This was a week of new cultural insights. In one of our weekly meetings, some SAILers had expressed a desire to delve deeper into the cultural subtleties of the Lao people. Why are there different ways to “nop?” Why do the designs on some sinhs mean? Although these are questions that cannot easily be answered in a short course, and may require expert opinion, I have tried to do my best to help the SAILers find some answers. My plans coincided nicely with the absence of the professor of the Lao History & Culture class, who had to travel to Cambodia for the week. In her absence I could find guest speakers and opportunities to augment their regular learning.

The first speaker I found was Charles Alton, an agriculturalist by trade, but ethnic minority enthusiast at heart. I had little time to prepare him for the talk, but he quickly put together a presentation of the four main ethno-linguistic groups in Laos (most of which lived outside Vientiane). Although I had previous knowledge of these groups from having lived here, most of the SAILers did not. Charles gave some history of their migration to Laos, general characteristics of the groups, and some background on their animistic beliefs. He especially held our attention when explaining the difference between house spirits (or “pii”) and those living in animate objects (trees, rivers, etc.). It’s important for these ethnic groups to talk to, and constantly appease these spirits, lest they anger them and bring problems onto themselves and their families. He said one danger was the fact that those working on development projects in these areas, and who don’t respect these animistic traditions, can create lots of unnecessary tension between themselves and villagers. There should probably be a “Pii Handbook” readily available for all those intending to work with these communities!

To round out the religious discussion, the group paid a visit to Wat Ongteu in central Vientiane. The Wat is well-known because of its Sangha College. When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the Head monks of the school, as well as other Buddhist scholars. I loved that the discussion was an open forum, where we could pose any question we wanted. We covered everything from the color of their robes to whether it’s a violation of the precepts to smoke (which created a little debate among the monks) to the role of women in the temple. But the cultural bonus the SAILers received was spending time with the monks in their territory, seeing how they interacted with us and each other, and even use computers during the discussion. The monks were incredibly gracious to us and very enthusiastic about our visit. “If you have time, please come back and visit! And if you have any questions, you can email us!” Buddhism in the modern age. Before we departed, they asked to take pictures with us, and even said it was OK to stand. But the SAILers, ever culturally-conscious, kneeled down in front of the monks. Maybe they didn’t have much to learn after all!

Our temple trip occurred on the same day as a scheduled class field trip to That Luang. There, the Buddhist ceremonies were brought to life for us by our Achaans. With Yaeng acting as interpreter for those few words (ha!) the SAILers couldn’t catch, we learned how gold bars inscribed with Buddhist writings were placed all around the stupa, but were taken by the Siamese (Thais) when they invaded Laos. We learned that the parts of the stupa that curved outwards were Lotus flowers, and that during the That Luang festival, the Lao walked around the stupa 3 times — once for the Buddha, once for the Dhamma, and once for the Sangha. I had done this myself years ago, but not until today did I know why! After this week, I am confident that the SAILers have deepened their knowledge of an extremely important aspect of Lao culture in a comprehensive way. They heard from a foreign researcher, Lao monks and their English interpreters, and Lao teachers. I’d say this exceeded any classroom lesson they could’ve gotten!

Rice fields in Laos. ທົ່ງນາທີ່ເມືອງລາວ.

The first thing one must do when planting rice is to wear appropriate pants. Ideally, you should wear shorts, since your calves will be sunk knee-deep in mud. Grab a conical hat if you can, since you can’t hide from the sun in a paddy field. Shoes are unimportant since you don’t need them in the sludge. Come with an open attitude, a strong back, and the willingness to sing Lao songs.

If you’re most of the SAILers, you wore pants that could be rolled up, old t-shirts, and mosquito repellent. We made due with what we had on the day we ventured outside town to watch the rice farmers plant their second harvest for the year. Not only watch, but participate of course! We left our flip-flops on the banks of the paddies, and 4 of the 7 of us marched (or slowly trudged) through the mucky water to our appointed places. We were handed bunches of young rice stalks, which we cradled like babies and had to plant in a particular way. When we did it wrong, the farmers were right there to correct us. The process, started slowly, but after 20 minutes or so, Sandra was planting with both hands, Amy was complimented for her neat rows, Eileen didn’t fall over in the water, and well, I got through my 2 bunches quite well! Vatsana and Brandin caught it all on video from the sidelines.

We had come to learn about rice planting and catching fish through a project from the Lao organization PADETC. The project was introducing techniques for naturally fertilizing rice, rather than having villagers buy expensive fertilizer from Thailand. The villagers were very proud of their effort, and the fact that they could save money and eat a healthier product. They loved showing us how they lived off the land, and watching us laugh and stumble through the activities.

After the rice planting, we walked barefoot along the rice banks to find fish living among the paddies. These were little guys, “paa tamaxat,” ປາທໍາມະຊາດ not like the bigger fish they were raising in nearby ponds. We took a big weighted, or casing net called “hae” ແຫ with us to see what we could catch. Which was mostly rocks. One of our Lao friends joining us turned out to be a pro and was a huge help in arranging the net for us. This was a real process, called “tuk hae” ຕຶກແຫ involving gathering it just the right way in one hand, then wrapping it around one arm just right so it could be correctly cast. Amy, Eileen, Sandra and I all gave it a try — some more successfully than others!

But it was Amy who really took the plunge. Ever fearless, ever adventurous, Amy didn’t think twice about following a man chest-high into the water along the length of a long net to check for fish. The net was checked every 2-3 days. As I followed another man to collect “pak bong” ຜັກບົ້ງ (vegetable known as morning glory) in a nearby pond, Amy disappeared around a corner through the water. Fifteen minutes later she resurfaced with 10 small fish in her basket! But her success was not as big as the smile on her face! She truly loved the experience. After walking around the rest of the rice fields, we returned to the hut to have lunch — bamboo shoot soup ແກງໜໍ່ໄມ້, the vegetables we had collected, sticky rice ເຂົ້າໜຽວ (of course), eggplant “jeow” ແຈ່ວໝາກເຂືອ and Amy’s fish ປິ້ງປາ– freshly BBQ’d! Nice to taste the fruits of our labor. But for the rice…we’ll have to return in November, during the That Luang festival, to harvest what we planted. Then our rice planting experience will be complete!

Week two of our stay in Vientiane has come…and almost gone! After the hectic activity of the first week, SAILers had a much mellower second week, having found their stride and settled in. The week has been focused more on Lao language classes (the Beginning class is reading small words!) and reading up on Lao History (quiz them on the significance of the Phabang, and they won’t let you down). This week, after much hounding on my part, the SAILers also found language partners who they can meet and chat with in English and Lao. However, at this point it looks like all of Lao-American College is a language partner for our group! The SAILers are not shy and very approachable, and the LAC students are obviously excited to have real Americans on their campus. But I’m making sure our group doesn’t get off easy…this is their chance to speak Lao outside class!

Our classes are small, so the students are getting lots of personal attention. Achaan Bounmy definitely keeps the Beginning class on their toes, but I think their initial intimidation of him is subsiding. And, as a participant in the class, I must say the Intermediate class is a little more laid-back; Vatsana was especially happy when our achaan read our palms and told us about our personalities and lives. When word spread, the beginning class descended upon our achaan to have their palms read too. Apparently, Brandin has a very sabay sabay character, and looks like Sandra is going to have 3 kids! We will continue our language/cultural lessons by going to our achaan’s house in a few weeks to make Khao Tom or steamed sticky rice treats to take to the temple for the first day of Buddhist Lent, or “Khao Pansaa.” With the help of a UGrad student, our group took Talat Sao (Morning Market) by storm this week to buy their first sinhs (traditional Lao skirt). The vast variety was enticing and because we had a local helping us bargain, everyone walked away with more than one. Brandin was taken off by his Lao friends to find a nice shirt, which he sported the next day with a tie (to match the girls’ LAC ties). Classy SAILers!

Brandin and Sandra have become more regulars at the school, meeting lots of students and even sitting in on some undergrad classes such as Marketing and Global Cultures. Brandin will even be volunteering time to tutor LAC student that needs it. Since Brandin already seems to be well-known on campus, I’m sure he’ll have more students than he can handle. Eileen will be working with the LAC kindergartners when they start school next week, and possibly with the photography club. She has learned how to say “take a picture” in Lao, which is the most important phrase for her to know since she takes a minimum of 100 a day! I’ve got to get her to put that camera down for a second so she can enjoy the real thing.

Yaeng and Vatsana started their volunteer work with the Ministry of Health today. They had an orientation at Settathirath Hospital and from there may move to other sites. We are expecting their experiences to be more based on observation than actual implementation. Yaeng reported they were asked to write a summary of their experience, offer feedback, and possibly present it. Look out Journal of Lao Studies! Amy and Sandra will venture outside Vientiane a bit to volunteer at Donkoi Children’s Development Center – a public elementary school combined with a Center with programs that teach students about composting, recycling, growing mushrooms, raising frogs and basic carpentry. They also make cards and handicrafts and teach music and dancing in the summer. Although school officially starts next week (the new schedule due to the SEA Games that will take place in Vientiane in November & December), Amy & Sandra will share their skills with staff and students during the morning hours. English language assistance is most needed, but Sandra will try to explore other opportunities, such as gardening, arts, or helping in the library.

Socially, the SAILers are out and about, mainly thanks to their tight bond with the American-bound UGrad students. On any given night they can be found trying the new favorite Lao restaurants in town. Last night it was Korean BBQ after an unsuccessful attempt to see Ti Muay (Lao boxing) at the “Circus,” a structure that showed no signs of activity, nor signs that it had ever seen any activity! For a little exercise, Yaeng and Amy have really gone Lao by buying a badminton set, which they broke out on the windiest night so far. So they can only go uphill from here.

Some SAILers have been catching up with relatives they’ve never met, joining them for meals and visits. Amy connected with the father of her Lao friend, who took a few of us to his house for a BBQ. A real treat since they got to see Lao life in a more real setting. We sat on cement benches outside and chatted over kebabs and Khaochee Lao (Lao-style “bread” which is BBQ sticky rice in an egg batter) and he advised us to take a spoonful of fresh honey from a village before eating to protect against potentially harmful bacteria (advice we should’ve heeded since a few of us have had a little stomach trouble!). While Yaeng interpreted for Amy, Eileen and I took a walk down the dirt road, and witnessed a stunning pink sunset in the distance and Eileen snapped away with her camera. It was a rare open space in a city that seems to be subject to more and more urban sprawl. I’m looking forward to more opportunities to take SAILers to see Laos outside Vientiane. As Vatsana said when I asked her if Laos was what she thought it was, “I thought it would be simpler.” Proof they need to venture outside the town.