It's Just Like the Real World!

By that I mean I actually work a pretty full day. It goes a little something like this:

• Wake up at 6:20, eat breakfast, walk to 8:00 class.
• Get back at 9:30, change out of sinh, eat again, go to 11:00 lesson planning.
• Lesson plan until 2:00 or 3:00 with various people, eat linner.
• Chill out until 4:45 or 5:00, go to 5:00 or 5:30 class.
• Leave class at 6:30 or 6:45, go to 7:00 class.
• Get home at 9:00, go to sleep.

I say this because I'm sure many of you have been wondering why I haven't been blogging. I don't have a lot of time during the week to do it but I'm going to try this week to make time.

Last week a few important things happened. I got to go to Wat Pasaviet for the first time and all of the old volunteers left, along with some of the two-weekers. Pasaviet is a temple where we teach English classes from 7:30 to 8:30. Everyone who had been so far raved about it and I really wanted the chance to go. I'm not actually sure why they put me where they did but I'm happy about it! I was placed with Rich in the beginner class. There's a pretty wide age range with some of the youngest probably being seven or eight. The little ones, or "mini monks" as Greg calls them, are so cute and they look really quite epic in their tiny orange robes. Rich was one of the people only staying for two weeks so last Friday he told the students it was his last day. (We ended up teaching them the word "last".) As all the students are novices they give one of the best going away presents I've ever seen. They had done it for Jonno on Thursday night but it was a whole different thing when there were twenty students doing it and I was receiving as well. What they do is they chant. The chant they perform is a blessing, wishing the person good health, luck and long life. It's one of the coolest things I've had the privilege of seeing since coming here. When they asked me to stand up so they could chant for me as well it really was an honor.

So, many people left over the weekend and now there's no one who has been here for longer than two weeks. The first to go was Jasmine, who I discovered is from Switzerland. She was really nice and gave me a bunch of stuff she didn't need because I'm staying the longest. Next to go was Hayley, then Pauline, Jonno, Caitlin, Melissa, Jeremy and Rich. We got new people though! Only five this time but my fellow New Englander is staying for twelve weeks. The newbies are Richard(England), Simon(England), Alex(England), Renate(Germany) and Rachel(Vermont).

My weekend was pretty good, mainly on Saturday. I tried to sleep in but inevitably woke up at 7:30. I did go out for a nice breakfast though at the Arthouse Cafe. It's a great little place owned by a Pennsylvanian woman named Deborah. Tons of their food and condiments are home made and it has all the trappings of a restaurant in the U.S. (You can even ask for gluten-free!) They have pretty much the best coffee in Luang Prabang and now I'm convinced they have the best dessert. I got a cinnamon roll Saturday morning and it was still warm. Soooo good. Hayley and Jasmine originally turned me on to the place and now I'm recommending it to everyone. It helps too that it's right on the Nam Khan. After that I went over one of the bamboo bridges. They only exist during the dry season when the river is low and while they look a little dodgy they're actually quite stable. There was nothing much over where I was but it was interesting to see an area untouched by tourists. I spent the rest of the day chilling out and then went out to dinner at Tamarind, a really nice Lao restaurant. The new volunteers came along with Sam and Greg so I was really the first person to meet and talk to the newbies. Sunday was somewhat uneventful because I felt ill in the morning and into the afternoon. I felt better by the evening so our group meeting went well and then I went to the night market and to dinner. A large group of us went to the market but after a while everyone had split up so just Jane, Anja and I went to dinner at the Coconut Garden.

Mentioning the meeting reminds me! I haven't talked about my new job. One of the old volunteers, Sally, left the program for "personal reasons". She was the volunteer representative which meant that the spot was open. At our Wednesday meeting Sam told us that someone else needed the job. We were supposed to nominate someone but as no one was saying anything Caitlin decided to nominate everyone staying for more than two weeks. Again, no one said anything. Sam and Tricia were noticeably irritated but in our defense this was our first Wednesday meeting and none of us really knew each other yet. Finally I felt awkward enough that I said I would do it. All it really means is that every Sunday before our meeting I have to make myself available so people can come tell me their dirty secrets. Okay, not really but they can tell me their grievances if they wish to remain anonymous. So far no one has come which makes me a little sad but at the same time I suppose it's good. Tricia and Sam seem awfully happy about no complaints!

I suppose that's all for now and hopefully I'll get to do this more often, hopefully.