Colossal Food Fight Yields Valuable Life Lesson

Splashing melon

Originally uploaded by Sesselja María

“I’ve just been trying to find myself, meditating, getting in touch with the local ways…” said the West Coast hippie who was way to old to be having this conversation. Far sooner than his partner could reply with a laconic “right on man” did a piece of melon fly past his ear, launched from the hand of a Lao man wearing an enormous gold ring. The man who began the food fight was overcome with a giggle I haven’t heard from anyone over the age of ten that grew more uncontrollable as the bus erupted into the melon fight he had obviously been plotting for quite some time. There’s something to be learned about the value of humor in Laos that buys good will, helps negotiations run more smoothly and makes unpleasant situations (like said bus ride) more bearable for everyone involved. A big contrast to my tendancy to let small setbacks frustrate me disproportionately. Lesson noted.
In other news, we’ve made a decision on the North vs. South dilemma and tomorrow we’ll be heading South to Viang Vien. Covering 100 km in 9 hours, we will literally be inching our way towards Singapore which is kind of how this last month of travel feels.