Holiday Season

Holiday season.

When these words come to mind I think of snow, Christmas trees, scarfs and mittens, presents, the Nativity, fudge and cookies and ginger bread houses and family. For Christmas day I woke up at the crack of down and drove to the Lorr's house where I had breakfast. Pleasantly surprised we ate pancakes, bacon, coffee (not instant!) and Christmas stolen. As well the Lorr family gave me presents; pants and some chocolate! After we made a ginger bread house and colored in a decorative Christmas tree for the wall. Then when it was time for lunch drove to church where we ate lunch and then we took pictures in front of the big Christmas tree that the youth had created. With thousands of pictures taken we proceeded to the next session where everyone gave presents to government officials and then had a Nativity play. I slipped out and went to Crystal and Kinley's house where we made another ginger bread house. We planned on making a house that was Lao and so we made tried to make the house on stilts. Which was an epic fail. So instead we made a trailer! With the weather in Laos changing we are entering into a colder season which on Christmas day caused many of Lao people to were scarfs and mittens. In many ways I got to experience all the things that remind me of the holiday season and though I was away from family I was able spend time with my new families.

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.