Monsoon in Vientiane

Its dreadfully hot and humid this time of the year. The temperature is between 29 and 39 depending on if you are in the sun or if it is raining. The rainy season reminds me that I am in the tropics. Many nights there is thunder and it rains heavily. Fruits are in season. Mangoes are cheap at the moment and soon other fruits will be cheaper as well. Outside the cicadas sing giving the real rain forest feel even in the middle of the capital city. My room does not have an air conditioner but luckily my body adjusts easily to sleeping in heat. The house I am living in is a traditional style Lao house. The first floor has cement walls and the second floor is completely wooden. The walls have cracks that may let mosquitoes in so I am planning on getting a mosquito net. Meanwhile I will have the fan blowing at me and wear mosquito repellent at night. On Sunday my Lao friend took me on a bike ride to find my work place for Monday. Turns out the Google map address is not updated and they had moved even further away. The bike ride in the hot sun took all in all three hours. When I got home I was completely wet from sweat and saw the sloppy work I had done with my application of sunscreen. On Monday I wanted to be at work by 8 so I left home at 7. It took me 45 minutes to bike there. The traffic is quite crazy and gets worse during traffic hours (saw it in full on the way back home). I had a good first day with so much information about the organization that I felt a bit overwhelmed but I was happy. I am sure I will learn so much from here. The organization is very relaxed and is willing to give me so many opportunities in every sector. On my ride home I stopped at three different road side vendors to buy snacks that together became my dinner. Below: Patuxay, my sun burn and mangoes