WHAT'S FOR LUNCH?

My mom gave me a nickel
To buy a pickle
I didn't buy a pickle
I bought intestines.

Today we saw some delicacies cooking on a grill at a school. I asked what they were and Khamphee pointed to his stomach and said insides.  It was intestines threaded very nicely on skewers, back and forth, so it looked like noodles stacked on a stick and barbequed. Don't worry. I just looked at them, I didn't eat them. 

Later, we ate at a nice little restaurant that served us very delicious food. I had fried rice with chicken.  Glenn had sticky rice and beef lab (pronounced lap). Both were very very good.  You just have to know what to order.  Also, we're in the midst of a boat race festival that has plugged up all of Vientiane's streets with traffic because of road closures. We saw this car with the name of my mother on the rear window.

We see more interesting things in the street cafes now because of the festival.  There is a mystery product I call boiled eggs shish kabob.  Really, it is 4 or 5 eggs still in their brown shells pierced through the middle and out the other side so it looks like eggs on a stick. Maybe it just saves them from having to bag up some boiled eggs? I'm not sure.  I need to ask someone. 

We did encounter something that kind of bothered me a tad. While looking at a broken water pump, we heard some pigs squealing their heads off.  I looked over and they had tied a pig's front legs together and the back legs together and had it upside down on a pole. They went behind a wall and slaughtered it. I won't describe that but it wasn't pretty. I really need to toughen up, right?

Cute little kids were playing the Lao equivalent of "I had a little doggie and he won't bite you" and "London Bridge is falling down". The tune was totally different but the movements and rhythm were almost exactly the same.  I tried to do a video but they saw me pull out the camera and they scattered.