Let the Games Begin!!

With all of the pomp and circumstance of an Olympic Games the Opening ceremony was an event to be remembered.  The stadium nearly full although as is the Lao culture a good portion were late.  Tom and I got a ride from our guest house by the owner who is involved with boxing in Savannakhet. There is no boxing in the games he is involved with girls soccer.  He drops us off to a packed parking lot a thousands of people meandering around the outside of the stadium. Police were there in full force and we saw some military guys with guns.  Guns are a rarity in Laos because only the military is allowed to carry them.  It was hot and since we arrived at 3:30 we had a few hours to wait until the ceremony got underway.  We walked around the outside looking for our team.  You would have thought that Tom and I were celebrities everyone hollered or said hello or just stared blankly.  Mind you Tom and I were matching with tan shorts, white collared shirts (they say coach in Lao on the back) and white skin.  I am thinking they only really noticed the third part though.  Since we had badges I thought that we would be able to sit in the VIP section.  We walked up and were promptly questioned and rejected.  This of course took longer than just telling us to go away.  They needed some other guy standing there to tell us to leave.  As we walked away we saw our team (a sight I thought I would never see considering they havent come to practice in the last few days).  We said our hellos then No escorted us to an entrance that was for the common folk.  We got our seats in the sun as all other semi covered seats were taken.  We were the talk of our section. Falang here? what? You could look around the stadium and people were congregating around the spots that were shaded and if they werent sitting in shade they brought umbrellas.  Smart people, Tom and I were baking.  We still had over an hour to sit and wait so we struck up a conversation with the women behind us.  Meaning they asked us what we were doing here and how old we were.  We found out that they had sons our age and we would use them as a resource for answers to dumb questions as the event went on.
Around 5pm the event finally kicked off. The ceremony started with a 8 students 3 girls and 5 boys singing lip sinking a few songs with some very basic choreography.  After a few songs a dance group, also made up of students, dressed in traditional garb danced behind the original 8 singers.  Their moves were more elaborate and they brought props with them. The girls had baskets on their backs with rice in them along with two small sticks.  The guys had one large stick.  The dances finished so it was time for the introduction of a big name party official could have been the president (we couldn't hear his introduction and wouldn't recognize him anyways but I think it was him).  After he took his seat the procession began.  Leading the way was a woman dressing in white with a large baton.  She lead the band of students around the track then settled on a position on the field.  Some of these young girls were carrying giant drums.  Next came the signs for the games, followed by the flags and then the officials.  Following the officials were the teams each one led by a sign carrier, a flag barer, then the coaching staff/district officials, and finally the team in rows about 5 wide.  I say about because they chose to break ranks and take photos with friends.  As Luang Prabang came around number 14th or so coach No broke ranks and ran to the front ahead of the sign girl to take some photos of his group.  He was the only person in the entire procession to do this.  When our group came around I felt as though I was the proud parent sitting in the crowd cheering hoping as is they might notice us in the stands and wave to us.  Being as we were the only two white people in the stadium (not confirmed but we were very confident that it was fact) when the team came around they noticed us quite quickly.  We got some pointing, waving and some of the team took photos of us.  The crowd looked shocked when we got some people directing attention to the stands and us in particular.  After rounding the track and lining up there was a flag raising ceremony and the national anthem was sung.  This may be the shortest anthem in the world which is nice for a quick ceremony.  While standing on the field a few of the coaches jumped out to take photos with their respective sign carrying girl, again Coach No was one of the first to do this. I would have joined him if I was out there.
Some officials from the government came down to the field and gave speeches.  Each one was escorted from their seat in the VIP section by a beautiful woman.  During one speech a drummer girl collapsed which sent officials and medical staff flying.  Then a second one dropped and they brought out the stretcher and carted them both off.  This caused more medical staff to appear and tell the girls to put down the drums which was long overdue and then distribute some water to everyone standing on the field.  There was no surprise someone went down they had been waiting in the sun for a few hours leading up to the event then had to hold drums while standing in the sun.  To the best of my knowledge everyone was ok.  The speech continued without any knowledge of the chaos behind.
When the speeches were finished a banner tied with balloons was brought out and more officials came down from the stands.  The group went over to a giant gong and rang it a few times before stepping over a few feet and cutting a ceremonial ribbon.  The sign was released followed by more balloons and then doves pigeons were released.  This caused a stir in the crowd and they were all excited.  I joked to Tom that this was Laos way of proving they could litter in the sky just like anywhere else.  The officials took their seats and then the olympic torch carrier by two runners entered the stadium.  It was handed of three times before making its way up the stairs to a large caldron.  The teams were then released from the stadium which gave us another chance to cheer on the team as they headed out.
Following the teams exit the dance numbers began with huge numbers of students.  Running around the track were the two mascots, the deer headed people.   We watched a few dance number but ran out of gas and left early to try to catch a ride with the team.  We must have just missed them.  We walked around the stadium searching for them again being a major point of focus for the other people around the stadium.  As we were walking around we saw a few women who were dressed unlike any one else we had seen in Laos.  They were scantily clad and when we walked by stared at us.  We assumed they were Thai prostitutes and they saw dollar signs when they saw us.  We walked on by searching for the team.  The search was to no avail so we walked away from the stadium in search of a tuk tuk.  The event was still going on I am sure with 4 more hours of dance numbers but I think we made the right call.
Over the next week there will be 5 days of track and field and many more stories.  Here are some photos sorry about the quality my camera was losing battery.  I will have some more from Tom in the coming weeks.

 The singers in the green and the ethnically dressed dancers in the back.  Notice the crowd only sitting as far as the shadow in the background.

 Possibly El Presidente walking up to take his seat in the VIP section.

 The band leading the way.

 The sign following the band.

 A view of the procession without zooming in from our seats.

 The Flag carriers first Laos, then the games, then red, white, and blue.

 The officials in their green track suits.

 The flag carriers surrounded the field.

 The smallest team at the games with maybe 3 athletes. Vientiane had about 400 it doesnt seem like a fair fight.

 Luang Prabang finally comes around.

 After each team enters the field they line up behind their sign this is team LP which we were lucky was close to us.

 Another photo of the lineup.

 The banner with balloons attached which was released.

 The olympic torch made its way around the stadium.

The deer people ie mascots for the games.