Week Two

This is a view of the rice fields near my house at dusk. Despite the incessant "Hello!"s from kids/teenagers/old men and looks of disbelief or disgust as I huff and puff by in my bright yellow shirt and spandex, running has been a good way for me to unwind after a day full of four hours of intense language study and then four more hours of training for English teaching.

Had a few moments worth sharing this week. Among them, earlier in the week it was my host dad's birthday, so my sister who lives in Phnom Penh came down with her husband to celebrate with us. Living in Phnom Penh, and working at a restaurant that caters specifically to foreigners, she speaks English very well. Even just living in a village a week, it was kind of a shock to interact with her and be exposed to her "city ways," by which I mean: the fact that she drinks beer, has long, brassy hair, and has two bedazzles in her front teeth...(!)  Her husband's name is Mr. Bea (Mr. Two in Khmai); he works at a Karaoke bar in Phnom Penh. (!!)

My host dad has taking a real shining to my electric mosquito racket (Peace Corps provided). The other night, we were sitting in the living room on the floor watching TV after dinner, and I brought it downstairs because the mosquitos were driving me crazy. My host dad asked to see it, and took it upon himself to act as the Mosquito Killer of the room, creeping around the room on all fours swatting at every patch of air that could contain a mosquito... He did this for about an hour. It was more entertaining to me than whatever soap opera we were trying to watch that I didn't understand anyway. (I think it was actually a Japanese soap that we watch a lot, with lots of fighting and some magic and green powder...?)

Yesterday at lunch, my host sister was looking through my dictionary (everyone in my family loves to look through it so they take turns), and she kept asking me for the pronunciation of various words and showing me pertinent words in Khmai. At one point she looked up at me from the dictionary and said "I like yous." Made my day.

Well, folks, I have 4% battery left and need to stop by the market for some fruit before I head home to Traing for the evening. Please, don't be too shy to leave feedback, whether it be through an e-mail or in the comments section (I think I've enabled it now so that you can comment; sorry about that). I'd love to hear what you're up to, or what you think about what's going on here.

Love to you.