Teachin-palooza!

 


Well, hello dear ones! It's been two weeks since the last entry ... two weeks with teaching at the American Center, classes for high school students and general public, as well as two workshops: one on leadership and one for pre-teachers. My partner Sharon and I have been working hard, sharing the burden of grabbing and molding content from our respective files and sources for "just in time" delivery. 

The students are so appreciative and delightful; the level of English is surprisingly high.  For my MLC teacher buds, many of them are at AI, with a few at INT and maybe a couple at  Beginner levels. 









          I moved out of the hotel last Monday and have just completed one week living on the 9th floor of a high rise next door to two modern malls and the more local morning market, Talat Sao. I thought I'd be crashing with Sharon, but we both felt having our own place would be good for each of us to settle in and find our own home in Vientiane. 



I'll be here until I move to the south of Laos in mid-November.  I hope that I will be able to find an equally convenient apartment in Pakse with more local character; however having the comforts of easy grocery shopping and a pool (see pic below) is hard to refuse especially when one may be  working with very little time off. 




In my last entry, I wrote about an invitation that the Fulbright Teaching Assistants and the Fellows received  to the US Ambassador's residence to celebrate exchange programs.  The evening was delightful, and many embassy staff were there. In fact, the public affairs officer had given a "heads up" to both the ambassador and the chief, political section that my dad had worked as chief political section for the embassy. I felt truly honored on behalf of my dad, my family for the respect that each of them showed me. What a time boomerang! (see the video of the ambassador learning a Lao line dance -- if you go to the end you'll see some of the crowd from the party, including me, trying out the dance!)

I've had a chance to visit a couple of nearby temples during a couple short breaks -- I've  included pics of Wat Phra Keow below. It used to house the Emerald buddha until it was removed to Thailand in the mid 1700s. I'll have more  tourist time coming this  week with a train trip to Vang Vieng -- a beautiful area north east of here by train.  Also the following week, Sharon and I will be going to Luang Prabang, the ancient capital, for the light boat festival ceremony during October 16 -20th.



My son Pete has asked me to post food pics -- and I know I will soon, particularly with time off and travel. I've been taking it easy and slow in the eating dept-- lots of different kinds of food here --of course, Lao, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, French, American. The Lao dishes include the famous Larb (ground chicken or pork salad) and sticky rice are the classics, which may also show up in Thai cuisine. Wrapping meat in leaves with herbs and having spicey sauces is something I'm looking forward to enjoying more.  






The young Fulbrights, twenty-somethings, many with families from ethnic backgrounds and lots of Asian travel experience,  have suffered a bit due to trying many new foods.  One young lady was hospitalized for 12 hours and a young man had to stay home for a weekend. So I'm taking my time -- and am also only choosing meat and veggies in restaurants rather than on the street -- at least for now. (Photo above is a beef Pho -- delicious lunch item available in many restaurants.)




Well it's time to sign off. Leaving you with the sound of the beautiful gong in Wat Mixai, an active community center in downtown Vientiane.  Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.  Miss you! xxx 



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