1st week in Ban Xieng Mien

So our first week in our homestays is complete. How quickly did that go by? Too quickly. On the first day, as we met our families, I already knew I was going to love the village. There is one cobblestone path in the entire village. And all the houses are right on the edge of that beautiful path. The houses are more modern, unlike the thatched stilt hosues we have been acustomed to staying in. They have cement walls and floors, boards that open into windows, and tiled roofs. It's such an attractive town. And one of the reasons they keep it so nice is because it is a UNESCO world heritage sight. So the surrounding forest is kept pristine and lovely.

Lao culture is so relaxed. During the first few days in the homestay, I spent my days reading and writing for the most part. The pace is so much slower than in America or anywhere else I've been. It's quite nice. Life has gotten busier after those initial days. Now, nearly every morning, we go to the program house and the instructors conduct lessons for the first part of the day. W learn about the core values of Dragons. This week we've discussed gratitude and curiosity. And they giv us acitivites to deepen our understanding of those values. We also have Lao language lessons, which are so helpful for communicating with the family. I'm learning so much. But I still can only speak broken sentences. It can be overwhelming, but the family understands. One girl in the group did her main lesson, we each get a topic that we ned to study extensively and then share with the group, and she talked about dams on the Mekong. It was really interesting and a very hot topic in Laos at the moment, since it wants to become the battery of Southeat Asia. And today, one instructor gave a lesson on corruption in Laos. In the afternoons we go back to our homestay and relax. I practice my Lao with them, read, write, and work on my ISP. One day we went to a village that specializes in making pottery. It was beautiful work. And the guy, who has been working there nearly all his life, can make a vase in ten minutes. It's amazing to watch. After we went to see this waterful that turned out to be absolutely gorgeous. One night we went to a temple and chanted with the monks in Pali, the Buddhist language. We also did some meditation. Every night I watch Lao soaps with my sisters and my mom. The shows are ridiculous, but that's good for me because I can better understand from body language whats going on.

A little on my family: my father is about 67, and my mom is 63. They are retired and two of their children still live with them. Their two daughters, my sisters, are Mon and Kaek. One is 23 and the other is 17. My mom and dad also have a son who is 28 and lives in Vientiene, and a 27 years old daughter who lives across the river. I love my family. My mom is so cute and sweet. From her looks she can hardly be called a grandma. But everyone stays young looking here. My dad is a sweetheart, but you can tell he doesn't know what to do with himself yet because he just retired. My sisters are dancers and dance at the theatre in Luang Prabang every other night. I get to see all of their performances. It's traditional Lao dancing. Very cool. So home is pretty sweet. I've had so much good food. I get to bathe in the Mekong. The homestay is going so well.