A curious twist to challah...

When the school closed, I made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish with the time. Here are some examples: paint bathroom (check), get clothes tailored and go through clothes (check), clean (check). There were also some simpler things on there... bake being the key. It’s been quite some time since I lovingly kneaded bread for my tiny oven.

And I had a brilliant recipe – apple and honey challah, which I wanted to make for Jewish new year, for a good friend who has had a less than marvelous time lately. So, the day came when I woke up and said, Today is the day that I will bake.

And so I went to the market and got the key ingredients: yeast, eggs, apples, etc. And I began to mix everything together on my table, which is an incredibly enjoyable and relaxing activity. Challah requires some time, though. I think I spent 5 hours with all of the kneading, rising, braiding, etc. So, I decided that I would make a second, much easier bread as well: Focaccia. It is simple and I figured that I could use the rising time for that bread and mix it with the baking time for the other and it would all time together perfectly. I was correct.

However... I also decided to do some cleaning while I was baking. I’d put the bread out to rise and go clean something, then come back, put it to bake, clean something. You can see the pattern. It was all going extremely well until I went into my spare bedroom. I saw that my light had been completely taken over by something... And that something was a termite nest.

My spare bedroom is a room I rarely enter. It is dark and dusty and holds nothing special for me. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised that the entire post that held the light switch had been used by said insect for their dusty nest. I had a moment of panic. What do I do with this? Keep in mind that my challah, all 5 hours in progress, was currently in the oven about halfway through its bake time.

I thought to myself that I should destroy the nest. That would be the appropriate thing to do, right? After looking outside for my landlady and not finding her, I decided to go for it. So I got out my hammer. Looking back, I’m shocked that I didn’t realize how horrible this idea was. Anyway, I got out my hammer and took a swing at the termites. It connected and termite nest dust fell onto my floor. A second hit... more termite dust and a hint of the little white creatures. A third hit... and my electricity cuts out.

Now, it isn’t unusual for the lights to cut out here and there, but the electricity is generally reliable. So I knew right away that my ill-fated tool choice had created my current situation. I went outside for the landlady in a panic. My bread, I thought... My bread!!! I asked one of the kids if their lights were on and they said yes. Then I went searching back in the compound for my landlady until I finally found her. Of course, it began to rain, and when I finally found my landlady, she thought that I was searching for my cat. So, when I asked (pleaded, begged) her to come to my house and look, she started calling, “Jas-a” and pointing me to where he last was. I said, “Come, come!” She said, “Jas-a.”

Oy.

I finally got her inside and heard a long and loud sigh... Yep, she understood. She called an electrician (Thai, she told me, with a Khmer wife) and he came over. But, in the meantime... my bread? I took the oven over to the neighbors and plugged it in. I should mention... my oven is the size of an American microwave, completely dependent on electricity, not gas, for the heat. So, once again, my neighbors got a bit of a show. The white girl, panicking over some bread, carrying her oven over to the neighbors to keep it hot as the Thai man came through the house and tried to fix the electricity without ever looking at the termite nest.

And, of course, in true Khmer fashion, my landlady and the people who appeared out of nowhere when the white lady started doing crazy things were completely amazed at the miracle being produced in the oven. “Wow, you can make that!?” My challah finally came out of the oven, beautiful, dark, lacquered with egg and they were amazed. They were even more amazed when my focaccia went into the oven and came out delicious. I couldn’t share the first but I shared the second. They were unsure about the bread that is sort of not like bread with stuff in it, but they tried it and appeared to enjoy it.

After my lights were back on, and the Thai man left, without dealing with the termites, I called the landlady back and made her look at the issue. It was quite bad. One of the light switches was completely covered by the nest and I couldn’t reach it. And, really, if a hammer knocked out the lights in the whole place, wouldn’t the termites do something worse later? Oh yes. Finally, everything was dealt with. The termites are now gone. The lights work once again. The challah was delicious (and welcome... since my friend’s parents were coming and it was almost Friday). And... “Jas-a” was not lost.

The Water.

With a 5 week holiday, I feel as though I’m reliving my Peace Corps days. Yes, 5 weeks. Perhaps I’ll go back a few weeks to clue everyone in on the situation.

First off... a few updates. I work for a very cool school called JPA, the Jay Pritzker Academy. I am the librarian in a room full of 20,000 books. We have a Pre-K to 12 school with about 400 students (give or take). It is hard work, but extremely rewarding. I spent the first quarter teaching computers, research, and other library-associated skills, as well as reading aloud to most of the classes and running the after school tutoring program. These are all things that I enjoy immensely. In fact, I think I’ve found my calling. I love to read and encourage others to do the same. I love computers and the versatility that they allow me. And I love these students. They are eager to learn and are, I’m certain, the best behaved students in the history of education. I’ve worked there for about a year and a half now, and am loving it.

In other news, I’m still in the same house I was in when I posted my last blog. It has been painted since my last post... about 4 times. I’ve painted my kitchen yellow, my living room red, and my entry way and bathroom turquoise. I’ve also added both a Playstation (complete with guitar and dance dance revolution dance pad) and a Wii to my living space. I have a cat, called Jasper, who wandered up the stairs and into my bedroom when he was a kitten and never left. I also got internet in my house with the help of a tiny USB stick that says ‘metfone’ on it. In other words, I think I’ve got it made. Or, I would... if the water would stay on and the termites would leave the house. Nasty creatures, termites. They made a nest in my spare bedroom and when I tried to destroy it, my lights went out.

But that’s neither here nor there... I was getting to why I was off for 5 weeks. Well, in a word... water. Since September, Siem Reap (including my house) has been flooded about 5 times. The river in the middle of the town overflowed into the streets and created some massive headaches for everyone. It was never too bad. Even at its worst, the water was only up to my knees. And living on the second floor, the water made my travels difficult but it only affected my entryway and made it extremely dirty. It also made Jasper stir crazy... being in the house all that time without going out to cavort with his pals, but he survived and I did too.

But the school... School is worse. We watched as the water flowed higher and higher, going over part of the road. The school is outside of town about 20 kilometers, and the water nearby is not the Siem Reap river, but in fact a much larger lake. Luckily, most of the students live on the side of the school that was less affected, but the problems continue to circulate through the village. The majority of rice fields surrounding the school have been destroyed. Which means that the livelihoods of the people who work in the fields... well, you can imagine.

Either way, the flooding issue is all around Southeast Asia. And after seeing the water rise something like 5 cm in one afternoon, our principal cancelled school for a few weeks. And in that time, the water rose high enough to not only surround the school, but to enter it. There are some photos of the water in the corridors, in the classrooms. And really, this is all quite incredible given JPA is the absolute highest point around, built to withstand all sorts of nature.

So this brings me back to the beginning... I have 2 weeks left to do with what I will. I spent a week in Bangkok, watching the bottled water disappear in the hands of frightened Thais and trying to get my fix of America inside the giant sprawling malls of Siam Square. I spent a week cleaning and cuddling my cat. I spent a week working on things for school. And now? Perhaps I’ll spend a week around Cambodia before attempting to get back into work mode. Right now I feel lazy in the way that too much vacation encourages. I sleep late, eat too much, spend more money than I like... all while trying to remember the students and their own predicaments. It’s a sizeable set back... in more ways than one.