Settling in. Musical Interlude.

From inside the library I hear the girls from the school house. They are laughing and squealing and yelling. I wonder what's happening; they don't usually cause a ruckus like this. I go outside and I see that they are playing. Yesterday I bought a whole bunch of elastic bands and got one of the girls to make a jumpsee rope from it. I asked them if they played it in Laos, and evidently they do, but only when they are little. I thought my offering was a bit of a bust in that respect. But now that I see them playing with it with such delight and joking and laughing...it makes me really happy. I haven't seen the girls so carefree and physically expressive before. I want to play too, but I know that I am so much taller than the girls it wouldn't be fair, on top of that, I've always been good at jumpsees. Okay girlfriends...when I get back, we're playing jumpsees…game on!

I teach the students how to knit in the round to make a hat today.

I'm setting into a groove, and each day seems to go by in this languid way. I never know what's really scheduled and that's okay with me. There always seems to be time for me to insert a lesson in the afternoon or evening when formal classes are done, and it's up to me when I want to do this. Ramsey and So have been really chillaxed about what I do here. I have gotten into the habit of being the last to sleep at night (11pm or 12am) and the first to wake (5am or 6am) and I take a 1 to 2 hour siesta in the afternoon. Sweet. I feel like I'm on vacation. Nothing much needs to happen and I'm content with the routine of the school. I have a lot of free time yet somehow it all manages to occupy itself in some relaxed way or another.

Even though I am in a sarong, and the streambed is slippery with rocks and the banks are muddy, I now look forward to my twice a day baths in the stream. I have also grown to enjoy squatting and the compost toilet. I am now a disciple of the squat - it is the most agreeable position for easeful voiding...and composting my humanure is a good reminder of my connection to ecological cycles. I really like gathering water from the well and filling the large metal barrel each day. It usually takes me 10 minutes and at least 15 pulls/buckets. I have well calluses on my hands now...it make me feel strong like bull! I've gotten into the pattern of washing the clothes I wear everyday to take maximum advantage of drying time and to minimize the red mud-dye damage. I also really like foraging for greens and eating them (the food I will miss the most when I leave Laos). This is the closest I've ever gotten to my homo sapien hunter-gatherer ancestry. Something primordial and familiar has clicked in and has begun to root.

It's almost time to turn in and I'm listening to Chopin's Nocturne For Violin and Piano. It's beautiful. Tonight is the first time I've listened to music in three weeks. I didn't bring an MP3 player on my trip with me, nor do I have any music on my net book. This evening So hooked up speakers to her laptop and I've been scrolling through her play list. I've been lying on my mattress on the floor for the last couple of hours and listening to Nirvana, Bob Marley, Coldplay, Roy Orbison, Sinead O’Conner, Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, Neil Young, Chopin and Beethoven, etc. and I've been really enjoying the experience. For those of you that don't know me very well, I don't listen to music, so for me, this is out of the ordinary...and very welcomed. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is playing now and it seems appropriate that it is accompanied by the almost musical sounds of insects outside the library.

I’ll leave you with today’s sunset from the library porch.