exam day continued

The students were QUITE disappointed with the new method of testing. They looked at us with a look of, "teacher, are you really doing this to us?'" But for once the room was quiet....and I felt satisfied at least.

grasshoppers

i ate my first grasshoppers yesterday. Not bad actually. They were fried, with salt on them. Pulled off the head and the legs first then popped them in the mouth.

If you don't think about it; they actually taste pretty good.

exam day

So I helped my co-teacher write the exam for January. I created 4 versions of the same test.

I can't wait to see the expression on the student's faces when they realize there four versions.

They already think I'm strict.... but I guess you've gotta start somewhere.
I'll let you know how it goes.

over and out.

You Know You're Going Slow When....

In all honesty I don’t intend this to be demeaning – in all actuality I was quite amazed.

Will and I were riding our bikes back from Siem Reap this weekend and I wanted to take it slow as I wasn’t feeling 100% and I’ve been battling a cold for the last week or so. He was fine with that, plus it was the later part of the day, so on the ride we got to enjoy dusk and a setting sun over the rice fields, water buffalo and coconut trees.

Peace Corps gave us pretty decent little bikes to cruise around on. They are 24 speed mountain bikes and in comparison to what most locals ride (usually a 1-speed) our choice of many speeds usually puts us in control and in the lead of most riding situations. For the most part we are always passing people on the streets with quite ease. And if we’re ever in a situation where a student keeps asking questions while we’re riding and we’ve had enough, we can switch into high gear and leave them in the dust. (Not that we ever do that or anything….)

But on this easy going ride home, we were passed by many Khmer people. As we were peddling along, I noticed a gentleman passing us that stuck out a little. He was making a little extra noise and movement as he went along, and he turned around to adjust a few things that were on his basket in the back when……I noticed this guy only had one leg.

First, I felt pity – immediately flashing to imagery in my head as to what it was like during the Khmer Rouge time, assuming that’s when he lost it. Then – I immediately was amazed. Here he was riding along – with one leg peddling along just fine on a regular bike. There were no extra handicap devices and it wasn’t a special bike or anything and yet he was passing me and Will who were on our 24speed nice mountain bikes going on business as usual.

We said hello, and Will asked him how he was (in Khmer) and he said he was doing well and asked us how we were. Then I asked him where he was going and he said, to the place over there. That’s when he sped up, crossed the road and cruised to his final destination and we waved goodbye as we travelled on.

61F

It ACTUALLY dropped down to 61F the last two mornings. I would've never thought that. I busted out my fleece liner I brought along and thought I'd never wore for the first time yesterday. I'm using it again today.

Try and imagine trying to take a cold shower when it's 61 degrees outside.

It's like football weather.

who knew!?

Still procrastinating

I should be working on my lesson plan for the new “Speak Clearly Class” I’m starting for the English teachers at the high school. But I’m not.

Self Control

I’ve recently reiterated the fact that I have no self control when it comes to eating Oreo cookies.

I bought a pack when I was in Siem Reap this weekend.

I can eat an entire row in one setting.

This is without milk.

How bout that.



Whoa---that was almost a poem or something.

I'm really good at procrastination

So that’s how they make that.

So a few weekends ago, our host dad said he was going to be making a curry soup for dinner. I was very excited for both the fact that we were going to have curry for dinner that night and that I was going to be able to watch him make it.

I had no idea what all goes into one of these soups that they kindly make for us for dinner,….but I suppose I should expect that something that tasted so delicious must have required some effort.

Anyway, Vonn showed me all the ingredients for the soup. He showed me the vegetables they use to grind up into curry powder. He showed me the actual curry plant that they chop up; it’s this brilliant orange color and only seems to get brighter when it was being ground up by hand with the mortar and pestle.

This particular curry soup was a fish one; and after making a fish broth by boiling a fish in the water…. He also ground it up with the curry using the mortar and pestle.

THEN later he grabbed some coconuts where the husks had been dried out. He cut them open – (we drank the juice inside) then he brought it over to this little contraption that he’s sitting on in the photograph… and then shaved the inside of the coconut by hand against a metal device to create the white shavings (which we as Americans are more familiar seeing coconut as) and put them all into one large bowl.

After that… he boiled some water and then covered another bowl with a cheese cloth…. Put the coconut shavings on top of the cheese cloth and then poured the boiling water over the coconut shavings. Then he rolled the coconut shavings into the cloth and tightly squeezed out every last bit of liquid until a creamy white coconut milk came out.

And that’s when I had one of those “Huh. OH THAT’S HOW THEY MAKE THAT” moments as I saw him squeeze the liquid out into the container. I think he smiled at my amazement and then I told him that we have the same thing in America, but we buy it in a can.

I made sure to tell him that this, made fresh in front of my eyes, I’m sure is much more delicious.

IT FINALLY CAME

No really – it did. The cool dry season. It’s here – and frankly, it’s QUITE wonderful! From the beginning, I didn’t really think the weather would ever get this pleasant, but for the last month or so the temperatures have been really moderate. I’d say the coolest it’s gotten is 64F at night (yes – we’ve actually occasionally had to actually USE the two blankets on top of the sheets that Peace Corps gave us when we arrived. I never thought that day would come.) During the day it’ll be in the upper seventies at most. We haven’t turned the fan on in weeks. Both of us are down to only two showers a day (sometimes only one if we have an afternoon free from biking) and have been regularly skipping the early morning shower because it’s just simply too cold to take one with cold water. I guess it’s the windy season too. It’s not quite as windy as it would get on the prairie back home… I’d describe it as a gentle breeze for the most part. Every once in a while a big gust will come, but for the most part quite nice.

But yes—the weather is very nice right now, very pleasant and we are enjoying and embracing it as much as possible. (As we’ve been told to do so, as the hot season will come soon enough). It’s nice for my clothes to not be drenched in sweat after one hour of teaching.

Again, let me say that we are embracing it --- as I’m sure you’ll hear about it again when the weather warms up.

Favorite Things Contd.

-The smell after you slice a lime open picked straight from the tree in the backyard

-Drinking from a coconut that has been aged perfectly. Sometimes they have the slightest hint of fizz or carbonation and it’s absolutely amazing

-Fresh papayas that our host mom’s brother brings from his farm near Angkor Wat

-Grapefruit when they’re in season

-Smoothies in the market

-Being up early enough in the morning to sit on the patio and enjoy breakfast with no rush while looking at the yard & flowers in the nice weather (even on a school day)

-The kids who come every night to our house to study English with their private teacher. After they’re done studying – Will and I hang out with them a bit, just to talk or play games. They’ve got such great laughs and smiles, it’s irresistible to not find yourself having a good time by just being with them

-The toddler kids who are soooooo excited to say “HELLO” to the foreigner as we ride our bikes to school. They can see us from 400m away, and they run to the side of the gravel road just to shout “Hello Barang!” Hello!!! How are you!! (Barang is the French word for foreigner, they use it for any white person they see)

-Getting the passersby who are looking at you like you’re the strangest thing on earth – to smile, when you give them a smile.

-The cool dry season.

-Fried pork with vegetables and pineapple and rice. Yumm.

-Fried pork or beef with ginger and rice. Yumm. Yumm.

-Flattened roasted chicken. Delicious

-“Tuk-Marrit” – it’s a dipping sauce made from Kampot Pepper, Salt, MSG (if you want it in there) and Freshly squeezed lime juice. I’m pretty sure you could dip anything in it and it’d taste good. But primarily it’s used for dipping fish or meats into. Yumm yum. I don’t even really like fish, but I like it dipped in this stuff.

-A Salad that they make called “Nyoom”. Delicious.

-Fried bananas. At the school you can get one for 100r = 2.5 cents

-The many different kinds of curry soup.

-Bung Aim – a desert, almost soup or porridge made with a tapioca type of thing, with sugar and potatoes… served warm. Quite tasty.

-Going to the only shop in town which sells real ice cream bars, and having the toddlers there run out to say hello, as the most regular customer comes to eat ice cream again (yes, me).

-The look on people’s faces when they realize I can speak Khmer. They say, “oooh…jet khmai” (meaning oooh- she know’s Khmer) ---prices drop instantly in the market.

-The fact that you can get your toenails painted for 50 cents in the market if you want.

-And you can get a brand new very nicely tailored button down shirt sewn for $6 – fabric and all.

-Riding in a tuk-tuk around Siem Reap

-Sunset over the rice paddy

-The fact that the vegetables and meat we use to cook were purchased the morning of and are fresh every day.

-The last shower of the day right before bed.

-An average of 9 – 9.5 hours of sleep EVERY night!

-The smell of freshly washed clothes, that have been hung to dry on the line in the sun

-The feeling when you are finished washing laundry (by hand – it’s usually an hour to maybe 2 hr affair)

-Getting the students to laugh in class, when realizing you have all their undivided attention

-Getting students to correctly pronounce the soft and hard “TH” sound

-Using our bicycles as our main mode of transport.

Christmas In Cambodia

Was definitely different for us. First of all it felt nothing like it. We both come from the Midwest where there are four seasons, and you can kind of feel it in the air when the holiday season is arriving. Not to mention this is primarily a Buddhist country and people don’t celebrate Christmas here.

However, I guess the last time we were in Siem Reap, I was walking through one of the ex-pat grocery stories and it was playing Christmas music over the loudspeakers. It occurred to me then, that, -- oh yea. It’s December!

Many people know about Christmas, and surprisingly more people know the lyrics to jingle bells than you’d think. Although- in my open hour’s class I have for students, I had to go through the lyrics and explain to them what a one-horse-open sleigh is, and what jingle bells are.

Will did a little special lesson on Santa Clause; but I believe his attempt to teach about St. Nick left him with more blank stares with the student’s heads tilted sideways in bewilderment as he tried to explain the magical concept in all of their second language. I mean, it’s this guy- who flies around in a red sleigh with magical reindeer and brings presents to everyone, and comes down the fireplace (note: most people don’t know what a fireplace is or has ever seen one, so you have to go through explaining what a fireplace is, as well as reindeer, as well as a sleigh) --- and then when he got through that concept….. the students started to get worried that Santa might get burnt if he came down the fireplace…and I guess it was a downwards spiral from there…..and he decided that maybe the idea was more than it was worth.

It’s just hard to know sometimes what will be an attention grabbing lesson and what is going to leave you hanging with the crickets chirping in the background. You’d think magical Santa would be interesting. I suppose – it’d be much easier if you were fluent in Khmer to try to explain it. Anyway, a lesson WE are still trying to learn.

Anyhow--- to celebrate we decided not to give each other gifts and save that money for traveling in the future – and rather buy a roasted chicken from the market and a few beers (we normally do not drink at all at our site. It’s more of a reputation thing…first of all – it is not really culturally acceptable for women to drink; and then being teachers at the school it is also important for us to keep a well respected image… so actually we have never drank at all at our site. Not to mention, for the most part EVERY one knows everything about us and what we’re up to. How can they not. We’re the only white, foreigners in the town. They’re always very curious. They know what I spend my money on in the market every time I go. So they’re bound to find out how much alcohol we consume as well, and it’s better for us if we don’t consume any.) ALSO – I do have to say that we both feel really pretty healthy & pure, without having an occasional beer….and add an average of 9hrs of sleep every night, we feel pretty darn good in the morning. ANYhow – Will bought a few beers – and then we also bought a roasted chicken from the market. I guess our town is famous for their flattened, roasted chickens. They cut the chicken right down the breastbone, and then flatten them between two bamboo sticks and roast them over hot coals. And boy are they delicious!! They are actually kinda spendy – ours cost $5 for a medium sized chicken (just for a reference, we can get a really good American style large Pizza in Siem Reap for $7, and we only do that when we want to splurge); BUT we figured it was Christmas, so we’d celebrate with that; and make ourselves a side of garlic mashed potatoes. It wasn’t your typical Christmas dinner, but it was quite delicious. We were going to watch the sunset on the west side of town over the rice paddy- but it happened to be cloudy that day – so we just enjoyed our meal on the patio.

Both sets of parents called us later that evening and told us of the temperatures they were experiencing that were hovering around the zero mark (above/below). It was nice to chat with all of them; but I think it wasn’t until we got calls from them that it really sunk in it was Christmas time and a feeling of sadness set in….just thinking about how far away we are from everyone that’s important to us, especially when they’re all gathering together. We knew that was part of the deal though, when we signed up – and in all honesty, time is going by really quickly. We’ve been in country 5 months already. Now we’ve essentially got just over a year and a half yet. But that doesn’t mean we can’t feel a little homesick especially around this time of year.

Oh well. Jan 4th is coming up (which is my dad’s 59th b-day!) and it also is the mark of all of us K2 volunteers being at our permanent site for 3 months, and after that date we are allowed to leave our provinces. So I’m pretty sure I smell a reunion of all of us volunteers in K2 gathering – hopefully at the ocean when the temps rise a bit maybe at the end of Jan or in Feb. sometime. Should be good.

Anyhow- we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas back home and hope that you can make 2009 a memorable year.

All the best – steph & will

English Lessons.

Gotta love it when the Cambodian English teacher, is teaching the American Volunteer English teacher a few tips on grammar. I know, I know. Sad, but true. --- Go ahead. You try it. Try and explain to the class a formula for when to use the word ‘some’ and when to use ‘any’ and which one is affirmative or negative and which one is a countable or uncountable noun, or pronoun and why you can say “Would you like some fruit?” or “Would you like any fruit?”, and why saying “Will you get any berries from the bush” vs. “Will you get some berries from the bush” makes more sense.

I know. Run-on- sentence.

In the Khmer language, the word they use for both ‘some’ and ‘any’ is “klas”. Seems much simpler, if you ask me.

p.s. I’ll gladly take a clear explanation that I can pass onto my students from anyone that would like to provide one.

Caladryl.

Ahh yes…. the smell of Caladryl lotion.

There is something about the smell of it that I like. It brings me back to my childhood days when my mother would smear the pink lotion over my mosquito bitten legs and tell me not to scratch them. (I’d scratch them anyways of course) … and actually not much has changed, as I still scratch them now. Nevertheless, I still apply the pink stuff to my skin.

Maybe it helps a little. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I just like the smell of it because it reminds me of my childhood.

She came round the corner….

Dec. 30, 2008
It always warms your heart just a little when someone unexpectedly acknowledges you.

I was sitting at our new table on our patio working on some lesson plans this afternoon. I had the curtain drawn as the sun was shining down, because it helps to create some shade.

As I was thinking about how I was going to explain when to use the word “some” and when to use the word “any” to one of my students, I heard the faint sound of someone slowly and gently gliding their feet across the cement on the walkway to our patio.

Sure enough, just when I turned my head, ‘yaey’ was standing there. (Yaey – is the word for grandmother). She is our host mom’s mother. She is 89 years old. She is an interesting woman and she has been staying here for the last month and a half or so.

I can only imagine she has been through a lot in her lifetime. Yet, she is a kind, quiet woman. She’s this tiny little thing… with a scratchy worn out voice and a decent set of ears. Usually we find her laying in the hammock or on one of the benches in the front yard. She has a shaved head – which is a custom for elderly women…. (I believe it has something to do with the Buddhist religion). She hardly has any teeth – and also chews this red stuff (I’m not sure what it’s called) but it’s some sort of light stimulant, that we’ve also seen many other elderly women chew on; not quite chewing tobacco, but something similar I guess. Regardless of what it is, I don’t think it’s good for the teeth and gums.

Anyhow, despite the lack of teeth, each time we so much as mutter a “sua-s’dei!” (hello) – or “Dtau neak sohksadai te?” (How are you?) – she gives us a great big smile, as she is pleased that we can speak a little Khmer and that we have acknowledged her.

She is surprisingly active; and is still able to do the ‘Asian’ squat. I swear people learn how to do it at age 1, and apparently still can squat like that at age 89. I can barely do it for a few minutes, and then I grab for the small stool that I use when I need to be that close to the ground. But yes - occasionally we’d see her in the yard pulling weeds or raking the dirt to tidy the place up a bit.

The other night we had dinner with the family, and our host dad excused himself a little early as there was boxing on TV that night (Cambodians LOVE to watch boxing). Then when I finished my meal, I was walking towards the kitchen to bring my dishes to be washed, I glanced in the living room and ‘Yaey’ was sitting right next to our host dad, eyes glued to the tv watching boxing as well. She seemed to be into it, and then Will asked her if the guy in blue or the guy in red was better. After the guy in the blue shorts took a good swipe at his opponent, ‘Yaey’ said, “Poah Keeyoo, cheeung la’auh”. (Color blue is better).

She is fairly with-it for looking so weak and frail. Nonetheless we’ve enjoyed having her company around. Last weekend I had just gotten off the phone with my family after they called to wish me a Merry Christmas. I told everyone here that my family said, “Hello!” Then ‘Yaey’ asked me if I missed my family. I said, “Yes, I miss them very much. And my mother and father miss us a lot too. But usually we try to talk once in a week or two and that is nice and it helps.” She laughed and said, “Aht niyay, aht nuk” – meaning ‘don’t talk, don’t miss.’ I had to laugh because it wasn’t what I’d expect to come out of her mouth….and I said, I’d try to tell my mom that one, but I don’t think she’d agree.

Then the other day, I was offering my new favorite snack that I’ve found in the market which is essentially peanut brittle, to the family. – I offered some to our host brother Dara, who took some, and then to host dad Vonn, and he said he didn’t want any because the sugar will make him fat, and host mom Socheat didn’t want any either for the same reason. I was debating on whether or not to offer any to ‘Yaey’ because I knew what her answer would be no, but I thought I’d ask her to be polite anyway, – and she answered by saying, “No,…. I don’t have any teeth” – and kind of sighed and shrugged off the matter of fact. – Ha, again an answer out of her mouth that sort of surprised me.

Anyhow she seems like she was the type of woman who was a go-getter in her day, and who knew what she wanted and how to get it. I mean, the woman gave birth to nine children. She survived the Khmer Rouge in her mid-fifties. And she’s still kickin’ around pulling weeks in the yard in the Asian squat position… and can do so for hours.

Anyway, she came quietly around the corner, slowly and all alone (which was a little surprising to me, as she’s never approached me directly)… but she was standing there and simply wanted to tell me ‘goodbye’ as she was going back into Siem Reap to her house near Angkor. (She lives really close to Angkor Wat on some land where they grow lots of mango and papaya trees.) She said this all to me in basic Khmer, so that I would be sure to understand. She also told me to tell Will goodbye as well and that she would miss us, and that we should visit her at her house there.

I don’t know what it was about it, but I just found it so sweet and touching. It had caught me off guard so much and it was nice that she thought to simply come and tell us good bye and that she’d be gone for a while… and she was so endearing when she said it. She placed her hand on my arm and said, “Please come to visit me! I will miss you!” And that was that.