Thursday, July 24, 2014

Khop jai! (Thank you in Lao)

I am really enjoying both my internship and life in Vientiane so far. The work days are flying by! This week, I got to write some talking points for the Ambassador's remarks at a Lao Non Profit Association (NPA) roundtable. It was really cool to hear the Ambassador giving my short speech.

The roundtable also made me realize how glad I am to be in Laos. It is exciting to be in a developing country like Laos. All of the Lao NPAs present have only been around for a few years, and are doing some great work, but face many challenges of being a new organization in a developing country. Many of these groups have very few resources, but they are helping disabled UXO victims, women, and minorities. It's incredibly inspiring. For example, the Lao Disabled Women's Development Center helps women, many who are UXO victims, gain independence by teaching them skills, like how to make handicrafts.

Last night, I decide to try larb (or laap or lawp), which is a Lao specialty. It is minced meat (I tried beef) with some herbs and spices. Lao food has really great fresh herbs and spices. It was very different from anything I've eaten, but delicious. The woman who cooked my larb was nervous that I wouldn't like it, or maybe that it was too spicy, so she watched me try it. I told her it was very good!

For dinner tonight I wanted something small, so I got a tomato-basil-mozzarella sandwich at a pizza place (I will have to go back to try the pizza, they have a huge wood oven). The basil was absolutely incredible. I've never had such flavor in basil! The herbs here are just fantastic.

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