A Week of Newness

I was realizing as I checked up on a friend's blog (strange that I have time for that here in Laos when I didn't in Seattle but currently I do)that people don't just write day-to-day details but share truly thoughtful things on their pages. I don't promise anything; in fact, I may well stick to the day-to-day, which I think Wendell Berry would be alright with (have you read Jayber Crow? It's day-to-day, certainly, although profound as well, as Wendell is apt to be), but I will keep it in mind as I'm updating.
I have been here long enough now to have had several tours of the city by car. I think I'll need to walk and bike and run and perhaps motorbike around it before I can know it, but I've seen enough to understand why it was described to me as a feeling rural even though it is a capital city. There are just three major streets and the tallest buildings are but a couple of stories. There are no chain restaurants or shops, one of the few cities in the world with that distinction, I think. But you can find nearly everything you need, it seems, at the minimarts and the Morning Market (I've yet to go, but I've been told it is a source of all things-- I'll let you know). It is comforting to know that I can find the essentials, like bread and Skippy's peanut butter when you just don't want sticky rice for breakfast.
Speaking of which, I tried and enjoyed some Lao food today, including the ubiquitous sticky rice (it is to Lao cuisine as pasta is to Italian). It wasn't as spicy as Lao people would eat it (the restaurant made it mild for our group of foreigners) and I didn't try the traditional larp, but had green papaya salad, spring rolls, and Morning Glory (a tasty dish of greens and garlic). I tried to eat it the Lao way (you roll the sticky rice in a ball and either dip this into sauce or indent the ball so that it forms a spoon of sorts and use that to scoop the other food). I may need some lessons before I can do that with any sort of grace but I love eating with my hands so I'm willing to put in some practice and get it right.
Up until now, I've been taking baby steps into my new world-- a walk down my current street here, a talk with the local MCC staff or a past IVEPer there (someone from Laos who served for a year in the U.S. or Cananda, the reverse of what I'm doing). I also tried some rice candy from Thailand and new fruits like Dragonfruit and green guava, drank a sapota fruit smoothie by the Mekong River at sunset (makes you want to come and visit, eh?), went to visit a handicrafts partner of MCC and the graduation of an MCC acquaintance, and showered in a bathroom that lacks a tub or curtain so that I got the whole place wet and had to squeegee it afterwards (common enough practice here), so this week has been full of newness. But next week, I'll start language study and really get out and about, I think. I'm looking forward to it and I'll let you know how it goes, maybe less wordfully, maybe with pictures...