Going Home

One last picture with the MCC team, at my house before leaving for the airport

What a weird word, “home.” I’m not sure what it will feel like to be there, but I know I’m excited! I’m arriving back in the US late the night of Friday the 13th of August. I might kind of hide out for a while, though, so please, nobody be offended. I’ll get to see most of my lovely family and also my boyfriend at the airport, and the next night Patrick gets home from Guatemala. Reunion!

I actually left Laos last Wednesday for my MCC regional retreat in Vietnam. Now I’m writing from the airport in Seoul, waiting for my bus to go visit Kelsey and Bess!

Ok, that’s all for now. I had quite the adventure getting to Korea from Vietnam, but that’s a story for another time.

Update for my home church

Quick explanation: The following is an update I wrote a few weeks ago for my home church, Community Mennonite. I thought it might be interesting to others too, and I’ve added some pictures from the camping weekend with my volunteer group.

with some of my peacebuilding volunteers at the riverside camping location

Hello to everyone at CMCL!

I miss you, and I miss my church home. I also miss singing in harmony, since I don’t get much of that here! I haven’t been in touch for a long time, so I just want to update you all on life in Laos. For those of you who don’t know, I’m serving with MCC in Vientiane, Laos, as an advisor to a peacebuilding volunteer group. I’m here on a two-year term, which actually ends this coming August, amazingly enough!

I spend most of my time working in the office for the volunteer group and meeting with them on the weekends, riding a motorbike around the city, tutoring a friend in English, and getting together with Lao and foreign friends. Actually my work has been really busy recently, but also very fun, because we had our annual camping weekend. This is something that these young adult volunteers never get to do otherwise, so they were VERY excited. We had a full weekend of 6am jogging, a trash outfit fashion show (part of the environmental theme), a quite adventurous hike through the river and nearby vegetable fields (complete with a wild monkey sighting!), a campfire and barbeque and learning about climate change. It was an exhausting weekend, but one full of good times with the volunteers and noticing cultural differences all the more because of being in such an intense setting.

I’ll be honest, over a year and a half is starting to feel really long to be away from family and friends. But I feel really fortunate to have lots of visitors this second year. Several friends came in the fall, and my parents are planning a trip this summer. And even as my thoughts are starting to turn homeward (but not TOO much), I’m reminded of what I love about Laos, and of the everyday experiences that will no longer be a normal part of my life when I leave here. I thought of this the other day when I went to visit my neighbors, whose grandmother had died. I lit some incense and joked along with the older folks when they tried to set me up with their nephew. And I knew how to sit politely and keep my hands folded when the monks came to perform a ceremony.

I look forward to seeing all of you when I return at the end of the summer. At this point, I’m planning to look for a job and an apartment in Philadelphia. But initially, and while I’m on the job hunt, I plan to visit friends who have spread out to different states and live with my parents in Lititz (and hopefully, see my brothers before they head off to college!). And of course, I’m looking forward to catching up with all of you at CMCL. Thank you so much for supporting me and keeping me in your prayers.

with one of the goofy volunteers

the beautiful mountains and fields of Vang Vieng, Laos (near where we saw the wild monkeys!)

some of the costumes from the Trash Fashion Show

Once upon a time in Laos…

the three Californian astrologers ride their "horse" to Laos

What happens when a bunch of Buddhists want to throw a Christmas party? They ask the resident Westerners to tell the Christmas story, of course. This year for MCC Laos’s (belated) Christmas and New Year’s party, none of the few Christians in the office were on the planning committee, so Justin (in MCC’s SALT program) and I got roped into telling the Christmas story. But we decided we didn’t want to just tell the story the same way, we wanted to tell it in a way that people could relate to. So with the help of my coworker Sili, that’s how we ended up with the story of the birth of Jesus, as if it happened in rural Laos instead of Palestine. What really made this story good, though, was that the names were changed to the names of MCC staff, and those staff (plus some whose names weren’t mentioned) then were pulled out of their seats to act out their part in the story. I’ll give some commentary in the story to let you know the actions that went with the story. The Lao (language) version is much better, but hopefully you’ll enjoy this English version, and learn something about Lao culture.

The Birth of Jesus

Once upon a time, 2000 years ago, in the country of Laos in the province of Xieng Khouang (where MCC has a food security and nutrition project), there lived a young woman named Bouachan, who was engaged to be married to a man named Chantala. (Bouachan and Phoungeun, Chantala’s replacement, stand awkwardly in front of the rest of the group.)

One day, when she was steaming sticky rice, suddenly an angel named Phengphan (Phengphan is given a paper “halo” and told to flutter toward the couple) came to her and said, “God has blessed you, because you will be the mother of the Son of God.”  Bouachan answered, “I will follow what God says.” (The English and Lao language narrators coaching both Phengphan and Bouachan in their lines at this point was quite amusing).

Bouachan and Poungeun ride Happy the Elephant into Phonesavanh

About 9 months later, Bouachan and Chantala had to go to Phonesavanh (capital of Xieng Khouang province) to pay their taxes. They rode an elephant (played by my coworker, Happy!) to Phonesavanh through the mountains.  They didn’t think there would be so many people there already.  Bouachan and Chantala asked to stay at a guesthouse owned by Mrs. Manisone, but Mrs. Manisone said there was no room for them.  Manisone felt sorry for them because Bouachan was going to have her baby soon so she said they could stay in the hut in her field where her cows were.  (Happy and Noy become the hut.) Chantala and Bouachan stayed in the hut and Bouachan had the baby. (This line produced lots of laughter, and ended in the youngest person at the party, 5-year-old Jack, playing Baby Jesus.)

the "Holy Family" in their "hut"

That same night, in a farm outside of Phonesavanh, Hien and Wendy (the co-administrators of MCC Laos) were taking care of their goats.  It was very late and they couldn’t go home so they slept in their huts near their goats.  (This line necessitated choosing two more people to represent another hut.) Suddenly, while they were sleeping, angels came and woke them up. The angels said, “Glory to God because tonight the Son of God was born in Phonesavanh.” After that, Hien and Wendy walked with their goats to visit the baby.  When they arrived, they gave the family papaya salad, sticky rice and grilled chicken (Lao staple foods).  They also tied baci strings to the wrists of the baby (the Lao way of blessing someone).

That same night, three astrologers in California (the place that Sili named when asked to think of somewhere very far away) named Khamseng, Bounchan and Somchit (MCC Project Managers) saw a star that told them the Son of God had been born in Phonesavanh. They decided to visit the child and bring him gifts. Khamseng, Bounchan and Somchit travelled for many months on horses (played very enthusiastically by my housemate Kaylie–see photo at top!) and when they arrived, they gave the child gifts of a gold watch, a golden iPhone and a golden laptop (really expensive things that could come from California).

Happy Thanksgiving

I just want to add the text of this email, in case anyone did not receive it. If you didn’t, but want to be on my emailing list, just let me know. New post to follow soon! I’m realizing that the Christmas season is still a busy season in Laos (at least for me), even though very few people celebrate the holiday. This year, though, at least part of that is due to the Southeast Asia (SEA) Games that Laos is hosting for the first time this year. I got to watch a practice for the opening ceremony, and I’m hoping to see some other events, especially volleyball. And as little as I enjoy watching soccer, I actually do know the final score of the last two games of the Lao national team (1-1 and 2-0 Lao), because that is all we talk about in the MCC office anymore. Well, that and my new “Asian-style” haircut, but we don’t need to talk about that anymore. Hopefully more posts to come soon…

Happy Thanksgiving, dear family and friends!

I know I’ve done a miserable job of keeping in touch. I think it’s because I want to tell you EVERYTHING, and then I have no idea where to start. I think it’s also because a lot of the things that have been happening recently are happening inside of me, and those things are a lot harder to talk about and to explain. I’ve felt lonelier recently, and have been on the difficult path of understanding myself more fully—insecurities and all.

So far, my second year here (which started in August) has definitely been harder than the first—deeper and more meaningful in lots of good ways, but harder. Everything isn’t new and exciting anymore. But this morning I woke up simply thankful to be who I am, where I am.

Here are some of the things I’m thankful for.

• Ability to understand more Lao, especially the playful banter that used to flow too fast for me to catch, and feeling more a part of things as a result
• Experiences that remind me that I am in a job and a situation that allows me to do lots of the things I love to do: concentrate on building relationships, explore a language and culture more deeply than ever before, and do lots of new things
• Good friendships here with Lao people and expats, both in my MCC team and the broader community
• A growing appreciation for the Lao sense of humor—things just keep getting funnier and funnier
• Increasingly comfortable and fun relationships with members of the volunteer group I work with, which I felt especially at the recent Bazaar where we had a booth and performed a song
• Loving friends and family back in North America who keep in touch, pray for me, and ask about me at church
• The realization that journaling keeps me sane
• Music, especially new songs that I’ve discovered in the past few weeks and Christmas music that I am helping to prepare for a special service in a few weeks
• A God who is always with me

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and find lots of things to be thankful for.

Two Stories

Recently I had two interesting experiences that I think illustrate both a few of the many things I love about Laos and the challenges of living cross-culturally. Sorry, no pictures for this one, but don’t let that keep you from reading!

Things often don’t work out as I expect, probably because as a North American, my expectations are often very different than the culture. So when my friend Nah asked me to go visit his English class so that his students could practice conversing with a native speaker, I was expecting a small group of kids like the 3 friends I teach twice a week. Instead, he ended up taking me to a language school, and I visited 4 or 5 full classrooms of kids. It was actually really fun to have a reason to speak English with people. It was also fun, though, to see how surprised the kids were that I could understand what they said to each other before they got up the courage to ask me a question in English. The kids had the chance to ask me whatever questions they wanted. Most of them were predictable: What is your name? Where are you from? Do you have a boyfriend? (People—not just children—love that last one…I can usually count on a kindly adult older than me asking “How old are you?” and then inquiring about my marriage or relationship status.) But then there was also the question from a preteen girl, “You are very beautiful. What do you eat?” I chuckled and was about to move on to the next question when Nah informed me that the girl was waiting for an answer. I said bread, milk and sticky rice.

But the other reason I like this story is because I think it shows something really important about Lao culture: volunteerism. I am constantly impressed by how much people (especially young people) volunteer their time for the good of others or cheerfully help out their neighbors. Nah works all day at his office job, and then 3 nights a week, he teaches English to kids at this language school. He may get paid a little for it, I don’t know, but it’s probably not much. It’s the same with Mittapab, the volunteer group I work with. The ones who started the group were mostly volunteers at youth or child development centers, and now they are involved with our peace group as well as their day jobs. Many of our other volunteers are university students. As I think back to life as a student, I don’t remember myself or most other students being this genuinely interested in volunteering their time to make their community better, even at a school like EMU which really emphasizes “service learning” and even makes it a part of the curriculum.

Ok, so this next story is kind of embarrassing, but if I have learned anything in the past year, it is that the more I think I’m learning of this language and culture, the more I realize how much I still don’t know. As soon as I feel like I’m getting a handle on things, say understanding the students like in the last story, something happens to take me down a notch. Recently I went to a hair salon to get my hair cut. I went to a place where I kind of know some of the women from the Lao church I go to. I’m still not sure exactly how it happened, but it was some combination of not wanting to be rude or pushy and having a language mix-up with the words for “cut” and “straighten.”  To make a long story short, I finally walked out of there an hour and a half later, my hair having been washed twice, blown dried twice, thinned, and almost straightened (but that was immediately aborted when I realized my mistake). Ironically, after all of that, not cut, my original intention. The lesson learned? Several:

1. It’s a good idea to look in a dictionary or ask a friend about the vocabulary you might need before you go into a new situation. Motions and talking around things don’t always do the trick. The word that I thought was a more specific word for “cut” was actually the word for “straighten.”
2. I have become more passive. My mom will hate to hear this, but I’ve actually become less assertive over the past months. Assertiveness is just not a cultural value here. And I’ve realized that I don’t actually need to have things my way nearly as much as I thought—no, I didn’t get a haircut, but I’m happy with my hair and with the chat that I had with Pawn. Besides, if I spoke up every time that someone did something in a way that I thought was ridiculous, everyone would think I was ridiculous. Yet I realized today that the coping skills of going with the flow and trusting that things I don’t understand at the time will soon become clear that have usually served me well over the past year can sometimes be maladaptive. At certain points, I thought something might be amiss, but I assumed that she just did things differently than I was used to. But no, I accidentally told her I wanted my hair straightened.
3. As confirmed by other experiences as well, Lao people are unfailingly patient and gracious, even when you tell them the wrong thing and they have to do everything all over. As I was leaving, Pawn said I could come over anytime and hang out with them. For that graciousness, I am very grateful.

Vietnam!

Flower vendors in Hanoi

When I saw that I hadn’t posted for 4 months, I almost couldn’t believe it. Time is going so fast. The good part is that I think that means I’m positively involved in life here, but I feel like I’ve been very delinquent in pursuing my goals of keeping in touch with people at home and introducing you all to Laos. When Matt and I vacationed in Vietnam recently, I realized that I was jealous of the MCC workers who got to show us around their adopted country and tell us about this place that they have come to love. So since this is the best outlet I have to impart my love of Laos and its people and culture to all of you, I’ve made a resolution of blogging more often. But since I got back recently from 2 weeks in Vietnam and have lots of observations and experiences to share from that, this first post of my renewed effort at communication will be about Vietnam.

Other than some travel in Thailand in April, this was my first extended time out of Laos since I arrived. And Vietnam felt very different, partly because of being tourists there for more time than in Thailand and partly because Lao and Thai cultures are very similar. I was surprised at how dissimilar Vietnamese culture seemed compared to Lao culture. The following is simply from my limited experience, and my two weeks as a tourist certainly don’t qualify me as an expert.

motorbike traffic in Hanoi

In Vientiane, waiting in traffic at all will trigger laments from Lao people about how much traffic has increased in the last few years. So the many cars and millions of motorbikes in Hanoi made simply arriving in Hanoi kind of overwhelming. The first night (oh alright, the first few days) I was terrified of crossing the street (because you just kind of need to put yourself out there and expect people to drive around you), but I got better. One big cultural difference that many people comment on is how much more assertive (aggressive?) people are. Granted, the pace in Laos is more snail-like than anything, and tourists like to joke about having to wake up napping tuk-tuk drivers to get a ride anywhere. Well, in Hanoi (especially if you happen to be white), you get pelted with “Hello. Motorbike?” or “Hello! Cyclo?” every 20 seconds or so. I’m not exaggerating. I did finally decide to try a cyclo, which was sufficiently awkward (the slow-moving vehicle exposed to the world attracts lots of staring and laughter), but also very fun.

driver with very strong legs and me on display in a cyclo for all of this little coastal town to see

Our first day in Hanoi (before we knew how to refuse such things), a fruit vendor insisted that we wanted to take pictures modeling her vendor’s gear. And buy some of her pineapple (overpriced of course). So it goes. Can you tell I felt a little silly?

with the friendly vendor. if you can't tell what i'm holding, look over her shoulder.

Another thing that is not an exaggeration is the crazy cargo some people transport by motorbike (everything from live chickens to stacked furniture to a family of five). I got a picture of a mild example.

Part of what made for a great trip and a better understanding of Vietnam was our wonderful SALT program friends who spent the past year in Hanoi. Hannah and Rosie showed us around, introduced us to some delicious Vietnamese and Rosie’s host family, and swapped stories with us about our respective experiences this year. At points being a tourist felt really strange, since it is basically the opposite of what we have been striving to do all year, so besides the fun of meeting new friends, it was lovely to actually know some people in Vietnam and be able to hear their perspective on things we were experiencing. (“This women glared at me. Did I offend her?” Things like that.)

L-R Rosabeth, me, Matt, and Hannah

Probably the time I felt the weirdest about my tourist status was when we spent a day and night on a boat with about 15 other Westerners. I went through a bit of culture shock just thinking, “All these people speak fluent English. Many of them are even close to my age. But I have no idea how to relate to them. What do you do when it isn’t a challenge to communicate and you supposedly have similar cultures?” I got over it though, and managed to have a great time. It was pretty difficult with gorgeous rocky cliffs jutting out of the clear water and a star-filled sky to gaze at in the middle of nowhere.

beautiful Halong Bay - but not as good as in real life!

posing with the gorgeous sunset

Matt and I both got up the courage to jump into the water from the top deck of the boat. Scary!

Overall, a great trip.

I’m a teacher?!

with my three students- Baiyan, La and Hak

Except for my youngest years when I just wanted to be like my mom, I’ve never really pictured myself as a teacher in my future life. So it feels kind of strange to me that 3 people call me Aajaan  Fa (teacher, plus my nickname Fa), and that I really am teaching them English 2 nights a week. Even stranger is the fact this is actually the activity that I’m most passionate about doing right now. I have lots of other passions, but somehow teaching these three girls and studying Lao with Khamla feels so satisfying. I think that’s mostly because of the relationships I’m developing with all of them and the progress I can already see in their language learning and  in my own.

learning Lao traditional dance (fawn) with La

These girls are so excited to learn, so they are really fun to teach. I am also enjoying getting to know them and seeing that these three girls who were always so timid when I used to come visit Khamla are now really comfortable with me. We joke around a lot. Admittedly, I don’t always understand what they are saying, but I feel good vibes.

Lao dance, with Khamla's family's shop in the background

Learning Lao with Khamla is going well too. Working with my peace group really motivates me to learn the language better. I just feel like there is so much more I could do if I could just understand everything that people are saying, and if everything I prepare for workshops or say at meetings didn’t have to be translated by my coworkers.

So I’m trying, and I do feel like I’m improving. One funny story, though. Lao is such an easy language in some ways (no verb conjugation, usually the same word for the verb and the noun forms, written phonetically), but so difficult in other ways. One night Khamla and I were working on learning the names of family members, very important in Lao culture.

Unfortunately, the word Bu has very different meanings, depending on what tone you say it with. So instead of saying the very logical “The grandfather is married to the grandmother,” I ended up saying, “The crab is married the the grandmother.” Unsurprisingly, Khamla got quite a kick out of this. This kind of thing happens to me all the time (and probably much more often than I realize, because Lao people are unlikely to comment on it unless they know you well). Actually, part of why this story is funny to me is because at the time, I was just tired and didn’t think that what I had said was that amusing, and wasn’t too thrilled that Khamla was practically falling out of her chair laughing at me. But I soon got my sense of humor back, and realized that this is exactly the kind of thing I want to laugh about (and usually do).

La and Aajaan Fa

Anyway, now that I don’t live with my host family anymore, these four girls are kind of like my new family. I know I can stop by anytime, and I usually eat dinner there at least once a week. It’s nice to feel like I truly belong somewhere.

Guess who…

If you don’t recognize this person, don’t worry. Even my immediate family members had some trouble.

i know, the black hair makes it confusing

I just had to put these on here, because I think they are so amusing. Back in December, my friend Tik and I decided to try out one of the many photo studios. It seems to be a popular pasttime of Lao girls to go get pictures taken like this, and Tik had never done it, so we got brave and checked it out. It was great fun, but I just have to say it: the makeup was obscene. I don’t think I’ve EVER worn that much makeup, not even stage makeup for plays in high school. It was actually really scary, because I took pictures of myself when I got home, and I looked like Britney Spears. Not cool.

me in a Lao wedding dress and Tik in a more modern outfit. (both of us in crazy heels)

The black hair thing is interesting too. I didn’t understand most of what the hair stylist was saying, so when she pulled out a spray can and pointed to the knot of fake hair I was going to wear, I thought maybe she was going to spray paint that. But no, she definitely sprayed ME. After that, I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror.

very polite Lao girl

Just a side note: that outfit didn’t actually fit me. They very resourcefully strapped on the shirt with rubber bands and covered up the problem areas with the scarf. Lao girls really are that small. Being the shortest one in a group of friends and feeling thin is a thing of the past. On the other hand, I feel so powerful actually being taller than some people. Plus, I’m grateful to not stick out in yet ANOTHER obvious way–it’s nice to fit in a little bit.

I do like taking pictures of myself (though not as much as certain friends of mine), but mainly this was fun because it was with Tik.  She used to be my Lao teacher, but even though I’m not studying with her anymore, she has become a really great friend–someone I can really talk to, which is such a blessing. She’s also (not surprisingly) the person whose Lao I understand the best (and she has practice trying to understand people’s attempts at Lao), so I’ve had some of my best and deepest conversations in Lao with her.

Christmas, Christmas

my living room decorated for Christmas

Dear friends and family,

 

 

New Year’s greetings from Laos. It was going to be Christmas, but you can see how well that worked. J

 

the fountain at Patuxay–from when I went with my family shortly before I moved out (I actually didn’t mean to put this photo in the post, but it’s pretty, so it can stay.)

Celebrating Christmas in a Buddhist culture and tropical climate felt more different than I expected. Yet sometimes I forget how different it is that our MCC staff Christmas party was held outside sitting on straw mats and that I recited my role of the angel in Lao, not English. Things like that seem like such a part of normal life now, after 4 months. I’ve spent only a third of the past year in Laos, but since it is my life now, it’s almost hard to remember what it felt like to live in Washington, D.C. or to be finishing my senior year of college, or to be living at home and visiting friends over the summer. But when I realize that I’ve gotten to have all of these rich experiences in the space of one year, I feel very blessed.

getting to know some of the daughters of MCC staff at the MCC Christmas party

Air as Santa at the staff party

Two nights before Christmas, I got a call from my host mom last minute inviting me to go to church to see the girls dance for a Christmas program they were doing. Nampung had been showing me the Chinese dance that she was practicing for this for at least the past month or two, so I went, even though I was tired. It was quite the production. I was so proud of those girls you would think they were my daughters. Some of the youth put on a play that seemed to be about how Jesus is the only one who can release you from your burdens. I can’t be sure since I didn’t catch most of the words, but I have been amazed at how not being able to rely on verbal communication has made me much more observant of other forms. They handed out numbers to everyone and raffled off lots of gifts–everything from pillows to candy. It was basically a big party. The most memorable part, though, was that the electricity went out. Twice. The second time for 10 or 15 minutes. That’s actually really unusual in my experience, at least in the city, but the leaders of the program took took it in stride, as I have often noted (with amazement) that Lao people tend to do. They just sang songs and danced in the dark until the lights came back on. Then they cheered and resumed the program.

Ben trying on Amy's and my gifts from Debi

Christmas Day was spent with other MCCers. We drank Ovaltine (with lots of sweetened condensed milk, it’s my new favorite food) and got really addicted to a 3D jigsaw puzzle of the Taj Mahal. We also cooked a lot of food and listened to lots of cheesy Christmas music. It was a wonderful way to celebrate, but doesn’t make as good of a story as other parts of my Christmas here, so I’ll move on.

One of my coworkers, Somchit, working the cookie cutters. I'm "supervising."

The day after Christmas, I went to what I thought was a concert at my host sister’s school. It ended up being more of a talent show for all the middle school students, and there weren’t as many other family members as I expected. So at first it was a bit awkward to be there, but I’m becoming surprisingly comfortable with the feeling of being out of place, so I had a good laugh about that. It was quite amusing to see a bunch of 12-year-olds dancing hip-hop and singing Thai pop songs and a few English Christmas songs that they learned in English class!

 

The day after Christmas, I showed up at my host sister’s school for what I thought was a Christmas concert that many family members would be attending. It turned out that I was there 2 hours early, and the event was actually more of a talent show for all the middle school kids that not many family members attended (and certainly no foreigners!). The first few minutes of people asking why I was there and staring at me in surprise were fairly awkward, but I was soon able to let go of my discomfort and just enjoy the festive (and hilarious) combination of Thai pop karaoke, hip-hop group dance routines and English Christmas songs. I’m sure that much of the reason that I was able to feel comfortable with feeling so out of place was because of the graciousness of my host sister in rushing over to sit beside me and introducing me to all her curious friends. It is also exciting, though, that while it was a reminder that I will never blend in in Laos, that fact didn’t bother me–I was satisfied with being myself.

And now tonight is New Year’s Eve already, and I’m sure that will bring other adventures! Sabaidee Bee Mai! (Happy New Year!)

Namfone with her glasses, heart, and bouquet. We enjoyed playing with all the gifts my mom sent for my host sisters, but the pipe cleaners were especially exciting.

The Big Move

About two weeks ago, I moved out of my host family’s house and into a cute, comfortable house where I will be living for the rest of my time here with Wendy, another MCCer. So far, I have really enjoyed the chance to have some alone time after 3 months of being with people almost constantly, especially near the end of my time with my host family, when I was trying to spend as much time with them as possible. It is also wonderful to have more freedom (especially now that I have a motorbike license) to go out in the evenings and do things with friends and to host friends at my house. So I’m seeing the benefits of my new living situation. Yet at the same time, I was very sad to leave my host family. Besides being such a significant part of my experience in Laos so far, I have grown to love them more than I would have thought possible in just a few months. So here are some pictures of them. These are from Lao National Day in early December. Everyone has the day off, so our whole family went to a waterfall. The actual waterfall part turned out to be tiny, but it was a beautiful and relaxing place to spend the afternoon.

posing with Nampung