HAPPY NEW YEAR! 4 in 1

Wow, have I been busy this past week. The locals really know how to partay! I've been to parties everyday for about 4 days straight. When I say party, I don't mean some silly drop-in that you stop by and bring a gift to in the states. I mean... THROW DOWN! Sorry for my slang, but basically it means to party hard and long while giving partying utmost effort.

I'm talking about 10am-1am bashes. That's intense when it's happening for 4 days straight! Good thing I love a good party. The locals love to drink, dance, and eat together. So, we fried up some chicken feet and blared music all day long. I think I lost about 15% of my hearing in the process. SO MUCH FUN!

So, the tradition here is to pour water down the back or front of your friends for the New Year and wish them health, wealth, luck, and prosperity for the year. I h
ad wet clothes... underwear and all... for 4 days. People even rode around in trucks with buckets of water and water guns and had water wars around town. LOOK OUT if you're on your motorbike!

Speaking of motorbikes, I'm officially a BIKER CHICK! Look out Myrtle Beach! Summer 2015, I'm joining the fun!

 Before the big shabang partying began, I got a chance to go to the temple or "wat" with one of my good friends. We are both wearing the local dress. I don't have a shirt like her's because I'm too chunky! HE HE HE! In those baskets, there are dollars, snacks, drinks, sticky rice, and flowers for the monks. I just borrowed a basket for the picture. But, this experience at the temple was pretty amazing.

All of the people stand in 2 extremely long lines. They await approaching a set of long tables that have many bowls and baskets on them. In each basket, they place a ball or rice, a snack, or money. First, they pinch off the rice. Then, they touch the tip of their forehead with the rice and say a little blessing. Lastly, they drop the rice in the basket. They repeat the ritual until all the contents of their basket have been given. 

STRANGE????.... yeah. But this ritual is common here. 

Tri-lingual Adventures

Day trips are superb. Especially when the people you go with speak different languages. We had a van full of 8 people heading out to see the Plain of Jars and some awesome views around the Province. I loved site seeing and being able to explore the country a little more. What made this trip most interesting was the diversity!!!! Diverse-City is what it felt like.

Chinese
English
Lao
and a little Bahasa Malaysia

What on earth is a girl to do? Well, thank God that smiles and laughter are universal. I think that by the end of this experience, I'm gonna be a beastly charades player. My mom always tells me, "I just don't see how you were able to communicate at all." Me neither, momma! It's an act of the Lawd most high!

People are bonded by togetherness, food, and a tid bit of crazy-funny. If you have the ability to entertain people without words, then you have the upper hand here. Ha ha! Lucky for me, JC blessed me with super amounts of silly insanity.

I recommend that everyone should go on at least one Tri-lingual adventure in his or her lifetime.

Sometimes, I just wanna speak Spanish

I'm not sure if you've ever had this experience before, but I'd like to think it's more common than not.

English is my mother tongue/ first language. You all know this. And in elementary school, middle school, high school, AND college, I studied significant amounts of Spanish.

Long story short, I know more Spanish than I do the local language here. It's just easier. The words are pretty similar, and the alphabet is the same. THE ALPHABET IS THE SAME! That is such a blessing. I never want to hear anyone complain about Spanish being difficult ever again in my life. It's really not that hard. There are no tones and you don't feel like you're going to swallow your tongue when you speak it.

Anyways! In my mind, I go through this process when I'm speaking my new language. I listen to the person I'm talking to, I think of a response in English, then I think.... How on this Earth do I say that in this language? I know how to say it in Spanish. Maybe if I say it in Spanish, they will somehow understand.

Guaranteed fail every time, but goodness people! Sometimes I just wanna speak Spanish!!!!!!

                                                                        END RANT

"Don't go chasin' waterfalls"

I don't know if you remember that TLC song from the 90's, but I loved it! Still do. And, when I was little, I used to think it said "Don't go, Jason Waterfall." Jason Waterfall would've been the coolest name ever though, right?

Anyways, there are no typical Western "fun" things to do here. KFC and McD's haven't even breached the realms of this country yet. Nor have any movie theaters, mini-golfs, malls, bowling allies, arcades, or anything like that. So, you gotta make your own fun! The task sounds like a beautiful challenge to me :D :D :D :D :D

PLAIN OF JARS

Locals LOVE to go to the Plain of Jars and take photos/picnic. Basically, there are all these huge jars that have been carved out of stone and placed on hills for some unknown reason. Maybe graves, maybe a water storage system, maybe some kind of religious ceremonial grounds. So mysterious! Put a Holli in a place like this and this is what happens... Push ups, baby!

WATERFALLS

We've been having some pretty awesome adventures here in the beautiful Asia. You kind of have to be creative when there's literally nothing "entertaining" to do. The plus side of this is that you get to enjoy some pretty amazing scenery and great views. Since it's not rainy season, the water level's lower and the falls are smaller. Cool thing about that is getting to climb down the rocks (in flip flops) and explore all the parts of the waterfalls! B-E-A-you-tee-ful!

                                                                       Free Fallin'

                                              

Funny story to go along with this one. One of my friends who went with us doesn't have the best balance. And, we didn't exactly have safety nets or anything to hold onto. Ok, so, my friend is doing the whole arm flailing thing that you do to balance yourself right before you fall a WHOLE LOT. I'm thinking... she's gonna bust it man. Just wait. Plus, she's wearing a ghetto version of Croc's. That's a recipe for certain disaster at all times. I made it do this awesome ledge that looks like a smaller version of Pride Rock and have my feet dangling into the water when I hear.... THUD! Homegirl just hit the ground. Fell right into a large puddle. And man, it wasn't one of those "I'm good, I'm good" hop right back up falls. She went down and stayed down for a hot minute. ~END
                                              This pic was taken moments before the fall.

TEMPLE LIFE

I'm from the South, and there are literally churches an every street corner. Well, this aint the South! Welcome to the Temple Belt of the world. So, what does one do with so many temples? I've seen some crazy art and crazy looking rituals, BUT! the single-most appealing and tempting thing that I've laid my eyes on has been the gong tower! Three stories high. Tight swirly steps going all the way to the top. A big chime at the bottom. AND a huge drum at the very top! Fully equipped with golden dragons and elaborate decor. And you wonder why A.D.D kids have so much trouble concentrating. Shiny? Drum? OK, I'm going up!!!! My language helper told me I'm sooooo naughty! Tee hee hee hee hee!

New Time Zone

When I got here, it felt like the ground was moving... 

Reminiscing... No, literally! For a few days, I could have sworn the ground was alive. Thank God that jet-lag isn't permanent. As we drove away from the airport, I kissed the taste of city and home goodbye indefinitely. My family and friends were left in the sweet Carolinas, and I found myself in a new time zone. So, we drove 7 hours into the mountains of this beautiful country. And then, I was home. 

Now, I am home. I'm still coming to terms with that fact. 

See, I've been living in transition for the past 4 years at college. Different dorms, home for summers, home for winter break, back to the dorm, living at camp, and training in a different state. This will be the longest I have lived in one place since high school, which is pretty bizarre. No more living out of my little green Honda Civic! It's crazy to be settling down into a place that's anything but easy to settle into. 

One thing I have to remember is: these things are not wrong or worse, just different. 

Maybe the Father will refine me through all of this. Maybe he'll change and challenge everything about me. From my mind to my heart, this place is where I'm supposed to be. Welcome to a home on a new horizon. 

Bull Dozin'

BULL FIGHTS YEAH! 

One of the most awesome things here is the entertainment. Today, I got to go to a real live bull-fight. There are some major perks to being in a 3rd world country. My favorite perk by far is the lack of rules. I'm honestly a rebel at heart. If there is a sign that says, "Don't walk on grass," then I will be that one person who's walking on the grass. Well, anyone could go wherever they wanted to inside of the bull-fighting arena. He he he. And there were no fences. Living life on the wild side.

So, each bull has a ring in it's nose. The owner of the bull puts a hook attached to a long stick in the ring. It's really a perfect way to piss the bull off before setting it loose to fight. I mean, really? You tell me... wouldn't you be pretty angry if someone was pulling you around by a ring attached to your nose? Most likely.

Anyways! Next, they pull the bulls into the arena. People were scattered all across the slopes of the mountains surrounding the arena. So exciting! All eyes on the bulls. They put the bulls close to each other and then... crack, crack, crack! The sound of horns clashing with horns! Pretty cool. And all the people are so excited. Oooohs and Ahhhhs. The first bull to chicken out, get scared, get hurt, and run away for some reason is the loser. There were some pretty short fights, but the coolest one lasted for like 16 plus minutes. Head to head action!

Clarification: when I say arena, I mean a huge dust bowl cut into a valley between two mountains.

One of my favorite moments of the day:
One of the bulls got hurt and freaked out. It ran out of the dusty pit and up the side of the mountain where the crowd was!!!!! People were running, screaming, and jumping. I now know why they coined the term "a bull in a china shop." HA!

Luckily, I was on the opposite side of the mountain. Tee hee hee.

When boxed milk starts to taste like milk milk...

Hello Western world! 

It's been 3 full months since I've been in the beautiful Asia, and guess what? The boxed milk is starting to taste like normal milk. This, my friends, is a feat that I though would never happen. Some people hit a big bump somewhere between 4-8 months of being out of their home country. For me, I feel like I hit the bump head on.... on arrival. I suppose that's what happens when not one single thing reminds you of home. 

The locals celebrate their New Year on the second week of April. And what a better New Years tradition than soaking all your friends with loads and loads of water???? Today, I went to my first New Years party. I had so much fun being a kid and getting drenched. If only I'd had the foreknowledge to NOT wear nicer clothes to the party... Oh well, hindsight! I danced, ate, and toasted with locals all while in a sopping wet skirt. How beautiful? 

When I first arrived here, if bugged the mess out of me that people could just sit around and relax most of the time. My American mentality says that time is money! Money is time! I gotta go, go, go right now, now, now! Now, I've come to see that such a relaxed mentality might not be all bad. In fact, it's simply different. I've noticed something pleasant about being so relaxed: people here are happy. They may lack the s@v*or, but they are happy. 

What on earth was missing from my previously busy world? Was I happy? Some of my darkest times happened while I had a relationship with JC. Now, I have joy, which goes much deeper than happiness. But, I think I was missing something before that I love seeing now through a new culture. That something would be the aspect of a thriving community. Simply enjoying the presence of my brothers, sisters, and neighbors for a while and getting so many positive vibes from that interaction that I lose track of time in such good community. Wow, maybe I can learn something from all the new, different, challenging, and head bursting moments I have here. 

One of my professors told me in college that I'd be like a square head in the middle of a sea of round heads. So different, so against the grain of those around me. And he told me that after being overseas for a while, I'd start to lose some of my corners and become this really strange octagon: half square, half round. He also said that some of the corners would be painfully shaved down and chipped away. Sir, you were so so right in saying this. I'm signing out today with a humbled mindset. MY home culture is not the best, most-correct, superior culture in the whole wide world. Maybe it's just different. The differences may make no logical sense in this thick Southern American skull of mine, but they are slowly but surely being given generous consideration and exploration these days.