We finally had our first day of school yesterday (Monday). I have only one class on Monday, and only 12 out of the 26 students showed up. I was going to let them leave after an hour or so (the class is 2 hours) of getting-to-know-you time, but they seemed reluctant to leave, and someone asked if I knew any games, so we played hangman. I think they were hungry for mental stimulous since many of them have probably been in the dorms since October 1, the day when school has historically started.

We went down to the Mekong River on Saturday morning and watched some of the Dragon boat races. I felt really Lao being in the midst of a crowd of dancing, cheering Lao women. Later, I fainted from dehydration and caused quite a stir. A fruit vendor had pity on me and gave Nick and I a bag of oranges for free. I guess I will try to be more diligent about drinking water, but it is hard to make yourself drink alot when you don't know where you might be able to *ahem* relieve yourself later.I felt like a big wimp, but I think I might have been kind of sick too. Or maybe it was just some old southern belle genes kicking in that I never knew that I had....

I have been volunteering once a week teaching primary aged students english at a government center around here. I think that "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" is the perfect old stand-by to fall back on at any lapse.

ckb

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003 at 11:26 AM