So you might be wondering what was going on with Chris' blog entry that indicated impending doom due to flooding. Well it came pretty close. E-mail flood warnings started pouring in after the Mekong rose beyond 12m, and our boss told us to put all our computer boxes on our desks. I started going for afternoon walks along the road that follows the Mekong behind our house, and watched the water get closer and closer to the top of the levee bank every day. It got to the point on Tuesday where we started to move things upstairs (and I couldn't sleep for fear of floodwaters in the living room when I woke up!) and our AusAID manager telling us to evacuate on Wednesday. We stayed with our friends Philippa and Sam (who were fantastic to us, feeding us, watching Olympics with us and lending us books!) until Sunday afternoon - the river eventually peaked at about 13.5m. I have no doubt that the flood that we dreaded would have occured if not for the Lao government's heroic efforts of laying two million sandbags all throughout Vientiane - Chris says this is one of the advantages of an authoritarian government :) It was amazing to see army guys laying sandbags behind our house on Thursday when we popped by for a visit. Although they did go a bit overboard with the road closing, which was annoying. I think the sandbags will stay until the end of September, as the river actually normally peaks in September and if previous records mean anything, we could see an even higher peak (and consequent flood risk).
Other than that excitement, there has been:
- Another visit to Ban Sor to do some site assessment and water testing. Ban Sor will be the village where we launch our new solar powered water purification system - which will probably happen in the next five weeks before I leave Sunlabob. Preparing for some crazy times ahead! AJ and JB got to taste their first shots of lao lao over lunch - and ended up having 4 or 5 each (I've spent all year steeling my resolve to say 'no' to lao lao, so I got away with just one).
- Games day at our house. Even though Chris and I only have a deck of cards and a chess board, we managed to entertain 20 people for about 6 hours! Of course, it helped that they brought their Risk and Scrabble and various other things. There were some very funny games of Celebrity Head and Mafia to get us started :-) It was meant to be Olympic themed (since we had many different countries there, and the Olympics had started the day before - which incidentally we can watch on about 5 different stations!) but we gave up on that quickly :-)
- Weekend away at Ban Sufa. Chris and I were both in need of a break, and so we took our bike out to this small resort 12 kms from Vientiane. Its a beautiful spot on the edge of an enormous ricefield stretching to the horizon, with several bungalows, a swimming pool and horses and........the best part......French owners, who book the most amazing French food. Chris and I spent our time alternating between swimming, reading, getting massages, sleeping and EATING. I felt like a total glutton - at least I didn't have to walk very far!!!
I also found out this week that one of our fellow AYAD's has some famous friends and has asked them to come to Vientiane to play a charity gig for COPE, the organisation that produces prosthetics for UXO victims. The friends? Regurgitator. When? The day after I leave. I can't believe it!!!!!!!!!!
My time here in Vientiane is dwindling away - I can't believe that it is now less than two months until I leave, and only five more weeks of work. My emotions are mixed - I have started to get comfortable here in Vientiane, and haven't felt homesickness now for a long time, but at the same time I am really keen to get home, see everyone again, and get started with my new job :-) How do I balance these out??
Sok dee deuh,
Susan
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