NaNoWriMo progress

Did I mention yesterday that I wrote almost 10,000 words for NaNoWriMo in one day. It felt good to stretch out and write. The backdrop of the weather didn't provide any distractions - cold and windy with the threat of drizzle in the air. The gusts of wind rattled the window and I was glad to be inside, though without heat the insides of houses in Xieng Khouang are nearly as cold inside as outside. When the temperature dropped in the evening, I stoked my internal furnace with a glass of wine.

My story starts in a village in Kham district where Daeng, the hero, and Boua, the heroine grow up. Not a smooth childhood - Daeng's mother dies in childbirth and Boua tries to marry her off to the son of a neighbor. They are both tormented by an older boy named Vong. This typical village life is contrasted with global events - new technologies and China dominating the movement to return to the moon. While the village doesn't have electricity, people still buy cell phones, which they charge when they go to town. So I'm writing about some of the juxtapositions I see in my daily life in Lao.

I'm glad to get ahead with this project, far enough to see the possibilities in several sub-plots. Also, glad to get ahead as I have some work-related stuff coming up and I'm not sure how much time or mental energy I'll have after work.

November 1st - getting back onto my blog

The past few months have been kinda wild and I haven't had much of a chance to write. I visited the US for what should have been for a month, but circumstances dictated otherwise.

My first week in Seattle was interesting. As I fought off jet-leg, I attended the annual Family Practice Update at the University of Washington. It's my favorite continuing medical education conference, with a wide variety of topics. It's always amazing how medical understanding and treatments progress, even in the two years between the conferences I attend.

The following two weeks are a blur. I must have picked up the dreaded H1N1 in the caverns of medical advancement - I was quite sick and even after the week of high fevers ended, I still felt weak. Unfortunately, I didn't think of bringing Tamiflu with me and I didn't feel sick enough to go the a doctor. Seattle was reporting so many cases that they advised people to stay home if they weren't on their last legs, or coughs.

Fortunately, I was able to beg my boss to stay another two weeks. "I can work on reports and proposals while I'm over here," I said optimistically. Well, they certainly took me up on that and I think I ended up dealing with about an hour of e-mails every morning plus the report writing work.

I did go down to San Francisco for about two weeks and enjoyed some time with my Hmong friends in the Central Valley. I attended the Hmong "Cultural Festival" in Oroville in mid-October. Everyone said that it was the earliest celebration of the Hmong New Year ever but they didn't want to give the impression that Hmong New Year was starting so early, hence the new name. I also went to a party in Fresno and met up with many Hmong friends there.

After returning to Seattle for a few days of shopping, packing and sending the stuff that couldn't fit into my bags for Laos, I took off.

I'm doing both NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo this year and have a feeling I'll be able to keep up with both. I've been back in Laos for a week and as my jet-lag fades, I feel more energetic. Also, I'm just regaining my commitment to write, which is sometimes battered with my responsibilities at work. We'll see how it goes!