Sae Lao

When I was taking the train up to Chiang Mai from Bangkok, I longingly stared out the window, my gaze met by green valleys, dense forests cluttered with trees I couldn't hope to identify, and then - finally - rice fields! I had never seen them before. Now, after a week of volunteering at the Sae Lao project, not only have I seen them, but I've worked in them: shin deep in thick mud with snakes swimming by, shoveling clumps of the muck onto existing walls to fortify them (defending them from burrowing crabs), gently planting small clumps of 3 or 4 delicate seedlings without breaking the stems or roots. I certainly do not consider myself an expert by any means, but I do think I've gained a little insight into rice production, and hopefully also learned a bit about the life of a rural Laos farmer during rice season.

A very full plane

Better food than United, that's for sure

After arriving in Laos, I met Amber at the airport without a hitch. (Side note: Major props to Bangkok Air for their friendly flight attendants, decent food, and great service. United could stand to learn a lot from this small regional airline.) We spent the night in Vientiane (pronounced vien-chen. It wasn't exactly bustling, but we did arrive on a Sunday afternoon, so I can't comment on the activity level of Laos' capital city on a weekday. However, the pace was a lovely change from Bangkok (the madhouse) and Chiang Mai (the tourist trap). We had some great Indian food for lunch, walked along the river, perused a rather uninspiring night market, and turned in early. A relaxing place, but perhaps not too much to do there.

The next morning we took a mini bus to Vang Vieng, what was supposed to be a 2.5 hour journey. After driving for about an hour, the driver pulled over and answered his cell phone. We were unable to understand what he was saying in Lao, but we both looked at each other: Uh oh, we forgot someone. The driver pulled a U-ie and we headed back towards Vientiane.

Although the backtracking added considerable time to our journey, it was worth it; we picked up a lovely Lao family at the airport, young parents with an adorable baby girl. The husband was quite talkative and we chatted about Laos, its culture, and its people. For example:
- There is a Buddha day every week in Laos - their holy day. But the day varies each week based on the lunar calendar.
- Most Lao men spend time as monks when they are young, to show their devotion and please their parents. Our friend told us he only lasted a month as he was hungry all the time; the monks don't get to eat dinner!

We had planned to head straight to the Sae Lao project upon arriving in Vang Vieng, but as our journey took longer than expected we found a lovely guesthouse and spent the night in town. Vang Vieng is... weird. There is a river there where tourists go tubing, with bars along the way. Twenty two tourist died in Vang Vieng in 2011, largely due to combinations of stupidity, carelessness, alcohol, weed, and magic mushrooms. The government has cracked down since then, but the party goes on. Everything closes fairly early, generally around 11pm (Laos has a nationwide midnight curfew), but that doesn't seem to staunch the debauchery. Amber and I sat on a street corner for a while, eating hotdogs and watching drunk people stumble around. We saw a guy fall flat on his face at 8pm.

Enjoying a Beer Lao by the river in Vang Vieng

In the morning, we found our way to the house of Sengkeo - the director of Sae Lao. We piled into the cab of his truck along with his wife and three children (a tight fit), then went shopping to gather supplies for the project: bread, chicken, vegetables, and - of course - beer. We left town and drove about 20km down a dirt road bordered by rice fields and mountains with steep cliff faces. Incredible scenery.

Welcome to Sae Lao!

We reached Sae Lao around lunchtime, as the volunteers were trickling in from their morning activities; the two of us brought the total number up to 18. Everyone was very friendly. Most were from Europe, with others from Taiwan, Japan, and Canada. We were the only Americans. We spent the afternoon settling in, then taught a beginning English class to three lovely Lao children in the evening. So much fun! We worked on basic greetings (What is your name? My name is Nanphoun. How are you? I am happy!), focusing on vocabulary and phonics. I felt so lucky to be co-teaching with Amber; she is an amazingly talented educator. And she always makes learning fun for her students.

Making Hungry Caterpillars

Ten volunteers would be leaving the next day, so that night was quite lively. We drank Beer Lao, the local beer (tasty but unfortunately gassy), and also laolao, which is a whisky made from rice/I'm pretty sure it's battery acid. Amber and I didn't make it to midnight, but many of our comrades stayed up past four. I must admit, I wondered, will every night be like this? Thankfully, the rest of the week was more laid back and I think I was quite healthy.

The next morning, I went to work in the rice fields. I wondered how I would walk through the water without losing my flip flops, then realized we would be farming barefoot. Uh huh. Thick squishy mud between my toes, slippery underfoot. Soothing in a way. Spiders walked on the surface of the water; crickets sprang between piles of mud; and two small black and yellow snakes slithered by. Quickly learned that the red ants were not friendly. We used shovels with bamboo handles to scoop up mud, then essentially slapped it onto the existing walls, making them thicker and taller. We smoothed then with our feet, though Hom - one of the local staff at Sae Lao - came behind us and effortlessly made adjustments with his own soles, clearly not impressed with our uneven walls. Hom, let me add, worked in his underwear.

Building walls was not my favorite activity, largely due to the large blister that quickly formed on my palm. I much preferred rice planting. Once out on the field, you were handed a large bundle of rice seedlings. I planted "steamy" rice, a different species from sticky rice. Holding the bundle on my right arm, I pulled a few small seedlings from the bunch with my left hand. Grasping them at the roots, I gently pushed them into the mud, as deep as the length of my thumb. Move over about eight inches, then repeat. The most satisfying aspect was looking over the field after it was planted - green grass-like leaves poking out of the brown water. They looked so fresh and alive. (Note to self: Be proactive next year and plant a vegetable garden. Meant to do it this year, but never got around to it.)

Our bungalows, where we made friends with giant spiders

Our next door neighbors

The best part of the week was teaching. Amber and I continued to work with the younger students at 5pm, then took over the most advanced section of the 6pm session. Our students were Thong, Mor, and Yee, three boys in their late teens. Such eager learners! We wrote dialogues, practiced tongue twisters, worked on listening comprehension, and studied parts of speech. We tried hard to make our lessons fun and interactive, engaging them and stimulating creativity. The most impressive thing is that these boys spent all day working in the rice fields, then were still motivated enough to come to English class. Mor even wrote short essays in the evenings and would bring them to class for me to correct. I was very sad to say goodbye to these kids and wish I could have taught them for longer. Sengkeo mentioned increasing the minimum volunteer stay from one week to two; I think this would be hugely beneficial for the project, especially for the teaching program.

Along with having great kids to teach, there were great volunteers to work alongside. We meet some amazing people, many of whom are traveling for months or years. Some with a plan, some just making it up as they go. Everyone shared stories, games, meals, and glasses of beer, passed around the table Lao-style. After you spend every waking moment with someone for a week, in a remote village with no WiFi, it's easy to feel as if you've known them for years. And when you meet travelers like the volunteers at Sae Lao, it's easy to believe that you'll bump into them again someday, somewhere.

Mesmerized by an insect

Hard day at work

So to Romain, Pascal, Thomas, Pia, Jenny, Levi, Rijk, Suraj, Yuma, and Mark: Sok dee! (Good luck)