Well, it’s been a while, but there’s not really much to write about, though that is debatable. Vientiane is still in lockdown, but the government has eased some of the restrictions and has told all pertinent interests to prepare for more reopening soon. That’s not because the number of covid infections is going down; on the contrary, it’s been skyrocketing. The last few days Vientiane has had over 600 cases of infection with no signs of slowing down. I think the government has given up trying to keep this delta variant in check and is just continuing to get as many people vaccinated as it can. I think I read that about 40% of the population has been double dosed and many others have had one of two doses of the various vaccines that are available.

Schools, of course, are shut down for now, and they have been since near the end of April. However, some schools are doing online classes, and Vientiane College is among those who are doing so. I teach one class a day from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and one on Saturday from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Teaching online has been fun and interesting, really. But, it’s sucking up my time like a black hole. I’m still learning and improving my ability to use Zoom and Google drive, classroom and other items from Google. It’s been somewhat of a steep learning curve, but I’m starting to get better at it. One of the major reasons I like teaching online is that I don’t have to ride my motorbike back and forth into Vientiane six days a week! But, if I want to go into the city to get groceries, there’s no problem doing that.

It’s left hardly any time to do any digital art for now, but I hope to get back into it soon. I miss being able to play around in Photoshop and other painting/compositing/etc. software. I could probably spare 30 minutes a day here and there, but I prefer to spend more time per session than half an hour. Hopefully, I’ll have some art to post here soon. I’ve got my fingers and toes and eyes crossed that we’ll be getting back to a near-normal state soon. More later.

The Laos government has been doing a great job of keeping the covid virus out of the country, with only a few dozen total cases and none, really, for the past several months. That all changed a few days ago when a couple of fools decided to cross into Thailand illegally and cross back into Laos, again illegally. One lady went into Thailand just for cosmetic surgery, according to accounts. Another lady crossed the border to visit some friends and then brought them back into Laos with her. Unfortunately, those people all had the virus and were in contact with many other people here in Laos. The second lady was also, again unfortunately, a student at Vientiane College. After crossing the border, she came into the final class of the term on April 9th and was there for about an hour. Luckily, the other students and the teacher in that class tested negative for the virus, but the school spent a lot of time and money having the entire complex disinfected. Classes were supposed to resume on May 5th, but that date has been pushed back until at least May 10th. If the situation worsens, we could be under lockdown for much longer than that.

Due to the actions of these people, Vientiane and much of Laos is under lockdown until at least May 5th. After months of no one getting infected with the virus, there have been over the last three days 28, 65 and, yesterday, 88 people testing positive for the virus. People are supposed to stay at their homes, not go out except to buy food, and work from home, if possible. There are other restrictions and there is a large police presence on all the major roads to ensure that the rules are enforced. I think they are mainly out to check temperatures to find any one who might have the virus. I was thinking about trying to go to a market in the city, but I might wait a few days. I went out jogging this morning, and there were some Army guys setting up a roadblock in the small village that I jog through (I wear a mask), something that wasn’t done in last year’s lockdown. Of course, all restaurants (except for take out or delivery), karaokes, bars, etc., are shut down.

(By the way, I’m not the only one out jogging early in the morning. There are a few other runners and quite a few bicyclists, and I think, in my opinion, this isn’t a problem. We stay away from other people and wear our masks. I see very few people out and about while I’m jogging, and those folks aren’t anywhere near me. Also, I don’t look at jogging as recreation, but as a necessary part of keeping up my health. Since I have high blood pressure, exercise is very important, even though I’m taking medication to keep my BP near normal.)

There’s much more to this and events are unfolding quickly, but if you’re interested the Laotian Times is a good source for news. The numbers seem quite minuscule compared to the US or India, but it’s relative. For Laos, these are very bad numbers. Hopefully, as more people are tested and vaccinated, those numbers will go down. Until then, well, patience is a virtue.

P.S. I was vaccinated back on April 3rd with the AstraZeneca vaccine. I’m due for my second shot on June 28th.