Sa bai dee :-) It's Saturday morning again, Sam is watching AFL and yelling at the television again (and its still not talking to him!), and I'm updating the blog again :-) The only thing that is not normal is that Chris is not here - he's in Cambodia again for work (having found out on Wednesday that he had to leave on Thursday). But he'll be back this afternoon :-)
The last two weeks have seen some very exciting news...........I have been offered a new job for when I arrive home! One of my old uni lecturers, Geoff Stapleton, owns a small company which consults on energy projects in developing countries (predominantly solar, although he wants to diversify), as well as providing training for Australian technicians learning about how to install solar systems and energy efficiency (http://www.gses.com.au). After swapping some e-mails when I first arrived, he expressed interest in offering me work when I arrived home, and recently we started talking seriously about it. We finally come to an agreement this Monday :-) I'm so excited - I get to continue working in this interesting area of work, I've finally found a way to work in solar energy in Australia, I'll be working from home, I'll get to travel from time to time to exciting places, and I don't have to return to EnergyAustralia (even though they have a position waiting for me when I returned, I knew that there were reasons I left in the first place, and it would be hard - almost impossible - to go back). I'm due to start work on November 3. After receiving this news, Chris and I started planning all the details for our return - Chris has lined up his return to work at Connell Wagner, and we've booked our tickets home! We arrive on 6.15 am Wednesday October 15 (the plan is to finish work here at the start of October, have a short holiday in Malaysia, and pack all our stuff up :-)) Although I had difficulty going to sleep the other night thinking about just how different it was going to be when I got home....
The other interesting thing that has happened since my last blog entry is that Adra came to visit :-) She arrived last Thursday morning. In an effort to keep her occupied while we were at work I took her to one of Vientiane's many massage/day spa places, and she spent four hours there being pampered (she needed it, after spending a week in crazy Vietnam!). We took her to Yulala for dinner (our favourite restaurant :-))
Chris and I both got Friday off thanks to some overtime we had put in over the past weeks, so we had a bit of a sleep in and took Adra to Le Benetton for some yummy French bread. I then took Adra for a little shopping at Toun's shop (the girlfriend of one of my colleagues, who has a dressmaking shop and also sells lovely bags and scarfs), and for a quick trip to see That Luang. We then all piled into a sawngthaew and headed out to Ban Pako, an eco-lodge 50 km outside Vientiane, for the night (http://www.banpako.com). After a rather bumpy ride, we arrived - and it immediately started raining. After some food, we settled in on our balcony to while away the afternoon - Adra and Chris almost immediately fell asleep in the hammocks, and I finished my book :-) The night consisted of more food, and watching the various bugs and creatures crawling around (Adra was a bit scared when a gecko decided to land on her head!)
The next morning we had a Lao guide take us for a walk around the jungle and show us a million things that we would have never guessed were useful for something. Then we had a herbal sauna in a little wooden hut set up in the jungle - I'm not usually a fan of saunas (I do enough sweating here without needing a sauna!!) but this was really lovely, the smell of the herbs (freshly picked for us!) was just amazing, a window let natural light in and offered views (until it steamed over!), and when the heat got too much, we just ran outside and jumped into the fresh spring.
After some lunch, we got in a boat and headed to the next village, where we were due to catch the bus back to Vientiane. However, the bus wasn't due for about half an hour, so the Lao guys there immediately started pouring BeerLao down our throats - thankfully a sawngthaew came past and we jumped on, otherwise I would not have been in good shape on the bus (although I should be thankful it wasn't lao lao!) We got home by 5. Dinner was at the creperie, followed by a cocktail at the Jazzy Brick (originally not part of the plan, but it started pouring rain while we were walking around after dinner and it was the closest shelter!)
The next morning we took Adra to Joma for some bagels for breakfast, and showed her Wat Sisaket, the Morning Market and Pataxai (where she had a ride of the SuperCub!) When it came time to take her to the airport, it started absolutely pelting rain (this rainy season is seriously starting to get on my nerves!) so by the time we got there, I was literally dripping and had to go and wring out my clothes (Chris and I then had a couple of days where we thought our phones hadn't survived the trip, but they both came back to life - yay!)
It was lovely to return the favour that Adra showed us at Christmas time and show her around my new home - we are hoping that we might get the chance to hang together in Malaysia before we go back to Australia :-)
The next two weeks doesn't promise too much - but I do know now that I will be going to the beach in Vietnam for our Sunlabob holiday from July 8-12. I can't wait!!!
Sok dee deuh,
Susan
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