Partying Lao Style

Strange but true: it makes you cool if you bring a falang to a party.
You'd think the Lao would be sick of us tourists by the end of the work day, but that is apparently not the case. Last night I headed back to the guesthouse only to find the courtyard across the road filled with a bumpin' party. Complete with an MC who handled the festivities by singing karaoke. It was really loud so I figured since I wouldn't be sleeping for a little while, I'd at least head out to the patio and enjoy the music and update my journal. No sooner had I sat down than a guy who had stopped in to visit the owners of the guesthouse comes over to me and says "come to the party with me." I figured it's only across the street, so why not?
He plunked me down in the middle of his friends. If any of them spoke English, they'd forgotten how after several rounds of celebratory libations, so I kind of sat there while they stared at me and smiled. After a lot of attempts, I finally managed to get someone to tell me what the party was about - apparently the brother of the guy who invited me has just been elected head of his village, so he was throwing the party to thank his supporters.
I danced with a couple of the guys. I missed the line dancing, which apparently happened earlier in the evening, and ended up doing Lao-style dancing, which is pretty much walking in a circle and moving your hands a little. There must be more to it than that but I had no idea what I was doing, so I just waved my hands a little. I'm sure I was quite a sight. The other attendees (especially the table full of single guys I'd been plunked down at) certainly got a kick out of it. But I have to say, some of those Lao songs go on forever - that's a lot of walking in a circle...
After a few dances I excused myself to go home and sleep. But a good time was had by all, and I got to party local style.