To my folks in Paksé

The thought is surreal: There might still be some red Paksé dust sticking to my sneakers while I'm running through Suhr's forest. It's very European, with conifers and chestnuts and nice little roads. I took up running this week because I need to finally get rid of my sticky rice/baked delights tummy and I really don't want to diet. I have to admit that it's much nicer to run here than in Paksé... It's fall, a cool wind is blowing but you can still be wearing a T-shirt. As much as I hate having to wear gloves when I ride my bicycle to the grocery store in the morning, this is the best weather for running.

Half of my heart is still in Laos. I miss you guys a lot. Having a closet full of clothes and fast internet access doesn't compensate for the morning teas on the terrace or the sunday trips to the villages. It's depressing to do my manicure by myself and not chatting with one of my girls. I miss watching our students competing at some silly/funny game at youth group. Or listening to them singing and chit-chatting in the morning while I'm still half awake in my room, barely understanding a word of what they say but knowing exactly who's speaking and being happy to know them.

Tomorrow I'll meet my new co-workers. I'm very excited, but not nervous (yet?) - after all it's not the first time that I start to work in a new environment. And I'm sure they'll welcome me as kindly as the team at LV. Although: whatever we're going to have for lunch tomorrow, it won't be as special as the chicken with holy basil at Champady that Asia treated me to on my first night in Paksé.

Kim, remember the countless times you had to compress a PDF file with my CV for a job application... And how I went into your apartment for the interview. I remember getting a strawberry watermelon shake afterward, and I think of Paul's face when he was so really and honestly happy for me when I told everyone at the office that I got the job :)

It's hard to know that life just goes on over there even if I'm not working there anymore. I'm glad that people share parts of it on Facebook, e.g. the tortures of a certain plush dog, or send me videos of team members being as funny as always...

At least I don't have to get on without baked goods! I just made Chai Latte scones for my new team, and how I'd love to bring some over to Paksé! Maybe next time.

See you soon. ♡

Last Week in Paksé, Randoms

I can't believe how fast the 6 months in Laos passed. In a week from today I'll be at home, between appointments at the doctor's and the hairdresser's. Still, the past few days here brought some fun Lao life to share...
 
Paksé has a welcoming committee (apart from the omnipresent Tuk Tuk drivers) - she's about 40 cms tall, blonde and has a beautiful smile.

She loves Falangs! I swear, she spots white people, smiles at them and shows them around town. All the tourists love her. Josh and I call her "Schätzeli" ("Shatzeli", in his case). We were worried about her for a while; she was expecting puppies and limped badly during this time. I think she got hit by a car once. Like many dogs here, she doesn't look left and right before crossing a road... Apparently birth went well, but her owners didn't keep the puppies, telling by her teats. Schätzeli seemed to be depressed for a while... But now she looks happy again. And prettier than ever - no limping and her owners even bought her a nice red collar!

***

Working off my culinary to do list: I finally got to try bamboo soup. In Lao villages that's what they eat every day. Most falang don't like it. One of my coworkers told me it's because of the bamboo smell, I guess it's also because usually they add quite a bit of padek (remember, the smelly fish sauce that they put into every dish...). My friends didn't add padek, and I really liked the soup! A little spicy, quite salty, and the bamboo was nice and soft!

(image from http://laoscam.blogspot.com/)

Another typical Lao dish I tried this week is Capun (say "capoone"). Thin rice noodles with padek, cabbage, green chilis and green beans. In Lao villages that's what they eat on special occasions. Despite the padek it tasted surprisingly good. And because it's got a similar name to the Graubünden dish "Capuns" I can even remember the name...

(image via yelp.com)

Today we'll go for Lab. The cold meat/intestines bits that you eat with what they call "vegetables" (salad, cabbage and a bunch of different herbs and leaves) and sticky rice.

I love it. But to be honest there's rarely a dish that I don't like, as long as I think it's safe and healthy to eat. (Which, strictly speaking, the vegetables that come with the Lab aren't, but we always go to the same place until someone gets sick...) I just love food, all the different tastes and spices and smells and textures. I didn't like the vegetable though that our staff cooked earlier this week (first it was really sour, then it stuck to my tongue, I almost couldn't swallow it without water!), and I really don't like padek, although I'm getting used to dishes that contain a hint of it.

Gestern konnte ich wieder mal ein neues typisch laotisches Gericht probieren: Capun! Dünne Reisnudeln mit Padek (die Stinkfischsauce), Kohl, grünen Chilis und grünen Bohnen. In laotischen Dörfern offenbar ein typisches Festessen. Trotz Padek schmeckte es überraschend gut. Weil es fast gleich heisst wie das Bündner Gericht Capuns, kann ich mir sogar den Namen merken...

***

Yesterday it was the same temperature here and in Aarau:

20min said you even got the thunderstorm that we had at night!

***

On Saturday I'm going to have sort of a farewell party at our local restaurant. I made the reservation in Lao, yay :) "One saao, jed muung, sao khung, because khoy pai sai pathet switzaland on sao-haa (point to calendar)". I haven't exactly counted who's going to come, but even starting to I'm easily at 20 people. It's amazing how many friends I have here, and I've only been here for 5 months or so... THANK YOU so much to everyone who was so kind to welcome me here in the Paksé Falang/Lao community! It feels like I've known you for much longer, and I will miss you a lot. And I hope to stay part of the family even when I'm back home-home.

Cows, cults and phallic symbols - Another fun day in Laos.

Runterscrollen für Deutsch.

Wat Phu is like miniature Angkor Wat, just an hour away from Paksé. Some people are disappointed because there's not much to do, others think it's a beautiful place. Anyway, it's the main sightseeing thing around here, so I thought I should visit before I leave. Josh and I went there by motorbike. Getting there was awesome, all the lush green trees and rice fields along the way. The clouds were hanging really low, but it wasn't raining (although on the way back we got soaked).







E: "Oh, stop here, look at the elephants! I wanna take a picture."
J: "OK."
E: "Josh, I'm not sure you should drive into the temple area, though. Josh!"
J: "We don't know if the monks will attack you."
E: "Sure..."
J: "Watch out, Evelyne, a monk with a stick!!"



E: "Buddhist temples are so colourful! When I die, I want to have a headstone with glitter too."
J: "OK. I'll come to Switzerland every year and put new glitter on your grave."
-
J: "Christian churches look pretty poor against buddhist temples, ey."
E: "Well, it's not about the buildings, anyway. But they've tried - look at all the cathedrals in Europe. (followed by long lecture on cathedrals and why I don't like them and so on and so forth)"
J: "So, who won the competition about the biggest cathedral?"
E: "Actually, I don't know. Maybe the French."
J: "So they did achieve something!"
E: "They did win world war 2."
J: "That were the Allies."
E: "With the French."
J: "I mean alone. Isn't it true that France is like the European Laos?"
E: "I guess it is... People don't work too much in France. They'd rather enjoy life."
J: "How could you not love countries like that!"







J: "On the top of the hill, way above the ancient sanctuary, there's probably the mothership of the aliens that built the whole thing."
E: "You must have liked 'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull' a lot, Josh."
J: "What? Yes, it wasn't bad."
E: "Look at those cows! They look funny." (taking picture of cow and rice farmer)
J: "Maybe that's how they communicate with the mothership!"
E: "What, by rice farming?"
J: "No, the cows! With the thing on their neck!"



E: "Ah, those are the phallic symbols they wrote about in the leaflet."
J: "Imagine, they didn't have any modern tools to carve them! Awesome!"
E: "Yes! Although, that one's not really orthogonal."
J: "Haha, it's orthogonally disadvantaged!"
E: "Hehe, yes, especially the broken ones on the ground!"
J: "Haha, orthogonally challenged phallic symbols!" 


















E: "Where's that crocodile stone that's supposed to be here, according to the map?"
J: "I've seen it last time, it must be over there."
5 Minutes later:
E: "Where's that crocodile? It should be right next to the elephant!"
J: "Yeah, where's that f*ing alligator?"
E: "I'm so disappointed! I hate Wat Phu!"
J: "You hate it?"
E: "No, I love it. But I want to find the crocodile!"
J: "You know, it's not really worth seeing, it's just an ugly face carved in a stone."
E: "Maybe they took it away because it was so ugly, then."
J: "Maybe God came to visit, one day, and He couldn't find the alligator either. So He tore the whole place down, that's why it's in ruins."
E: "Maybe."
J: "Haha, no 'Where's Wally' books in heaven."
 









J: "The people at the table over there, they're all wearing the same T-shirt. All five of them."
E: (Looks at the group. Five Korean people in white T-Shirts with green sleeves, three girls in red-white checked shirts.)
J: "They're probably activists. The white stands for purity, the green for nature. And they're going to kill themselves tonight to protest against cruelty against the environment."
E: "You think they're in a cult?"
J: "Yeah, absolutely. They're going to jump off the green bridge tonight."
E: "I love your stories, Josh."
J: "They're going to take their shirts off and use it to tie their feet together. It's made of a special fabric that will prevent their bodies from sinking so everyone sees their protest!"
E: "So that's their last supper? They've probably just finished writing their manifesto this afternoon."
J: "Yes - in blood! And wrapped it in human skin!"
E: "Eww. Who are the people in the checked shirts?"
J: "They're their family members. They're not in the cult, but they support the ideas."
E: "So why the checked shirts?"
J: "White stands for purity, red for... WAR!"
E: "Must be sad... Probably they're going to march at Dao Hueang Market tomorrow, carrying banners with the manifesto."
J: "Right!"
E: "Or maybe only in a month, when they can use the bones from their family member's bodies to carry the banners."
J: "Wow, I'm surprised you could come up with such a wicked thing! That's great!"
E: "You know, I hope some of the people will change their mind about the suicide."
J: "No I don't think so. They look pretty committed. Who'd wear such a shirt if they weren't fully committed to the ideas of the cult?"
E: "Well, I think, exactly because of the shirt, some of them might not be sure. You have to admit that the shirts are quite cool, with the green sleeves."
J: "Really?"
E: "I think so! So it was probably only peer pressure because they wanted the shirt. And when they take it off tonight to tie their feet together before they jump off the bridge, they'll realize it wasn't as good an idea as they'd thought."
J: "I don't think so."
E: "I hope we'll see them around tomorrow."

Kühe, Sekten und Phallus-Symbole - Wieder ein lustiger Tag in Laos

Wat Phu ist wie ein Mini-Angkor-Wat, nur eine Stunde von Paksé entfernt. Einige Leute sind enttäuscht, weil es dort nicht so viel zu tun gibt, andere finden, es ist ein wunderschöner Ort. Einewäg, es ist die touristische Hauptattraktion in der Umgebung und ich dachte, ich sollte dort noch hin, bevor ich abreise. Also fuhren Josh und ich heute mit dem Töff nach Champasak. Der Weg war wunderschön - üppig grüne Bäume und Reisfelder. Die Wolken hingen ganz tief, aber es regnete nicht (auf dem Rückweg hingegen wurden wir nass).







E: "Oh, halt an, schau, die Elefanten! Ich will ein Foto machen."
J: "Ok."
E: "Josh, ich weiss nicht, ob du mit dem Töff in den Tempel reinfahren darfst. Josh!"
J: "Wir wissen ja nicht, ob dich die Mönche angreifen wollen."
E: "Sicher."
J: "Achtung, Evelyne, ein Mönch mit einem Stock!"

 

E: "Buddhistische Tempel sind so farbig! Wenn ich mal sterbe, will ich auch einen glitzerigen Grabstein."
J: "Ok, ich werde jedes Jahr in die Schweiz kommen und neuen Glitzer auf deinen Grabstein tun."
- 
J: "Kirchen schauen ziemlich arm aus gegenüber den buddhistischen Tempeln, was?"
E: "Es geht ja nicht ums Gebäude. Aber sie habens ja auch probiert, mit den Kathedralen überall in Europa. (Es folgt ein längerer Monolog über Kathedralen und warum ich sie bedrückend finde und so weiter und so fort."
J: "Wer hat den Wettkampf um die grösste Kathedrale schliesslich gewonnen?"
E: "Weiss gar nicht. Vielleicht die Franzosen."
J: "Dann haben die also doch was erreicht!"
E: "Immerhin haben sie den 2. Weltkrieg gewonnen."
J: "Das waren die Alliierten." 
E: "Ja, mit den Franzosen."
J: "Ich meine, alleine. Allein haben die doch nie was erreicht. Frankreich ist doch wie das europäische Laos, nicht?"
E: "Irgendwie, die Franzosen arbeiten auch nicht mehr, als sie müssen. Die geniessen lieber das Leben."
J: "Ich liebe diese Länder!"








J: "Auf dem Gipfel des Hügels, weit über dem Tempel, ist wahrscheinlich das Mutterschiff der Aliens, die das Ganze gebaut haben."
E: "'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls' hat dir gefallen, was?"
J: "Was? Ja, war nicht schlecht."
E: "Schau diese Kühe! Die sind lustig." (Fotos machen von Kühen und Reisbauer.)
J: "Vielleicht kommunizieren sie so mit dem Mutterschiff!"
E: "Was, indem sie Reis anbauen?"
J: "Nein, die Kühe! Mit diesem Polster auf dem Nacken!"




E: "Aha, das sind die Phallussymbole, die sie im Führer erwähnen."
J: "Stell dir vor, die hatten ja gar kein modernes Werkzeug, um sie zu machen! Wahnsinn."
E: "Unglaublich! Obwohl, der hier ist nicht wirklich orthogonal."
J: "Haha, er ist ortogonal behindert."
E: "Hihi, ja, vor allem die kaputten dort am Boden."
J: "Haha, orthogonal benachteiligte Phallussymbole!" 





















E: "Hey, wo ist dieser Krokodilstein? Der müsste hier sein, nach dem Plan?"
J: "Letztes Mal hab ich ihn gesehen, er müsste hier drüben sein."
5 Minuten später:
E: "Wo ist dieses Krokodil, Mann? Es müsste gleich neben dem Elefant sein!"
J: "Ja, wo ist dieser verd* Alligator?"
E: "Ich bin so enttäuscht! Ich hasse Wat Phu!"
J: "Ehrlich?"
E: "Nein, es gefällt mir sehr. Aber ich will dieses blöde Krokodil finden!"
J: "Weisst du, es ist gar nicht so beeindruckend, nur ein hässliches Gesicht in einen Stein geritzt."
E: "Vielleicht haben sie es weggenommen, weil es so hässlich war."
J: "Vielleicht ist Gott auch nach Wat Phu gekommen und hat den Alligator auch nicht gefunden, und dann hat er alles hier zerstört, und darum ist es eine Ruine."
E: "Vielleicht, he."
J: "Keine 'Wo ist Walter?'-Bücher im Himmel..."












J: "Hey schau mal, die Leute an diesem Tisch drüben tragen alle das gleiche T-Shirt. Alle fünf."
E: (Schaue mir die Gruppe an. Fünf Koreaner in weissen T-Shirts mit grünen Ärmeln, drei Frauen in rotweiss-karierten Hemden.)
J: "Wahrscheinlich Aktivisten. Weiss steht für Reinheit, Grün für Natur. Und heute Nacht bringen sie sich um, um gegen Gewalt an der Umwelt zu protestieren."
E: "Meinst du, es ist eine Sekte?"
J: "Absolut. Sie springen von der grünen Brücke."
E: "Ich liebe deine Geschichten, Josh."
J: "Sie werden ihre T-Shirts ausziehen und sich damit die Füsse zusammenbinden, bevor sie springen. Die T-Shirts sind aus speziellem Stoff, damit sie nicht sinken, damit alle ihren Protest bemerken."
E: "Das ist also ihre Henkersmahlzeit? Wahrscheinlich haben sie den ganzen Nachmittag an ihrem Manifest geschrieben."
J: "Ja, voll, mit Blut! Und dann haben sie es in menschliche Haut gebunden."
E: "Wääh. Und wer sind die Leute in den Karohemden?"
J: "Ihre Familienangehörigen. Sie sind nicht in der Sekte, unterstützen aber ihren Entscheid."
E: "Und warum die Karohemden?"
J: "Weiss steht für Reinheit, rot für.... KRIEG!"
E: "Muss traurig sein... Wahrscheinlich demonstrieren sie morgen auf dem Dao Hueang Markt, mit grossen Transparenten und so."
J: "Ja!"
E: "Oder vielleicht erst nächsten Monat. Dann können sie die Knochen ihrer Familienangehörigen als Stöcke für die Transparente verwenden."
J: "Hast du dir das gerade ausgedacht? Grossartig!"
E: "Weisst du, ich hoffe, einige ändern ihre Meinung noch und bringen sich nicht um."
J: "Ich glaube nicht. Wer solche T-Shirts trägt, ist ziemlich entschlossen."
E: "Ich glaube eben, gerade nicht. Das T-Shirt ist ziemlich cool. Und vielleicht war es nur der Gruppendruck, weil sie auch so ein T-Shirt wollten. Und wenn sie es heute ausziehen, um ihre Füsse zusammenzubinden, merken sie, dass es gar keine so grossartige Idee war."
J: "Ich glaube nicht."
E: "Ich hoffe, wir sehen sie morgen wieder in der Gegend."

Das Gipfeli des Glücks

Scroll down for English.

So sieht jemand aus, der gerade einen Job gelandet hat. Und, nebenbei bemerkt, dringend zum Coiffeur sollte.

Von Dezember bis Juni bin ich Assistentin Redaktion/Öffentlichkeitsarbeit bei einer NGO. Dazu später mal mehr, jetzt freue ich mich einfach mal riesig.

Super Tag, heute! Die Aussicht auf ein Roti (indisches Omelett) mit Ei und Kondensmilch zum Zmorge brachte mich um 7 aus dem Bett und dazu, wieder mal die Laufschuhe anzuziehen. Das gute, günstige Essen von hier wird mir in der Schweiz fehlen... Allerdings freue ich mich darauf, wieder selber zu kochen. In der ersten Zeit wohl kalorienarm, um all die Süssigkeiten auszugleichen, die ich hier esse - heute gabs aus der Bäckerei Gipfeli, Schoggigipfeli und Philadelphiagipfeli.

Für unsere Schüler war der Tag weniger genussreich - sie durften heute ihre Semesterprüfungen schreiben. Ich bin froh, dass die meisten meiner Schüler diesmal bestanden haben - letztes Mal hat sie die Prüfung ein bisschen überrumpelt. Trotzdem gabs auch heute wieder ein paar kreative Lösungen:

"She looks after children." babesitter

"someone who reads and thinks a lot" depressed

"how much your boss pays you" perfect


*

 

That's what someone looks like who just landed a job. And who needs a hair cut very, very badly.

From December to June I'll be a PR assistant with a Swiss NGO. I'll tell you guys more about the job later. For now, I'm just really happy!

Great day today! The prospect of an egg roti with condensed milk for breakfast brought me out of bed at 7 and into my running shoes. I'll miss all the good, cheap food when I'm back in Switzerland... But I'm also looking forward to cooking. Low-calorie for a few weeks, to get rid of the weight I put on because of all the delicious pastries I'm eating at the moment. Today, the bakery spoiled us with croissants, chocolate croissants and cream cheese croissants. 

For my students the day was less enjoyable - they had to write their end of term tests today. I'm glad that most of the students passed this time. Last time many of them were a little overwhelmed by the difficulty of the test. Still, there were some creative answers again this time: 

"She looks after children." babesitter

"Someone who reads and thinks a lot." depressed

"how much your boss pays you" perfect