Lammermoore.

When we arrived in Laos for our Overseas Community Involvement Project, did we find fly-blown children starving at our feet? No. Did we find blighted farmland under skies darkened by the ashes of war? No. Did we find a desolated civilization, tottering in the wake of an hurricane / earthquake / genocide? No, no, and no. What we found was an organic farm, friendly villagers, rastafarians, and a restaurant that served us FOUR meals a day of starch, sugar, oil and banana compounded together in endless, glorious, Laotian permutations. In the three weeks we were there, we dug a hole, made cement, made mud bricks, taught in a primary school, swam in a very shallow, swift and icy stream every afternoon and evening "to wash away the mud", caught grasshoppers for Charlotte, the spider outside the boys' bunk, played bridge, looked out for people selling pot (so that we can rebuff them), had mud fights, had a campfire, had massages, pizzas and watched Friends in town, played soccer, played with the village children, ATE, had HOT showers yes HOT showers, and came back to Singapore not fitting in ANY of our clothes.