Before I report on my first visit to the Sunbeam Vocational and Language Center, let me show you my neighborhood here.
Before the visuals, let me tell you a bit about Vientiane, the capital city where I am living. (In red below) It is the largest city of Laos, with a population of 840,000. It’s also located along the Mekong River, bordering Thailand.
It is composed of 11 districts and 486 villages. (A “village” is really a city neighborhood, not a village as we think of it in English.). I live in the Thongkang Village, the Sisattanak District.
My Village and Area
I have already walked my small alleyways to explore. As you see the slideshow below, you’ll notice a beautiful Buddhist temple (that’s to the left exiting my apartment alleyway) and exiting right, narrow roads lead to one main road that is heavily trafficked. All along my village walk, I pass VERY wealthy Laos people in gated, spiffy homes that look like palaces. There are always several expensive cars parked in the inner courtyards. Then we have others who live in rundown concrete buildings, scraping by doing whatever work they can find.
Eventually, after zig-zagging my way about, I can eventually cross the main road to buy few shopping items. There are so many mom-and-pop, family-run convenience stores. They have everything you would need, including Diet Coke. (Surprise!) I just have to be careful when getting there. I keep my eyes on cars and motorbikes whizzing by to slowly make my way across. I don’t want to get hit, thank you very much.
Another tricky aspect of walking my village streets deals with strays. Homeless dogs roam everywhere. They lounge along roads, pick through tossed garbage, run in packs or stay single and wary of those passing by. Others belong to shops and just wander about in the heat or guard their owner’s areas. Angie has been bitten several times, she told me. This is why we get our rabies vaccinations before we come here, good for 2 years.
Enjoy the below. I had fun putting it together for you. Welcome to my neighborhood!
connie's space 