I love the camera...

....and in return, am beloved by it...

As such, I am turning up in newspapers across the country at a dizzying pace.



Rough translation:

American Embassy Official Phil Nervig is considered to be the best, brightest and most handsome foreigner in Vientiane, nay, in all of Laos. Because all of Laos loves him so, the Lao government and people presented to him this ceremonial key to the country and to our collective heart on Friday, August 11.

The Lao National Assembly on Friday announced that March 15, 2007, the expected final departure day of Mr. Nervig, his wife Katherine, and their soon-to-be born child (the luckiest child in the world, according to popular opinion here) will be a national day of mourning, and that all schools, businesses, and government offices will be closed so that the entire nation may see him off at the airport, then play badminton and drink Beer Lao in his honor.

Okay, maybe not, but I'm certain an article like that will be written in the near future.

It is actually an article about the handover of equipment donated by the Embassy to the Lao Committee for Drug Control to help the GOL in their anti-narcotics programs, mostly focused now on methampetamine production and trafficking. I guess the oversized novelty key is used by the LCDC to represent the equipment.