there ain't no bugs on me

     Ok, you caught me! I have been choosing lyrics from my favorite band, to use as my blog post titles. This one was not sung by the Grateful Dead, but was sung by my favorite musician, Jerry Garcia. And, since I experienced Jerry Garcia performing more than the Grateful Dead, it works for me! If interested, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman did an album of children’s songs called ‘Not For Kids Only’, and this song was on that album. While we are on the subject of my blog post titles, it must be understood that the lyric I choose for my blog post title, needs to be taken out of context from the songs theme. The lyric I choose relates to my blog post, the song from which the lyric came does not relate to my blog post. Here is an example: recently, I used the lyric ‘at least I’m enjoying the ride’ which relates to my blog post about motos, but the blog post has nothing to do with the song from which the lyric came, ‘hell in a bucket’. Another example: when I use the blog post title ‘sun going up and then the sun going down’, this will be the subject of that blog, but the blog post has nothing to do with the song from which the lyric came, ‘black peter’. ok, then, moving on to bugs.

     The first bug that comes to mind from living in a tropical climate, is the mosquito. Observation has helped me with this creature. First, I noticed mosquitoes swarming around my pile of dirty clothes, which got me thinking of human sweat, and how it attracts mosquitoes. The local people bath two to three times a day. At first I thought this was a way to cool down, but now, I think it is a way to wash away sweat to keep the mosquitoes away. And it works! I bath when I get up, I bath after morning work, and I bath before dinner. Also, eating chilis helps keep the mosquitoes away. I am slowly increasing my chili intake, and it seems to be helping the mosquito issue. And yes, after two days using the traditional ‘bucket shower’ I installed a shower line and head, and now take western-style showers. On another unrelated matter, I do have a western-style toilet. Ok, back to mosquitoes. The ones bothering me lately are the ‘ankle-biters’. these lovely mosquitoes stay low to the ground and quickly devour ankles. It is only a problem when I am staying still, reading, chopping vegetables, and cooking. My solution was to buy a floor fan and point it at my feet during these times, and it works! If anyone wants a business idea, make a decorative ankle bracelet that emits mosquito repellent. Similar to a animal flea collar, but one designed for humans to keep ankle-biting mosquitoes away. You design and make 'em, I’ll sell 'em!

     I have a resident frog, that lives in the bathroom. This wonderful creature eats lots of bugs, including mosquitoes. I’m encouraging the frog to start a family and live at my house forever! The only downside to frogger, was the night I went to sit on the toilet. Oops, earlier I had not put the lid down, and when I went to sit down, frogger jumped out! SURPRISE! The other helpful animals are the geckos and lizards. These wonderful creatures eat lots of bugs, including mosquitoes, and I am encouraging them to bring their gecko and lizard friends for a lengthy visit. The lizards, for the most part, stay outside, and I visit with them on the porch. The geckos, however, live inside and outside, and I find them everywhere, eating bugs. The only downside to my gecko friends, is that they poop everywhere, lots of poop to clean up each morning, but a welcome cleaning, as they eat bugs!

     Then we have the mud wasps, making nests in the downstairs rafters. When I first hung my mosquito net over my upstairs bed, I let it drape to the floor, as it was designed. Well, I did not have a solid floor, so the wasps came up to visit me in bed. Ouch, one sting was enough, and I tucked my mosquito net under the mattress until I figured things out. This is the picture from a few posts ago. For those of you that asked, I have since made the floor under my bed solid, and once again let the net hang to the floor, as designed. I have knocked down the mud wasp nests, and will continue to do so, as they are built. You see, the traditional wooden house is not sealed up, and bugs come into the house. There are openings around all the window frames, and the walls are not completely solid. I do not have netting on the windows, and see no point in doing this, as there are so many more ways for bugs to get in. The buggy solution for me is to observe the neighbors, and learn how to get around the bug issue.

     Which gets us to ants. I’m used to the various sized black ants, but am now encountering red ‘fire’ ants. My first experience was gardening. I started pulling weeds along the fence, and within seconds, my hand was covered with fire ants, OUCH! For being small, they pack a serious bite! I gave up gardening for a few weeks and observed the neighbors. Nobody weeded with their hands, they use a hoe, shovel, and/or rake to remove any weeds. Ahhhh, hand tools, which I am acquiring, have saved me from the fire ant problem. I have yet to find where they came from, but a woman down the road was gardening with gloves! What a concept! Yet, I’ve spent hours looking and asking in the huge Pakse market for gloves. Haven’t found them yet, and I need to learn more Lao to find out where the smart woman got her gardening gloves! In the meantime, I keep observing the local people, and I can now happily sing ‘there ain’t no bugs on me! 

at least i'm enjoying the ride

     I have bought my very first, brand new vehicle!!! It took me fifty years to get to this point in my life, but I made it! I have bought a 2013 Honda Wave 100, from the Honda dealer in Pakse, Lao. I watched it roll off the truck, and into the shop for a ‘going over.’ And there it was, on the street, with 1 km on the odometer, and I had the keys in my hand. Well, there was a lot more involved than that, foreigners cannot buy new vehicles and put them in their name. So, I found a trusted Lao man, to put the moto in his name. This way, I get legal registration and plates. The moto is just like everyone else’s in the country, 100cc. Not a lot of power, but not much needed when you only travel at 40 kmh. It is a four-speed, with a semi-automatic transmission. This means there is no left hand clutch lever, the shifting is all done with the left foot. The Honda dealer will do all the maintenance for me, and I look forward to many years of driving!

     I have noticed many new motos on the road this year, and it seems that even the rural families have a number of motos. I started looking into this phenomena and I discovered an ugly truth, capitalism has roared into this tiny country! ARGH!!! Lao has been a ‘closed’ country since 1975, the currency has only been used in country, and has not been traded on the world currency market. For many years, Lao has been a member of ASEAN, the economic group of surrounding countries. But, it is only this year, that Lao has joined the WTO. The International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, now have ‘projects’ in the country for the very first time. The Lao banking system has done a complete change, and now offers credit to the Lao people. This is why there are so many new motos on the road. The Lao people are putting down a small deposit and driving away on a new moto. They are now in debt, for the first time in their lives. I see this as a HUGE problem, coming from America, where debt is a huge burden on many people!

     The Pakse Honda dealer is selling twenty motos per day, and receives three shipments per week. That is a lot of motos! I’m glad people are getting transportation for their families, however, there is no driving instruction required, nor are there drivers licenses required. This means that young children can drive motos, and they do! The problem for me is that no one follows traffic regulations. The local people drive on both sides of the street, and turn corners without looking. But, I am learning to safely get from point A to point B, mostly by driving slowly and always looking in all directions. I’m glad to have my own moto and it may be difficult to drive in the city, but, at least I’m enjoying the ride!

ancient footprints are everywhere

OPENING TRADITIONAL LAO MUSICAL GROUP FOR THE FESTIVAL

     

     I settled into my new home in time for the annual festival at Wat Phou. This archeaological site is about four kilometers from my home. I live in Luang Kao, the ancient city connected to the spirtiual gathering site of Wat Phou. This has been a place of worship since the mid fifth century! The annual festival is called Magha Puja (Makha Busa) and is celebrated on the full moon of the third lunar month to commemorate the preaching of the Buddha to 1250 enlightened monks who came to hear him without prior summons. The third lunar month is February, as the count begins after the rice harvest in November, December full moon being month one. This festival is HUGE and LOTS of Lao people come to this festival.

OPENING PARADE OF DRAMA TROUPE

     

     I attended the opening ceremony on Friday afternoon with a lovely British woman, who is on a year-long, round-the-world adventure. We watched the opening parade of the drama troupe, complete with elephants, and we watched the apsara dance performance. The president of Lao was in attendance, and there was a ceremony with him releasing birds and balloons. This was followed by the world heritage banner parade and the traditional dance praising the party (the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic party). 

APSARA DANCERS PERFORMING

     

     The rest of the afternoon, we wandered the ASEAN flea market, pondering why anyone would come to the festival to buy shampoo, soy milk, or plastic tubs. It looked to be a market for sponsors of the festival introducing their products to the people. But, most of the market stalls featured the same products found in the local daily market. Either way, it was a pleasant day, and we had a bite to eat before the evening performance.

'THE LEGEND OF VAT PHOU' PERFORMANCE

     

     Well advertised, was the countries first ever ‘drama performance with light and sound show,’ and we got to experience the very first performance! ’The Legend of Vat Phou’ was outdoor theatre performed in front of the ancient ruins, and was highly entertaining. The show was spoken in Lao and came with no subtitles, but we did our own narration, and enjoyed the show! The Lao president watched this performance as well, and the show ended with a fireworks display. A wonderful day at Wat Phou, spent with a kindred spirit, a fellow traveler!!!

FIREWORKS AFTER THE OUTDOOR THEATRE - ACTORS IN FRONT OF TEMPLE

    

     I went back to Wat Phou on the last day of the festival, Monday, the full moon. In the evening, four thousand candles are lit to pay homage to Vat Phou, and I wanted to experience this event. I showed up late afternoon and was a bit disappointed in that the booths of products and food were taken down, and the vendors gone. I’ve gone to enough fairs and festivals in my life to understand that at the last day of a six day festival, most of the sales are complete and it is time to move on. But, wow, what a change since Friday, when it was in full swing!

LIGHTING OF 4000 CANDLES

    

      I watched the lighting of the candles, from the entrance, along the walkway, up the hillside, to the temple with Buddha. As the sun went down, the hillside glowed from all the candles, and the full moon beamed down on the temple! A beautiful sight that I will remember forever!!! I am fortunate to have experienced this festival on two different, but joyous days, and recommend this event to everyone!!!

WHAT A SIGHT!!!

 

right outside this lazy summers home

DOK CHAMPA TREE (FRANGIPANI) OUTSIDE EACH SIDE OF THE GATE ON THE ROAD 

     Renting a house in Lao, comes with a few requirements. After settling affairs with Simone, my landlordress, I met the village chief, who had to approve of my living in his village. He happily agreed to this arrangement, and filled out his required paperwork. The next step, still to be done, is to register at the nearest police station, so they can look at my passport and visa, and fill out their required paperwork. I was supposed to do this the day after meeting with the village chief, but, well, when in Lao . . . Simone has a grandson living across the street from me. He will take me to the police, at some unknown time in the future. I check with him every morning, but I have still not been to the police station. Things can take time to get done here. When I traveled in Mexico, I learned the saying ‘manana,’ literally meaning ‘tomorrow.’ What this phrase means, is that if it doesn’t get done today, there is always tomorrow. Here in Lao, ‘manana’ is much too quick. If it doesn’t get done today, there is always next week, or next month, etc. I am assured this is not a problem with the police, after all, they know where to find me if needed.

     Yup, this is a small community, everyone knows of the American living in Luang Kao. The first week, I met the villagers, a few at a time. The shopkeepers I met by buying various products from each of them. The rest of the community visited me at my home. This sounds pleasant enough, eh? Did the villagers come to my door with food or beverage? Dream on! My house is surrounded by a metal fence, with a metal gate on the road. The locals came to visit me by randomly looking in my window and watching whatever I was doing. Ok, then, so much for security, the fence and gate are an illusion. The locals already knew who I was renting from, and that all furnishings were provided. They were looking to see what I brought with me, and what I was doing. They lose interest when they find me cooking, reading, listening to music, writing, or napping. After all, they do these things, and the foreigner is not so strange after all. Nobody will come into my home uninvited, but I still have people looking in, which isn’t that strange. My observations of the neighborhood, show that everybody does this at all houses. To greet the neighbors, or see who is home, people will walk into yards and peer in windows. When in Luang Kao . . .

     Ah, yes, the fence and gate. Most houses have them, and this is to keep the animals out of the yards. Herds of cattle saunter through the village, and if gates are left open, the cattle quickly enter and devour any gardens. The chickens and roosters stroll through the village as well, and quickly destroy any gardens they can enter. Every house has a vegetable garden, and my home has one already growing! Simone’s family, across the street, uses her yard for their vegetable garden. This is fine by me, as I now have fresh lemongrass, cilantro, mint, chives, onions, and garlic! I am expanding the garden beds and have happily taken over watering duties! So, yes, I have a gate and fence around the yard, but there is no lock, so the folks can get fresh vegetables and herbs, and so others can peer in my windows! I have a large mango tree in the back yard, and the fruit are developing quite nicely. The problem is that I like sweet mangoes and the locals like unripened green mangoes. They eat them with a chili/sugar/shrimp paste mix to get the balance of sour/spicy/sweet/and salty. This sounds good, but I love fully ripened mangoes. Maybe I can get them to leave a few unpicked . . .

BOUGANVILLA BRIGHTENING MY FRONT YARD