Smoothies

So our new village has a pretty decent market and in the afternoon at the front of the market we have found this AWESOME smoothie stand. They have many snow-cone stands around the town – but this stand, the lady first grinds the ice using the snow cone maker device to get the ice broken down real nice and fine, and THEN the lady puts that ground up ice in the blender along with fresh fruit (bananas, pineapple, mango, apples) you name it – along with I’m sure plenty of sugar and sweet and condensed milk, AND I’ve even seen her put a scoop of Ovaltine in it. The broken down ice is so smooth. So cold. It is pretty perfect for what I need in the hot afternoon- AND I can get one for 1,500R (reil) (Which is just over 25 cents) – a soda pop in our old town cost more than that, and just think how much healthier this is.

I guess I should mention though – that the first time we went – I thought it tasted amazing. I was so happy we had something this delicious and cold in our little town. Then the 2nd time we went, I saw her make a batch from start to finish. Little did I know that the one plastic container with the yellow syrup-y looking stuff was a container full of raw eggs. Yep. She usually puts a raw egg into the mix. It’s amazing how much ignorance is bliss sometime. I would’ve never known that there was a raw egg in this concoction had I not seen her make it. I do suppose it does help with the smooth frothy texture – AND probably provides protein. I also know that back in the day people ate raw eggs all the time. But with all the salmonella scares out and about – not to mention that none of these eggs were refrigerated, I can’t help but say I was a little bit nervous about drinking the drink. I guess nothing happened to me after the first one that I had. Nor the 2nd one. --- BUT NOW I have been able to ask her “Knoym aht jung pon tia, ban?” (I don’t want duck egg, is that okay?) – AND thank god she said yes. So now I am able to enjoy the wonderful afternoon treat without the raw eggs in it.

. . .

THEN one day I took one back to my co-teacher’s stand in the market just to sit down and talk with him. He asked me where I got it. Then he asked me how much I paid for it. I told him the price- and said that I got a good price, because I can speak Khmer. If it were a regular foreigner, it would have been $1. So that was nice to hear.

But then he went on to tell me that maybe the fruit that is in the smoothie is from Thailand, and ‘maybe the fruit from Thailand, not so good, eh?’. I asked why, and he explained to me that they put chemicals on the fruit and maybe the chemicals caused cancer.

I nodded and said that yes, it is a possibility that the chemicals can cause cancer. He went on to say that ‘the fruit from Cambodia don’t have chemicals and that they are better.’ Inside my head, I wanted to say that the ‘smoke from burning your trash and the plastic in your back yard could probably cause cancer too,’ but I decided to bite my tongue and not dive into that whole conversation. He then went on to tell me that maybe I only drink the smoothies once in a while. Like maybe, once a month.
I have decided that I will continue to drink the delicious smoothies whenever I want, but just try and make sure that my co-teacher doesn’t witness me in the act. I’m sure he’ll find out one way or another, but I guess that’s one risk I’m willing to take. The smoothies are just that good.

It’s funny how much energy having a simple conversation with someone who ‘speak Englis jus a little’ can take out of ya. It’s enough to warrant a trip to the smoothie stand.