We’re back!

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting an update about our time in the village. First off, we must convey an apology about the lack of updates from the past 5 days, as it was originally suggested that we might have still had access to the internet during our time at the village, which was not what was actually the case.

For the past 5 days, our group were not only without internet access, but also electricity, standard bathrooms, air conditioning, and mirrors amongst many others. If you know anything about your typical first world student in today’s world, you know that missing these daily essentials was going to make for a very challenging few days. But to keep them busy, the students were given a variety of unique jobs in the service of adding their part to the Eco-bungalow project that was already erected in the village.

Most of our mornings started even before sunrise, as the resident roosters of the village served as possibly the only alarm clock the students couldn’t hit the snooze button on. After starting with an early morning yoga or running session, the students would return to their homestay families for a hearty breakfast before starting with the morning session of bungalow building. Students were divided into 4 teams. One team got down and dirty in the mud pit, using their feet to mix together the mud, straw bits, and sand that would serve as the bricks and mortar for the walls of the house. Another team, filled buckets of mud and poured them into molds that would be left in the sun to dry into bricks. Then there was the straw cutting team, responsible for chopping straw to be mixed into the aforementioned mud pit. Finally, there was the team of brick-layers, charged with setting the bricks in place and continuing to build upon the existing structure.

The morning sessions were usually divided into two segments to allow students to try more than one job, and to inject a fruit break to help students stay hydrated while working under the overbearing tropic sun.

The students were given a lengthy 2 hour lunch break most days, and used this time to return to their homestay families for a carbohydrate rich rice or noodle based lunch; the perfect refuel for another half day of hard work. Students spent the extra time taking either taking a short nap or sat in the town meeting building playing cards.

In the afternoons, there would usually be a smaller build session, but also another activity, which included a visit to the local school to play with the children there, a visit to the village shaman to learn about the spiritual roots of animism, or a hike.

The last portion of the day involved many students taking the time to complete some much needed personal clean-up tasks such as laundry and showering. During the second half of our village stay, the taps near many of the students’ homestays went dry, and so began a mad rush to the village chief’s private showering stall that was graciously given to the students to use during the water shortage. After showering, students returned back to their homestays for dinner before the group gathered in front of the eco-bungalow for a nightly bonfire and time of reflection under a breathtaking sky full of stars that the students would not get to see in Macau. Due to a combination village-wide curfew and early morning starts, students were usually in bed and asleep before 10pm.

On the last evening, the villagers showed their appreciation for our group by treating us to a traditional Baci ceremony that is used to bid good fortune to people undertaking or leaving for great endeavours. Students were given white cotton string wristbands as a wish for good fortunes by the homestay families and treated to a special dinner.

After one final sleep, we woke up bright and early for the last meal with our homestay families. Many students offered to take a photo with their families and are hoping to send the photos back to their homestays in the future, as a momento of these families generous hospitalities for the students during the week. After trekking back down the hillside, the group was transported to Kuang Si waterfalls, were the students eagerly anticipated a refreshing dip in the beautiful aqualine waterfall pools. A quick trip through the Black Bear Rescue Centre nearby and a stop for a tremendously satisfying lunch later, we were on our way back to Luang Prabang for an relaxing afternoon to simply allow the students to chill out after 5 action packed days.

More pictures will follow (the photo upload process has been excruciatingly slow today) later on. The group still has some adventures along the Mekong River in Luang Prabang tonight and another full day of adventures in and around Luang Prabang tomorrow so please keep checking back to our blog!

Update: In our first evening back in Luang Prabang, we had dinner at a restaurant called Utopia, and our group had a riverfront view of the Mekong River while dining on chicken satay, pizza, salad, and mango sticky rice. From there we walked over to the night market for a second go around.