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