Woooooooohooooooooooooo!

First things first..... OBAMA WON!!!!!!!!! Yay! We spent our morning in a bar in Luang Prabong, Laos cheering with people from around the world as more and more states popped up as blue on the map. Super bonus points to all of you who voted. It's great to see North Carolina turning blue as well. The bar owner handed everyone free champagne as Obama was announced president. We have constantly been asked about the election over here...it's really interesting how involved the world is in our political system and is yet another wake up call for us to know more about the rest of the world.

Anyway, enough political stuff, time to catch up on what's been happening. So our last stop in Thailand was a border town called Nong Khai. We took a night train there from the jungle and arrived at six in the morning. We got a tuk-tuk to a hostel that we immediately fell in love with. If we weren't heading to Costa Rica, we would have taken them up on a job offer and stayed for a few months.

We rented bikes and toured around the town and surrounding countryside. There was an amazing sculpture garden nearby that had tremendous statues and depiction of the wheel of life that was really interesting (photos to follow since we can't upload them here). We also had our second taste at Thai massages (they are only $4 an hour here, but it feels like such a splurge based on how much we spend on a daily basis), which leave you feeling like jello for the next couple hours.

Our favorite part of Nong Khai however, was a place called the ISARA learning center. We spent one evening teaching English to people from elementary school age up to adults and it was an incredible experience. Much more difficult than expected, especially with the young kids who only repeat what you say. It is so hard to convey that you are asking a question and trying to get them to respond with a different statement. It ended with all of us singing head, shoulders, knees, and toes though, which was adorable. The organization ISARA was founded by a guy who used to work for Microsoft and moved to Thailand five years ago or so and started this group. They are funded by use of their website (www.isara.org) so all you have to do to help out is to make this your homepage. The page has a google search bar and links to gmail, hotmail, facebook, etc. right up top, so it is only one click to get to anything else you need. Such an easy (and free!) way to help and then these students get free English lessons, free computer lessons, health/safety information (i.e. helmets to wear when riding a motorcycle since that is the main form of transportation here), etc. We wish we could have helped out more at the learning center but we had to head on to Laos. You can also check out the group ISARA on Facebook to learn more information. New post for a new country.....

Yay for you if you voted,
TeamWander