Past due... October break, part II

It happened so long ago, you might not even remember that I forgot to write the second part of this report.  I covered our first three days at the resort on the lake, and then left it.  Well, there is a good reason for this.  Mamma is pregnant.  Yes, yes, it's all very exciting. I'm far enough along and we've seen the baby doing well.  So why did being pregnant stop me from posting about the rest of this trip?  

The truth is, the whole trip was colored by early pregnancy for me.  For those of you that haven't been pregnant before, the first trimester can have all kinds of sucky symptoms- from the best known morning sickness to fatigue, food cravings and aversions, and a whole slew of other things too.  For most of this trip, I have to say, I felt pretty crappy.  I couldn't get my hands on food that made me feel good.  While pregnant I really like to eat a big breakfast, preferably with a few eggs to get a good dose of protein in.  But all the eggs we had on this trip were heavily overcooked, over-salted and drenched in oil.  It did not make for a good start to the day for me.  I spent a lot of time laying around with stomach aches, feeling sleepy, just wanting to sleep for days.  I also read a lot.  

But the city of Vang Vieng was an interesting little place.  A back-packer, tourist town, it was full of roadside shops selling the same stuff (t-shirts, hats, sunglasses and flip flops plus other souvenir-type crap) one after another, restaurants serving the same food (some Lao food, and then bad renditions of sandwiches, pizzas, and a few other "western" dishes), and sweaty, under-dressed, drunk or hungover young travelers planning or recovering from a tubing trip down the river (you float the river in inner-tubes, and river-front bars pull you in and serve you strong drinks along the way).  One thing that I enjoyed was the fact that for some reason- who knows why!- almost all the restaurants in Vang Vieng play FRIENDS (on their TVs).  We also saw quite a few playing American Dad or Family Guy, but almost 80% had FRIENDS going on a non-stop loop.  Since I always loved FRIENDS (and since we don't get any American sitcom re-runs on TV here), it was a nice to just sit one afternoon and watch a few episodes over lunch.  

Our time in Vang Vieng wasn't too exciting... we mostly spent our days walking around town, finding food, planning naps, going for another walk, and then taking another nap, or picking up the next meal.  Except on the first afternoon, when we just arrived.  We arrived in Vang Vieng on the day of boat racing.  And our hotel was hosting a big ole party.  And it was LOUD.  And it was stinky (lots of meat cooking on open fires, plus so many people, and other random smells- also, hi, I'm pregnant, everything stinks).  And there were SO MANY PEOPLE.  And, we had the little bungalow closest to the river, which means closest to the people and the most of the noise (well, actually, my BIL/SIL were originally put in the bungalow that had the band's speakers on the porch- they requested a room change!).  So, the few pictures I took in Vang Vieng were all taken on that first afternoon, before I escaped it all to get a massage. :) So here they are, finally!       

People watching race watching

So many people, on both sides of the river- boat racing is a BIG deal for the Lao! 

The backdrop was beautiful.  The change of scenery was one
thing I definitely appreciated about Vang Vieng. 

Stinky meat smoke blowing right onto our porch.  Awesome. 

Little guy enjoying meat on a stick.  He was drooling all over himself. 

Beni holding court.  Once we arrived quite a few people gave up watching
 the races and watched us instead.  Also, see the pool in the background?
  This pic was taken before the kids decided they were allowed to jump in.
  By the end of the day, the water was literally BROWN from all the kids
 swimming in their clothes.  We never did go in, as it never cleared
 in the three days we were there.  :(

So, that's it.  Being pregnant, and tired and nauseous and stomach-achy definitely made me not take pictures. :)  Sorry about that.  Maybe now that the news is out though, I'll start posting more often again now!

Gardening fail

On the left, bok choy, on the right sweet peas

A closer look at the rows of peas

On the left, some cilantro and basil, on the right tomatoes

So, you might say to yourself.... "FAIL?  That doesn't look like a fail!"  Well, I admit the truth- *I* failed completely as the gardener.  I would forget to go out there to water.  I didn't even know how often I should be watering.  I wasn't using enough or the right kind of fertilizer.  And ultimately, I just didn't care enough.

So why is the garden full of beautiful plants?  Because of our guard.  When we went away for October break, I asked him to look after the garden while we were gone.  He not only took on looking after it, but he cleaned up the beds, planted more plants and basically, made the whole thing thrive.  Everything would be dead if it had been left up to me.

So... I don't know... maybe I need to face the fact that I am more of a farmer's market girl.  Even back in the old days, I would have been the school teacher, or the local doula or something and people would have paid me in food- and that is how I would have stayed fed.  Cause this gardening thing- just doesn't seem to come naturally to me.  But thankfully, the guard, he's into it.  I'm going to pick some of that bok choy soon- I think it's looking ready to eat.  And I'll make sure to tell him he can help himself to what he's growing as well.  If he clears it all out, he deserves it!