Vientiane observations made over dinner:

-French remnants: architecture, baguettes, red wine
-at my favorite breakfast cafe, with its brilliant espresso and homemade bread, chickens and roosters still dot the yard
-oppressive city heat
-as in, at dinner at 7 pm, my beer was warm before i had drank half the glass. the glasses are small
-all tuk-tuk drivers sell weed and opium. for example: “tuk-tuk? tuk-tuk?” “No, thank you.” “Ganja ganja? smoke? opium?” like every 5 minutes past evening time
-i ran across the same sex worker i’d run across in September
-probably, which the above may fail to reflect, the most laid-back capital ever. it’s only a bit bigger than Buffalo

in other news, i am still completely confused with this job business. i am teaching an intensive TOEFL prep course for Lao students who desire to study abroad for university. everything is being sent to me through email, as is all communication. i feel entirely in over my head at the moment. add to this my rare stance as a worker abroad without a laptop, and it does make things worse. i have to sit in this damn internet cafe for hours downloading the coursebook. and then i have to seek out a zip drive and put all of the listening files on it. these aren’t huge mountains to leap but i am so computer un-saavy that i fear i will mess something up, somehow. as this was so disorganized, i seem to have found myself in a top position, and feel entirely unadequate. what do you mean i should go down to the space and get the contract figured out? where is the space? what is this contract? oh, i should tell the students when class is starting? when is class starting? is it up to me when class starts?

also, i don’t actually know who i am working for. but all will come with time.

made a new friend yesterday who suggested we get a large hotel room for the month. it’s a good idea, as guesthouses are pricey and i’m paying nearly 10 dollars for a room that is dark and there’s a shared bathroom in the hall. the hotel room would be much more cash-efficient and comfortable, but i don’t know if i want to share a hotel room with someone for 3.5 weeks. decisions decisions!

it’s drizzly today and i am very thankful. the heat has slowed down my every movement the past few days.