Baby's Got Beat!

A musical expo of a few of Moriah's sounds. She sure had a lot to say after dinner!

Long Distance Votes

Voting with absentee ballots in the States is one thing...but trying to vote from a remote town in the mountains of Laos is quite another!

The process started back in August. A trip to the Chester town office seemed easy enough. Fill out a slip of paper...sign it and turn it in. "Great! That was easy, our ballots will be sent to the MCC office in Laos!"

Easier said than done. October dawned and our ballots had not yet arrived. The US Embassy in Laos had sent out a newsletter with all the options for voting. All of them involved sending our ballots back to the US. That is also easier said than done in a country with no formal domestic mail system!

Our best option was to print out our ballots from the Federal Voting Assistance Program website. Thankfully since we already requested our ballots during our visit home the process was as simple as filling out our information online and printing the resulting PDF and envelopes.

Ready to Travel

Now the journey begins! Getting our votes in the mail was fairly urgent as it takes 15 days minimum to get back to the US from Laos. We gave our sealed voting envelopes to a fellow staff member traveling to Vientiane by bus (150miles). From his home it was picked up and brought to the MCC office (10miles). The MCC driver then ferried the ballots to the US Embassy (3miles). From the US Embassy the envelopes are traveling to some unknown location in the US via the Embassy's diplomatic pouch (~8000miles). And then they will be delivered to our county's town clerk's office (~3000miles). In total our votes will travel around 11,163 miles before they are counted! We hope they make it in time!

How far is it to your voting station?

Bah Bah Bah....Mah Mah Mah

Moriah has been with us for 7 months, but has not yet shared a post of her own. Here she shares a glimpse into her daily routine.

"My morning begins at around 6:30, give or take. Sometimes the sun wakes me up. Other times it is the loud roosters that crow outside my window. Recently our neighbor has been cutting wood. The noise wakes me up.

I like to play with my stuffed animals that hang above my bed. They are soft. Then I get bored so I start making noise. I know mommy and daddy can hear me, but sometimes it takes them too long to come and say good morning. I smile when I see them.

"Good Morning!"

Then daddy takes me outside to let out the chickens and say hello to the ducks, puppy, and garden. My favorite is the puppy.

"I like puppy!"

Next is breakfast. I still don’t eat much for breakfast, but it is fun to sit with mommy and daddy. Sometime I eat banana and oatmeal.

"Do I look Silly?"

After I get dressed, I go to work with daddy. We ride bike together. It is fun to see Tha Thom in the morning. Many people smile at me. My sitter, Gai, meets me at the office. We play together and she takes me around to visit neighbors. I see many, many people. I take a morning nap and then play more.

"I like boxes!"

At lunch time I go home with mommy and daddy. I am usually very hungry. I like to eat papaya or pumpkin with rice. I usually get very messy at lunch. Then mommy gives me a bath. Baths are fun. I like to splash.

"This is me, talking with daddy. We are having fun!"

Daddy leaves for work and mommy and I wave goodbye from the porch. Now that I have a full belly I feel tired. Mommy reads to me and sings me a song. I like to sleep in my new bed. I feel like a princess under my pink mosquito net.

"I'm a princess!"

When I wake up I am happy to see mommy. We have a snack together. I am learning how to eat rice crackers. Nu and Nee (Our landlord's daughters) come and play with me almost every day. They are fun to play with. Daddy comes home and I smile at him. We play on the porch and then visit the chickens to give them food.

"I like to play on the porch!"

"Nee and Nu are fun!"

Sometimes in the evening Mommy and I go to visit friends. It is fun to visit other babies. I like babies.

"I like babies!"

When it starts to get dark it is time to eat. I crawl to the table and wait for mommy and daddy to put me in my chair. I like to eat moringa and chicken with rice or quinoa. Mommy says it tastes like chicken casserole. I don’t know what that is. If I get into my dinner too much…then I get to take another bath. I like baths.

"Baths are fun!"

After my bath, comes the worst part of the day. I have to get into my pajamas. I don’t like getting into long sleeves. When I am all dressed I play a little.

"Got to get...toy!"

Sometimes daddy plays harmonica. It sounds pretty. Then mommy and daddy sing and read the bible. Mommy feeds me to sleep. What a busy day!"