1st Year...already?!

Last week Moriah turned 1. Whether or not she was completely aware of the fact...we aren't sure. But we tried to make the day special anyway. Some gifts and cards in the morning before breakfast started the day off...then it progressed into our normal work/office routine, where Moriah plays in the morning with her sitter, Gai. Plans for the afternoon included eating cake with our landlord's family...until we realized that another 1st birthday party was planned.

Apple Carrot Cake (She didn't touch the candle)

Enjoying Birthday Blocks

Earlier last week Jeffrey received an invitation at work. Assuming that it was just another wedding invitation (it is wedding season are there are invites almost once a week), left it on his desk, not really wanted to go to a wedding on Moriah's birthday evening. As it turned out the invitation was not to a wedding...but to a birthday party for Fa. When Kaarina and Jeffrey realized this, Jeffrey retrieved the invitation and sure enough it was a first birthday party of a girl born on the same day as Moriah.

In Laos, birthdays are not celebrated and hardly even mentioned...with the exception of first birthdays. We were exposed to this first birthday tradition in Vientiane, but have not seen it practiced in Tha Thom, until now. Fa's party started a 7pm...(Moriah's bedtime), but hey, what good is a birthday if you can't enjoy the whole day right? We arrived bearing the invitation envelop, returning it with cash (customary for both weddings and 1st birthdays). The whole side-street was blocked off with tents and tables full of food. This was bigger than some weddings we attended! We progressed to the family's home, buried behind the tents, tables and the stack of speakers blaring standard party tunes.

Fa and Moriah

A crowd of kids filled the living room around a heavily frosted cake brought all the way from Vientiane for the occasion. The lights were turned out and candles were lit and extinguished after a very rough version of "Happy Birthday" sung Lao style (slower, with out the "dear 'Fa'" part, and birthday pronounced, "Burr-day"). Cake was distributed. Moriah tasted a little, but was far more intrigued by poking the red cherry embedded in the frosting, than with eating. Moriah's highlight of the evening was getting pushed around the house on a toddlers scooter with Fa.

Singing Happy Burr-day

The rest of the party was adult-oriented, with traditional Lao party food of meat, soup, sticky rice,  spicy dipping sauce and beer. We left before the dancing started with the help of a few big yawns from Moriah. The unexpected 1st birthday party had certainly worn her out!

Auspicious Festivities

A celebration overtook the streets of Tha Thom during Sunday and Monday. Being that our home is fairly central in town and directly across from the temple we had a front-row seat to the happenings. Apparently this Sunday's full moon was an auspicious one and festivals and parties were held in other parts of Laos too. In part, yesterday's celebration was a fund raiser for the temple. They have been constructing a entrance for the past year, but recently construction has halted.

Toy Vendors

Unfinished Temple Entrance

Part of the privilege of having a home across from the temple is that when parties like these happen, we get to enjoy a late night of music. The fact that we aren't entirely fond of loud music stretching into the wee hours of the morning is an understatement. Since having Moriah we place great value on sleep. This festival would also be the first major test of Moriah's sleeping stamina.

Vendor's Tent in our Driveway (Good thing we only have bikes)

Balloon/Dart Game

As sporadic fireworks lit up the sky adding to the musical cacophony with swooshes and bangs, we cringed...but Moriah slept on. Our anxiety was most certainly in vain since both nights she slept like a baby. We are very thankful that she is living up to that saying!

Toys and CDs

Clothes etc.

Lao festivals certainly have a standard style. Booths spring up along the roadside during days prior, selling all sorts of wares. Clothes, shoes, dishes, cookware etc. The toy, fair games and bootlegged cd/dvd shops popped up later. Festival food stands boast delicious treats by wafting their salivating aromas into the air. Sweetened popcorn, eggs on-a-stick, ice cream, grilled chicken feet, duck, dog, pork and other processed meats are all displayed for sale.

Party Area

There is most always a main party area at festivals. The one in Tha Thom is at the town meeting hall next to the temple. Large speaker systems are rigged up. Chairs and tables are arranged to accommodate the party crowd. By 8-9pm the party is usually in full swing.

Kaarina and Moriah Enjoying the Evening

We all enjoyed the festivities at earlier hours and ate a healthy dose of popcorn, grilled duck with rice noodles and ice cream for dinner.

Change You Can Taste

Remember my first experience at the Tha Thom morning market? I documented the dimly lit, early morning, culturally awkward adventure in an earlier blog post.

But now, newly developed in our little town is a market with vendors open all day long. In some ways it feels like a 'Super Store' has come to town. The options still aren't huge, by any means, and yes, much of the produce is damaged after the long bumpy trip, but we are so thankful to be able to walk down the road and buy what we need at any time of the day: cucumbers, tomatoes,.. etc. Even fish and cleaned chickens!

Bustling Day Market

Development has it's pro's and con's in every circumstance, but improved transportation, increased population, higher demand, increased volume of travelers, dam construction and workers, all have brought the need for more food, available all the time. We are enjoying the new flavor and convenience this change has brought to our lives.

To Cambodia and Back Again

To catch up from our blogging negligence here is a quick slide show of our time spent in Cambodia over New Years. We traveled to visit the historic ruins of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. It was certainly a wonder to see the massive stones of a long lost civilization embraced by jungle. If it weren't for the crowds of other tourists it wasn't hard to imagine that we were exploring a lost world in some story book adventure. The following is a sampling of the expedition.

Sandy Fingers and Toes

Moriah enjoys walking around the yard holding on to mommy and daddy's hands. She also loves to sit down at any point and play in the dirt or with anything else that might happen to be on the ground. Our yard is certainly not like a typical North American yard and thus is not grass covered, manicured or even remotely clean. The grass in our yard is patchy...mostly weeds, readily manured by passing flocks of chickens, ducks, cows, pigs and numerous other animals; garbage also frequently accumulates in various locations. These are some undesirable joys of close communal living. Needless to say, the places Moriah chooses to sit are neither clean or appropriate for little hands and feet.

Over the weekend we decided that it was time to create an out-door play area for Moriah. After some thought we came up with a simple solution. This took the form of a fenced-in sandbox under our home. It is the perfect location as it is shaded, has lots of sand and will be a cool place to hang out in the hot season. Soon after daddy constructed the sandbox frame and rigged up a simple fence, Moriah and our landlords two daughters were happily playing together in an animal-free paradise.

Fairly Cleanish Sand

The neighborhood kids have enjoyed the sandbox more than Moriah so far! We frequently come home from work to a small crowd under our home. Sand has always been under our home...it is strange that simply sectioning off an area and calling it special makes it an oasis for play.

"Come and Play with Me!"

Bridge is Finished!

At long last the final bridge to Tha Thom is completed! It is now possible to drive all the way to Vientiane. Of course now there is much, much more traffic buzzing through our little town, but we are happy with the increased produce available. Driving through rivers may be a thing of the past, but journeys are still an adventure. The last time we drove to Vientiane the narrow road was blocked by a electric repair truck unloading electric poles. We sat for over an hour with lines of other cars waiting for the truck to empty. Needless to say we are looking forward to smoother and quicker travels in and out of Tha Thom regardless of river levels. Below is a 360 pan of the new bridge. A year ago we posted a pan at the same location. Click here to see what this area was like in 2011.

Click here for the full screen experience.

Bio Char

Black Gold, some call it…and it is black, very black! No I’m not talking about crude oil, this a black gold that can be produced from someone else’s refuse!

We first heard about bio char at last year’s ECHO Asia Conference. Initially we were skeptical, but after learning the theory behind it, bio char really makes sense. What is bio char…it is basically charcoal; it is in fact one-in-the-same, carbon. So what is the difference? Bio char is simply the term to use for carbon that is used as a soil amendment or conditioner and charcoal is used to cook steak.

The theory behind bio char is that it works much like a sponge. It will hold on to nutrients and release them to plants as they need it. It also provides homes for microorganisms because of its porous structure. In this tropical climate bio char helps the soil retain its nutrients as it prevents nitrogen and other elements from washing from soils during torrential monsoon storms. It also helps mitigate soil compaction.

Bio char is very simple to produce. Take junk wood, bamboo, twigs, leaves, coconut husks, rice hulls; (anything that is waste, has carbon and burns) burn it in the presence of very little oxygen and bio char results. In Laos, rice hulls are simply thrown away or burnt into ashes. This free resource can easily be used to improve the soil for free.

The following pictures show the process of creating bio char.

First Start a Fire

Cover the Fire With a Sweet Metal Tube

Once Drafting Well...Add Rice Hulls

Stand Back and Admire Work

Looking down the Stack

Make Sure the Wind is Blowing the Right Way

Once Black...Remove Stack

Water to Cool

(NOTICE: The stylish face mask isn't just to look awesome, it is to prevent breathing silica dust which is contained in rice hulls. This can cause silicosis, which can lead to a lung transplant if enough is breathed over time.)

These batches of bio char will go into making potting mix for the moringa seedlings we are growing for the office. We made the mistake of making bio char and applying it the next day. Remember that bio char is like a sponge? It will suck up nutrients in the surrounding soil depriving the plant of much needed nutrition. Once the bio char is full it will then release this to the plant. It is best to ‘charge’ the bio char before mixing with the soil. It can be mixed with compost and aged or soaked in a strong manure tea. Even as little as 72 hours of soaking can be enough to charge the bio char.

Does your soil need some char?