Birthday Bicycle Sleep-Over

Vientiane is starting to feel a bit like home. We've rented a one-bedroom apartment about a 15-minute walk from Thipp's family's home, we have cell phones, and I've figured which 4 out of 68 cable TV channels are worth watching. Once settled Thipp decided that it would be nice if a couple of the kids could have a sleep-over.

Ta-Lo just had his sixth birthday and Thipp promised to buy him a bicycle. So the original plan was that he and his 9-year-old sister Annie would stay at our place on Friday night. However, when I got back from town on Friday afternoon Thipp had not yet returned from the countryside with her Mom and when I spoke with her on the phone she said that we would defer the sleep-over until another night. I laid-back on the chair and contemplated whether or not to have a shower before my nap. Before I could decide Ta-Lo and Annie's smiling faces appeared at my window. The sleep-over was most definitely on.

For the next two hours I had to entertain two rambunctious children, none of us able to speak more than about three words of the other's language. At least we had a promising start as they had brought food. We then went for a walk to the market area and bought icecream. I then utilized my IPad by videoing them and then playing it back toi them. They loved doing this and Ta-Lo even did his rendition of Gangum Style. Fortunately, Thipp eventually did come to my rescue and it was lights-out soon-afterwards.

The next day's bike purchase went fairly well. The first shop we visited sold both bicycles and cell phones and didn't leave one with a whole lot of confidence that they knew much about either. The second shop was more encouraging as they had a larger selection of bikes and even tools and a bike pump. There wasn't a lot to choose from the Ta-Lo was soon happily ensconced on his new ride. Then Annie had a convincing cry and then she too got a bicycle. The two bikes cost under $150. It was a happy day for all and hopefully the bikes will last longer than the time of our visit.