You know what makes a really good omelet? Insects. Oh yes. There these insects, that resemble wasps except they are brown and don’t have a stinger. And we eat them and their larvae pretty frequently. They are actually quite delicious. Sweet and a bit crunchy. You fry them up and put them in just about anything, you can even eat them plain. I actually like them a lot. And if ants get into them, not a problem, just fry em up eat them too. Better than fish soup, that’s for sure.
In other news, it has been a really long couple of weeks, first of all, to my family, I’m so sorry about Granny, you guys have no idea how much I missed you and how badly I wanted to be there with you. I am truly sorry. And to Erin: I’m so happy for you! I really regret not getting to see you on your big day, Congratulations!
This was one of those weeks that really made me not want to be in Cambodia. Several different things happened; I won’t go into all of it here. Suffice to say that both at school and at my house everything seemed to be about money. Cambodians think that all Americans are rich. And I really felt like everyone I was around just wanted to find some way to get money out of me. The school director wants my English club students to pay electricity costs for using the school building. Which is fine, except his reasoning was that the school was to poor to manage the cost. Well if they spent their budget on things it was intended to fund maybe it wouldn’t be so poor. He also made a huge deal about it in front of all the other teachers, which was embarrassing beyond belief.
I’ve come to detest even mentioning money. But here, it is all people want to talk about. They want to know how much everything costs, how much everyone makes, it just goes on and on. And they refuse to believe that my parents do not just have thousands of dollars lying around so they can come see me whenever they want.
The problem is that this society is built on patronage and reciprocity. What you do doesn’t matter at, it’s who you know. It is completely natural and not at all shameful to be friends with someone simply for what you can get out them. That has always bothered, although while a lot of my friends have asked me for outrageous, most have understood when I explained why that can’t happen. But the idea of liking someone for who they are isn’t the ideal here. It’s really tough to deal you, a lot of times I feel really taken advantage of. But despite this, the overwhelming majority of people are really good to me, definitely better than I deserve.
That’s all for now, oh Nanny I got your envelope, it didn’t cost much. Thanks so much!
Love and miss everyone
24 May, 2009
10 May, 2009
Air Conditioning and Economic Development. The two would seem to be completely unrelated. However, having lived in an underdeveloped nation void of air conditioning, I have developed a theory: People do not like to work when it is hot. People do not like to anything when it is hot. I do not think it is a coincidence that before the advent of air conditioning, most development took place in the cooler climates (i.e. the industrial revolution took place primarily in Europe and the northern United States). The truth is that when it is hot things pretty much shut down. It is easy to say that one can survive without air conditioning while sitting in one’s air conditioned home. That’s what I thought when I joined Peace Corps. And it is true, I’m used to the heat (in a very relative sense) and while I don’t enjoy it I can deal with it. And I usually deal with it by laying on the tile floor in the living room.
The thing is that there is a huge difference between living in the heat and being productive in the heat. This may sound lazy, but until you’ve lived in a climate that regularly exceeds 100 degrees, you can’t understand just how unproductive it makes you. You can’t get anything done in Cambodia after 10 in the morning. And you really don’t want to do anything. Of all of the obstacles to development I have encountered here, this one surprised me the most. You just don’t think about the real effects of things like heat when you live in a country that has air conditioning. It’s easy to say just tough it out, but it’s easier said than done.
Happy Mother’s day to all you mothers out there (Especially to mine:) Thanks for being awesome. Not a lot going on right now, due to the aforementioned heat. And the King’s Birthday. Tuesday-Saturday there will be no class so we can party in honor of the King. Woot. Some of the staff at one of the NGOs wants me to teach English workshops in the morning next week. This means I won’t be lying on my floor bored. Always a plus. And I just got ten more books. Yay. Between reading, teaching, and sewing (the darn Cambodian zippers...ugh) I should be fairly entertained.
Love and miss all of you! Have a great Mother’s day!
The thing is that there is a huge difference between living in the heat and being productive in the heat. This may sound lazy, but until you’ve lived in a climate that regularly exceeds 100 degrees, you can’t understand just how unproductive it makes you. You can’t get anything done in Cambodia after 10 in the morning. And you really don’t want to do anything. Of all of the obstacles to development I have encountered here, this one surprised me the most. You just don’t think about the real effects of things like heat when you live in a country that has air conditioning. It’s easy to say just tough it out, but it’s easier said than done.
Happy Mother’s day to all you mothers out there (Especially to mine:) Thanks for being awesome. Not a lot going on right now, due to the aforementioned heat. And the King’s Birthday. Tuesday-Saturday there will be no class so we can party in honor of the King. Woot. Some of the staff at one of the NGOs wants me to teach English workshops in the morning next week. This means I won’t be lying on my floor bored. Always a plus. And I just got ten more books. Yay. Between reading, teaching, and sewing (the darn Cambodian zippers...ugh) I should be fairly entertained.
Love and miss all of you! Have a great Mother’s day!
02 May, 2009
If you have never eaten four gigantic mangoes in one day, allow me to give you some advice: do not attempt. Mangoes are excessively filling, and if consumed in excess, render one unable to move. It is mango season here. Every two weeks or so some fruit or another ripens and then said fruit is everywhere. There are literally piles of if lying about. People try to give the fruit to one another, hoping that they will somehow reduce the amount in their possession. This doesn’t work, because people just end up receiving as much as they give. So anywhere you go, people are begging you to eat their fruit. The pile of mangoes on our table is larger everyday, as though they multiply during the night. I was even forced to eat one before I left the house this morning. And I’m sure more will come after dinner.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
If you have never eaten four gigantic mangoes in one day, allow me to give you some advice: do not attempt. Mangoes are excessively filling, and if consumed in excess, render one unable to move. It is mango season here. Every two weeks or so some fruit or another ripens and then said fruit is everywhere. There are literally piles of if lying about. People try to give the fruit to one another, hoping that they will somehow reduce the amount in their possession. This doesn’t work, because people just end up receiving as much as they give. So anywhere you go, people are begging you to eat their fruit. The pile of mangoes on our table is larger everyday, as though they multiply during the night. I was even forced to eat one before I left the house this morning. And I’m sure more will come after dinner.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
If you have never eaten four gigantic mangoes in one day, allow me to give you some advice: do not attempt. Mangoes are excessively filling, and if consumed in excess, render one unable to move. It is mango season here. Every two weeks or so some fruit or another ripens and then said fruit is everywhere. There are literally piles of if lying about. People try to give the fruit to one another, hoping that they will somehow reduce the amount in their possession. This doesn’t work, because people just end up receiving as much as they give. So anywhere you go, people are begging you to eat their fruit. The pile of mangoes on our table is larger everyday, as though they multiply during the night. I was even forced to eat one before I left the house this morning. And I’m sure more will come after dinner.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
If you have never eaten four gigantic mangoes in one day, allow me to give you some advice: do not attempt. Mangoes are excessively filling, and if consumed in excess, render one unable to move. It is mango season here. Every two weeks or so some fruit or another ripens and then said fruit is everywhere. There are literally piles of if lying about. People try to give the fruit to one another, hoping that they will somehow reduce the amount in their possession. This doesn’t work, because people just end up receiving as much as they give. So anywhere you go, people are begging you to eat their fruit. The pile of mangoes on our table is larger everyday, as though they multiply during the night. I was even forced to eat one before I left the house this morning. And I’m sure more will come after dinner.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
If you have never eaten four gigantic mangoes in one day, allow me to give you some advice: do not attempt. Mangoes are excessively filling, and if consumed in excess, render one unable to move. It is mango season here. Every two weeks or so some fruit or another ripens and then said fruit is everywhere. There are literally piles of if lying about. People try to give the fruit to one another, hoping that they will somehow reduce the amount in their possession. This doesn’t work, because people just end up receiving as much as they give. So anywhere you go, people are begging you to eat their fruit. The pile of mangoes on our table is larger everyday, as though they multiply during the night. I was even forced to eat one before I left the house this morning. And I’m sure more will come after dinner.
May 1st was Earth Day, and as with any day that has a notation on a calendar, there was no school. So one of the NGOs took some students to pick up trash along the main road. It was pretty stellar. I got to hold a sign and everything. As with any special event in this country, there someone with a megaphone there too. It was pretty much a perfect morning. We had rubber gloves, well glove I should say, there weren’t enough for everyone to have 2. We also got those cool little blue masks that make your face sweat. Sweetness. Mind you, picking up trash in Cambodia is kind of like collecting sand on the beach, the idea that one could gather it all is slightly ludicrous. But it was a step and a very positive activity for the students. People just throw trash wherever, and they really like to throw it in water, the same water people bathe in. Not pretty. Some of the ponds and ditches in my town would require a HAZMAT unit to safely clean up. But they filled six bags and that means six less bags of nastiness hanging out on the streets.
We also had our first Spanish class yesterday. It was super fun. I feel much less pressure when teaching Spanish than when teaching English. The NGO guys were unsure that this was a good idea, but everyone had fun and they seemed convinced in the end. Granted I taught them greetings and the alphabet, but it’s more Spanish than anyone around here knows. I don’t know if it is useful, and that is kind of why I’m excited about teaching it. These kids want to learn something simply for sake of learning. That’s really rare here and definitely something I want to encourage. I’m planning on giving them Spanish names and maybe teaching a little salsa *scandalous*.
Speaking of scandalous things: My host family found my dress. I bought a sundress in Malaysia. In Cambodia, sundresses are considered pajamas, while actual pajamas are considered appropriate attire for almost any occasion. Why, they asked, did I not wear my new pajamas? I told them it wasn’t for sleeping, but for nice occasion. We went back and forth for about ten minutes before I finally managed to convince them I was not going to wear the only decent dress I own to bed. They’re funny folk.
As always, I love and miss you all. Peace and Love and all that good stuff.
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