Friday, March 11, 2011
New Blog
The Cambodian government has asked many internet providers to block blogspot to stifle dissent. So, check out my new blog on a different site: http://dispatchesfromdeltas.com/
Monday, January 10, 2011
Emily's Visit
Brother and sister in Cambodia:
My sister, Emily, visited my village for three days. She met my host-family, students and other villagers and it was an interesting cross-cultural exchange.
Emily saw firsthand how Cambodians talk about what they see. People who knew me well knew that she was coming and would simply observe that she was pretty and her face was similar to my mother’s. They also said she looked younger than me.
When people who don’t know me well saw us together, they would ask if she was my girlfriend, then when I said she was my older sister, they would say that they think she is my younger sister. So, a common theme was people thinking she looked younger than me.
One group of people who saw us walking observed that there are two now, one fat and one skinny. Apparently, I was the fat one.
My host family liked her a lot, but Emily was not initially aware of this. Some members of my family were not so talkative with her (mainly because she doesn’t speak Khmer). However, they stood over her while she was eating and kept asking if the food was delicious and trying to give her more rice. This is a sign of affection.
They were also quite envious of her hair and said that her hair is what all Cambodians want. Two of my host sisters spent a solid five minutes playing with it.
My host-family also shared their sense of humor and interest in light skin with my sister. A member of my host-family was born around the time I arrived. Because of this, they told my sister that he has light skin like me (He doesn’t have light skin like me).
Another joke they made is that my sister could stay and I could go back to America because she liked the smelly fish paste (prohok) that I despise. At least, I hope they were kidding. Then again, if they weren’t kidding, I could go back to America and she could stay in the countryside eating fish paste…
Cambodian people also appreciated her sense of humor. She was asked countless times if she had a boyfriend, was married yet, or had a family yet. Sometimes the follow-up question would be if she wanted a Cambodian boyfriend/husband. When my students asked her this, she responded that the phone bill was too expensive. My Cambodian co-teacher thought it was so funny, that he repeated her joke countless times to other teachers. I also intend to steal her excuse and use it when people at the market pressure me to marry a Cambodian.
In addition to providing me with excuses to avoid getting married, my sister has helped me reflect on my experience here and questioned things I have taken for granted. I also think my host-community understands me better now that they know more about where I come from. Thus, for reasons beyond simply seeing my sister, the visit has been great so far. Now that visiting my village is done, Emily and I are off to the beach! (More pictures later)
My sister, Emily, visited my village for three days. She met my host-family, students and other villagers and it was an interesting cross-cultural exchange.
Emily saw firsthand how Cambodians talk about what they see. People who knew me well knew that she was coming and would simply observe that she was pretty and her face was similar to my mother’s. They also said she looked younger than me.
When people who don’t know me well saw us together, they would ask if she was my girlfriend, then when I said she was my older sister, they would say that they think she is my younger sister. So, a common theme was people thinking she looked younger than me.
One group of people who saw us walking observed that there are two now, one fat and one skinny. Apparently, I was the fat one.
My host family liked her a lot, but Emily was not initially aware of this. Some members of my family were not so talkative with her (mainly because she doesn’t speak Khmer). However, they stood over her while she was eating and kept asking if the food was delicious and trying to give her more rice. This is a sign of affection.
They were also quite envious of her hair and said that her hair is what all Cambodians want. Two of my host sisters spent a solid five minutes playing with it.
My host-family also shared their sense of humor and interest in light skin with my sister. A member of my host-family was born around the time I arrived. Because of this, they told my sister that he has light skin like me (He doesn’t have light skin like me).
Another joke they made is that my sister could stay and I could go back to America because she liked the smelly fish paste (prohok) that I despise. At least, I hope they were kidding. Then again, if they weren’t kidding, I could go back to America and she could stay in the countryside eating fish paste…
Cambodian people also appreciated her sense of humor. She was asked countless times if she had a boyfriend, was married yet, or had a family yet. Sometimes the follow-up question would be if she wanted a Cambodian boyfriend/husband. When my students asked her this, she responded that the phone bill was too expensive. My Cambodian co-teacher thought it was so funny, that he repeated her joke countless times to other teachers. I also intend to steal her excuse and use it when people at the market pressure me to marry a Cambodian.
In addition to providing me with excuses to avoid getting married, my sister has helped me reflect on my experience here and questioned things I have taken for granted. I also think my host-community understands me better now that they know more about where I come from. Thus, for reasons beyond simply seeing my sister, the visit has been great so far. Now that visiting my village is done, Emily and I are off to the beach! (More pictures later)
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