Wat Watching, SEA Games, Hanging Wares and Farewell

Last trip to the Center:

Chapter I: Wat-Watching
I was finally dressed appropriately last weekend (skirt, sleeves covering the arms) and visited the wat between the guesthouse and the Center that I have walked past countless times in the last twelve weeks. Wats are too numerous to count in Laos. Even the smallest of bans has one. Larger cities have several and Capital City Vientiane and LuangPrabang (the two largest cities in the country) are dotted with them; sometimes there is one right next door to another. They are far and away the most ornate architecture in the country, always with a concrete fence around them which is painted white with various decorations and which has a fancy arch with a spire under which you pass to enter. There are usually several structures on the grounds: A dormitory for the monks; a small, square ornate tower with three or four levels--the top level holding an impressive gong; and perhaps a smaller replica of the main wat. Trees are a requirement. From the street, a wat is a wat. However, as I entered the grounds, I began to feel I was in a hallowed place. There were monks in their saffron robes studying under trees and on benches. The street noise melted away and the mood was pastoral. I left my sandals at the foot of the stairs and walked into the open-sided temple. There was a lovely breeze from somewhere. There were numerous relics, including a statue of a large golden Buddha in the front. But the best part was the picture story painted in connected drawings where the walls resumed and met the ceiling. It started in the rear with a baby and wound around through childhood, youth and adult good works, ending not too far from the beginning with an old man. I walked back to the steps on the cool tiles, glad I had come.

Chapter II: SEA Games
There are eleven country participants in the Southeast Asia Games. The Games (a kind of mini-Olympics with several added Asian sports) are held in odd-numbered years. This is the 25th contest, the 50th anniversary, and the first Games to be held in Laos. The country is awash in preparations, determined this will not be Laos' last Games and that it will not take another fifty years before the Games return here. The Lao Government TV channel has turned into a veritable infomercial for the Games. Schools have extended their winter holidays so families can participate in the festivities. School grounds are being used for Opening and Closing Ceremonies practices. Shopkeepers are sprucing up their stores. Lane Xang Avenue, Vientiane's main street, was being redone and the median strip replanted when I arrived. There is a large electronic board which advertises the number of days until the Games begin, down to the hours, minutes and seconds. It was inaugurated the day after the last Games ended. When I first arrived, in my ignorance, I thought it was a temperature display: 96 degrees sounded about right. Now the days are down to 18, though the temperature is still around 96 degrees. Yesterday several crews were employed painting the median strip on the street leading from the airport to downtown a bright lime green and installing planters with dok champa (plumeria--Laos' national flower) embossed on the sides. Po's secretary is participating in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies with thousands of others and they have been practicing pretty much every day for awhile. What about one's job, you say? The Government has decreed that SEA Games supercedes work and businesses must release employees for activities related to their participation. Vientiane is strewn with banners and lights. My favorite banner reads: Generosity - Amity - Goodwill.

Chapter III: Hanging Wares
Lao shops and talats hang many of their wares from the ceilings. Homes seem to do this, too, with purses and bags hanging from wrought-iron window coverings, and circular woven tables and pans and pots hanging from nails close to the corrugated tin roofs on patio supports. It certainly makes sweeping and washing down floor surfaces easier and items readily visible. In bike shops, motorcycle tires and inner tubes are hung, covered in their foil wrappings. Chips and packs of gum and Lao treats hang from pink, blue or white nylon ribbons in markets, encased in see-through plastic bags either in multiples or in singles and taken down and removed or cut down when they are sold. When I first saw this, I asked Po if it was protection from water during the rainy season or from bugs and mice. He seemed taken aback and somewhat offended and said, quickly, "No. It's just a good way to display things." I shut up. Fruit, vegetables, canned goods and long loaves of french bread are stacked in pyramids or lengthwise on wooden tables or in bins. Everything else is pretty much hung.

Chapter IV: Farewell
My goodbye to LSMC congregations is as follows:
(I include the last paragraph in phonetic Lao so you can try it; don't worry about the tonalities--if you get close, they'll understand.)

Just five months ago, I went through training to serve as an Individual Volunteer in Mission for the UMC. I was looking for a place I might be helpful. I have been a teacher my whole life and I speak some Spanish, so I thought maybe Mexico or Central or South America might be good choices. But God had other plans.
As soon as I stopped speaking and started listening, God said, "Go to Laos." It was as clear as that. I said, "But it's so far from California." God said, "Go to Laos." I said, "But I don't speak Lao." God said, "Go to Laos." I said, "But I am so old." God said, "Go to Laos." Finally, like Isaiah, I said, "Here I am, Lord. Send me."
I asked Po about September, October and November. He said, "Come." I flew on an airplane all night and all day. When I landed in Vientiane, you drove me around. You invited me to your services and showed me your strong faith. You came to class and we worked together and had fun learning English. You told me about Laos and why you're proud to be Lao.

Koi kit hot khoup khoua khong koi, tae mhua koi kup pai ban koi kor khong ja khit hot phuak chao sent kanh, diao nee phuak chao menh penh phark suan nueng khong khoup khoua khong koi. Khoup chai, lae khor, pha chao ouay phone tuk tuk khon.
Here's what you just said:
I miss my family, but when I go home I will miss you, too. You're part of my family now.
Thank you and God be with you.