============================================================== To reach ALL SJD members, please send to sjd@satjadham.net ... Do NOT include any other addresses when sending to the list... Include as LITTLE of the original messages as possible........ Message sent by: LanXang Siengkhene *** Announcement: *** Please register for SatJaDham Fifth Annual conference at the website http://www.satjadham.org/sjd5sd/ ============================================================== I had one more thing to add about the stream. It was kind of dividing the town into two parts. If I wanted to go to the soccer stadium which was at the south side of the town, I had to cross a bridge. Also, if I wanted to go my school which was at the east side, I had to pass another bridge. It was only the north side of the town that I didn't have to cross the bridge. In case that you forgot, Thakek's west side was the Mekong River. Of the two bridges, the one to the south side was my favorite. First, it was by my residence, the post office. And secondly, both kids and couples liked to hang out there. For kids, they liked to use the bridge as a jumping board to dive into the stream. Of course, I was talking about the rainy season when the water was almost at the same level as the bridge. Though not taking part in this crazy dive (some did a 360 degree roll over dive. Wonder how could they do that in such a short time before hitting the water), I enjoyed watching them take a plunge in and out of the water so many times as if they were not tired. By the way, each time they did things differently. That was how creative Lao kids were. As the stream met the Mekong River not so far from the bridge, I would like to talk about the Mekong River too. It was the place where most Thakekian living along its shores took the bath. Also, it was the place where we watched the boat race. In fact, I had a lot to talk about these two events. Let's begin with the Mekong as a bathing place. Right in front of my house, there was a kind of path leading to the river. Just before sunset, most Thakekians living around that quarter would go and bathe there. Of course, my brothers, sisters and I were regular guests as our house was less than a hundred yards away. Even those who didn't bathe at the river came to watch the sunset there. In fact, I didn't know who was so gracious to build a Sala (a resting place) that you could sit and lie down right the shore of the Mekong River. At times, people just parked their bikes and watched the sunset or the girls bathing under the many Taan trees which were lining up the Mekong River. Later, I came to know that some boys came to watch my sister take a bath. They would come at exactly the time when we were about to go to the river, and left the place as soon as we were gone. As a matter of fact, my sister was pretty. Besides, she was a school Basketball star. I still remembered her colored photograph (a rare thing in Laos those days) wearing a light blue Basketball uniform. Either a result of her beauty or her star status, there were many boys chasing her around. One of the boys was very handsome. He was a mixed blood, half French and half Lao/Vietnamese. He would frequent our house almost every evening. Of course, she liked her no less but, unfortunately, an auto accident crushed his young life. If I remembered well, she wore black for him for quite some time. (to be continued) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites. http://invites.yahoo.com _ ***************************************************************** Visit SatJaDham Homepage at: http://www.satjadham.org (or .net) *****************************************************************