Laos time

It saddens me that I haven't felt inspired to write for the last, well, two years nearly! Maybe it was the bank job, the same route to and from the job, same surroundings, who knows. Now that I've been to South East Asia for four months, moved to a different country and looking for new and interesting jobs I feel a little more inspired. Today was a good day, I had a successful interview, and although I like to think I'm not a 'career' person, I am. I like money and success unfortunately, therefore I felt good about myself. I stumbled upon some amazing music which I listened to all afternoon and put my face in the sun and it was wonderful. I've been having lots of these days. Days that I feel in touch with myself and my life, not just those days where you think, 'Shit, what have I actually been doing today?!'

I remember one day in Laos in particular. The lime green rice fields were lined with wooden bamboo cabins that were met by steep mountains. Huge black mountains that looked like obsidian crystals that shot up straight like ice burgs that had pierced their way to the surface. The fog wrapped around them like a protective mother. The little brown children stood showering outside, not covering themselves as a minivan of white people parked by them. They did wave and stare though, they stared at us as though trying to keep a part of our clean white skin in their memory forever.

This polygamous country of busy husbands was strangely one of my favourites. The men would drive us from place to place, sometimes stopping to drop off the odd chicken or rice sack at one of their wives houses while inviting us into their homes to wait. Laos time. Everything and everyone moves slowly; a three hour ride will take seven hours. It was perfect and it relaxed me and I guess, changed me in a good way.