Vientiane Prom

I've had the honor of attending high school proms, the Grinnell Waltz, the Zinder Prom and now I've had the pleasure of going to the 2nd annual Summer Ball in Vientiane sponsored by the Women's International Group. The Ball was held at the fanciest hotel in Vientiane and was black tie only. Unfortunately the majority of our wardrobe is on a boat in the Pacific somewhere. This minor fact didn't stop Beth from looking absolutely beautiful though while I had to settle for a normal suit and tie. The other unfortunate aspect of the timing of the Ball was that our car is still not in our possession (it's at least in Vientiane now). With little transportation options in Vientiane we had to settle for a humble tuk-tuk (the local motorcycle/truck taxi). When we were ready to leave for the Ball, I stood on the street corner in my suit trying to hail a tuk-tuk. Fortunately, when one finally stopped it turned out to be the nicest tuk-tuk I've ever ridden in (notice the speaker in the back). While standing on the corner, there was no shortage of strange looks shot in my direction and the eyes of the tuk-tuk driver got pretty wide when I explained to him that we were going to go to the fanciest hotel in town but first we had to drive back to my house to get my wife. In the end I think he really enjoyed it although there was no way he was going to pull up to the front door of the hotel. The rest of the night was exactly what you would expect: auctions, raffles, dinner, dancing, and a Lao cover band doing Garth Brooks, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, and Sixpence None the Richer (I couldn't make this up). 

We had a great time with our friends and colleagues and it was a wonderful way to spend the last night with Beth before she went back to the U.S. for a month.