Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to a cultural arts and heritage museum. I was excited about going and I am very glad that I went. The museum was set in an unassuming little building and was not very glamorous but what it lacked in these areas it made up in charm and authenticity. It had a lot of information regarding the dress, daily lives, arts, and the courting and marriage traditions of the people groups in Laos.
There are over 100 different people groups and sub-groups in Laos but the official government classification recognizes 3. These 3 people groups are broken up into people who live in the valleys, people who live between the valleys and the mountains, and people who live in the mountains. Anthropologists have 4 main groups with many sub-groups attributed to each. Laos seems to have been populated by people either migrating in prosperous times or by refugees who found a suitable land for themselves. I suppose it is similar everywhere. Here are some highlights that I can remember:
Courting is done in public. Any type of touching is strictly taboo so the interested individuals will engage each other in verbal sparring.
In some of the groups a woman will sew a bag, fill it with a cooked meal (chicken, rice, and vegetables) and bring it to the house of the man that she is interested in. The family will evaluate the match based on the girl's means as well has her sewing and cooking ability. If the family approves they will fill the bag with gifts of cloth, material, and metal trinkets and give the bag back. If they do not approve they just give the bag back.
In some of the groups the women wear a head wrap made up of many different materials. The women start working on this head piece once they come of age and keep working on it until they die. It is a sign of status, age, and wealth and is made up of cloth, silver bells, and coins. Many of the groups will actually put in a day labor to be paid in silver coins to melt down for head piece decorations.
The men in one culture wear a red head band that is very long. He puts it on with the help of two or three friends who hold the band taught. The man will hold one end to his head and spin down the line until the end. He then ties it and wear it around with cloth balls dangling from the top. Very stylish.
This morning we woke up for the alms giving ceremony. This ceremony happens at dawn and provides the monks with enough food for the day. The people will sit on mats and present the monks with sticky rice, bananas, and other small amounts of food. The Monks walk solemnly in a line with a basket at their sides. It is a tradition dating back many years and is still very special, except for all the tourists. We tried to be respectful in that we stood at some distance, we sat down with our feet pointing away from the monks (it is disrespectful to stand above the monks ie on a bench or balcony or wall and it is disrespectful to point your feet at a person when sitting down). We also attempted to be unobtrusive in taking photos. We saw monks the had to step around some tourists who were trying to get photos. We saw tourists running after monks, stopping in front of them, and then have the flash go off right in their faces. We saw down the street in either direct cameras flashing and I felt ashamed for even observing. Ridiculous. Tourism would be much better without all of the other tourists. We have been trying to find ways to travel responsibly; I don't know that there are.
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