comes a time when the blind man takes your hand, says 'don't you see?'

     My last blog post was about my difficulties in adjusting to living in another culture. Things have gotten a lot tougher since that writing, just two weeks ago. Lately, when I sit on my porch in the morning, waking up with a fresh cup of Lao coffee, the neighbors begin gathering next door and start to bicker. Sure, I don’t speak much Lao, but I can tell when people are upset with me. Much finger pointing and angry words are shared, and I just watch, listen, and drink my coffee. This goes on for days, and I always notice the elder Lao man sitting in the back, listening, but saying nothing. He is a blind gentleman, and we have shared hello’s the past few months. I got my local interpreter to come over one morning to find out what the neighbors, mostly women, were talking about. After a long discussion with them, he told me that they do not understand foreigners and the way they live. He left out a lot, which we will get to later. I had him tell them that I do not understand the Lao people at all, and that I won’t if they continue being so angry. Things settled down and the women left. The elder blind man came to my fence and handed me an onion. Through my interpreter, I was told to look at the onion, at the fine outer layer, unblemished, and indicating an excellent onion. He said that Lao people are like this onion, the outer layer looks great and there is every indication that all is well on the inside. He had me begin peeling layer after layer from this onion and said that when you peel off layer after layer, you find this not always the case. Things on the inside are not always what they appear to be. Sure enough, the inside of this onion was rotten in the middle! WOW, this is one intelligent, profound blind man, and I thus learned a great deal about Lao people and even about myself!


THERE ARE NO PIX FOR THIS BLOG POST - BUT, EVERYONE LOVES ELEPHANTS - MORNING BATHTIME

     My prior experiences in Lao have shown me a happy and contented people. This is the mask they put on to hide their feelings and their thoughts. So many travelers comment on the joyous, always smiling Lao people. But, underneath that smile, lies another person. I do the same thing, always putting on a happy face. People ask me how I am and I say ‘great’ even though I may be miserable inside. However, the Lao life is much different than mine. My experience is with the Lao villagers in this small community, things may be different in the cities. I have had lengthy conversations with other foreigners living in the area, and I have come to some conclusions. The local Lao people are struggling to feed themselves. There are few jobs in this part of the country, and the locals look for anything to do for the least amount of money. I did not realize this simple fact. While I have been sweeping my floors, doing my laundry, watering the plants, cutting the grass, trimming the trees, burning the debris, etc., the neighbors have seen me doing this and want to do these chores for me, for a little bit of money. They know i paid six month’s rent in advance, and bought a new Honda moto with registration. They think I am super rich, and they want part of this. Ok, I have a few problems with this situation. One, I am not rich and need to spend as little as possible to make this living experiment work. Two, why would I allow neighbors into my home to clean up, when I have already experienced the high theft rate around here (we’ll save that for another blog post). Three, if they are so poor, why do they buy motos, refrigerators, televisions, and stereos on credit and pay 25% interest? They lived without these things for generations. Go back to riding a bicycle, there is no need to hop on your moto to drive to the neighbors two doors down. I’m told that Lao people are a proud people and they need to show that they have what everyone else has.

A SNACK BEFORE BREAKFAST

     WHAT??? THAT”S BULLSHIT!!! Here is my biggest issue with the Lao lifestyle. I was under the misguided belief that the Lao people follow Theravada Buddhism and practice Vipassana Meditation. This is not true at all, they don’t follow anything that Buddha taught. SHIT, this was the biggest reason I moved here, to experience a culture steeped in 2500 year old customs. Nope, not the Lao people. They steal from their neighbors, the men go to the local brothel and cheat on their wives, they beat their children, and they kill animals. All these things are against basic Buddhist beliefs. I’ve watched neighbors do these things, and I have followed them to the temple to have the monks say a few words and pour water over their heads. Then they just go back to doing whatever they like. Greed, pride, and ego are not part of the Buddhist basic principles. This is a HUGE discovery for me, and now the foundation of why I came here in the first place, is gone. Hmmm . . .

GETTING DRESSED FOR WORK

     Which brings me back to the layers on an onion and the layers on a Lao person. They all want to ‘save face’. This is the outer layer, the continual smile. There are 100’s of Lao smiles. They will smile at you when they have just stolen from you, they will smile at you when they are beating their child, and they will smile at you when they lie and cheat. I have seen this happen and it makes me sick! The inner layers involve family, work, love, dreams, etc. I don’t know much about this, but from what my blind, elder Lao neighbor said, sometimes, the Lao core is rotten. To balance out these thoughts, I want to let you know that there are kind, thoughtful, and generous Lao people. The family who took me in, in Champasak, are an excellent example! They have welcomed me into their lives and are some of the kindest people I have ever met! Let’s finish this blog post with that thought.

OK, LET'S GIVE MARK A RIDE THROUGH THE JUNGLE - YAWN