We arrived at KM 52 just as Jack decided he wanted to eat. We got to Xeng's house and said our hellos to his sisters, his niece, and all the other various and sundry relatives hanging out at the house. Katherine went inside to give Jack a snack. Xeng and I headed over to his neighbor's house, which was full of people that turned out to be his relatives.

Now, to me, a relative is my parents, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc (and now, of course, Jack, Katherine, and her family). To Xeng, and others in the Hmong community, if you belong to the same clan, you are a relative. As there are only 18 Hmong clans, people have lots of relatives.
It turns out that his relatives were waiting for us to have lunch. So once Katherine was done feeding Jack, we all sat down to lunch with Xeng and some of his many relatives. That's me at the end of the table.



Katherine, Marla and Lesley sat at one end of the table, Xeng and I at the other. In between, his relatives, including these lovely single ladies who enjoyed a meal, then beat feet back to the festivities to toss the ball and, perhaps, find a young man.

At the beginning of lunch, I was holding Jack while trying to eat. A woman who was not eating approached and asked whether she could hold Jack, giving me a chance to eat in peace. Sure, I said. Soon after, Jack was passed down, then passed down again, etc. finally arriving in the arms of the matriach of the family.

I thought Katherine might be worried about Jack being passed around so much, but she was very calm. The women of the Moua Clan were very gentle, and very happy to entertain Jack while we ate, and Jack seemed to enjoy the attention.

After lunch we headed back to Xeng's house, where his little sister and some other girls were busy playing a game wherein two girls hold a large elastic band and the third takes a running jump into the loop. The goal is to hook at least one foot around the band. Two feet is better. If you are successful, the girls raise the height and you have another go. All very fun.