Where I am now

So I think I've mentioned before that there are cows and water buffalo everywhere. Herds of maybe 10 or herds of about 60 or so and traffic stops so that the cows can walk on by. This is just one of them in the village next to where I am staying these days.

These next pictures are from our school visits a few weeks ago.

At one of the schools another volunteer is teaching at, they specialize in uni-cycling. I tried to do it and it was extremely hard...had to have two people on either side of me to hold me up! Maybe I'll learn before the year is up.

When we went to the schools there were often other children around just to watch. These two girls weren't in the elementary school one of us will be teaching at but stopped by to see the commotion. They were adorable and pretty shy. I think they said that they were 4 and 5 years old.

These two sat in front of me at one of the visits - they seemed to be the troublemakers of the group! They were 4 years old and were also quite shy. We have been told that it is okay to take pictures of the children if we show them the camera and ask. If they smile and nod then it's deemed okay. If not then you just put your camera away. Simple.

This is when I was making Som-Oo - Green Papaya Salad! The dish that the Isaan region is known for. It's super spicy and has a lot of fish sauce it in so it's not my most favorite dish but it is good. Great for anyone looking for something super spicy. It's made with very simple ingredients and you mash it with a sort of mortar and pestle...they sell them all over the place here.

This was one of the middle school bands that played for us at one of the various ceremonies.

Meeting place at my school where the teachers and principle introduced themselves! It was air-conditiond. woohoo!

This is all of us! We were getting various electronics at the main store in town and the owner invited us up to his house. He has a rooftop terrace which is where we took this picture. You can see all of the city as well as into Laos - it's gorgeous! We are actually going back there for dinner tonight so I'll take some more pictures. We get invited everywhere...it's turning out to be a bit exhausting. We went to a 100 day funeral celebration last night - lots of food and a sort of karaoke machine.  We also went to a wedding celebration in town. There were she-men dancers (more on that soon) and singing and lots of alcohol. We mostly just stayed for the food!

All of us at a "western" restaurant! I think it's the only one in town. We just got some beer this day as we needed something cool and refreshing that wasn't water. We'll get the American food later.

We are constantly packed into this bus. 11 people in 8 seats! Someone is usually on the floor. But it's always a good time.

The night market! Sort of hard to tell in this picture but it goes on for several hundred yards. It's got tons of wonderful street food! And no one has gotten sick so it's all good. And there are moto's eeeeverywhere...all part of the experience.

Breakfast time here - off for some eggs and potatoes! Sometimes we even get pancakes.