On May 15, 2014 I moved back to the US from Laos. I’ve been feeling super nostalgic recently so over the next week I’ll be sharing some highlights from my time there as the anniversary approaches. But first, how I ended up there:

As a black woman who grew up feeling very much the minority, I’ve always been interested in the minority experience, with a particular interest in how being a minority is experienced in other countries.

This first led me to China. A friend had tried to convince me to go to China for a year and I always said no. But after I learned about the ethnic diversity there, I changed my mind.

My second year in China, I moved out to the Gobi Desert because there was a school there for ethnic minorities. Like an HBCU, but think H-BIPOC-CU. I got to meet many people from many different groups.

Fast forward 2 years to my return to the US. I decided to go to grad school to study the ethnic groups of China. For various reasons beyond my control, I ended up studying Chinese history instead.

I was also passionate about teaching people about Asia who were unfamiliar with it, as I was, so I decided to study museums as well since they provide low cost public education opportunities.

As I was finishing up grad school, a job opened in Laos at an ethnology museum.

The only thing I knew about Laos at the time was that it bordered China. But if there was an opportunity to learn about the minority experience there while teaching about the culture I was in. I interviewed twice and then about three weeks later moved to Laos.

I didn’t speak the language and didn’t know anyone there when I arrived. In fact, I only knew 1 person who had even visited. My mom came to Seattle (where I did grad school) to see me off before I left for 2 years. I didn’t see family again until I came back.

The job I had there was my favorite job I’ve ever had. I started FeetCryMercy as a way to keep family and friends informed about my Lao adventures (so the earlier posts are very travel blog-ey).