A typical day in Laos

How do I describe a typical day. I could write a whole blog entry on just the scents and smells of Laos. Or a whole blog entry on the friends I have made. Or the food. Or the cultural misunderstandings. Or teaching at the library. My "typical" day is all of these things...

Roosters crowing in the morning. The feel of walking barefoot on worn teak floors. Walk outside the guest house to the shower wearing nothing but a towel - I've gotten comfortable around the guest house... The smell of Cussons soap.

I walk past the elementary school with barbed wire atop the fence to my favorite noodle shop a couple blocks away. In my best Lao language, I order fur moo, a noodle soup with strips of pork. I squeeze a couple lime slices, splash soy sauce and tear fresh mint leaves and other leafy greens into the mix. Ah-hahn sep, it's delicious! It feels so healthy to eat fresh vegetables and lean shredded pork first thing in the morning.

Motorbikes, tuk tuks and bicycles fill the streets. Girls ride side saddle on the back of motorbikes wearing traditional long skirts.

Stopping to chat with friends on the way to the library. Lenou the coffee guy who is finishing law school and conversations about entrepreneurial ideas. Next are the Hmong baguette girls that make me sandwiches and teach me Hmong language. They're so funny! Helping Thilaitat with his math homework and drinking a glass of milk on the Mekong in the morning. Teaching English to the staff at Joma Bakery.

I'm going to miss the way simple parties just seem to sprout... The rawness of life here. People living closer to the land and closer to their food sources. Oranges with seeds.