Number 44

Written late Wdnesday night and posted Thursday morning.



Happy New Year! Although the Lao celebrate their New Year in April, they don't seem to pass up many opportunities for a party. Drinking is part of the Lao culture and DUI is pretty much accepted as a way of life. The Lao answer to drunk driving is to slow down or call a friend or stay overnight with a friend, but drinking and driving is pretty commonplace.

*A correction. The Versailles which turned out to be the DuSoi is actually the Patuxay. But it still sounds to me like they're saying Versailles.

Today I rode with Mr. Subine on a scenic route along the Mekong River. I mentioned at dinner last night that I had only seen it at night so this morning he insisted on taking me. It's the dry season and the river is really low but it was a nice ride and we stopped a few times to take photos and to eat or drink something. We hooked up with Vaat and Thip and went to a large Temple that was the oldest and most popular Temple in Vientiane. There were a lot of tourists and a small market on the grounds. Unlike Chiang Mai where the temples have lots and lots of monks, here in Vientiane they generally only have a couple dozen per Temple. Interestingly, here in Vientiane, the homeless and the orphans generally live in the Temple. After the Temple it was lunch. I've been wary of the food here and ordered a "safe" large flat noodle dish. it was pretty good and was followed by a couple of scoops of ice cream.

After lunch we went to the Vietnam National University Faculty of Law party. I wasn't all that fired up about it but my hosts all had to attend for office politics reasons. It was actually fun. I saw all the Laos guys I spent the afternoon sight seeing with at the GAJE conference and we reminisced about how we all hated Manila. There were about 100 people there, an amazing amount of food and lots of Tiger Beer. There were two women serving the beer dressed in blue and yellow outfits that looked like they were flight attendants. Mr. Kahm (Dave) told me they were the new teachers. Kahm and the other Professors were in their uniforms which looked like policemen. I'm not sure how it works because some Professors wore them and some didn't. The women, who wore them, wore the policeman shirt and the traditional Lao skirt called a Singh. There was a large PA setup, with a DJ and they did traditional Lao dancing. To me it looked like traditional Lao walking while moving your hands but when I was coaxed into joining I was glad it was more like walking then dancing. They then did a version which seemed like a line dance and I just watched. Kahm got liquored up and danced up a storm. They had roasted a water buffalo which is something you don't see everyday. I was seated between the Dean and the Vice Dean. I has met the Vice Dean at GAJE and he acted as the interpreter. We had a pleasant talk as there was no pressure on me to convince the Dean of anything. That was followed by a parade of Professors who wanted to try out their English on me. I'm not sure how they speak when they're sober but it was a challenge trying to understand them as the party wore on. Near the end the men started to play Bataan which I think is Bocce ball. I was invited to play and did my best which resulted in a lot of laughter and pats on the back. When the party broke up I was motorbiked back to the hotel to rest up. shower and change for the evening activities.

I thought I was going to one or more New Year's Eve parties at friends of the Lao Professors but instead we went to the Central part of town and ate at a large outdoor buffet that had been set up. There was a stage, a lot of colored lights, a colored fountain and a lot of foreigners. It turns out we had come to Vientiane's big time New Year's Eve bash. The food was good and since it was sponsored by Tiger Beer, the beer flowed plentifully. I noticed more women dressed like the new teachers at the Faculty and was told they work for Tiger Beer. They go to parties and serve the beer. Kahm definitely got me on that one. The part that made me believe they really were teachers is that, at the faculty party, when the dancing started, they both danced and one danced with the Dean.

The people watching was first rate and I was really having a good time. At 9, the first band came out. It was the Backstreet Boys meet Laos. The crowd was an odd mix of foreigners and Lao, old and young, couples and families. No one rushed the stage or got rowdy and, to some extent, the Lao were more curious then anything else. The next band was hard core rock and roll. Long hair, torn jeans and all the flashing lights and smoke. The Lao asked me what the words meant but, like any self respecting rock band, you couldn't understand the words. None of them had ever seen a rock show so I convinced them to leave our safe little table and venture into the "crowd" to get closer and not only hear the music but feel it. We got really close because the crowd wasn't that big and most of the non-foreigners didn't want to be so close to the noise. The Lao loved it. Smiling and laughing and yelling things into each other's ears. The part they found the funniest was that the reason I couldn't tell them what the singer was saying was because he was singing in Lao. People in the crowd did weird things like one guy who did cartwheels in front of the stage and three "ladyboys" who walked right up to the stage and sprayed the band with pink silly string. I watched the Security guys but they were laughing. The next band was an all girl band with a male bass player. the lead singer sang off key and it was getting late and the Lao asked me if I minded leaving. They had a very real desire to get home before the drunks hit the road.

It was a surprisingly fun night. Not a surprise that it was fun because everyone has gone out of their way to make sure I'm having a good time, but surprising that we ended up at a loud rock and roll concert in the middle of quiet Vientiane. I head back tomorrow for my last few days in Chiang Mia. Today was a very good day in Vientiane. Once again I wish all of you a Happy Healthy New Year!

P.S. After finishing this post I heard loud explosions outside the hotel and went out to see what it was. Turns out there was a large fireworks show someplace very close and by walking down to the corner I had a really good view. About 10 minutes into the show a motorbike with a Mother and her three sons came around the corner and hit a large dog that was crossing the street. The motorbike went down and everyone went flying. I ran up to try to help. The Mother was Ok, the oldest son was holding his stomach and the two youngest were wailing. I checked everyone for bleeding and fortunately no one was. The Mother let me check the two youngest while she looked after the oldest. The we traded and she comforted the younger two while I tried to check out the oldest. After resisting, he finally let me look at his stomach under his shirt and he had no obvious trauma. A few people came over to help and the police showed up on motorbikes. Everyone seemed more or less OK. The topper to the whole thing was the police put the oldest boy on the back of one motorbike and the Mother and the other two on the back of the second and they all rode off, presumably to the hospital and not one of them was wearing a helmet...