Neighborly Love and Royal D

Sorry, this will be a kind of random post, just felt like an update was called for. The cultural differences between Cambodia and the U.S. never cease to amaze. A couple weekends ago, I brought some work home and was working with A. in my apartment. Now, granted, I am not the tidiest of people, but I've really been making an effort here. (Although my parents won't believe me, its the truth! I clean!) Unfortunately, when my neighbor T. stopped by with children in tow as per usual, I had neglected to sweep or take out my trash for about a week (all right, all right, maybe it was more than a week). Seeing this, T. took it upon herself to clean my apartment.

Needless to say, I was horrified. Horrified!! Despite all my protestations she persisted. It was the most uncomfortable experience, but she kept saying that she wanted to do it for me (seriously, it almost turned into a fight). All I could do in return was give the children some candy and dried mango.

Let me just tell you how much I love my neighbors--Every morning I come down the steps and if one of the regular moto drivers are not there, they help me flag one down and actually bargain with the driver for me. One time when I was coming home from a particularly rough day at work and the moto driver was giving me a particularly rough time, T. full out yelled at him. Completely balled him out. It was shocking (and amazing) and I could do nothing in return but give her a big hug. (Although, I have to say that it is less of a pleasant experience when I'm the one getting admonished for not turning on the stair light or for smoking too much.)

Whereas other people quickly give up, T. actually tries to communicate with me (despite the fact that I speak next to no Khmer). Between the tiny bit of English that she speaks and the tiny bit of Khmer that I speak, most of our communication happens to through mime (which can be pretty amusing and I'm beginning to prefer it to speaking). I also suspect that it was T. who took my laundry in one day when it was raining (although I do question how exactly she got access to my house when it was locked).

While I don't always get the privacy that I became accustomed to in the U.S. (excluding freshman year of college), I think that I will truly miss the children banging on my gate, screaming "BONG ROS-EY!" at the top of their lungs. ("Bong" is a polite way of addressing someone that is older than you, and I much prefer it to "Baraang," the word for foreigner. The basic English equivalent is "Miss Rosie" although "bong" is used in different ways as well). I'll also miss them banging on my back door and running away and laughing. They are so incredibly sweet and rascally and full of youthful mischief.

On a less happy note, I finally got my first bout of sickness here over the Khmer New Year (so much for getting a lot of work accomplished). I'm definitely lucky that this was the first time, considering I've already been here for almost 4 months . . . didn't have to go to the doctor or anything. I'm ok now, and I have to say, one of the positives of getting sick was that I was introduced to this marvelous elixir called Royal D.

Royal D tastes exactly like Tang and is a powder that you mix with water so that you can rehydrate, full of electrolytes and awesomeness (much better than the rehydration stuff I brought with me from home which tastes like vomit). I bought a big box and have at least one every day b/c its so freaking hot here that I'm sweating constantly (yes, a very attractive image I know). I wish I could take 5 cases home with me, but I'd probably get stopped at the airport . . . the charge, you ask? Smuggling deliciousness.

List of Other Things I Wish I Could Smuggle Home:

* White Rabbit candy.
* All the dried mango I can find.
* The entire fruit market next to my apartment.
* Cambodian iced coffee with the sweet milk, often served in a plastic bag with a straw.
* The masala dosa and vegetable biriyani from my new favorite Indian restaurant.
* A moto (but not one of the fancy shiny motorcycles, I'll take an old school moto any day) or a tuk tuk . . . these items might be kind of hard to fit in my suitcase though.
* Oh yeah, and a palm tree, a monkey, and an elemaphant.