8.17 - Some absurdities (thanks, Jennifer!)

8.17.08
Maybe it’s me…but I think the sky is bluer here. Maybe not, and all the play me-an and the weekend’s festivities have been getting to me, but I still think that things are way more vivid here. It has been quite a weekend. I knew something was happening, but I wasn’t sure what it was. On Thursday, the women in my family (and even some of the men) began preparing some banana leafs and other foodstuffs, beginning to cook and prep and make more food than is usual or necessary for our family. I began to suspect that something was happening, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure what it was. And, because no one in my family speaks enough English for me to ask…I was at a loss. I found out later that the big event is a Chinese holiday. Last Friday was the day…of…something – Bon Sain Kball Tuk. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but kball is the word for ‘head’ and tuk is ‘water.’ It was more than eventful, though. On that particular day, they brought fruit and put it on the altar of the ancestors and lit up very pretty lights around the altars as well. A couple of my friends came over for lunch and an additional 3 brothers and a sister showed up.

I think that my concept of how many people are in my family is constantly changing. It turns out that I have more brothers and sisters than I thought. In fact, I have 5 brothers and 4 sisters (not to mention my bong nang who lives with her kids in the house). But I think that I make it an even number…5 boys and with me, 5 girls. And I had the awesome pleasure of meeting yet another 2 brothers and a sister.

Of course, this did present an interesting challenge. Makara, the younger of the 2 new brothers, age 22, who you may remember from the red underwear on the line/belly chain incident (oh yes, same guy, same red undergarments once again hanging on the line), has decided, for some reason, that he enjoys my company. So, he has written me a letter talking about the pleasure he has had speaking with me. While under some occasions I would be more than thrilled about this…this time is not one of them and I must handle the situation with delicacy above all. For now it is an addition to the series of entertaining texts that I have sent one of my fellow trainees.

Practicum is over for a week. And it went well!! Plus, the end of the week saw us all celebrating with delicious noodles all together, a lovely occasion that we all appreciated. When I returned home will a tummy full, Makara and a few of his friends were dancing…to American hip hop! Anyone who knows me can imagine how excited I was. American hip hop…after all this Khmer music…only my favorite genre of music!!! Of course, a few of my favorites happened to be reworded in Khmer (“Low” by Flo Rida, “Beautiful Girl” by Sean whoever, and some others as well). It didn’t matter. Because of my excitement, I simply had to…dance. Upon further ‘light of day’ reflection, it may not have been the best idea to dance to hip hop with a handful of young Khmer men, especially since that group included my new suitor, but I had plenty of permission from my bong nang, and my mom and sisters were watching from the balcony. And I was having way too much fun!!

I think that my general feeling is that of sheer absurdity. I took that last college class on Theatre of the Absurd and see it everywhere. Life here is so different, and I still can’t believe that I am here and living and working in a different country.

And we trainees miss pizza and milk and cereal.

"Clang na" = "very hungry"