Adventures in Language, part II

So a visa applicant comes to the window yesterday and I say "hello"and she says "hello" then I say "put your left finger on the red place" because I don't know how to say electronic fingerprint machine in Lao and she doesn't do anything. Just kind of looked at me. It was then that I, because I'm so smart said "do you speak Lao?" and she just looked at me. Then, because I am doubly smart, I assumed she did not speak Lao so I said "do you speak Hmong?" and she just looked at me. That was when I felt like crying.

Okay, not really, but c'mon.

So her nephew (or someone) came up and told me that she spoke Khmu, which is yet another in a long list of languages that I don't know. So I did my first Lao to Khmu visa interview with her nephew acting as translator.

And I made the mistake of not going to a country team meeting today, so I have been tasked with meeting with a tourist group on Friday evening to impart all my wisdom on the history, culture, current events, etc. of Laos. We'll see how that goes. But the lesson is, if you are not present at a meeting to NOT volunteer, you will be volunteered involuntarily.