Nam Seung River Project

The last five days have been spent in a very rural village across the river from Luang Prabang. There the group conducted a service project which consisted of painting racing boats and making paddles for the community. The village is known for its traditional boat races, and over the years the tradition has been dying. The community wants to bring it back and we wanted to help them. So the first day we set out and painted these long, thin boats red and blue. It didn't take long. We let the paint dry. The next day we made paddles out of blocks of wood. Literally. They outlined the shape on the block of wood, and then we sawed, and macheted the shape untill it was nearly perfect. The locals finished it up since they were pros and finely chipping away stray pieces of wood. Then we sanded the paddles, and they were complete. The locals even wanted us to test drive the new boats so we went out onto the river and gave them a go. I guess we didn't realize how heavy so many falang, th term for white people, are. As we raced back, my boat tipped so badly we sunk! It was really funny. Water rushed into one side, then the other, untill finally there was no hope and we had to abandon ship. We were clinging to the boat in the water just laughing and laughing. It was a great moment.

Our homestay families were very hospitable. They served us great food, which consisted of raman noodles, morning glory, egg, and of course, sticky rice. The poorer houses in the village are thatched and on stilts, while the more modern houses are concrete and on the ground. Both are very bare though. On the inside, it's just the floor and the ceiling. And maybe a few plastic chairs and a desk. O, one thing every single house has though, to my surprise, is a television. Nice ones too. With dvd players and big speakers. Outside you can see the huge satellite dishes they use to get numerous channels. It's so odd a comodity to have in a house so poor and bare. But, tv seems to be essential these days. Especially here. Not once, in my entire three day stay in the house, did I ever see the tv off. It was constantly on. And somebody was always watching the screen. I suppose they ahd to have turned it off at night, but when my friend said she woke up at one in the morning to go pee it was still on. Crazy. In our free time we played soccer against the locals. We played on the field in front of the school. It was really fun. They are really good at soccer and know how to pass and handle the ball. So I got some exercise in. Every night we had a bonfire and the whole community would come and we would dance and sing and play games. Sounds fun, but it was pretty exhausting. We were glad when it rained one night and the party was canceled. We needed some down time.

On the second to last day we hiked into the mountains across the river. Our destination was the Hmong village that is settled high up in the mountain tops. The climb was very steep. We had to take a lot of breaks. And we sure did get sweaty. But it felt good. What was the best was that it was sunny and we could actually see the blue sky. I had almost forgotten the sky was blue. Here, in Laos, the shy is usually a smoky white. This is because of the amount of slash and burn agriculture they do. Every farmer, during the dry season, burns their fields in preparation for the rainy season. So the air is filled with smoke and ash. To give a better example, we hiked to the top of a temple that is usually a great viewpoint for the entire city. Once up there, we could barely see the river that was 400 m below. You can never see the mountains. It's pretty terrible. But it keeps the weather cool. But when we were hiking, it had rained the night before, so we were able to clearly see the beautiful mountains around us. It was also hotter. Once we got to the Hmong village, they welcomed us by playing bamboo flutes and traditional instruments. It sounded pretty terrible, but it was still cool. I also got to see one of the prettiest sunsets I've seen in a while. The next morning we awoke to rain crashing down on the tin roofs above us. We were in the middle of a big storm. It was really loud and there was thunder and lightening. This made the dirt turn into mud, and therefore the ground was as slippery as wet soap.

We hiked down once the rain ceased. It didn't take us long, but our knees took a toll from the steep decline. I felt like I was decending from the clouds. Which we were in at the top of the mountain. We played 21 questions the whole way. Once back at the river, we canoed back in our racing boats. But we weren't done yet. Once back at the original village, we had to do a basi ceremony with the community. In a basi ceremony the elders bless you and tie a white string around your wrist that you are to leave on for three days so the blessing works. My wrists are covered in white strings now because every elder participated. It was a humbling experience.

And on our way back into Luang Prabang, another storm hit us that soaked some of the people in our truck because there were gaps in the tarp. We actually saw a roof to a house fly off from the intense wind. We had to wait to shower, or do anything for that matter, because in storms all the power for the city turns off. Very inconvienent. It was a good trip. Tomorrow we will enter our two week homestay!