Sticky Rice Service Adventure

Once I had decided that I wanted to travel for the summer, I had trouble choosing which program to go on! I wanted something adventurous, a little unordinary, and meaningful, and the Sticky Rice Service Adventure was exactly that. There were so many great experiences, one being the community service. First, the community service was challenging, but so rewarding! The children of the village would come up to us and hold our hands everywhere we went, tried to learn English from us and help carry water from the creek as well as playing with us in the water! I really felt a sense of accomplishment when we finished. Also, the amount of interesting activities really gave the program balance. My favorite day was when we went for a hike in the jungle to this beautiful outlook of the entire valley. Then we went kayaking and shopping and got massages! Another fun day was exploring lagoons and jumping from tree branches in to water! In addition, I loved the boat and swimming by the lake resort, the bike rides in Luang Probang, the amazing lunch on the indigo farm (and so much more) really made the trip fun. I also made it a point to communicate with the villagers (mostly through our leaders as translators) to get their perspective on cultural issues like women's rights, the role of the mentally ill, religion and poverty. Those communications helped me to understand the generosity of the Hmong community as well as all those in Laos. None of that would have been possible without our leaders, who all were amazing in respects to their kindness and attention to safety. If you're thinking about traveling to Laos, GO! You will fall in love with a country that embodies ideas of forgiveness, generosity and hospitality!