11.27.2009

Thanks for Giving!!!!

So, basically, Thanksgiving was amazing.

Participants:
Banteay Meanchey K2s: Myself, Anthony, Deidre, and Dan...
BM K3s Lisa, Kenny, and Emily...
Battambang K2 Bob
Siem Reap K2 Adrian
Pursat K2 Tyler
Kampong Chhnang K2 Greg
BM Australian Anne
BM Brit Jen

Here's the Menu.


Appetizers:
Cheesy Spinach Dip with Bread
Carrots and Bread for Dipping
Vinegar and Olive Oil Dipping Sauce
Summer Sausage, Cheese, and Crackers




The Main Course:
Roast Chicken
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Stuffing
Macaroni and Cheese
Corn
Cranberry Sauce




Dessert:
Caramel Slice (British deliciousness)
Apple Crisp
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie (with some sort of whipped cream)
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting


11.19.2009

Domination

November 7, 2009

I’ve seen the boys play it for entire afternoons, entire days, with any number of people and colors… They sit on the floor for hours and we lose them to the trance that they fall under. They barely come up for food or water, which is surprising given how much I’ve seen any one of them eat at a time. Eventually they get out of the game, one at a time, until the winner emerges and they start over again.


The game: Risk
The players: Male PCVs of several provinces

The place: Dan’s House


Why do I bring this up, you wonder? I’m not a boy… I don’t generally fall under a game trance… I’m usually doing other things while they play…


But not today. Today, for their last game of the afternoon, I caved and decided to give the game of world domination a try. I got an early hold on Africa and watched as Dan took the Americas and Kenny took Europe, with Anthony holding strong in parts of Asia and Australia. I was a bit stagnant, building up my armies and defending my territory from the invaders. But then, in one special turn, I turned in my cards for some new people, took my people though the middle east and into Australia, took my place in Siam and the “sk” countries of north Asia, and received enough armies to rampage through Europe and continue on to the Americas, where I crushed everyone and finally dominated the entire earth.


May I add that I am the first woman to play amongst the men for the right to the world and that it was my first time playing the game ever.


May I also add that given the circumstances of the barang population in Cambodia, the boys may hold the title for most games of Risk played in a single day (or ever) and that I could possibly hold the title of first woman to win the game of Risk in Cambodia. I may add that to the special skills section of my resume… Undefeated Risk Champion. Armies: Pink.

Student Wisdom

I’m beginning to keep track of some of the more interesting things that I read in my students’ work…

We just studied a chapter on Farming and I had them write some essay about farming in Thmar Puok. Here are some of the more entertaining morsels:

[Cambodia] has a good climate. In most all sections of country it is possible to live comfortable during the whole year without snow, violent storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruption, etc.

Rice is important for people in the world.

About farming, there are many crops which grow on the ground in Thmar Puok like: rice, corn, potato, banana, bean, bread fruit, coconut, custard apple, mango, longan, cucumber, papaya, cassava, sapodilla, wood apple, watermelon, chili, marrow, pumpkin, and a lot more that I cannot count all.

In Thmar Puok district is the place where people always make a lot of crops but I want to write an essay about corn…. In the end I think corn is a crop which I most prefer.

At all for me, I have no ideas to write more.

Things that bring joy to my life

I’ve found, after living here, that it is the little things in life that make it fabulous. In case you are curious about how little the things are that bring happiness to my life, here is a list of a few…



Freshly washed sheets paired with freshly washed pajamas


A new podcast on my computer


A hug from my yiey (grandma)


Showers, especially hot ones


A smile from the girl at my most frequented restaurant


The smell of jasmine near my window


Group get-togethers with homemade Western food and lots of entertaining conversation


A question from a student in any language


Velveeta Shells and Cheese


Anything that comes from an oven


Finding email in my inbox after I’ve been away from internet for awhile


Ice


Plum and peppermint foot scrub and vanilla deodorant


Anything that allows me to scrub the grime off of myself


When my yiey says, “Yiey Sralang Jchaio,” or “Grandma loves Granddaughter”


The smell of Protex Propolis Honey scented soap


Pulling my mosquito net down before I sleep


Learning Aussie and British slang


Dancing with the oldest man in my village


Things from the bakery in Sway


A surprise phone call from friends or from abroad


Spicy Thai chili pepper sauce


Brown sugar and the oatmeal that I put it in


Full seasons of TV shows for less than $5


My Ipod


Hearing the word “Cher” (Teacher), instead of “Barang” (French/Foreign)


Exercise


Photographs


Surprising people with my Khmer after I’ve heard them talking about me


Staring back at anyone who is staring at me and watching them get uncomfortable (I practice this in moderation)


Things that bring the opposite of joy to my life


Not that I focus on the negative, but I’ve got to be honest… Some things here bother me almost all the time. And people should know.




Any combination of staring, old dirty men, military clothing, and conversation about the ‘barang’


The above thing in a place that I consistently frequent


Wedding/Funeral/Festival music blaring across the village at 5:00 in the morning


Drunken men with no filter trying to hit on the white gal


Roosters, and the fact that my house has a ton of them


My co-teacher slacking off, as he does more frequently all the time

Hallowater Here I come!

Now, you may ask yourself what kind of nonsensical English “Hallowater” is, but first, let me explain. You may have thought of last week as the week of Halloween, the holiday of sugar rushes, costumes with varying degrees of cleverness, construction, and even sexiness, but Cambodia thought of last week as the week of Water Festival, also known as Bon Om Tuk.

Last year, I celebrated this holiday by going up north a bit to Banteay Chhmar with my family and inviting all of the PCVs from my province to join me. There were some boat races, some exploration of the local temple ruins, and lots of food and drink. All in all, a pretty excellent week.


This year, however, found the two holidays put together, with our vacation time for Bon Om Tuk coincidentally at the same time as the vacation we may have taken for Halloween. Life was good, and we decided to celebrate over in Siem Reap. Closer than Phnom Penh, but with the most options for night life and Halloween celebrating, it seemed like the perfect escape from the life that we are still enjoying but sometimes tire of; after all, those of us who can travel across the world don’t necessarily like to stay in the same place for 2 solid years, especially if that place is a bit more rural than we would prefer. Either way, after I had a quick stop with our new K3 Lisa at Deidre’s house on the road to Siem Reap, climbing a mountain and enjoying some great fish, we were on the way. We stayed with the K1 RPCVs who now live and work in the town, in their beautiful house with such amazing things as a microwave, a washing machine (which it took at least an hour for 3 of us to try to operate), and a basket of Hallowater candy courtesy of the amazing host called Kara.


Now, Siem Reap can get a bit tiresome for us at times. Things are extremely expensive in comparison to other places around the country, there are so many tourists that the whole town feels a bit like a rip-off, and the tuk-tuk drivers are some of the most obnoxious in the country. Beyond that, though, we blend in, which is a pleasant experience, and we can stock up on our favorite western cuisine and relax. This was one of the most pleasant of my weekends in Siem Reap; perhaps because of the crowd, perhaps because of the holiday, perhaps because of the activities, I’m not sure.


Our first day in the town consisted of a long pool trip – a small secluded place with a little waterfall and good fish and chips and shopping at Lucky Mart for all of our groceries… we did these things in an illogical order and took all the groceries to the pool…


Other activities throughout the weekend included watching The Shining with popcorn (!) on a big screen TV… Having a fantastic massage at a place called Bodia courtesy of our (have I said amazing enough times yet) hosts… Vegging out in front of the TV for hours… Vegging out at a local cafĂ© for hours… Watching Dan cook a Hawaiian dish called moco loco and then enjoying it… Watching the boat races of the holiday and seeing huge crowds of Khmer folk around… Buying massive amounts of new music for the iPod… Finding most likely the smallest pork and rice stand in the town… and, of course, going out to celebrate Halloween!!!


We decided on Mexican food for our dinner that evening – It’s American-like and it was $1 Margarita Saturday… Our costume was a group one: Gang Green. Each one of us (Myself, Deidre, Stephanie, Adrian, Tyler, Anthony, and Dan) had one a green shirt and we walked together in unison. We felt clever. We went out for a few more drinks after dinner then went dancing at the closest thing to a club in the town. It was a blast, and there were plenty of other costumes. I saw togas, wings, chains, fake moustaches, and any number of oddly put together costumes. In fact, the guy that I danced with throughout the evening had a piece of the fake spider webs on his upper lip… It was quite a party, though I won’t bore you with any more of the details J


I feel that I must devote a paragraph to the foods that I ate over the course of my holiday. It may not be what you expect, from me or from any PCV. After weeks and weeks of rice, the things that I begin to crave are varied… I’ve begun to note that anything with dairy, or grease, or excessive sweetness makes me amazingly ill. It took over a week for me to recover from the food that I consumed this weekend… Fish and chips, Chicken and Camembert Salad, Cheese Quesadilla, Pizza, a Massive Cheeseburger, Pancakes, Grilled Cheese, Cereal and Yogurt, and a few Khmer dishes. Incredible. Sickening. Well Worth the Misery. And I can say that about any weekend of travel…