What’s for dinner?

Lao comestibles are truly a mix of good foods as they share many dishes with neighboring countries while having a few specialties. We have yet to try the more bizarre delicacies that are sold, such as ant egg soup, barbecued bat and duck blood, but we have tasted our fair share of peculiar dishes. Unfortunately, we don’t have pictures of the many meals described below, but maybe for those with sensitive stomachs, words are enough.

It is commonly said that the Lao people eat everything…thus far that statement has proven correct. Our experience with food began soon after we arrived in Lao, which was good since we were rather hungry after the trip! Lao victuals are best described as a conglomeration of Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines. It does have its own unique dishes, but usually when we ask if a dish is Lao or not people will say that it originates from one of the aforementioned countries.

We wet our pallets when Brennan and Kristina visited us on their whirlwind-world-honeymoon-tour. Some of you may have heard their colorful account of an afternoon snack of barbecued dog (entrails and tails included). I maintain that the sauce was excellent and the meat was tasty, but the extras didn’t have much going for them apart from turning our stomachs.

Spending time with a host family in our first two months here was not only extremely helpful in broadening our understanding of language, but also introduced our taste buds to a variety of foods. While with them we ate fish gill soup, buffalo skin (which is a delicacy even here in Tha Thom where it is deep fried), marinated chicken feet and snails. To our chagrin we missed out on eating the 2-inch-long grubs, frogs, and song birds that we saw gracing the counter top of the kitchen.

Dragon Fruit

Eating Seaweed Soup with Bounpheng

Close-up of Slimy Goodness!

Little did we know that our lips had only been moistened for the culinary experience of rural Lao in Tha Thom! Here, roasted duck feet, embryotic eggs, iguana, sparrow, monkey, mouse deer, seaweed soup, many new fruits (mak kho, mak ko, mak tao) that sound the same, pickled garlic, innards soup (very common in the office), stir-fried cucumbers (one of my favorites) and a type of  "jay-o" (a dipping sauce) made from a cows fecal matter, are some of the special items on the menu.

As you might expect, rice is the staple in our diet and just as there are hundreds of varieties and flavors of potatoes in America so there are many varieties of rice here…and they all have a name! The most common and enjoyed rice in South East Asia is sticky rice (gluttonous rice). It is steamed in a basket, not immerses in water and cooked as normal rice is, and is eaten with other food by forming a ball in the hand and then using this ball to pick up veggies and/or meat. Interestingly, just as potatoes come in many colors, rice comes in a variety of hues! One of our favorites is purple (or black as the locals label it) sticky rice. Most commonly this is sweetened, stuffed into a piece of bamboo and then roasted over the fire. The bamboo is them pealed back and the rice column can be enjoyed.

White and Purple Sticky Rice in the Traditional Rice Basket

For the most part we enjoy the wide variety of foods we are served, but the normal meal in Lao isn’t all that foreign. Noodle soup is available at almost every shop and fried rice, omelets, fried eggs, wai-wai, steamed veggies and corn on the cob are some of the foods that remind us of ‘home.’
Posted by Jeffrey

Taste of Home

As our friends and family in America joined together in the spirit of Thanksgiving, celebrating with good company and good food, Jeffrey and I also joined in to give thanks. But things are different here in SE Asia, and we realized that it would be just as difficult to fly all our loved ones here to celebrate with us as it would be to try make a whole thanksgiving meal. So what could we feasibly do? After scratching our brains and talking things through, we decided to fore go turkeys and mashed potatoes this year, and try our hands at making – pancakes!

Making the mix

On Friday, November 26, 2010, MCC Tha Thom staff and district partners were hosting a farewell party for our Project Manager. Even though it was the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to contribute our pancakes to the mix of traditional Lao dishes. We weren’t sure at first if the pancakes would turn out as we were missing milk, but we decided that sweetened condensed milk is close enough as long it is watered down thoroughly. We started cooking them over a fire with our cast iron skillet (the most awesome find during our shopping for kitchen accessories). The pancakes drew quite a crowd. Our district partners even asked to try their hand at cooking them.

Help from District partner

Our 'Thanksgiving' feast

In the end we had enough small pancakes for forty people, who apparently, enjoyed them greatly because there were none left over for breakfast! Next year we may try to make the more traditional Thanksgiving dishes, but we also might just keep pancakes in the back of our mind.
(Thank you to Wendy Martin for the pictures.)
Posted by Kaarina

Tuk-tuks and Log Trucks

So this blog entry is for all of you who are wondering, might be wondering or haven’t even asked yourself, “So what kind of vehicles do you have in Lao?” That is a great question! Hopefully, this blog will give you a pictorial experience that will answer that question.

First we have the infamous ‘tuk-tuk’ famous in many Asian countries and known by various names. This three wheeled machine buzzes the streets of Vientiane and is available for hire. They come in different sizes, but all are put together with miss-matched parts from cannibalized motorcycles and other vehicles.

Tuk-tuk

The second is similar to the ‘tuk-tuk’ in name and use. The ‘dtek-dtek’ is the primary work horse in rural farms and the modern version of a water buffalo (minus the milk). However, it's use extends to local hire, putting down the street to Tha Thom and to neighboring villages. Farmers take these ‘powerhouses’ anywhere, including crossing rather deep rivers. It is interesting to note that they are started by a hand crank!

Dtek-dtek

Washing the Dtek-dtek

The next vehicle is the bamboo raft! Although they are simple they are used to ferry goods and motorcycles that are too small across deep rivers.

Bamboo Rafts

“But what if the river is too deep for a larger vehicle?” Well I am glad you asked because now we bring in the big guns; the grader ferry!

Grader Ferry

Another mode of transportation we have become accustomed to is the long boat. They come in various sizes and with different sized engines. The down side: they aren’t incredibly comfortable so for long trips we recommend a pillow and be sure to wear long sleeves lest you tempt the UV rays to turn you into a beet! These contraptions may also find themselves literally grounded in the dry season.

Long River Boat

Another Boat

We move now to larger beasts of burden. The first I throw in for interests sake…the commercial truck with dual steering axles! These machines negotiate the narrow roadways of Vientiane delivering many supplies, mostly from Thailand.

Dual Steering Axles!

The next heavy-weight is the log truck converted from an old army frame. These are seen frequenting Tha Thom and neighboring villages, picking up logs and delivering them to the mill north of town.

Log Truck

“So how do you get around when you visit project villages?” Another good question! We have several options: walking, running, riding bike, dtek-dtek, small motorcycle (100cc), large motorcycle (250cc) or by pickup. The larger motorcycles seem to be one of the staff favorites if they can manage the starts and stops! The average Lao stature is short, so many staff start by using a step and try to stop somewhere else in the same manner.

250cc Kawasaki

On longer trips the pickup up is nice ride. It traverses rivers and mountains with relative ease and it’s AC is a blessing in the hot and dust season. The current road situation in Tha Thom and the surrounding towns makes a truck with brush guard, snorkel and winch a good option.

Toyota Helix Vigo

Road Construction

Finally, “How do you get around Tha Thom?” The answer is simple: by bike!

Posted by Jeffrey

Khmu Village

Kaarina and I have been blessed these past two weeks to have Bounpheng help us in our work. Bounpheng is a former IVEP’er and has done translation work for MCC in the past. He will help us as we begin our work as our Lao is still in its infancy. He is an immense help, teaching us more technical Lao words and couching our sentence structure. In addition to Lao, Thai and English, Bounpheng also speaks Khmu.

Studying with Bounpheng

 Work in Tha Thom recently brought us to Thitnoon, a Khmu village roughly 21km to the south. 103 families call the village home and all the structures are built in the traditional stilted style with bamboo walls. The village does not yet have electricity, but running water is present provided by the first development organization that worked in the area.

Thitnoon Village

A Traditional Home

   After arriving to the village in the afternoon, bathing in the river, learning a few key Khmu words and eating chicken soup we retired to bed in one of the homes. Bed consisted of a mat, blanket and pillow. Morning began early (3:00am) when the roosters began to stir and some farmers started getting ready for the day. We decided to wait stay in bed till 6:30am.

Evening in the Village

Morning Sun

The reason for our trip to Thitnoon was to observe the agricultural team’s workshop about animal raising and vaccines. About 107 villagers attended, plus the MCC agricultural team, several government officials and us, all crammed into a small classroom.
Topics of the day included:
1. A recent law stating that all farmers must keep their animals contained during the night and work harder to keep them from destroying crops. Farmer’s heard the new law and agreed that it is good to start following.
2. Basic needs of animals.
3. Importance of vaccinations.
4. Breeding.

Village Farmers at the Animal Training

We are eager to get to know the other villages in which MCC works.

Posted by Jeffrey

A day in the village (thus far)

Already November and we’re into our second week in Tha Thom. Wow! It’s wild to think about sometimes, but life is starting to feel kind of normal… waking in the morning and looking out the window to the beautiful mountain ridge and rice fields. Reading, getting dressed in my sihn and blouse and then heading down to the guesthouse restaurant for some breakfast. Breakfast usually consists of sticky rice, soup, jeyo (Lao ‘salsa’ usually made from chilies) and some other vegetable or meat dish. Then Jeffrey and I ride across town on our bikes. We usually join a number of other villagers and school children heading to the office or school. Today Jeffrey and I decided that Tha Thom does not have the local ‘rush hour,’ but ‘dust hour.’ And we hear it only gets worse in the dry season! Uffda!

Down the road from the office

Main Street

 A normal office day starts at about 8am, and Jeffrey and I try to arrive to the office with enough time to drink a warm cup of tea/coffee and chat with co-workers before work is started. I should mention here that we’ve entered the Lao cool season (November-January). With sunshine I would consider the weather absolutely perfect, but nights and mornings can get a bit chilly. Imagine my surprise though when I realized a few days ago that ‘chilly’ for me has now started at 21°C (70°F!). I'm afraid my tough Minnesotan skin is already becoming accustomed to the warm tropics and I may soon join the locals with their coats, gloves and stocking caps!

During the work day, Jeffrey and I are not very busy… mostly due to our lack of being able to communicate with the other staff about work topics. We have been trying to keep busy though, with whatever we can find helpful. Jeffrey has been battling the viruses on the office computers and trying to make them run a bit faster. He had a great victory yesterday (finding and destroying a virus before it was able to attack) and he was pretty pumped! He also will join the nutrition team soon, learning about their planning and presentation strategies and joining them as they visit target villages. My main daily activity has been ‘het ahan Lao’ (making Lao food) with the MCC cook/housekeeper. She is from a nearby village and is two years younger than me, but can sure cook up a storm. There is not much food variety here in Tha Thom, sticky rice or white rice, vegetables are mainly leafy greens though occasionally we have eggplant, sweet potatoes or squash, and a choice of meat from water buffalo, pork, beef or fish. I am amazed that even from a limited variety of food, we eat a wonderful variety of dishes. I hope I can learn much from her!

MCC Office

 The office day comes to an end at about 4:30pm. After work is a perfect time to go walking or riding bike on the road as a number of other villagers do the same thing. As people pass by you will hear the common greeting “Bai sai?” (‘Where are you going?’) to which the response generally is “Bai lin!” (the best English translation would probably be ‘Just cruisin’!’).

After supper anywhere from 6 to 7pm, I’m pretty much worn out, so after a chilling bike ride back across town, a quick visit and cup of tea with our guest house family, Jeffrey and I head to our room for a shower (no such thing as a ‘hot’ shower, but if the water is too freezing we’ll try boil some water to take the chill off) and then bed.

So life goes in the village.

Posted by Kaarina

Hello from Tha Thom!

We have finally made it and are writing our first blog entry from the MCC office in Tha Thom. After a 4 hour boat ride we arrived last Thursday (21st) with all of our belongings plus three bikes. I would include a picture of the loaded boat, but with the excitement of loading and unloading our baggage there was not much time for picture taking. We are currently living in a guest house near the edge of town with a breathtaking view of a mountain ridge. It is a little hike to the office every morning so we are thankful for the bikes we picked up second hand.

Rice Fields behind the Guest House

There are only two of the nine staff here since the country-wide Lao boat racing festival is underway. Even in this small town they hold boat racing in the Nam San (river). We have enjoyed our first taste of Lao festivities. The Lao sure know how to celebrate. Some of the more unique foods we have eaten include: Job’s tear (a steamed grain), embryonic eggs (hardboiled semi-mature fertilized eggs), grilled goat and fish, and khaulam (sweetened purple sticky rice steamed in bamboo). We have watched two days of boat racing, danced the traditional Lao dance, and enjoyed the food offered by the street vendors.

Boat Racing!

The coming few weeks will entail continuing to learn new Lao vocabulary, visiting project villages, adjusting to life in Tha Thom and figuring out long term housing. We are very excited to finally be here even though life and work will be challenging.

Happy Thanksgiving!

...well at least to those from Canada! This past Saturday our director, who is Canadian, held a thanksgiving meal at her house. It was an evening full of traditional thanksgiving food complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash, salad, bread, chicken, corn, and much to Kaarina's delight, pickles and olives! I believe it was one of the few meals where we have not eaten rice since coming to Lao. Needless to say it sure did feel like thanksgiving as we returned home with the typical 'stuffed' bellies.

Host Famly's Home

Host Mother and Father

'Home' for us has recently changed again as we just said our goodbyes to our host family of two months. They blessed us with a farewell bacci done with Christian flair. Apart from the traditional string tyeing and blessings we sung a few Christian songs and recited the Lord's prayer as our host family is Catholic. We are now living in the MCC guest house as we prepare for our move to Tha Thom in just over a week's time. Finishing up language study this week and purchasing various household items are on our list of things to do.

MCC Office (Vientiane)

MCC Guest House (Vientiane)

We are excited as we enter this new time of transition and are eager to settle into a new home in Tha Thom.