Long weekend in Vientiane!

Sa bai dee! Life in Vientiane is going well at the moment. My stomach has settled down (I can now keep my food in and actually have an appetite, so I am stoked) and I am very close to signing a contract for a 3 bedroom, $US300/mth house on the banks of the Mekong around the corner from my office with Chris (of course) and another AYAD, Sam. Very very excited! And of course we have an extra bedroom for all our visitors!!!
It's pretty crazy in Vientiane at the moment - this weekend is the annual boat racing festival, and it is chaotic and loud on the road that follows the Mekong. Tonight Chris and I and some other AYAD's will be going to a place called the Mekong Deck for dinner, drinks and some dancing :) The reason for the party is that tonight thousands of candles are released onto the Mekong and float away. I'm not sure of the significance of the ceremony, but I am told its very beautiful so I'm looking forward to it :-)
This week has been filled with househunting and Lao lessons. I'm happy with how my Lao is coming along - I can order food and buy things at the market, and I'm starting to get my head around sentence structure (basically it's completely backwards to English, but far more straightforward). On Wednesday we also had an excursion to a weaving and dying centre on the outskirts of Vientiane - we all tie dyed our own scarves, and had a go at the weaving looms. It was an incredible experience - weaving is possibly one of the worlds most skilful crafts if you ask me!!
I've been to the markets and been fitted for several Lao sinh skirts - women traditionally wear these in the office. The market is absolutely full of fabric - thousands and thousands of choices. I'll send you a photo of me wearing my first sinh soon :-)
I leave for my field trip on Tuesday (since Monday is a public holiday). Hopefully when I return I will have the internet set up in my new house and I can tell you all about it :-)

Lots of love,
Susan

P.S. If you go to the AYAD website (the link is on the right hand side of this page) and go to "Meet the AYAD's" you will find my profile (under Intake 20) which has just been posted. You can also check out the profiles of the other AYAD's who are here with me :-)