Among the Hill Tribes of Laos, a Sacred Meal and the Ultimate Exchange of Kindness

I was wakened from sleep by a blood-curdling scream. It wasn’t quite a human sound, but in that middle ground, between slumber and consciousness, I couldn’t be too sure. Streaky shafts of pale sunlight were streaming through glassless windows and cracks between the planks of the wall in the room where I had been sleeping.