Hello all! I have not been updating this blog as frequently as I would like, but time is starting to fly by a bit. The middle of April is Khmer New Year, and I am looking forward to spending some time out in the countryside with my extended family. However, I am not looking forward to the fact that it is only going to get hotter. Lately, the middle of the day definitely seems hotter than before; I am starting to sweat all the time again! Nothing is worse than showing up drenched in sweat after you ride your bike to school and having to stand in front of 30+ students to teach.
Anyways, I didn’t start this post to complain about the heat or my perpetually damp clothes. This blog post is dedicated to questions that I got from friends and family as well as one question that I wanted to ask myself. So, here we go...
Q: What food are you missing? What is your favorite food to eat in Cambodia?
The foods I miss the most are cheese, tortillas, and my grandma’s enchiladas. Most Khmer people I’ve met find cheese slightly distasteful, and I usually end up comparing tortillas to Indian naan when describing them since no one in my town has ever eaten a tortilla. Now, I can buy cheese and tortillas in Phnom Penh and ration them when I get back to site like I do for peanut butter and chocolate. However, feeding my obsession for cheese and tortillas would be a tad expensive on my volunteer salary. Maybe I will eventually get desperate enough to buy some; check back in a few months.
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| My bong sray stirring the pot for sup. Below, the prepped veggies |
As for what I like to eat here, I honestly really like several Khmer dishes. Although many people will lament that Khmer food is not even close in deliciousness to Vietnamese or Thai food, I would make the case that it has its standout moments. I like fried whole fish with a pickled sour mango, onion, and chili relish. I love eating sup (basically a hot pot style-meal with meat and lots of veggies) or go lan phnom (a bubbling pan of oil and butter that you heap with veggies and meats to cook as you eat).
In my opinion though, it’s the sauces and condiments that really shine in Khmer cooking. As I mentioned, I devour the pickled mango relish, and my other favorite is tuk amble them, which is made of palm sugar, shredded carrots, peanuts, fish sauce, and some other ingredients. We eat it with lettuce wraps full of herbs, veggies, and fish or pork. I honestly could just eat it on rice. There are several other sauces that are spooned over various dishes, and they are all pretty delicious.
I’ve also realized I can be a very pragmatic eater; if its the only food I have access to, my body will eventually think it’s change (delicious in Khmer) if I keep eating it. I’ve come to enjoy the burn-your-tongue saltiness of dried and friend fish. I don’t mind the heat and flavor of stir-fried ginger overwhelming my senses anymore in the popular dish, cha knieyay (stir-fried ginger with pork).
Q: What has been the hardest part of your service so far?
I think the hardest part of my service thus far has been the feeling you get sometimes of being surrounded by people but feeling completely alone. My host family is great, and I’ve made enough friends (read two or three) at site that I am not usually physically alone. However, the feeling when I can’t explain something to the people around me or even if I explain something gets lost in (linguistic or cultural) translation… that feeling is hard. Sometimes I turn to my friends and family back home, but they don’t have the context to truly understand. Most of the time I vent/rant/just talk out loud to other PCVs that I’ve become close to. I don’t think I have ever been so conscious of my emotions on a day-to-day basis, and adjusting to that has taken some work.
Q: What is something you thought would be hard but isn’t? And what is something you didn’t think would be hard but is?
I really thought that the weather, namely the heat and humidity, would be really tough. And it is actually awful. As mentioned above, I am constantly sweating; my clothes are almost always sticking to my body. However, it is not as bad as I thought it would be. Right now it is heating up again, but with the help of fans and a lot of naps during the hottest part of the day, I think I am going to make it.
I didn’t think forcing myself to go out and interact with the world would be hard, but it is some days. I think I am a pretty outgoing and friendly person, so I honestly never thought meeting people, going out and talking to people, would be hard. Don't get me wrong; I love living here 90% of the time. My family, community, and school are really wonderful, and I usually feel happy and content. However, sometimes, the amount of mental, cultural, and linguistic effort it takes to leave your mosquito net or your safe, familiar house and walk outside your door seems like too much. At times, it really is a fight. And sometimes, safe, familiar and staying at home wins; that’s ok too. Sometimes you need those moments (or days) of rest and relaxation; they’re what keeps you sane.
Q: What do you wish America knew about Cambodia?
I want people in America to know that Cambodia is, at the same time, radically different and comfortingly similar to the USA. My younger sisters get excited when someone in our family gets a new phone and "play Facebook" constantly. It is generally frowned upon for me, especially as an unmarried women, to wear shorts above my knees and a tank top around town. When my whole host family gets together, everyone falls into their roles and groups form. The younger kids run from place to place getting in everyone's way; the teenagers gather to gossip, take selfies, and watch videos on the Internet. The adults alternately cook, ensuring things are going smoothly and sit, talking about the new news in the family and community. For snack, we eat fresh mangos, fried crickets, fertilized duck eggs, and Oreos. Things are very different here, on the other side of the world, but don't let those differences cloud your vision to the exclusion of all the similarities. At the end of the day, we are all human beings. People within both countries have a diverse array of hopes, dreams, thoughts, opinions, and fears. 
