Amongst the people of Laos, President Obama seems to have been a real big hit. If he’d of brought the first family they probably wouldn’t have let him leave. He is now known as Uncle O, or in Lao language Lung O pronounced kind of with the U sound.
I have many friends and acquaintances in Laos. They are Lao nationals, most of whom work for the government or international NGOs, and they comment on social media, a lot. President Obama himself did a lot more to advance relations between our two countries than all the financial aid in the world. President Obama was the beautiful American instead of the Ugly American as in the iconic novel by Burdick/Lederer set in Vietnam.
The Lao portion of the president’s trip went off without a hitch, just the way the Lao government likes it. All discussion of human rights was done off camera, or with very subtle wording in the President’s speech.
I noticed that the President pronounced the S in Laos, as well he should in speaking English. Of late many westerners drop the S to show how acculturated they are because in Lao language it’s not used. The President in this case, as in most others, is, I feel, correct. Less controversial is the use of the word Lao in substitution for Laotian, as in the food, culture, etc.
President Obama got lots of practice with the traditional Lao signal of greeting and respect called the nop. The elderly folks in the above picture from Luang Prabang are becoming more and more rare. Increasingly houses are sold for over a million US dollars and the residents move out of the World Heritage Site. As more and more houses are turned into herbal massage and guest houses the old town is losing a lot of it’s charm. All the beautiful temples and restored French colonial architecture in the world are only the setting, the people of Laos are the main feature.
There are a couple different ways to drink coconut juice fresh. From a fresh coconut as Lung O is doing here or after the coconut is cooked in a fire then peeled. Cooking makes the juice sweeter as the starches are turned to sugar. In cutting into the coconut the woman in blue sprayed some on Uncle who laughed it off. Notice the crowd in the background held to a distance. Notice also the woman to the left nopping instinctively.
Above the Mekong is full of mud this time of year. There are more than 100 large hydro dams either planned, under construction, or completed, in Laos, on the tributaries of the Mekong or the river itself. The Mekong will never be the same. Note the energy saver bulb.
The President nops the monks who are at the top of the nop pecking order. Despite being a World Heritage Site based mostly on the very old temples that are still in use, the temples struggle with finances. The temples are supported by the people of the town, not only in the food that is placed in their bowls every morning but also with donations during all the various festivals or just to support the temple. As the people of the town are displaced by tourism support for the temple suffers.
The Buddha in front of the president is cupping one hand below his stomach so to be centered, and the right hand is over the knee touching the ground so to be grounded.