“In Vietnam they plant the rice, in Cambodia they tend to the rice, but in Laos they listen to the rice grow.”

This quote is attributed to the French colonists of Indochina, and at the time probably wasn’t too complementary. Nonetheless, after independence there still remains a noticeable French influence in the country as well as increasing numbers of recent ex-pats. The once slightly condescending “but in Lao they listen to the rice grow” remains, but it’s meaning - by a modern day, a bit more enlightened developed world - probably serves as more of a reflection of Buddhism in Laos: heightened awareness, and the ability to be in the here and now.

I arrived in Luang Prabang on Halloween (October 31st) of 2016. At the time, the Buffalo Dairy was just getting started. As I remember, the site for its existence had recently changed and there was yet to be any permanent buildings. I had been graciously accepted by Susie and Rachel to work as a volunteer at their guesthouse which was located on the left bank of the Nam Kham River just a few kilometers - a good walking distance - not just from the Old Quarter, but to many other not so heavily visited parts of Luang Prabang as well.

More so than I envisioned, work at the guesthouse suited me extremely well. For the most part, I was the only native English speaker there, partnered with a Lao/Khmu/Hmong staff of 4-7 others. My duties included, but were not limited to: cooking and serving breakfast, taking reservations and checking guests in and out, and assisting when needed with housekeeping. By far and away the best part of all was working with the local staff. From the beginning I was amazed with how much patience they had with me. When I would make mistakes I would be corrected with a smile and a “bor bpen yang” (it doesn’t matter). A lot of my complaints about the U.S. (and a big chunk of the rest of the world) - the sometimes gruff mannered I-don’t-have-time-to-be-pleasant-with-you, just doesn’t seem to happen much in Laos.

Just before leaving LPB, Peter went and had lunch with Twee -right - (our maiban from the guesthouse) and her family.

Susie was often around the guesthouse (her office was upstairs) but she was inundated - I should say, beyond well inundated - with what seemed to me to be the completely crazy task of setting up the first of its kind Buffalo Dairy in this third world country! At the time I had a private joke running in my head that went something like this: God had specifically put Susie on earth in case his plans for the Second Coming, or Armageddon, or whatever you want to call it were to go awry, he would then at least be assured of having some on-the-ground reliable backup. I’m glad that hasn’t come to pass...yet.

In February of 2017, Susie, Rachel, and Steven felt that they were well on their way to putting a full time effort into the dairy, so they passed proprietorship of the guesthouse back to the original owner. By this time I was living at Rachel’s house with her family and commuting by tuk-tuk to the farm. My new task there was completely different from my work at the guesthouse. I was now setting up an English class for approximately 8-12 dairy employees. This work I found to be a bit more challenging (the students were not all at the same level) than that of what I was doing at the guesthouse. I also found that the Lao students, with their ever present politeness, were less inclined than their guesthouse counterparts to give me feedback on what was and wasn’t working for them. Even though having 20 years experience teaching high school history and science in California, I found that serving in a somewhat equal role at the guesthouse suited me better than that of being an “expert” (of which I wasn’t) at the new school. Nonetheless, I feel that I did a more than adequate job in setting things up. When it came time for me to return home I was able to have a full week with my replacement volunteer, Alfredo. It was satisfying to see that he was in tune with the program I had set up, and was already incorporating some of his own ideas to make improvements.

All in all, I’m really happy with the experiences I had at the guesthouse and on the farm. It’s great to see online just how far Susie, Rachel, and Steven have progressed in these four past years. Perhaps someday I will return for a second go around!