the day I asked the kids where they we're from, what was their name, which village they lived in and how old they we're. Which when I asked how old they we're it became trouble for me. For some of the students I am only one year older then them and if they were to know my age I wouldn't be respected as much and discipline would be harder. I told the students "kam lap" which means it's a secret in Lao. Then after that they just began guessing. " 100" "25" "38" "19". When they said 100 I laughed so hard, I after that just said it's a secret whenever they asked about my age. Since being in Lao I have really been enjoying meeting youth and working with adults but children are my heart and so it was so nice to start working with them. I left school at four and arrived at home at about 5:30. When I got home I cried. Not because I was sad or I had a bad day but because this was God's plan and I just felt like I was doing what I was suppose to. This summer I read this book called Kisses from Katie. A book about a girl that moves to Uganda and teaches as well as start a program called Amazima which helps students get food and be able to go to school. In the book she says "I want to at the end of each day be so tired because then I will know that I worked hard and served the Lord well." That is what I want to. I want to finish my day so tired because I served the Lord in everything I did. I want to go to sleep in bliss knowing that I am doing what I am meant to, knowing that I am following God and loving like he loved." Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid  because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” This is my favorite bible verse, Deuteronomy 31:6. Which has been a truth and each day especially today I tell my self that God goes before me, he takes care of me and uses me. It is a blessing to be given the opportunity to live for God and let him use me.  

Weekend in Parkvang

This weekend I went with the youth at Naxai church to Ban Parkvang, which is about two hours away from Vientiane. We left on Friday afternoon at about three and I got to go in the car with Yang, Youa, Tang and Mao. It of course was enjoyable spending time with these wonderful people. Eating Lao snacks and sing and going to markets the two hour drive felt like twenty minutes. We arrived at about 6:30 and started a church service at about 7. I helped make dinner which was sticky rice, bamboo with eggs, chicken soup, fried morning glory, bamboo soup, steamed bamboo and laap. We at a whole lot and even had left overs, Bee a friend from Naxai and also my teacher at language school is a very good cook and taught me how to make fried morning glory which is my favorite Lao food. The village has very strict regulations on foreigners  in their town and so we weren't able to stay at the church and had to stay at a guest house up the road. Youa, Bee, Rachel and I all slept in the same room. I was so tired that it didn't even matter where we slept which by the means of the guest house was a good thing. The other girls stayed up talking while I feel asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. In the morning the girls told me that I was the one that stayed up talking. I was angrily sleep talking all night! We woke up early in the morning and went to a market to by some things and then drove back to the church. We were split up into groups and then started the with worship and games. Green, pink, blue and yellow all competed against each other. In one game you're group was tried together and you had to walk to get bible verses in trees and so whoever got the verses the fastest won. In another game you had to blow flour to get a treasure and whoever got the treasure first won. The last game you had to pop balloons from the other teams side while protecting your own. In the end team green won! I was on green team and for the prize we got cookies and pepsi! The weekend was so great. Being able to meet many new  people and learn more Lao and get to know more of the Naxai youth made me feel like I was settling in and really fitting in, in Laos.

My new home.

Almost a month I have been in Laos and it has gone by fast!
I thought I would inform you all of where I am living here is my house:
I live in Ban Chommany Neua ( Village Chommany North)

To the right is where we wash the dishes.

This is my room and my mosquito net in the corner! 

This is my bathroom the two buckets on the side are for flushing the toilet and the shower bucket!

It has been so nice getting settled with Patti. When I heard I was living with a single women I thought she would be older and stay home but Patti is the most extroverted person I know. Almost every night we have gone out and went to birthday parties and to the MeKong night market she has been so wonderful to get to know. Things to love about Patti:
- She is so funny and can make you laugh at anything
- She dances when she hears music
- She sings when she is in the shower or driving
- She has a strong gift of prayer
- She is very giving
- She is very hospitable
- She care and worries for people
- She is a very good cook
- She follows after Jesus wholeheartedly
- She is flexible
- She is strong
I have been learning a lot from Patti and have been loving living with her and thankful for all she does. It feels like I am part of the family and gives me an incentive to learn Lao quickly so I can talk to the rest of her family because Patti speaks English very well. Many cousins and nieces are always around the house and live next store and they as well have been teaching me Lao. I hope that gives you a little insight on where I am living and my host sister as well.

   

Adventures in Thailand

Passing the Friendship Bridge to Thailand! 

Candy!

 Bueno bars are my favorite.

Banana waffles from the mall.

This isn't even all the meat ordered!

Flowers 

  On Saturday I got to visit Thailand! Last week on Thursday and Friday we had an MCC staff meeting and at the end of the meeting on Friday I was told that, " tomorrow you're going to Thailand." So the next day I woke up and went to MCC at 11 and we drove about an hour and then we were in Nongkhai! To get my business visa, you have to leave the country and then you are able to get your visa when you return. We, some co workers from Nita school, went to Tesco, a giant mall. In Tesco we went to KFC and shopped around. I got a waffle and ice coffee, some of my favorite things which was nice to have a change of foods, I had had sticky rice for many days in a row. We as well went to Makro an asian version of Costco, where I bought some American food to make for Patti, I made pasta with alfredo sauce a feet in many ways but a wonderful learning experience and on Wednesday morning I made pancakes. I also found Koala Marsh  in Makro which is what my mom always bought at home and was nice way to be reminded of home. One of the co workers was the cook for Nita school so at Makro we bought a lot of meat for the school lunches. We also went to a flower store where they bought plants and sod. I took too many pictures of flowers. Thailand was beautiful! It overall was an enjoyable experience. It's not everyday you get to say I went to Thailand for the weekend!

Strength

 Here in Laos things can change at the drop of a hat and what you will hear most on the streets is 'baw pen nyang" which means no problem. It amazes me each day how God has provided for me and blessed I really am, I have been able to move to a new country for a year and been able to find an amazing family to live with and a great team who are with me each step of the way. I am so thankful for the experience to be stretched each day. God has challenge me in new ways each and every day. With jumping into faith like I am there is no way that I could do this on my own. On thing that I have learned is that I can not lean on my own strength and it is amazing to see that Jesus uses me and that even when I am scared and don't know how I am going to make it through I can lean on him because I can't really do much myself. In Kenya one thing I learned was that I was stronger than I thought I was. And it wasn't because of me it was because I was being used by God. At times like sharing the gospel or my testimony I wasn't scared because I was empowered by God and how he was using me, but in reality with my own strength I would have been truly terrified. At times here in Laos when I am alone or when I am scared to ride a motorbike or I am scared about teaching or I am scared about learning and speaking a whole new language, I have been able to lean on God. Which is a blessing to be used and to be able to even have an experience like this.
  The quote from Mother Teresa has resonated with me.
“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. 
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. 
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” 
― Mother Teresa

In the end it is all for the glory of God and in everything I do here there is no need to doubt that I can be used by God, that we all can be used each and everyday but the strength of God. 

Forgotten

  "Between 1964 and 1973 the United States conducted a secret air war, dropping over 2 million tons of bombs and making tiny Laos the most heavily bombed country in history. Millions of these 'cluster bombs' did not explode when dropped, leaving the country massively contaminated with 'bombies' as dangerous now as when they fell 30 years ago."  On Wednesday we went to COPE Center a place that informs people of the secret war. The secret war went on during the Vietnam war and was kept secret from America and others because it was against the Geneva Accord. In the Geneva Accord Laos was claimed a neutral country and so no wars were to happen there. In the movie it explained that sometimes they would not be able to go to Vietnam due to weather or when coming back from Vietnam they would have left over bombs so they would empty out the extra bombs on Laos. Cluster bombs are a larger casing that have thousands of little bombs in them. The bombs are dropped and they have a spin cycle that causes them to explode after three spins many of the bombs that were dropped didn't get the required spins and so they landed on the ground. Laos has millions of bombs left on the ground and could go off at any time and the Laos people have moved them and tried to remove as many as they can but they can be hidden as well as go under ground and be washed up by rain. For many they have to farm the land to get food and survive, and they continue to work even with the threat of bombs everywhere.
   Now if that wasn't depressing enough, the most depressing thing is that no one knows about it. There has been no help from America. They are slowing removing them but Lao people are removing them, not America the one that put them there! It is so sad to me to think that thousands of people have died because of something that people in my country did, and even in my town in America, there are people making bombs that I know. I feel like when America kept the war a secret the made a whole people group disappear. But I to am to blame too, when I was told about Laos I had no idea where it was and I had know idea that it was the most heavily bombed place in all of history. In the movie they talked about a man visiting a town and asked about casulaties and how many they had, the Lao people said they didn't have many. When they said how many casulaties there were it was a very high number and when asked why they didn't say that before, the Lao people though it was normal to have many people die. That is the life they had adapted to and accepted. Lao people shouldn't have to accept dieing they should except living. Now I know these people should not be forgotten. People who throw you a party because you have arrived ( they normally never have parties), people who buy you new skirts, and worry about you when you are sick, and help you learn languages and teach you how to cook and tell you that they love you already. Watching this movie just makes me realize that America has done a lot to hurt the world and when people think of America they have a single story that American's like guns. But I am here to change that single story, I am here to tell the Lao people that they are not forgotten, that not all American's drop bombs. Some American's are loving and kind and giving. 
  My first two weeks here and I already know these people will change my life and that Laos for me will never be forgotten.

Secret War

Movin' In

My first week has been very eventful. I was feeling very homesick the first few days and I think have made a big round about. We got to see a lot of Vientiane which was wonderful and I moved in with my host family! It was weird looking on facebook and seeing my friends with there new lives and starting college and meeting people while I am here and it made me think of all the things I could be doing if I were in college. I think about how easy it would be to not follow what God wants me to do with my life and live a comfortable life in America. But that is not what I was meant to do. I was made to do something different and help people in anyway that I can. It makes it hard to see everyone enjoying college and that I could be there enjoying it with them. Being homesick is hard and I wish it would go away but it makes me realize that next year or anytime in my life I will be able to say if I made it a year without seeing my family and friends and love it then I can do anything! I moved in with my host family and it was so nice to meet everyone in the family and made me feel a lot less homesick. I am living with a single women named Patti and she has a big family and they all live next to each other so we  went from house to house meeting everyone. We sat and talked with the grandma who is ill and she was so nice and sweet to me and said that she was worried about my safety and that she would take good care of me. She said she already loved me even though I had just meet her and I felt like part of the family. Patti gave me a Lao name, Sungmany which means light and vibrant. They told me that I have a vibrant smile and my skin is very white so that is why they gave me the name. I got all settled into my room which is very nice and bright. Next week I will start language school at Candle Light and take classes from 8:30-11:45 everyday for a month. Candle Light is close to my house about three kilometers away so I will bike to school each day. I will hopefully by October have my motorbike license and be able to drive to school on motorbike. It is a long process to get your license and so I might not get it in time. So first you have to be good at driving a motorbike which I of course, am not. Secondly you have to have a visa which we just sent to the embassy. Third you have to have a Laos I.D. which comes after you get your visa. And lastly you have to take a hard test where you can only touch the ground twice and do figure eights and all these things. But until I get my license I will go by tuk-tuk to school which is always an adventure. Then I start teaching school in October which I am excited about because I get to meet so many children and play games with them and teach them English. As much as I am excited I am also a little nervous because some of the kids are just a year younger then me. All the MCC staff told me that I should lie about my age to the kids. I thought that was funny but they said it will make them respect you and not just be your friend. So my new age is 25. Just kidding I am just not going to tell them. MCC has a special section of teaching supplies in their library so I have been reading and trying to see how I will plan lessons and what games I should play so I feel better prepared for teaching. I am excited to be settled and be able to get teaching and learning the language so I really begin to feel at home in Laos. Thank for continue prayers and for everyone's support these past two weeks!

Photo blog

I had for countless hours tried to post pictures on facebook of my first couple of days here in Laos and it was very unsuccessful. I decided instead to have a photo blog with everything on there so if you would like to see all my pictures go there!
http://kateinlaos.tumblr.com/

Today is a new day!

Today was a new day!

I have been having a lot of trouble adjusting but I mean it was only my third day! I was very homesick and had awful jet lag but last night I slept through the night! It was hard to get my bearings and so it was really great to be able to see more of Vientiane. Last night our luggage arrived! Praise God! I thought that on Monday it was really Tuesday and , so they told us that our luggage would come on Tuesday, I was so sad when I realized it was Monday. God with his humor and taking care of me, he actually brought our luggage on Monday anyway! I was feeling very down and it made me feel so much better that God will take care of me even when I think he won't. In the morning we got to have a tour around Mennonite Central Committee with Sili and so that really helped me to get my bases and know where I am. I also got to try iced coffee for the first time which is very strong coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and some ice, it was very good. Lao coffee is very strong so I had lots of energy! Then we walked around a Buddhist temple which was really cool to see. We also looked at maps and got a little familiarized with the city. After we learned how to ride a motorcycle. Which seemed very scary to me at first but we aren't riding any Harley's here, they are more like Vespa's. So I got the hang of riding it and hopefully by October or so we will be able to get our license. The test you have to take is riding first in a circle without touching the floor, then a big circle, and last a figure eight. Which takes a lot of practice so I will have some time to learn.The driving in Laos is a lot different then America and so there are somethings you have to get use to. With culture shock and being homesick they said it takes about a month to get over so I think I will like it here in Laos. It is hard being so far away but I think I will be able to fall in love with Laos. I have till Sunday at Scott and Evonne's house and then I move into my host family. Prayer for a good transition would be appreciated and well as for adjusting for this first few months. Thank you for your support!

Arriving

With about 35 hours of transit, we arrived in Laos. It was a long couple of days and it was good to finally get here. We lost all our luggage sadly which will hopefully be here on Tuesday. The city of Vientiane is very much like I think Kenya, which is nice and something that I can relate to. I had quite a bit of culture shock and so it was hard to adjust the first night. We slept right when we got to Evonne and Scott's house ( our country reps.) and had woken up at 5 from jet lag. Then after we slept for many more hours til about 1. So it is going to be hard to get over the jet lag. We went to a very western restaurant which I had a bagel and some fruit. I thought that I wouldn't find a bagel here so I was excited to have one! Then we drove around Vientiane and went to the local mall where we got some clothes for a couple of days. It was nice to see the city and get a feel for what we will be experiencing. I  am now excited to see what it will be like at the school and with our host families.

Good times in Akron

I leave in two days!
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That is how I feel. It has been so long, waiting and anticipating the coming year and now it is finally here. It doesn't help that here in Akron we have been having a wonderful time and I have to leave all of these people as well. I have gotten the pleasure of meet some strong, funny, and beautiful people here and I though I would share some funny stories:
On the first day I meet many people and I was talking to Jonathan and asking him where he is from and so I told him I was from Colorado and he had said he just visited there because his fiance lives there. I had then asked him who is fiance was because Littleton is a small town. He then told me his fiance was Mandy Mramor and for literally ten minutes I was shocked and couldn't believe. Mandy had gone to my church and had been very good friends with my sister and I had for even on Facebook stalked their engagement pictures and it all connected and it was just amazing to meet the connections that God puts into our lives and it just took me way from how he is always working and it has been wonderful to get to know John.
Yesterday a bunch of us girls walked down to the Kmart, we were looking for scissors because one of the girls Krissy is very good a cutting hair and everyone wanted their hair cut. We arrived at Kmart and got scissors and then while waiting found some temporary tattoos and got so excited! I got a unicorn and some of the other girls got owls and cats and mermaids. We laughed for so long when we put them on and it was so much fun. We of course being Mennonites are very rebellious and put them onto our low backs.  Tramp stampin' it up! Then later Krissy cut all of our hair and I got it cut way short and so did Rachel! We all cut off a lot and so there was a giant pile of hair and we didn't know what to do with it and so decided some ideas, we were going to prank someone or bury it like witches or throw it at people. It sounds creepy and it is. So we couldn't decide so be just put it in a plastic bag and it is sitting on a shelf in my room. Soooooooooo creepy.
Earlier in the day yesterday we had a session about jumping cultures where we played a game. The game was that there was two business people and the rest of a group was a country. You as a business person had to see if your country could open a shoe factory and if it was a good place to have a shoe factory. I was a business person asking questions to my country to see if it would be a good fit. You could only ask yes or no questions to the country as well. We asked many questions to  see if it was a good fit and it became hard because they it felt had a separate set of instructions. In the end we tried to find what was wrong with the communication and found that they based answering the questions on if we were smiling or not. I was quite confused asking questions because you try to gauge your questions on how they responded but they didn't even care about the questions! I had a very confused look on my face and Wade was going around taking picture when he saw how confused I looked he laughed and he showed me a picture of my face in utter confusion, I laughed so hard I cried. It was such a fun game and as well we learned about communication and how not everything we know is the whole story.

It has been truly a wonderful experience getting to know these people as well as seeing how God will work in each and everyone of their lives and I am excited to come back in a year for reorientation and see how we have changed!

Danger of a single story

Orientation

It has been a few days into orientation and it has been great to meet so many new people so ready and willing to serve God. I have had the pleasure of meeting Godswill and Kinley who I will be taking the position of next year. I will be teaching secondary school which is high school in Laos. I am a little nervous teaching older kids which I have no experience in and I am just going to jump in! I am also rooming for the week with an IVEPer from Laos that is going to Colorado and so we have bonded and both asked each other many questions. We have sessions each learning about MCC policies as well as living with host families, communicating across cultures, how to nurture yourself, self-care and resiliency, and gender relations. Which have all been very helpful and have given me some reassurance.   I have got to spend some time as well with my partner for the year Rachel. She will be teaching primary students and so elementary school. We are excited to see how the year will go! Keep me in your prayers!

Countdown

I have 33 days left til I am off and going to Laos! 7/6/12

All is full of love

I have for a while loved this saying "all is full of love". For me it means that in this very burdened and sinful world it is better to see the best in things and know that there is love in everything. In many ways this has been a motto for my life. I beleive it is much better in life to be optimistic and see the good because I have a God that made a beautiful world and I was put on this earth for for a reason. One of the reasons is to love people. I think loving people is something we are all suppose to do and it comes naturally in my life and it's who I am. So that is just the reason why I am going to be living in Laos next year, simply to love people.

Hopes and Fears

Hopes: I am so excited to be working with these kids and I hope that they will like me. I excited to love and meet new people I am excited to meet my host family I am hoping that I will be used my God everyday and that I will depend on him with everything I do. I hope that I become better at prayer I hope that I will meet new friends easily I hope that god will change me and make me realize my dreams I hope I can continue to later in life be a missionary I hope that I love it and love everyday I will be there Fears: I am nervous about the language I am nervous about the food. I am a vegetarian and so I am hoping that won't be a problem I am nervous about the teaching I have helped with younger kids and so having a older group is one way God is challenging me I am getting anxious about my host family and my avaibality of resources I am nervous for flying and flying by myself I am nervous about teaching and hopefully I will do well. I an nervous of being away from everyone I know and being completely on my own. I am nervous for the transition back and going to school a month after I come home.

Gift Registry

Hi there!
I wanted to give people the option of donating money online. I have a gift registry at https://donate.mcc.org/. When you go to this website you will see on the left side a tab that says giving registry and below you can click on find a registry. To find my registry you can type my name or Laos in the search bar. Kate Brooks- Laos will come up and there you will be able to donate. Thank you!