"It's a God thang."

Shhhhhh....don't say anything and don't look now (cuz I think he knows we're talking about him), but there is a monk sitting in this internet cafe. Dressed in only his robe with his head shaved, he has his finger up to his mouth; he is thinking. Maybe he is meditating.

Oh boy! Do I have a story for you!? (yes, I do.)

Well, for starters, i'm still in Vientiane (one "n" at the end, oops) while I should be in Pakse already. But...yesterday I started feeling a bit ill. Stomachache and all over blah-ness. I spent the day moaning around town and finding a/c places to sit (I had already signed out of my guesthouse). I was at the post office sending a massive package (of gifts for you!!) home when I met a man. An angel, really. A messenger from God.

"What is your name?" he asked. "Sarah," I say. "Oh. Well you must have a religious background." "Yes I do. I"m Jewish." And then Mark Berry, a fine upstanding Christian family man, sat down and talked to me for a while. He gave me his card and said to call him if I needed anything. He had talked a lot about Jesus and bout Isaiah 53, but was not trying to convert me. So....on a whim, I decided to call him and tell him I wasn't feeling well and that talking to him made me miss homes and families and even if it's just for a little while, can I come over and sit on your couch?

"Where are you?" he asked. "The Scandinavian Bakery," I say. (Btw, I weighed myself yesterday and I've gained 4 pounds!! How can that be??) "I'll be there in a few minutes," he says.

So Mark and his 14 year old son, Daniel, (one of 7) pick me up and take me to a clinic. The doctor gave me some medicine (btw, I'm much much better now), then Mark took me to pick up my stuff, I changed my bus for the next day, and then he took me home.

They live in a rather large house. He teaches English and does some church things and his wife homeschools the kids. They've been living in Laos for about 10 years.

I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (God really was with me---i have not stopped talking about how much I miss peanut butter), read, watched a disney Christmas special, and then sang some psalms and read from the bible. (They do that every night. In the Old T. they were up to the last chapter of Joshua, and since I was there, they didn't read from their bible and instead read from Isaiah 53, their fave. some Jewish girl I know must brush up on her later prophets.....) So we played guitar and sang and spoke about the Lord and talked about how blessed we were that He brought us together (me and them). "It's a God thing," Mark says (and it is!). And they blessed me through God and Jesus at every meal and before bed. (Every meal = dinner and then lunch the next day--i stayed there all day today!) And I recited a perek of tehillim in Hebrew.

And I was sooooo happy. I really had not been feeling well and I would've been miserable on that bus (eh hem, no bathroom on it), and instead I got to stay the night with a wonderful family in a wonderful house (though it was hot), with good peanut butter, and milk! I love milk! And I'm the biggest nerd ever and they had a book of poetry and I copied some down into my journal and decided that i will memorize them. Sometimes I'm in the middle of a neverending field or looking up at magnificent mountains or riding along a beautiful river, and I always wish I knew some poetry (to supplement the psalms I know, of course). This book was for kids and didn't have any of my favorites, but I copied a whitman, a dickinson, and a tolkien. then I realized that I could've printed out some better ones from online. Oh, and the Queen Mab speech from R&J (that's for you, daddy).

And Vientiane is not a very exciting city and it's too hot to walk around today, so that's why you get another email. I hope you're not getting sick of me. and also, there are more pictures up! In fact, I'm going to sit here for a while and try to clear my camera of pictures.

Speaking of daddy, he has asked me a number of questions that I keep avoiding b/c I do not know the answers (b/c, let's just say, the areas are not my major interests). But I will try and answer them and will do so here in case anyone else is interested.

Tourism is a major industry in this area (Thailand, Laos) and I think it is the main industry, but it is not the only one. Most people (outside the major cities) are farmers. I have seen all sorts of agricultural methods employed -- slash and burn, multi-tiered slope farming, crop rotation (I remember those from school!). Major crops are rice (rice paddies are STUNNING--like a neon green color, grown in water), coffee, rubber (I read that, but I get the funniest images in my head. I totally don't know what rubber is.), opium (that was their major export until the French outlawed it--I'm talking Laos now), and other crops. There are cows, chickens, pigs, and water buffalo roaming the streets.

There are vestiges of French culture around, mainly in architecture and in food. Look through my pictures and you'll see some colonial houses in Luang Prabang. There are tons of cafes and baguettes and pastries (hence the 4 pounds). This is all Laos I'm talking about now. There are no French things in Thailand, obviously. Also, in thailand they drive on the left (they were an english colony) and Lao ppl drive on the right (cuz of the french).

I do not know much about the relation of the sexes in Laos other than the way people dress. Men wear regular western attire, while women wear traditional long straight skirts, usually black with woven fabric on the bottom. some women wear pants, and while sleeveless shirts seem ok, skimpy tank tops are a no-no. I think anything that is not allowed in a Buddhist temple is not accepted in the streets either.

In the Lahu village, the relationship between the sexes was much more apparent (mostly b/c i lived there for a while). The men were often not at home and so I did not see them much (except for the few who stuck around to sell us things). When i did encounter men, they were generally quiet and kinda meek looking. The women seemed to wear the pants in the marriage. (Though, on a literal level, the women only wore skirts, or very very baggy pants.) The women were always sitting out on their porches, sewing and yelling. (I'm exaggerating. They were not always yelling, but if someone was yelling, it was a woman.) In another email i wrote of the Lahu marriage, about drinking tea in front of the shaman--not a very romantic ceremony, and likewise, the Lahu marriage does not seem, at least to an outside like me, very romantic. they get married very young, like 14-19ish and begin having children immediately. Children begin at a very young age o work around the house and around the village. Though, in retrospect, it was girls I saw working in the shop and doing the laundry, never the boys.

Back to Laos: In the cities there are temples and some monks, but no real religious "feeling." Outside the city, though, you are distinctly aware (or at least I am) that you are in a religious setting. Maybe cuz there are more monks or maybe cuz there are more temples in relation to other buildings, or maybe there is just something in the air.

I do not know whether the extent of their religious beliefs. I do not think they believe in providence or that God heeds their prayers. I do not think anyone believes in God, as in the one true God. The animists believe in spirits and many people have "spirit houses" in their front lawns (look like bird houses) that they give sacrifices to. They appeal to the spirits and expect answers. I suppose that qualifies as providence? And as for the Buddhists, as far as I know, which is not very far, there is no providence, only fate. Things happen because they are supposed to happen and we must accept them, be mindful of them, and overcome them. So the simpleton speaks. According to many monks who I've spoken to, prayer is the same thing as meditation, and meditation is unrelated to God or gods or godliness.

Regarding politics...I cannot even muster up the creativity to come up with anything.

The people are poor. How poor? very poor. There are few cars and most houses are wood and bamboo. (this is laos.) But people seem to have enough to eat. I have surprisingly few beggers. In fact, in both countries I've probably seen....less than 20. That's pretty amazing. And people seem content. the lao people are some of the nicest and happiest people i've seen. and people i met lao people, i thought the same thing about the thais.

Well, this may be the last email for a few days. I depart for nowheres land tonight and will prob get to Cambodia Sunday night. I'll be there for a few days before I return to Bangkok. And then, on Feb. 17....I'm going to Africa!! (haha, I don't know why that seems so funny all of a sudden.)

B'shalom

Sar