Hi all,
I’m working away at learning lao. There are five tones (some say six)... which means when you attempt to say ‘colour’ you could be saying ‘F$%&’, or when say ‘I'm really tired’ you could be saying ‘I have a lot of pubic hair’. My teacher giggles a lot. I guess that isn’t a good sign.
There is also an excellent vowel sound that you make by trying to say ‘oo’ while smiling widely with gritted teeth. It ends up sounding like you’ve just stepped in something. So I’m going to take you all along with me as I learn...
Unlike Trashy Zeit mit LL, this blog will be much more PC. Now that I am a comrade living in the Lao People's Democratic Republic I find that is pays to smile sweetly and say bor hoo (don't know).
Some highlights from the first three weeks...
My picture has been on page five of the Vientiane Times twice since I’ve arrived!
Jess, Sam and I took a Lao cooking lesson. We chopped up garlic, lemongrass, thai basil, king (ginger), ka (galangal), etc., and put them in the kok suk (mortar & pestle). In the end we made: fish steamed in banana leaf, beef stew, chicken laap, green papaya salad and sweet bananas in coconut milk.
That Luang Festival - dressed in my off the rack sinh (traditional lao skirt), I walked three times around the golden Stupa with candles, flowers and incense.
Later I got to wear my fancy silk sinh to our official welcome dinner. (See the slideshow)
Saoban had five(!) stalls at this years Women’s International Group Bazaar.
The Australian Embassy had a sausage sizzle and lamingtons on offer. I went for the German Embassy’s bratwurst.
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