summer, please slow down

While I'm happy to see the summer chug along, I realized that in a few short weeks I'll be out of Laos. To some of my fellow interns, I think this is a welcomed fact, but I must say that I will certainly miss this place. The experiences I have had up to this point have been amazing, the people have been wonderful and the project I am working on has been very meaningful.

So, with roughly four weeks left here, July is already shaping up nicely. Yesterday began with me failing to get my motorbike started as I attempted to leave for work. Fortunately, after several failed starts in the past, I now always place the bike in neutral before turning it off. I do this because in order to kick start the bike, it must be in neutral. Knowing this was not the problem, I deduced it had to be the petrol, of which there was none in the tank. So, Boom, our housekeepers very able daughter, quickly changed into some going out clothes, got on her bike and, as I steered my powerless bike, pushed me down the street to buy some petrol. The petrol came in a used bottle of BeerLao. After that, I was back in business and off to work. To avoid future embarrassment, I made a stop at the petrol station before I got to work.

After work, my flatmates and I stopped off at a travel agent to book tickets for a trip to Luang Prabang next weekend. Luang Prabang is apparently a very scenic town nestled amongst the mountains in the northern part of Laos. There are numerous wats and old structures to be seen around town and some caves and waterfalls scattered amongst the mountains. It will be a great trip and I will definitely return with many photos.

Tonight is our weekly football match, tomorrow is the grand opening party for our neighbor's hair salon and Saturday we get to see how Laos celebrates the 4th of July.