The most noticeable difference between Laos and USA is that Lao people seem to have a lower standard of living as Laos is a developing country. I observed that most people live in a one room concrete or wooden house and they have outdoor covered areas to spend time in. They don’t really have kitchens but cook outdoors in clay pots with wood or charcoal fires in them. From what I have seen of the smaller towns and villages, most Lao people don’t drive cars but use motor bikes, bikes or public transportation such as tuk tuk ( a pick up truck that has two covered benches in its bed) for their main way of getting around. Buses and mini vans are also popular. Because food is not always available for the poorest in Laos Lao people have to be more creative in figuring out what to eat, and I read that, in the hardest of times people have had to eat anything that crawls, walk, flies or is just edible. Yesterday I spotted a man with his two sons on a motorbike with a shotgun, obviously coming back from hunting for food in the woods. It is not uncommon to see bigger birds being shot in cities even as big as the capital Vientiane or Savannakhet!!!
The Lao community is very different than its American counterpart. I noticed that Lao farm in groups organized by villages or families helping each other to get the job done! Most people socialize together during the course of the day, and on chilly evenings they gather around little fires and talk. From what I have seen kids roam around all day, usually in groups of 2 to 5 playing simple games with anything they can find. Lao people will take any excuse to party and it only takes two people to start. On one of our walks in Luang Prabang we stumbled upon a group ofyoung Lao people celebrating New Year. They immediately offered my parent small glasses of beer that they kept on refilling! I read in a cook book that to Lao people, food is considered “not delicious” when eaten alone!
Since Laos is a developing country it won’t be long till it is as modern as America. But for now Laos and USA are different in a lot of ways.