Let's wao some Lao

Learning how to Wao Parsaar Lao (speak Lao language) is HARD.

I had hoped I'd have an edge. I hoped my basic conversational Thai (albeit very rusty) would flood back into those dark empty spaces in my brain, taking me to a level of fluency rarely seen in one so new.

I was so wrong. Thai hinders me! Sure, I am remembering words that are similar in Thai and Lao and some are even the same. But the sentence structure, grammar, the accent, the verbs, the tones... Aaarrgghh.

Intensive

 

And it's not like I can just fall back on the written word as a memory jogger. I can vaguely make out a few familiar shapes in this script but basically I look at written Lao and think of the ancient art of reading the future in stretched-out chicken gizzards.

Which reminds me... apparently you can tell the future by reading chicken guts.

Our teacher, Sonexai, bless his little cotton socks, is patient and encouraging and tells us constantly that we are correct and very good at pronouncing things. He is lying of course but we appreciate the effort.

"tik tong!"

It's not helping (for me) that Marteen and Croalar (as they are now known) are freakin' brilliant at languages. I think they are cheating but I can't work out how. After five short sessions they are already ordering food in restaurants and haggling with tuk tuk drivers in Lao. Sure, they have been known to end up with offal laap instead of actual food (oops, hang on, I think that was my fault) but they are zooming along the road to a little village called Fluent. Today they even seemed to understand what present perfect and past participle tense is (or maybe they were faking?).

This actually makes sense to me now

Still, despite these challenging and difficult circumstances, I am coping. I break into Thai now and then but most Vientianese can speak Thai (from watching too many Thai soaps on local TV!) so I'm making myself generally understood. The pained look on some waiter's faces seem to ask "please give up and just order in English," but I forge on. (It's my Kip, Ralph).

Important vocab

 

Some words are exactly the same except for the tone... and the fact that they mean totally different things.  Mak gieng means oranges; mak gieng also means rose apples. Confusing.

 

And the transliteration of the words changes with each publication. Sonexai writes chao, the LP writes jao and I write what I hear... jow. I'm illiterate so what I write doesn't matter (I tell myself) as long as I can repeat the words in a way that is (even remotely) recognisable.

 

It's draining on my already busy brain. Although I should be memorising lists of fruit and vegetables right now I am far happier to tune out and watch TV. Even Criminal Minds is preferable.

 

I think my head might be full.

 

Pop gahn mai. Kop Jai.



Paying For My Sinhs

This really is sinh city. Sinhs are everywhere. Women wear them on motorbikes, bicycles, to work, to market, in tuk tuks, in groups, to weddings, walking along dirt roads and running across busy streets. And soon I, too, will be wearing a sinh.

These sarong-like skirts are sometimes cotton, sometimes silk and, if you are not picky or wealthy, sometimes polyester. They usually have a strip of embroidered silk along the hem. The patterns often mean something. I don't know what yet, but something.

 

 

 

Clara and I were taken shopping through the fabric section of Talat Sao yesterday. It was confusing and hot and humid and noisy and we were grateful that Gai, our personal shopping assistant, had some idea of what to look for and how much to pay.

Once we got started it was hard to stop. Look at the choices we were faced with:

Although I am still not particularly pleased that I will HAVE to wear a traditional Lao skirt everyday to work for the next year, I'm kind of a little bit excited to have this gorgeous fabric swishing around me.

Leaning towards the conservative, I chose three pieces of fabric, all cotton, all gorgeous.

My original sinhs (boom boom!)

Clara made some gorgeous choices, too. They'll look stunning.

 

Clara worked out she spent $36 on all three (and the dressmaking won't add a whole lot more)

 

 We've been measured and now we wait...  (and worry about not having appropriate shoes).

Dining and Drinking in Wieng Chan

Dining out has been an important preoccupation for we newly arrived folk in Vientiane (aka Wieng Chan). Sure, we know we can't eat like this forever (and still fit into a sinh) but it is only Week 1 and we are dedicated to developing a greater cultural understanding and appreciation for Laos people and their values. And what better way to learn, interact and discover than through those beloved past times - eating and drinking?

How lucky am I to have two colleagues equally as keen to develop greater cultural awareness through exercising skills in these fields?

So, to that end (cultural exchange and learning), we have been eating lots of fabulous Laos and Falang food around town. Often in the centre of town where the range of cuisines rivals Brunswick Street.

Here's a picture of a meal I ate today:

 Yep, that IS mashed potato (and salmon)

 

And here's the bill:

 That's the most expensive meal I have had all week ($10) Luckily, I wasn't paying.

 (Clara and Martin went with the cheaper chicken options)

Here's some more food I've eaten recently:

chicken curry something or other and tea

 

noodle soup

And some dessert:

(Martin's)

 

And some meals we have shared:

rice paper rolls

Tofu with pepper and mock pork (they were out of mock chicken)

 

Here's some food-like substance that I wanted to eat but didn't:

Krispy?

 

And looking at the menus around the town there are so many more opportunities ahead for us to learn, expand our understanding and develop a greater sense of Laos culture (and to eat lots of cool food).

I have also discovered, to my delight, that there is wine. Perhaps not great wine. I'm not sure yet. But many people know that I am not particularly fussy and have been known to buy Aldi wine at desperate times. I should be fine with this (if only I could afford it!)

 

 

 

 So now all I need is to find a cheese supplier and I'm set for the year ahead.

To Market To Market

We've been eating very well. One of my first thoughts when I was pondering applying for this job was "Mmmm, Laos food". Not that I'm here just for the delicious food (the laap, stir fries, sticky rice, curries, tropical fruit, papaya salad, fresh fish, lime/chilli/coriander tastes) but it sure helps.


Apart from the breakfasts, (which, until yesterday morning's mini chicken drumsticks, have been a tad uninspiring), my meals have all been fabulous. And inexpensive. (Which makes them even more fabulous in my book.)

Drumsticks for breakky = inspiring

On Tuesday morning we went to the Morning Market. Apart from a zillion gorgeous sinhs and fabrics and dozens of Gangnam Style Tshirts & shorts sets, we saw some amazing food. Some of it looked delicious. Some, not so much. I'm planning to eat most of it.

 

Pig's Heads and Chicken Feet

Some type of bug or grub

Green vegies and herbs and chillies

Noses and ears. Water buffalo I think.

Hot, hot, hot!

Walking past food cooking on the street or at the front of restaurants just makes you hungry...

Fried chicken feet - on wheels

 

BBQ Fish

 



Sausages and sticks of stuff

 

 

More food



Obviously, I wont be going without good food. And there I was thinking I was going to lose weight over here... Damn.

Getting here and getting wet

Yesterday I ate lamb roast for Sunday lunch in Bendigo.

Lamb roast at Dad's

 

I then crammed 40kg of stuff - some of which I may never use or need - into several borrowed bags and started the journey to Vientiane.

Lots of stuff

At the airport I shed some water from my face and walked through an imposing doorway to join a queue. On the other side Martin and Clara and I waited to fly.

Clara and Martin and me

 

We flew. We slept a bit. We ate. We fidgeted.

Flight Path

 

We arrived! It was hot. We looked at as much as we could as we were driven through the streets of Vientiane.

Vientiane

We arrived at our hotel and collapsed.

I love air con

 

View from my room

 

Some time later, with a plan that included a walk, some food and maybe a drink, we set off into a light rain and much cooler streets.

We passed some grass...

Passing grass

We walked through a triumphant arch.

 

We walked to the touristy side of town where there are restaurants, cafes, internet shops, ice cream shops and signs that promise me a massage for around $5. (Tomorrow).

The touristy side of town.

We found an almost empty but quite nice café, ate delicious meals and discovered that a bottle of Beer Lao costs around $1.88.

And after all that I am MORE than ready to sleep through my first night in my new home town.

One week to go

Homeless, carless, jobless. In one week's time I'll be nervously drinking at the airport - packed, worried, excited. And so it begins!