Time is ticking by...

Sa bai dee everyone! Again, I am typing on the work computer as Chris and I are starting to fear we will never see our laptop again...Chris has now been to the computer shop four times and received just as many stories as to when it will return. It is a real pain not having a computer at home - but if the latest story is true, we may see it tomorrow :-)
Today it is six weeks until I arrive home - simultaneously it feels like a long time and a short time. I'm approaching the time of 'lasts' - for example, Chris' last day of work is next week. However I received some good 'first' news today - in two weeks time we will be going to Ban Sor to install Sunlabob's first solar powered water purification system! I am excited that it is happening before I leave. Also, next week the girl who is replacing me arrives at Sunlabob, so my 'last' few weeks at work will no doubt be very interesting!

Other than that, what is news?

• Another 'first' - my first motorbike accident. However before you panic, its not as bad as I'm making it sound :-) I went to the clinic at the Australian Embassy to get the doctor to check my sore throat and ear. As I was leaving, I smacked my foot against a concrete block on the side of the road (all along the road in Vientiane there are these concrete blocks which seperate the footpath from the road - their only real purpose seems to hurt people). It was quite painful, and when I arrived back at the office a few minutes later, I discovered my foot had already swollen to resemble an egg covered in skin. Thankfully I got some ice on it straight away and while it is still swollen and bruised, it could have been a lot worse.
• Going to the circus. This is not a frequent occurrence in Vientiane, despite the fact that there is a building called the National Circus. A bunch of French performers had come to Vientiane and taught some Lao people some circus skills, so we went to watch the end result. I was extremely impressed - first there was the Lao girl twirling hoops that must have weighed more than her, then there was the cortionist, then there was a long elaborate choreographed sequence which include a person wrapped in a rug, flying bowls, and a trampoline amongst other things. Good value for only 10000 kip! (just over $1 USD)
• Attending more farewells. The most significant of these was Sugandha, a Nepalese girl who had been working at LIRE for four months. First there was a farewell party, then a farewell dinner - I made a photo album for her with pictures from the last few months and got everybody to sign it. She seemed quite sad to be leaving...I wonder what I will be like?
• Sunlabob badminton competition. Last weekend there was a annual Buddhist festival where people offer food and other things to their ancestors. We celebrated on Friday with a badminton competition :-) I was pretty hopeless, but I still enjoyed the BBQ and free flowing beer :-)

Stay tuned for the next few blog entries, where I will share my adventures of water purification in rural Laos, and Chris will share his adventures trekking in the mountainous province of Luang Nam Tha, which borders China in northern Laos :-)

Sok dee,

Susan