An exciting BHL night...

Last night Dave, Jennie, Chance, Eric, and I had dinner together then walked down to the Mekong. The men headed down to venture towards the river to see how close Thailand really was. Jennie and I stayed up at the steps to sit, chat, and watch the stars, Thai skyline, and the moon that was bigger than any of us remember it ever being. We saw two shooting stars that just took our breath away.

I love sitting under the stars and thinking about life. I've only been down to the Mekong twice at night (which is pathetic when you realize that it's only about a 15 minute drive on my motorbike to get there), but I love those moments when I'm able to just BE, think, and gain perspective on how small my life and perspective are.

Anyway, last night I was just so very thankful for the life I have. I am thankful that I get to live in a place where I can sit near the river and look at another country's skyline. I'm thankful that my life here in a foreign country is so full of friends that I have a hard time figuring out how to spend time with everyone I want to. I'm thankful that I get to make a difference in 4 high school students' lives. I'm thankful for so many options when we go out to eat, and that going out to eat is an option. I'm thankful that I don't have to eat rat, dog, bats, insects, etc unless I want to (and I haven't, other than a few insects, for the record). I'm thankful for getting to ride a motorbike, and even more thankful that I haven't had any major incidents with my motorbike! I'm thankful for a very international community, where I can watch how people from all over the world live their lives so that I can really understand that there is more than one way to approach everything in life.

This leaves me with a tough question that has been on my mind for years though: Do I really see myself living in the US long-term? I guess that's one of those questions that I won't know until it's time to know...

Back to the story:

While we were waiting for the guys, Jennie started to wonder where they were, if it was safe for them to be out there, when they would come back, etc. She decided to call them. They were on their way back...with 3 Lao guards who had apprehended them. Jennie said, "Well just tell them your wives are waiting so you can go home."

Apparently Dave had already done that. After a few minutes, we could make out their shadows. When the guys reached us, the guards wouldn't let them walk away. They were trying to decide what to do with them. Dave was trying to figure out why they were having to be escorted. The guards wouldn't let Dave call a friend who speaks more Lao to help figure things out. There were a few situations that the guards could think of that might be going on: The guys were trying to buy drugs, they were wanting to cause trouble with some of the dignitaries staying in the hotels near the beach, or -most likely - they were not a problem but might get hurt by "Thai Gangstuuuhhr" (The Lao version of "gangster" that you could only hear in your head if you've heard them pronounce any of the English words they've adopted into Lao).

When they established the fact that Dave had 6 children waiting for him at home, and that we all live in Vientiane and aren't trouble-causing "falang" (foreigners...especially tourists), they let us go. We headed back to our modes of transportation and laughed about what would have happened had these 3 small unarmed men really encountered Thai gangstuuuuuhhhhrs, or if Dave, Chance, and Eric had been threatening.

We all agreed that we love the lives we live here and the stories we have from such unique circumstances.