Cover Cropping

When the rains start…they sure are here to stay! The machine, that is the South East Asia monsoon, has begun to dump its wet payload for the 2012 season. This moisture transforms the landscape into a burst of verdant, dripping green. Even though it isn’t technically a rainforest, days of non-stop showers certainly make it feel like we live in one!

Tilling the Fields

Farmers take advantage of this time of year by planting rice in their sopping rice paddies. Other crops are hard to grow because they are not adapted to this much water!

As one might expect gardening becomes challenging as water logged soil is inevitable. Despite our raised beds, plants that don’t like having ‘wet feet’ soon drown, leaving the monsoon-resilient plants to flourish in the humid environment. Eggplant, ginger, basil, hot pepper, moringa, and lemon grass have all taken off, while tomatoes, green onions and dill have all retreated to the dryer safety of pots on our porch.

Planting Amongst the Stubble

We were blessed by Mom and Dad Visness who brought with them good ol’ American sweet corn. We praise the Lord that the corn flourished so well that in only 65 days we feasted off corn-on-the-cob for two weeks, before the rains really geared up. Now that the corn is stubble the soil needs some replenishing. Since corn is a heavy feeder and the rainy season quickly leaches nitrogen from the soil it is a necessity to plant some sort of cover crop that will improve the soil and protect it from the pounding downpours.

Baby Jack Beans

We were introduced to jack bean a climbing, nitrogen-fixing legume that seems to grow prolifically in any location. It doesn’t seem to mind the wetness either! It will produce foot long bean pods that are edible (but we have yet to indulge). Lima bean sized seeds are also produced, but we have read that they require some work before they are made tasty.

This coming year MCC may even encourage farmers to grow nitrogen fixing cover crops in their fallow rice paddies during the dry season. We are excited to see how well the jack bean continues to do in our garden and maybe see if it can be used to improve the soil in the fields of some local farmers working with MCC. Will jack beans prove to be magic?

Flukes

When I bought the breaker I immediately noticed the word "Fluke" written in red and black bold letters on it's side. I turned to Dad saying, "How can we trust a breaker with a name like that?"

A Fluke?

Laughing to ourselves we bought the breaker from the local Chinese hardware store in downtown Tha Thom. Dad and I were in the process of wiring our bathroom to accommodate our secondhand washer and spinner and preparing for a small on-demand water heater. During Mom and Dad Visness' recent visit Dad tackled many projects around our home and garden. We were all excited for the new convenience of a semi automatic washer to help curb the endless production of dirty diapers. The water heater would also be a welcomed step-up from the frigid mountain river water piped around the village in the newly finished gravity fed water system.

We quickly set up the washer and were cleaning diapers like a well greased machine. The hot water would have to wait until we found a good quality heater in Vientiane. When we travel into Vientiane to bid farewell to Mom and Dad, a water heater was purchased. I set it up and had visions of nice steamy showers..but no sooner did I turn on the unit than the 30amp breaker tripped! The heater could not run at more than half power without tripping the breaker. I did the math and even sent it to Dad to have him check. There was no way our water heater could be drawing more than 20amps.

Dad recommended pulling the breaker and trying a different one. I grabbed another breaker from the guest room and connected it to the circuit. Low and behold the breaker held even at full power. The strange thing that I still can't wrap my mind around is that the new breaker should trip at 15amps! I laughed again when I saw the name on the old breaker...breakers in Tha Thom truly are flukes!

Favorite Sights

As Moriah begins to take in the world around her there are several sights that never cease to hold her attention...at least for a while.

The first sight that interested Moriah was the vertical slats in our kitchen.

Spellbinding Slats

The second sight that vies for attention for various lengths of time and draws out smiles is this face.

Fascinating Face

The third attraction is a toy that Mom and Dad Visness brought along.

Tranquilizing Toy

The fourth sight catches Moriah's eyes on rainy and sunny days alike. While walking along the drip line of our out-door kitchen, the raged roof's edge is striking!

Enthralling Edge

Bewitched Baby

Many Arrivals

The arrival of our little daughter also brought the arrival of two other special visitors! Kaarina’s parents met us in Bangkok several weeks after Moriah was born. They arrived full of joy, greetings and hugs from friends and family, gifts from the far away land of America, energy and experience! Just what two tired new parents were in need of!

Grandma Meeting Moriah

Grampi Meeting Moriah

Night Train (Don't worry that seat turns into two bunk beds!)

After a long, but slick night train ride, we arrived back to the lovely country of Laos. During our short stay in the Capital, Stan and Dorinda were able to experience many things… eating Lao fusion food at Mak Ped Restaurant, shopping at Lao markets, and contributing to a special dedication ceremony we had for Moriah.

Lao Market Shoppers

Lao Fusion Food with Friends

Dressed for Dedication

We returned to our home in Tha Thom and were able to give mom and dad a true taste of living in the village. Life was busy as all four pairs of hands were needed in running the house, washing diapers, making food and caring for and holding the little one.

Just a Hanging Out

Visiting an MCC Irrigation Project

Visits From Neighbors

Taking a Bunny for a Stroll

Little Bunnies Draw Attention!

Bath Time!

Going to Town on the Laundry

Lao Meal in our Home

Despite the business we did have time to travel to Phonsavanh for a short vacation. We visited the beautiful Plain of Jars and another expatriate family. Our time there also fell over the beginning of Lao New Year. Following Lao tradition, we joined in some water throwing!

Visiting the Plain of Jars

Lao New Year Water Fight

The visit was over too soon, but we were so thankful for their help and advice during the tough first weeks of life with a baby.

Thank You Mom and Dad!

Troubleshooting

Generally when it comes to troubleshooting computers, especially printers, it involves CDs full of drivers, many cables and fiddling with obscure system settings. However, today things where different.

The paper being drawn into our office laser jet was being spit out on an angle, crinkling the print into a mangled mess. It was on the verge of jamming with each document. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the top corner of each page was stained yellow. An earlier piece of paper even had an insect wing imbedded in the sheet! This was no missing driver fix, no sir!

I began dismantling the printer and after removing the toner cartridge two small white balls rolled out. I immediately recognized these as gecko eggs! But they were not the only culprit causing malfunction. I still couldn't see any insects so I pulled out the air blower and blasted the printer's innards. Nothing more came out so I decided to run a few more sheets through. This time they didn't crinkle or begin to jam, but mashed into the paper of the first sheet was an entire yellow-winged bug! I guarantee the printer manual doesn't have a section explaining a procedure for removing gecko eggs and insect carcasses!

Gecko Eggs

Traffic Weaving

The game of “Rush Hour” is played by cramming small plastic cars into a grid with only a few given the possibility of moving a few spaces. The object of the game is to move the ‘red car’ out of the gridlock and off the board.

This game is played on the streets of Bangkok every day, but full size cars and trucks are used rather than small scale plastic vehicles. The jams also seem to appear at random…no real rush hour seems to take place. So when you must travel somewhere a traffic jam is always a possibility!

However, there is a way here in Bangkok to escape the bumper to bumper cars and arrive quickly at any destination. To bypass the immovable pandemonium motor bikes are the logical solution! These bikes and scooters can easily weave their way through stopped traffic and sneak to the front of long lines at intersections and clogged causeways.

Weaving Through the Jam

Using this form of transportation isn’t just limited to those who own a bike. Across the city motorcycle taxis operate! The price is sometimes more expensive than a full size metered taxi, but the savings can be great when time is money and gridlock jacks up the metered bill anyway!

Zigging Across Town

The other day I experienced a motorcycle taxi ride as the streets where heavily packed. I bartered for the price…managing to knock 60 cents off the starting rate of $3.30. The driver donned a construction cap and handed me a similarly shaped brain bucket and the ride commenced! We wove around stuck cars and trucks, joining the flow of other motorcycles and mopeds. I had the perfect view, sitting a head taller than the driver, the two of us zigging and zagging, bouncing along the back streets over bumps that bottomed out the shocks of the small bike. These vehicles were not made for people my size! We whizzed off the main road and through dark alleys, too narrow for cars. It was a whirlwind tour the entire 6kms back to the apartment.

New Delivery

After 287 days of waiting, our little bundle arrived! On March 7th at 5:50pm, we were blessed to hold our daughter, Moriah Mae, in our arms for the first time! She weighs a grand total of 7 pounds, 4 ounces, is 20.5 inches long, and has beautiful grey/hazel eyes. If she were to walk by, you couldn’t miss her!

First Family Picture

Just Posing for the Camera

Sooo Little!