And indeed, that feeling didn't leave me the whole time I was in Laos, a small communist country that nests snugly between Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and China. I was there for a regional SE Asia MCC retreat along with about 40 other expat volunteers, many of them on the same 1-year SALT program. The last time I saw these fun friends was in August during orientation, so we had a lot to catch up on and a lot of stories to share.
Before the retreat actually started, we took a very long, bumpy, curvy bus ride up to Luang Prabang, hugging the curves of steep mountains, catching glimpses of bamboo stilt houses balancing between road and cliff, and trying to avoid drips of condensed AC water falling from above our heads. Luang Prabang is a tourist town, and for good reason. It's nestled among spectacular mountains with the Mekong River flowing through its heart and old French architecture and wats gracing its streets. We had a chance to ride elephants (if only I was wearing white clothes and a pith helmet, I could be one of those colonialist "explorers" one sees in old photos), kayak through rapids and past fishermen throwing their nets in perfect circles (in pouring rain), hike up and over a gorgeous waterfall (in flip-flips and skirt--whoops!, bad choice for jungles Anna), jump fully-clothed in a pool at the bottom of the falls, greet monks with a small bow as they walked by in bright orange robes, walk around a night market with colorful ethnic patterns, sip fresh fruit shakes, and generally relax and be full-blown tourists. Good times.
Back in Vientiane, our retreat started with communion and me giving a short homily about drinking the cups of our lives to the dregs (an image from Nouwen's "Can You Drink the Cup?" which I highly recommend). Sometimes the cup is bitter and sorrowful, sometimes it's sweet and joyful, but no matter what it is we are called to hold it and embrace all the flavors, lift it to one another in community, and drink it to the bottom. Later on, each country shared what MCC is doing and we got to experience first hand some of the work in Laos, like teaching English to kids and translating women's health books. A Mennonite retreat wouldn't be complete without singing hymns in beautiful 4-part a capela harmony, so we definitely had a few good hours of harmonic bliss. :)
Laos is a beautiful, quiet, relaxing country, reminding me more of Papua New Guinea than anything in Vietnam. But now I'm back in the chaos of Hanoi, trying to be fully present and content, trying to drink my cup slowly and fully...(note: more pictures are on Facebook; I'll get them up here before long...)
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