Laos in the House

Laos in the House:


While walking off that plane and first stepping foot onto Laos soil was like setting foot on Yankee Stadium, this was it, we are finally here. It was humid, hot and the air smelled sweet. The workers at the airport were darker then most of my black friends back in the U.S, I didn't know Asians could get that dark and I first saw them by default I said, "What up son!" to which he just smiled big and exposed his missing teeth.

While we were waiting customs, my cousin comes through and the security guys says, "you can't be in here." my cousin replies, "they said I could." and all the security guy goes, "oh ok." Talk about tight security lol.

After we got our luggage we go outside to be greeted by crowd of my family members, a few of them I knew from when they came to the states to visit. They had a bouquet of flowers for all of us. A lot of them I was meeting for the first time. They was a lot of excitement and lots of crying. Most of them hadn't seen our family since they left Laos. With the little Laotian I can understand, I did hear lots of my relatives say in Laotian, "i can't believe they're here, they are here, they are finally here."

Everyone is shorter then me, I feel like a giant, one of my uncles came up to me and said, "you big and strong, you healthy." I could over hear my relatives say in Laotian,"he is big, he eats a lot, he is big boy."

As we got into the car our first stop was my aunt's house which is the house my parents and siblings use to live. It was more emotional for my siblings because they had not been to this house since they left for America, as we standing outside of the house taking off our shoes I saw the tears in my sister's eyes fall as if they were taken back into time and faded memories became once again reality. For me I the only emotion I felt was like an outsider looking in, I didn't grow up here, I have no memories of the staircase to the left when you walk in, or the back kitchen where there is a coal stove, all this to me was strange. Their was no real rooms, just half walls with a mattress on the ground, a shelf, and cracked ceiling. The wiring looked very amateur and would be a violation in the States but I guess these people are lucky to have power.

For lunch we again had Pho soup, at first I wasn't sure because of how dirty everything looked, but the smell of fresh vegetables and the aroma of the soup got to me. This was authentic pho soup, no more eating at a restaurant in Los Angeles, no more shipped veggies, everything fresh and homemade. My first bit was like having chicken mcnuggets when they are straight off the fryer, just burst of flavor that hit every taste bud, a taste my mouth knew but enhanced. After the pho soup we had desert that my grandma use to make, my sisters kept telling me they remember her selling these, I guess she was known for making these little yummy treats. It was banana mixed with coconut and placed a top of sticky rice and then wrapped in fresh banana leafs and then they steam it. It was wonderful….thanks G-MA!

Before we left the house my mom wanted to say hello to more of my relatives, so we walked through the half room half way thingy pass the coal kitchen and out the back door which we were immediately at my mom's other sister's house. However my mom's sister wasn't there, she had passed away about 5 yrs ago, my mom wanted to say hello to her brother in law and my cousins. I have never met any my cousins but they knew who I was from the picture my mom sends them. One of them just had a child, and my people have a tradition I never knew about when a female has a child. After birth she must sit and lay on a bed with warm coals under it for 14-21 days, the heat is suppose to heal her insides after birth she can't even drink cold water, everything has to be hot or warm. I remember my aunt when she came to live with us for about a year when I was in highschool, she helped my mom with the restaurant and always laughed at me for some reason. My uncle told me that she always said she missed me and I was her favorite. RIP Auntie.

We soon went to our hotel, which were not staying at, my parents got a room so we could drop off our luggage and shower. Our relatives followed us to the hotel and not having tallked to my lady love in over 24 hrs I was eager to talk to her. I busted out my iphone and connected to the wifi at the hotel and called her to facetime, its was 11am on Thursday which means it was 10pm on wedsnesday night in the states. Lacey were facetime chatting and then I realized everyone was looking me wondering what I was doing, then I realized they didn't have iphones and the fact I was looking at someone and talking to them at the same time blew their minds. My parents were even impressed. All my siblings dig Lacey and so everyone wanted to say hi to her via my iphone. Gosh technology is amazing, I'm half way across the country but I was able to see and speak with someone crazy.

We then jumped in to one of those trucks with the canopy covering the back and drove around town picking up more school supplies, clothes, uniforms, a playground set and a bunch of other stuff to take to the kids in my dad's home town. Driving I noticed that people are their own boss, not a lot of 9-5 jobs just people selling shit to each other and tourist…..which by the way…the only tourist are hippies I swear.

Most businesses are privately owned, owned by some family whose house is the business. Its shop up front, living space in the back. Its crazy to see most homes are small businesses. Kids running around in their under roos, ladies breast feeding in front of the store, it was nuts.

Are night ended and began at the bus station. We have to take a bus to Pakse,Laos where my dad's village is by, but first we must travel in a VIP bus, a sleeping bus with beds and they take you over night. The bus was big and filled with beds, my seat/bed was D11 next to my older sister Lucky. We walk towards the back where are seats are only to see that we had the bottom bunk in this really enclosed space. My sister Lucky try to lay down and freaked the heck out and ran off the bus. She could not handle being in such tight quarters. So after talking to some dudes upstairs with a regular bed and no one above them my sister switched,....I however was stuck in this bed up in a top bunk because I didn't have the luxury like my sister did, and my spot was small, no window and my face being 8 inches from the ceiling. Thanks to modern medicine I was able to take some sleeping pills and pass out.

After 7 hrs on the bus I woke up to what was an site that I never believed existed......