Shiny, Happy People . . .

OK, so we are all shiny here due to the heat and humidity . . . but the Lao seem to be especially good at seeing the bright side of everything, even calling me “Madame” (you know with a French pronunciation ma-DAM) when I’m soaked in sweat – it is charming! Which is how we find the people. They are not overly effusive or artificial, but genuine, friendly, and respectful. Not a day goes by in which something “cute” doesn’t happen.

When we first arrived, we noticed that from the tiniest baby to the oldest man, people have character. They seem full of personality when you least expect it. Let’s take a walk around the neighborhood and you’ll see what I mean.

First of all there is a lady that looks nearly a 100 that ever-so-slowly trudges up and down our alley with her walker. She is quite determined to “get out of the house” occasionally, I guess. About once a week she makes her pilgrimage up the alley to the street and back to her house. I worry about how dangerous it is as cars zip from the main street into the alley. I guess she is just an adventurer as I later saw her and her walker enduring a bumpy tuk tuk ride! When we first saw her, we said “Sabaidee”, and she stopped, studied us for a moment, and gave us a big grin.

Near the corner of our alley and the main street sits a type of shoe-repair man under an umbrella. He doesn’t have a stand per se, but a little table with a hodge-podge of old shoes that he enjoys sewing on with a big needle. He happens to have a tuk-tuk parked near his shoe table. Whenever we need a ride into town, he greets us with a warm smile and a “Sabaidee” as he quickly covers his table and shoes with a large sheet of plastic putting stones down to keep it from blowing away. He jumps into the vehicle and is ready to take us where we need to go. It never occurs to him that someone might disturb his stash of footwear. I guess people are honest here.

Just across from the shoe guy is an older gentleman who is some kind of “gate guard” in front of a big house. When we first started passing the house, we would see him sitting in a little chair under a tree, reading out loud from a little book. Literacy is very low in Laos. From what I’ve been told, even educated people don’t read much, so we found this scenario curious. One day the man noticed us passing and said in very clear English, “Where are you from?” We proceeded to have a nice conversation with him – most people speak a little English as it is the common language among Asian countries, however going beyond basic phrases to conversation is rare. This guy even mentioned politics! He said to Joe, I like that “Balack Obama – He’s a handsome guy, he’s young, he’s clean cut . . . he look like you!” And I think he really meant it.

Then the other day, as I was taking a walk, I saw two little school-boys in uniform. As I passed, they did a bit of a rubber-neck (just as bit . . . as this is the capital city and people are pretty used to seeing foreigners). I gave a smile and said (one of my familiar but useful words in Lao) “Sabaidee”. They called back to me, “Bai sai”? My mind started whirling . . . oh I knew I had heard that on my language tape . . . . oh oh . . . . what did it mean again? Oh yes! “Where are you going?” Then, again whirling, my mind searched for the answer in the archives of my brain. There it was! I said “Bai lin” (going out for fun). They looked at me, and as I was expecting laughter in reaction to my undoubtedly bad pronunciation and slow reaction time one blew me a kiss!

The people are not only polite and gregarious, but they are very calm. You never hear people raising their voices or arguing. Maybe “muan” makes people this way – it’s the concept of “fun” or “enjoyment” that is paramount in Lao culture. If your life situation is not “muan”, you must try to get out of it. Also, Buddhism has a strong influence. Daily you can see women crouched in the streets in the early morning; they wait to give offerings of food and money to the procession of monks that passes by. The monks may stop at a particular house or group of women and produce a haunting yet musical chant – a prayer? The festivals seem to draw people from miles around to enjoy themselves in a large, crowded, sweaty, yet peaceful gathering. Last Sunday, we went down to the riverside for “Boun Ok Phansa”. Thousands of people send off little boats made of banana stems and flowers. This ritual signifies the end of the rainy season and represents sending “bad luck” away. I bought my little boat for about 50 cents, lit the candle, and sent it along the river . . . although its flame blew out, it caught a good current and sped swiftly down the river . . .