First days in Lao...

We've spent a couple days here now, and so far.... 

I love it! 

We're living with my brother and sister in law and their 4 mos old baby right now.  We'll start the search for our own house soon.  It's lovely to be here with them though- getting to know the baby, catching up with them, having built in guides and friends. It's good.  

Luckily all of our baggage and shipping has made it to us, so we are certainly looking forward to getting into our own place and fully unpacking and creating our home...but, for now, it's really lovely to feel quite at home right here.  

My brother and sister in law (BIL and SIL)'s house is right on the Mekong river, so it provides a very lovely view- beautiful sunsets and what not over the river.  The funny thing however, is that just across the river is Thailand!  So even though they live in Laos, the view from their balcony is Thailand!  I find that amusing.  It's certainly not the first time I've seen a border like that between two countries, but, it's the first time I've seen one from someone's back yard. 

We've had two fairly short and painless days of orientation to the city/country/culture.  We've learned how to meet and greet, how to introduce ourselves and be polite.  The Lao people don't shake hands- they bow with hands in what most of us would call hands in a prayer position instead.  We were told that this is what they do, and that only sometimes MEN might shake hands after the "nop" (the bow)- but never women.  So, of course, today, I met a local guy at school and as soon as Joel said, "This is my wife..." I start extending my hand just as he is performing the nop.  D'oh! He graciously shook my hand, and I felt silly... some habits are hard to break!  

We also learned counting numbers, how to give directions and basic questions for shopping.  I was very happy to learn the phrase, "Koi gin je" which means "I eat vegetarian."   It feels good to be able to utter a few basic phrases out in public- even if it is just to say thank you (kop chai!).  

The day we arrived was beautiful, although it is the rainy season right now.   The weather remained nice for about 24 hours, and then on our second afternoon, rain clouds rolled in, the temps dropped and it started pouring.  Apparently there is a storm over Vietnam, which is pushing much more rain than usual our way. It has literally been POURING, coming down sideways at times, for over 24 hours.  It has been constant and unrelenting- but cozy.  Getting out and about in rain like this isn't the nicest thing- a lot of streets are flooded.  I really feel for all the people still trying to get around on mopeds (which is a lot of people!).  But mostly the rain isn't bothering us... the occasional thunder and lightening brings a little variety, and apparently once this big storm passes, we should return to most sunny days with heavy rains at night.  We were told during orientation that last school year in the spring, there was a period of more than 100 consecutive days when temps were over 100F/37C every day- and many of those days temps reached as high as 110F/43C!  That shall be interesting.  Thankfully, we will be equipped with air conditioning, so, while it might not be pleasant, but we will be able to weather such temps. 

Food wise so far I've had a number of super delicious, simple stir-fried veggie dishes.  They were extra lovely because they were full of beautiful Asian mushrooms and greens (oh how I have missed thee!).  Beni is living on rice.  I've also had a pad thai (yum!) and papaya salad (spicy and SOOOO good!).  Last night we got take out (very common here) from an expat joint that has a variety of expat faves.  I had falafel, which was not the best falafel I've had, but totally edible.  My BIL had fish and chips, Joel had some kind of Italian-style chicken (chicken, spinach, cheese, red sauce) and my SIL had some kind of meat on a stick. So it's nice to see that we can get great local food as well as decent expat favorites.  I haven't been to a market yet, but am looking forward to that- especially now that I know how to ask, "how much?" and "do you have...?" and "thank you, I'll take 1 kilo of..." :)  My SIL told me the other day that she bought two pineapples for 5,000 kip (the local money).  8,000 kip = $1USD.  Can't beat that!  

Beni is dealing with some pretty unbearable jet lag.  It is getting better, thank goodness.  The first couple of days she wasn't going more than an hour without her alter ego, Psycho Baby, showing up.  Thankfully, last night she slept well, and she had a good nap yesterday afternoon and this morning, so hopefully she'll settle in more soon, and we'll see less of Psycho Baby.  Of course, she is also simply hitting that stage of gaining more and more independence, while being unable to communicate a lot of what she wants- which is hard whether you live at home or abroad! She also hates diaper changes right now, and lets you know by screaming as one might guess she would if she were being stabbed to death.  It ain't pretty!  In general I think she's settling into life in Laos just fine- it's just being 15 mos old that is trying no matter where you are! :)             

So those are my impressions three days in... ah, I can't fail to mention that Vientiane is bursting with beautiful temples, which are full of monks in orange robes.  Because of the rain and jet lag and Psycho Baby, we haven't made it to visit one yet, but, we're definitely looking forward to that.  

So that's it for now....will try to get some pictures up soon! 

Welcome back to Asia!

After a wonderful three weeks spent in Latvia, our family has finally arrived in Asia.  We're already in Laos now, but, this post is just going to be about being back in Asia... about our first stop, which was Bangkok, Thailand.

We knew we were back in Asia when....

Beni started attracting more attention than ever before!  We knew it would happen... but, as soon as we got here and out of the airport, people have just been ALL OVER her.  She's blonde, and let's face it, she's cute- and she's very white.  When we got to our hotel in Bangkok, just as we were checking in- actually, before we even got up to the desk- we had a group of men come up and comment on how cute she was, and ask if they could take a picture of her.  I said that they could, but I was carrying her in the Ergo- so when they extended their arms as though they wanted to hold her, I said no.  So that meant that I had this greasy, smelly strange man sidling up to me, putting his arm around me, pressing his HEAD AGAINST MY HEAD (ICK!) while his friend took a picture of us.

I was left wondering where in the photo album one puts the random picture of white people in Bangkok.  It's not like we're local, tribal people.  It's not like we're part of a show.  We were just random people in a hotel- and he's standing next to us like we're best friends.  Anyway... like I said, back in Asia...

And then, we went out for dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel.  As soon as we sat down we got swarmed by waitresses, one of whom simply grabbed Beni up from the table and carried her away! Now, many of you may not know, but, Beni has only ever been left with one real babysitter- who was a really good friend of ours, and it was only for a couple hours.  Otherwise, when she's away from me, she's been with either her dad, or my mom.  Needless to say, I'm not big on leaving her with just anyone, so having a waitress just swoop her up and carry her away was pushing the limits of what I'm comfortable with!  Of course, she was fine, although, it took her a bit to get used to it as well.  The attention didn't stop at the restaurant, at the hotel, at the airport the next day, or at any point since.

At the restaurant I had another experience which reminded me I was back in Asia... I carefully looked over the poorly translated menu and found two items called very similar names- something like fried vegetables mix.  The other I think was called stir fried vegetables.  So I chose one.  When it came out it was a plate overflowing with different seafood (mostly unrecognizable to us, although I spotted one prawn), and a few bits of green veggies. Huh, ok.  Something got lost in translation. ;) So I tried to explain to the waitress that I wanted ONLY vegetables... no chicken, no pork, no fish.... it took three waitresses and a lot of pointing to other items on the menu and pictures and such to figure out exactly what I wanted.  I did finally get a lovely plate of vegetables and some rice which suited me just fine.  We paid for the seafood plate, but neither of us touched it.  Ah well.

When we got back to the hotel, we came across the last thing that really made us go, "oh yeah, we're back in Asia!"  It was the bathroom... or I guess you could call it the showerroom.  It had a toilet, a sink and a shower... and by that I mean, a shower head.  It's just up on the wall in one corner of bathroom, not to close to the sink or toilet.  There is no shower curtain, no shower base.  The bathroom is simply tiled and you just shower in the open bathroom, and let the water run into the drain in one corner of the room.  Of course, not all Asian bathrooms are like this, and telling you we had a bathroom like this in our hotel, would also let you know that we only paid $20 for the room for the night...but, I'd say you'd be pretty hard pressed to find a hotel room in the States, no matter how cheap, that had a similar shower.

The good news is the weather is lovely and warm- er, hot- (if a bit rainy, but the middle of the night thunder storms are ok by me), the food is fantastic, it's great to be here with family (especially to meet our nephew who was born in March!)...in general, it's great to be back in Asia.  I look forward to sharing with you as we settle into our new host country and find our what it's going to be like to be a mother, a wife and a woman here in Laos!

There is never a good time for puking...

but it seems like kids sometimes know EXACTLY when would be one of the worst possible times.  Like, throwing up at home in the comfort of your own bathroom... too easy.  Even at home it has to be in the middle of the night, projectile floor to ceiling, or on the brand new carpet or when you've just finished getting dressed in your best suit on the day of a super important presentation or something, you know?

Tonight, my daughter puked for the second time in her life.  I can't really complain, because hello, she's just on 15 mos old, and only puked for the second time.  But the circumstances were what one might call less than desirable.

We went across town for dinner with my relatives tonight.  We had a lovely evening.  It was pretty warm, and my relatives don't have air conditioning, so at one point we decided to go outside to cool off, and let the kids play on the jungle gym a bit.  We were outside for only five minutes or so, when it started sprinkling on us.  We lasted a few more minutes before heading inside.

By the time we were ready to go, it was raining in earnest.  We had two umbrellas for 6 people, so basically we all got a little wet.  We ended up having to wait for the bus for a full 5 or so minutes, so we got more wet.  But then a lovely local driver did what seemed like everything he possibly could, to splash us as much as possible.  There was no escaping it.  So more wet.

We get on the bus, and by the time we get to the stop where we have no option but to get off, it is POURING. It's not just raining.  It's coming down sideways.   We had to go no more than 10 steps from the bus to the overhang of a nearby building and we were just drenched by the time we got there.  We knew there was no way we were going to get anywhere without getting soaked to the bone, so we decided to take a cab- conveniently lined up at the curb just in front of us.   Big decision because we're sort of big on car seat safety and stuff, and we were about to get in a cab without a car seat at all.  Apparently it is ok to do this as the cabby said nothing... so anyway...

By the time we get in the car, we are soaked to the bone.  But we settle in, knowing that we'll be home in a few minutes and able to dry off, put on warm pajamas and cuddle up.

There was a little mix-up with the cabby on which way to go, but we just watched the rivers of water flowing past us, and the spray as we sped through deeper puddles on the scenic route home.

So, then, here it comes.  We're about 4 blocks from home when my daughter starts fussing.  She's twisting and turning and she won't keep still.  She's crying.  Then, she turns toward me, and up-chucks a giant serving of cherries that she had munched down one after another a couple hours earlier.  Cherries.  You know what color those are?  RED.  And then one more giant heave and the rest of her cherries go straight down my shirt, covering my cleavage in chunks and juice.  ICK!  Oh also, I think there was some ice cream.

So my baby puked in the cab.  I had my seat belt on, so, she did get some on the seat belt.  Luckily (???), the rest was all over me, not the seats or anything.  Of course, I yell at my husband immediately for wipes out of the diaper bag, but he threw the bag in the trunk when he put the stroller in.  (Is it just my husband that doesn't remember time and again that my purse and the diaper bag need to be IN the car, not the trunk???)  So he tosses me his hat and I collect cherries and toss em in there, and then use my hand to wipe the cherry juice (which looks alarmingly like blood) off my child's chin.      

Thankfully, just as the smell was getting strong, we reached the house, and happily jumped out of the cab into the inches deep puddle the cabby had pulled into.  Of course, at this point I had to wake my daughter who had promptly closed her eyes and put her head down into the pool of vomit on my chest as soon as she had expelled it.  

My husband paid the driver, and we ran inside the house- although at this point, I'm not sure why we were running- we couldn't get any wetter or nastier, really.

I think we might have left a cherry or two on the seat- embarrassing!  I would have liked to have cleaned up, and apologized to the cabby- because if there is ever not a good time for puking- I'd say it's in a cab, when you're not even sitting in a car seat, and have nothing around to clean up with.  Go Beni!

Where is the most inopportune spot your kid has ever puked?

Little people are awesome

I am not a perfect mother. But I love mothering.  I love being with my daughter, being around her.  Pretty much every day, I stop at some point and feel that completely overwhelming squeeze through the chest that this amazing little being is related to me, cause I grew her, that part of her is forever a part of me.

These moments often happen when we're not actually directly involved with each other.  She keeps herself busy quite well, so often I can get stuff done while she amuses herself.  But I end up catching these glimpses of her when I'm watching out of the corner of my eye.

Yesterday I was washing dishes when she started getting into the cat food. (We're staying with my husband's brother and his family- they have two school aged boys- long since not babies, so the house is only temporarily baby-proofed for us.  Understandably, things like cat food get left out near the cat's dishes... and then of course, my baby wants to play with said cat food!)  So, I'm up to my elbows in dishes, so I ask my husband to put the open box of cat food out of reach of Beni- she can play with the unopened box and use it as a rattle and what not, but I'd like to avoid cat food dinner.  So he picks up the box and puts it in a cupboard.  Beni isn't too fussed because hey, here's another box right here! She watched her dad put the one box in a cupboard she knows she can't open (she's been trying).  So she picks up the other box, walks over to the cupboards and open the next door, and puts the cat food in there!

Does this strike anyone as so freaking normal?  Such an every day thing?  This is exactly what I'm talking about!  This little person (whom my sister-in-law keeps reminding me is ONLY 14 mos old- she's turned into a PERSON in 14 months!) watched her dad do something, and then, knowing she couldn't do exactly what he did, worked out the next best thing!  (Remind me tomorrow when we need to feed the cat, that we actually know where the food is!)

So, that little every day, normal, developmentally-appropriate thing just made me get all, "Joel, did you see that?  Did you see what she did?  God, she is so amazing!!!!"  I couldn't get over it.

Because the thing is, my kid is doing the things she should be doing.  She's growing into her own little person. A person with character, interests, an attitude, thoughts, ideas and so much more!  And it's amazing, because only 14 months ago, she couldn't even lift her head, much less a box of cat food!

Now, some of you out there with multiple children might be thinking, "Who has time for this kind of stuff!?!?"  When there is a house to keep, a job to work, bills to pay, meals to cook, other kids to take care of... who has time to notice, or be amazed about stuff that every kid eventually gets around to?

I have the time right now.  And I absolutely accept that as life changes I will have less readily available time for things like this.  But my hope?  My hope is that I don't give up on noticing how amazing my kids are, even when they are only doing normal every day stuff.  Because it's all so normal and yet, it is such a freaking miracle.  And it's right there, under our noses all the time.  Little people are awesome, and it is such a cliche, but nonetheless, an honor to be a part of these little people's lives!  So for as crazy as life might ever get as our family grows and grows, as our circumstances change, I hope I still take the split second of time it takes to see the miracle within the normal.  Because that feeling, that squeeze across the chest, of love and pride and amazement... it feels pretty good. :)

  

Time to go for a run...

It's been almost a solid 3 weeks since I've exercised.  Disappointing considering in May I exercised more days than I did not, and I was feeling really proud of the work I had done.  I had actually gotten to the point where I was sometimes CRAVING going for a run.  And now, 3 weeks.

We're in Latvia now, and I have my running shoes with me, and we've settled into a much calmer routine (not running around like crazy like we were in getting ready to leave the States), and I could go running.

But I'm not.  Why?  Because I'm a weenie.  For as adventurous a life as I lead, I don't seem to have it in me to go out in a part of town I'm not familiar with, that doesn't have particularly good sidewalks and run around for exercise, which is an activity not many engage in here in the first place (at least not outside, not that I have seen!).    Running is supposed to be the easiest sport/exercise for this reason, because it is so available all the time- because all you need is your shoes...but turns out you need at least a little bit of a sense of adventure as well.

I don't know, some people might think me really silly for not mustering up the courage to get out and go.  Especially in a city I once lived in, just a neighborhood I don't know (seriously though, I could get lost here, because I don't know this side of the tracks AT ALL).

Anyway, I think we all have a thing that we get nervous about, that feels too big or scary, especially in a foreign country.  I don't know... maybe you don't.  Do you?

(I just really hope I can get over this in Laos!)  

Exotic foods

What do you do when your baby's favorite food is soooooooooo exotic that it isn't even available other places you go?

Thing is, I'm not talking about papaya or dhal or chili flavored chocolate.  I'm just talking about black beans.  Just black beans.  Frankly, they seem pretty normal to me, but, obviously, goes to show what kind of influences we have in the States.  

Beni will eat other beans, but not as readily as black beans.  So far since being in Latvia, we've indulged her local roots, and she's been eating a whole lot of potatoes... potato pancakes, french fries, mashed potatoes, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes.  Um yeah, we've been here less than a week, and we've had all those styles of potatoes already!  Amazing, huh?

Luckily Beni is still happily eating lots of cheese and bread products (both of which are highly available here). She enjoys her baby oatmeal mixed with fruits and she is eating all kinds of seasonal berries these days.  And of course she's still nursing ALL THE TIME.  Thank goodness that is always available! ;)

What's your child's favorite food?  Do you think you'd be able to get it outside of your home country?

Mamma's Back!

See, so the thing is, I was in the States for 2 months, and I honestly didn't feel that I had much to write about.  I wrote about mom jeans (which I still love, and am wearing as I write this!).

Then I leave the States, and within 24 hours of being in a new place, I have something to write about!  Amazing!

So, we're in Latvia now.  We used to live here.  In fact, this is where my husband and I met- last night as we walked into Old Town to meet some friends we realized it's just a little romantic returning here because of that.   We're here to visit now for just three weeks.  We're soaking in all that is Latvia in the summer time- for now enjoying what the city has to offer- the beer gardens, the people watching, and more, and soon taking in what the country has to offer as well- the peace, the quiet, the lush green nature, fields of flowers, and late light nights.

So as I was saying, I have a story to tell.  Yesterday evening we headed out to the tram stop across the street to catch a tram to take into the city center.  As we're standing at the tram stop we notice that across the street at the other tram stop three bums/drunks are having a bit of an issue.  One of the guys, a pretty big guy, has been hit over the head by someone, and is down on the ground behind the bench that is part of the tram stop. The other two guys, both fairly skinny guys, are trying to move him, get him up, etc, but having no luck.  The whole situation is the kind that you can't tear your eyes away from because, well, you just can't.  I'm thinking, will the guy on the ground be ok?  How injured is he?  Will the other two be strong enough to lift him, or will they give up and go off to find a drink before the figure it out?

Then out of nowhere, across the street comes this little grandma. She's like 5ft tall, has her handbag over her shoulder, and she's pissed.  She comes hollering across the street to where the bums are, and starts yelling at them to stop causing such a scene, to get up off the ground, to move on- out of her neighborhood or at least off her street.

When was the last time you saw a tiny little grandma go off on someone like that?

I turned to my husband and said, "She's seen too much shit in her life, to be afraid of some bums!"  This lady was a little old Latvian trooper.  She's survived invasions, deportations, occupations, revolutions, and has lived to see a return to the "good years"- which recently have been wrought with a global financial crisis that has hit Latvia HARD.  So basically, she's been to hell and back, and she isn't afraid of some bums!

It was amazing to watch.  First she just yelled at all these guys, and they sort of yelled back that they were trying to get the situation handled.  Then, when things weren't moving along as she liked it, she went right ahead and put her handbag down on the bench, went around the back, and tried to pull this giant mass of a man off the ground herself.  He was easily twice as big as her!  That didn't work either, so finally she got on her phone.  I'm sure she was starting to ring up some form of authority, when finally the other two bums got the guy off the ground.

His head injury was obvious to us from across the street.  He'd either been hit over the head, or had hit his head when falling- he had a big wound on his forehead and was bleeding.  When all three bums managed to get seated on the bench, the little grandma decided she'd had enough of the whole situation and left.  She didn't wait for a tram, and I didn't see exactly where she went. I'm not sure if she had come upon this situation  as she was walking down the street, or if she came out of her home to handle it.  In any case, she got it handled, and moved on.

I don't know if little old ladies in other big cities all have balls like that, or if she is just a product of her environment, but whichever it is, she was certainly a piece of work (in a good way).  Watching that whole situation brought my husband and I right back- made us really realize where we were.  We certainly don't see that kind of thing happen in small town Michigan, nor did we see it in Angola (I'm pretty sure drunks would just be ignored there- or, we were just too far removed from local life to see that kind of thing).  Who knows.  In any case, welcome back to Latvia.  It's lovely to be back. :)