Lao, PDR (please don't rush!)

As you may know . . . the PDR actually stands for "People's Democratic Republic". As an Amercian friend explained, here the Lao people joke that it really means "Please Don't Rush" to combat a habit westerners have, especially in business matters. So, although we don't have long-term visas yet, nor does Joe have permission to work at his university yet, nor can we get a bank account yet, we are here in Laos and loving our new country.

"Wats" and what I've termed "wads" are very prevalent and a couple of the first things I noticed here. On almost every corner there is a glorious buddhist temple of some kind . . . amazing considering that this is a relatively poor and communist country. Lots of monks in their signature orange are roaming around town, some with quite fashionable eye-glasses. Oh, by the way, the Lao word for "temple" is "wat". Another characteristic that stands out are the wads of electrical wires that gather at every intersection just above eye level between power lines. They are quite complicated looking . . . but seem to work. Last night we saw a street vendor who actually hooked up their TV antennae to a "wad" of wires so the kids could watch TV while mom and dad cooked.

Our first impressions of the capital city, Vientiane (vee-ahng-CHAN), is very positive. Compared to Jakarta, Indonesia, where we lived for 13 months back in the mid-90's, it is much smaller and less polluted. The people keep it clean, all things considered, and drive very slowly. Many use motorcycles, so there aren't even many cars. Public transportation mostly consists of "tuk-tuks", a cart with room for 6 squished passengers merged with a motorcyle. We haven't done that yet, but have chosen to walk the streets to get oriented, very slow walking, of course. It is, indeed, hot and humid, and we've already experienced two full-on downpours. It is the tail-end of the rainy season . . . and they say that the best season is nearly upon us.

The food is great and fresh - last night we went to a restaurant that served "gourmet-style" food made by "street-kids". The restaurant is actually a cooking school, a non-profit organization that takes kids off the street and trains them to cook and wait tables. They were so cute and spoke such good English! The food was magnificent, and we dined (two big beers included) for about $13.

For now, we are staying in a guesthouse and checking out properties with agents. Hopefully, we'll find the right place soon. But, of course, one has to remember: Please don't rush . . .