Mutterings from the Bog

Today has been an OK day for internet so here goes. : )

Normally I would be at construction today but the past few nights the internet has been either out or going so slow it makes work impossible. So, in fear of falling behind and losing our rent money I stayed at the house today; snuggled up with my laptop and CSS style sheets till my eyes begged for escape. I thought they wouldn’t really make a difference but laptop cooling fans are a good thing.

So anyway. Here we are. As I said, most of our time is taken up by construction. Days not on construction we are out. Sunday you are done by 4-ish and Monday by noon-ish. The fun thing about Mondays I am learning is that for many folks also working on “gan sang” (construction) it’s really your only “play” day, so play we do. (and the friends are great at finding free things!) Last week we went to a new aquarium that just opened here and then yesterday four of us armed with a map and towels drove about 100km out of town to some waterfalls. J + I had hiked to some waterfalls in Laos before, but this was a little more ..eh, remote. I had much “guewa” (fear) that I was going to run into something long and slithery. (Not an uncommon site here. Monday AM our friend had to “attend” to one that was trying to get in someone’s house. ((Sorry Dad. :D ))

So, after a short hike through the forest and bamboo groves we were at our waterfall. It’s pretty much only a waterfall in the rainy season (now) so it was nice to just relax, swim and let the waves pummel our tired construction bodies. It was so quiet and peaceful...and cool... it felt nice to finally be cool!

Another thing we have been doing to relax is a little bit of planting. It’s incredibly easy here. The plants are amazing. I now have Arabian Jasmine, Jasmine Offic., Pomegrante, Green Asian Orange, Kaffir Lime, Tamarind, Champa, Hibiscus, Aloe Vera, Ornamental Grasses, Lemongrass and Papyrus all growing. It’s been relaxing in the early morning (yes, I did just say early AM.. I know I know) and evening. I started to feel like maybe we spent too much on plants to today while waiting for an upload I did a grand total. Pots / Plants / Soil. $20.63 USD. So, now we sit back and wait. We are also going to dig some plants on our next day off: Papaya, these crabapple like trees (but sweet) and snakeplants. The large 10” terracotta pots are around a dollar each. So, I don’t feel guilty about this hobby. : ) The house is new construction so it’s grey cement walls all around us which a.) is incredibly hot and b.) incredibly ugly. We get lots of laughs from the locals bringing all this home on the scooter. I have become quite skilled at what I can balance on my legs while Joel is driving. : )

Yesterday while we were out talking to people we ran into a house with Monkeys. Another with tropical birds. One of the boys fed the Monkey which made the monkey give up on snagging the other girl’s umbrella. It’s a rather strange environment to get used to..but we are. We are finally starting to feel a little bit settled. We’ve been trying to have people over to get to know everyone and spend time outside of the norm with people. Emphasis we are just real normal people. We made Laap and sticky rice for some friends Saturday so I think that won a few people over that we are OK here. : )

What else… well, like I said the Internet is really the only thing that drives me crazy. I’ll set a day to work then have to rearrange because I can’t. Other than that, there is nothing I really miss other than you dear friends, family. (and my cat. :/ ) J is the funny one, he wants chocolate cake, a steak and the other day a plate of fresh Portuguese seafood. Things to return for. ; ) He also feels lost without his tools. There is just NO place to buy decent tools even if you could afford them. Black and Decker is high end. (No offence to those who use Black and Decker.) Even the tools at that site are well…worn. The poor lead guy there is trying to cut costs. It’s like here like everywhere. The economy is HORRIBLE. The weather has been unstable the past couple years so it has ruined many rice fields. Some of our friends are rice farmers. So, everyone is concerned about the economy ..just like everywhere else. People are cutting trees to burn for wood to cook with since they can’t afford charcoal. You see some really sad things that remind you buying pants in the men’s department isn’t really a big deal. But, at least we know it will get better and that keeps everyone smiling.

Soon ; )

PS. Not sure how many of you are on FB, I've been posting some photos there.. (it is good for some things!) if your not and want to see them just drop us a line with your email and will send the Album link. : ) For some reason it takes me FOREVER to upload them to blogger. : /

Much love.