So much time has passed since I last wrote anything here, it will be a bit of everything, just like my last photo album!

A day in Bueng Khan: I wake up at 6, usually to the discordant, repetitive beats of the temple music calling the monk to prayers. We head down to the excersice machines along the river, they are free, and in the open air. I weave along the street, always faintly worried that I'll make some egregious mistake like bumping into a monk on their way to alms rounds (they would then have to meditate for hours on end to purify themselves, as I'm a woman. There is always a good mix of people at the excersice machings, at all hours of the day 5-85years old. I smile at people whenever I catch their eye, and they usually end up returning it even if they won't initiate it.

Tuesdays and Fridays are market days!! Everything from used sneakers from Lao to fresh flowers, roots, herbs, t-shirts with hilarious English sayings, dried fish, raw meat... we usually wander through on the way home. Breakfast of toast (can't get used to stir fry in the morning:) and instant coffee (blah) and then to the center.

During the day everything is an adventure, buying tape, making a copy, all using my 10 word Thai vocabulary (mostly consisting of words relating to food:) 3pm and the motorbikes start flooding the streets as students get off of school, 2-3 per bike, up to 4 if its a family with babies since they take up less room! Helmets are a rare sight...

In the past weeks I've kept working on the cultural center, slow going... We do have the 'Bon' done, the little old style house replica! We have signs out too, and I see people reading them as they fly past on their motorbikes...more on motorbikes later. An old woman stopped by to see what we were doing the other day, when she realized we were trying to show and preserve old Isaan culture she was really excited, came back and gave us a photo of the King to hang- a must in every household here.

Rode our bikes to get lunch from Ole today, best khow pat jay ever, and swung by a little house on our way home. Called 'Sawadeekha' until a tiny man came out, apparently their would be live music there that night, ya! The six of us headed down after dinner, the bar was part of the house, great set up with a little stage, topless girl photos, old rock photos, and the requisite photo of the King and his family:)

Although I don't understand what the singer is saying, the bits and pieces Nalinrat and Takea translate, combine with the singing to make me fall in love all over again with this place. He sings about a rice farmer who, after years of barely getting by, leaves his home in Isaan and travels to Bangkok. Once there he is unable to find consistent work, the language is different, and there is no piece like in the rice fields. He begins drinking, and thinking about his home and family, eventually dying alone under an overpass. Sounds a bit dramatic put like that, but after having read one of Pira Cannings book on Isaan, it seems to put a perfect soundtrack to his stories. The singer and his wife, who serves drinks, gets up to dance with us at the end after putting on a modern mix, only in Bueng Khan...

The Wai:

You don't see much hugging here, or much physical contact at all. You don't shake hands, either, but there is something about the Wai that I will miss very much when I leave. Hands together, like a lotus flower, held higher to show respect, and eyes meeting across folded hands. There is a stillness in the act, like taking just a moment to connect, pause, before beginning a conversation. So much different than the rapidity of handshake/hello/chat western version.

Vientianne:

Cross to Lao to renew my visa, so many travelers, it's almost hard to find Lao food for all of the burger and pasta places. Bright side? REAL COFFEE!!! One night in Lao and I am excited to get back to Bueng Khan, where the river still has crops growing along it (the farmers don't own the land, but are allowed to continue farming there simply because they have for so many years.) and I don't see kids begging, I think because there is a stronger sense of community in BK. Vientianne isn't all bad, I meet some great people and there is a strong local craft business selling beautiful silks.

Back in Bueng Kan and I only have 3 days left here before I head off to travel for a few days to Chiang Mai. I already extended my stay here a few days since I hadn't gotten everything I needed to done, and I think I will find it hard to become a tourist again after living in this quiet town.

Not everything is easy here, cultural differences can always cause discomfort as the things you do by rote are no longer so easy. I do know I'll come back though, since this place has left a strong impression on me, and I already know it will be hard to return to the california way of doing things.