Holiday

It has been a busy couple weeks. The week Hakon and Karen (The health frontiers founders) were here, we had 3-4 meetings daily with various government and university officials. This meant I didn’t get out to Setta to round, and while they were interesting and useful meetings, it is fatiguing to have that many. I’m glad that in my day-to-day work meetings are rare enough that I generally look forward to them, or at least feel neutral about them.

The residents at Setta right now are not the strongest in english, so I feel especially bad for missing so many days with them - and today I leave for Phuket and Ko Samui (Thailand) where I will meet my parents. Especially because despite their limited english they are always happy to try and present a case, and if we both work we can understand each other, and then they are very happy to be getting teaching and english practice. But I’m excited to see my parents, and to have a vacation. Life in Vientiane is not as busy and stressful as residency was, but after a week of meetings and then 4 days of catch up and trying to get ready to go away for a week, I need a holiday!

This morning the first thing I did was ride my bike to the bus station to find out the times for busses to Udon Thani. I managed to find out where the busses were and get the departure times in Lao, and at the end of the discussion the bus driver said my lao was “Keng” (strong) which was the first positive comment I’ve gotten on my Lao communication, and then asked me if I was working in Laos and how long I’ve been here, all of which were questions I was able to answer. He smiled broadly at me when I told him I was working at the hospital, and I headed home feeling like I’ve finally made some progress in learning Lao. I hope this week I’ll have some beach time that can be spent with flashcards to expand my vocabulary. Last weekend I successfully gave directions to the pizza delivery place that got them to the end of our small road before they had to call help, so I am starting to be functional at the critical activities of daily living. Pizza and the ability to take the bus - what more could I want?

Aside from the mild fatigue of many daily meetings, Hakon and Karen’s visit was great. It was nice to hear more about the history of the organization I’m working for. But better than that, was the obvious recognition, respect, and appreciation of their Lao colleagues. So many foreigners are here in Lao working now, and Health Frontiers is certainly not spending as much as most of them. However, the Lao recognize that the establishment of the residency programs is a significant contribution, and remember that Hakon and Karen were here before most NGOs knew Lao existed. It is really great to be working for an organization you can be proud of. So I’ll be happy to be back at work next a week from Monday. . .