Cambodia: Day 6
Start at the beginning.Breakfast
We went to Soekna's office to teach them. But Jeff didn't know what to teach. Instead, we went to grab breakfast. Typical Cambodian breakfast consists of rice w/ pork and green tomatoes and cucumbers. You could also get this beef noodle soup that looks like pho, but the soup is a bit sweeter. This was also the first time that I had Cambodian coffee. They don't have any milk, so they use condensed milk. They put a lot of condensed milk in the coffee. It was way too sweet.Synergy
Then it was back to the office. We asked Soekna what he wanted to learn and he said budgeting.
Budgeting is such a simple skill but even people in the states don't know how to effectively budget. It's really nice being able to bring what we consider basic skills and give them that knowledge. This is why I feel so strongly about Synergy. Too bad the organization hasn't taken off as much as it could.
I feel that part of the difficulty is finding organizations to connect with. It's hard to know the needs and to bring the right solution to the people.
One idea that I had for Synergy is to come up with a standard teaching curriculum. Sections on using on using Windows, Office, and other basic applications. Then, from this basic curriculum, they would be able to translate it to different languages and the mission participants would have something consitent to teach.Chaan Can Cook
The food was so good yesterday, we asked Chaan to cook for us today. So we went to the market to pick up some groceries. Chaan laughed at me as I took pictures of everything. Sure, they were common fruits and vegetables to them, but they were exotic to me. It wasn't just the groceries that I was taking pictures of. It was also the market environment that I was documenting.
As we entered into the depths of the market, I saw these bananas roasting over some coals. It smelled so good and looked so good that I had to have one. At 100 Riel, it was dirt cheap. And, mmm, was it tasty. It had this heavy banana flavor with a slight saltiness to it. The outside was all crispy and crunchy while the inside was warm and gooiey.
We went to buy some meat and the facilities were just so unsanitary. The "butchers" would touch money and then touch the meat. There was no refrigeration and all the meat was open to the air and the flies and other bugs. These would be key observations for the future.
Once we had the meat, we were done, and it was back to Light for Living. The girls were so kind to offer to cook, Jeff and I decided to offer ours. Jeff couldn't Asian squat so it was my turn to give it a shot. I cut some carrots and some turnips. They made two soups. A pork stuffed tomatoe soup and a carrot, turnip, pork soup. It wasn't as tasty as yesterday, but it was still good. The soup in particular was really good.English at the Temple
Then it was to the temple. Unfortunately Mr. Soek was not there. Mr. Gun told us that Mr. Soek was up in the mountains collecting firewood or something.
The girls have been teaching me so much Khmer, it was about time that I taught them some English.
It was difficult starting out because my Khmer is so much more limited than their English. We eventually got started when Gentoo started writing things down.
She had me annunciate the differences between words such as "thing" and "think", "think" and "sink", and "help" and "health". When you speak so much English, you take these subtleties for granted. It turns out that the Khmer language doesn't have a "th" sound. That is what makes it so difficult for them pronounce these simple wordis.Yelling From Both Ends
When we got back to the hotel, Jeff had to poop really bad. He had been on the throne almost all day. He had taken an Immodium earlier, but it didn't really do anything. After his dump, he felt really cold.
I had Jeff get in bed with as many covers as we could manage. But none of it really helped. I even threw my space age blanket on him. Now I knew something was wrong. I guessed that he had a stomach virus. And sure enough, not long after, he was in the bathroom, throwing up.
I called Soekna, Pastor Chon, and Patrick to let them know what was going on. They were all very concerned and I reassured them that he would be better soon. Soekna stopped by with some cold medicine, but it wouldn't really help Jeff.
After both Light for Living and Grace School, it was back to the hotel to take care of Jeff. Cherr was very kind and brought some bread for Jeff. They also brought us a hot water heater to provide "infinite" water.
Jeff started to come down with a fever, so I made a cold compress for him out of my dirty tshirt. I also forced him to take some Tylenol. Soon, his fever started coming back down.Bug Bites
I started getting a mess of bug bites on my arms and legs. Our mosquito hunting at the end of the night has been weak. The garlic pills that I've been taking don't seem to work either. And I don't feel like applying deet right before I go to bed.
posted by w3y at
8/15/2006 11:37:00 PM
