This week I started teaching english at the health center as well. Already I feel vastly more "in" with the staff. I have also found that I very much like teaching adult learners. They are far less timid than my high school students...not to mention I don't have to follow a specific curriculum. They do, however, all call me "cher" now as well.
Other interesting occurances since I last wrote:
1) Rats LOVE butterscotch. My aunt Diane sent me a lovely (and much appreciated) care package with all kinds of goodies in it. Among these was a bag of dumdums. Earlier this week I went to retrieve one of the dum dums and found that a rat had gotten into the bag. What was interesting was that it had attacked ALL of the butterscotch suckers and NONE of the others. So there you have it. Rats seem to really enjoy butterscotch dum dums.
2) While in town a couple of weeks ago we paid a visit to one of the tailors whome we had made friends with on a previous occasion. We were having her finish the ends of several Kromas (plaid multipurpose peice of fabric people use as a headcovering among other things). She had a large bag of fabric scraps and, as I love to sew random little things, I asked her what she did with the scraps, and whether or not she would sell them. She ended up giving me a large bag of various peices of beutiful fabric, silks and satins in many colors (and refused to let me pay her). I was beyond excited by the possibility of all the fun things I could make! One of my first projects was a fun silk hair flower to repay her for her kindness.
3) I got prank called by a police officer, I think he may even be my commune police cheif. Theother day I am sitting on a bench outside the teachers lounge at school, enjoying the slightly cooler weather and watching some students play soccer, when my phone rings. I answer it and no one is there...I say "Hello, hello...." then here resounding laughter and turn around to find several teachers and the officer laughing and holding up his phone. Would this happen in America...prob not.
4) The other day at school one of the female teachers started petting my arm and asked me if my arm hair was natural. Huh?
5) I went to my first funeral this past week. My co-teacher's father-in-law passed away so I went to the funeral with two other teachers. This was not only culturally facinating but also an amusing event in several ways. For starters the co-teachers I went with rode bikes since I cannot ride a moto (this was actually a really kind gesture since people tend to avoid physical exertion when possible). The funny part was this: we met at the private primary school near my house and they just randomly took some little kids bikes. So, not only were they riding bikes, but one teacher wrode a bike with tires literally a foot in diameter, and the other rode a pink "turbo fairy" bike. Following them barreling down dirt rodes (with mud pits deeper than the small bike itself!)on bikes stolen from children, was beyond funny. Now, I had expected to be going to the family home and paying my respects, then leaving. But I had in fact been invited to the procession portion of the funeral in which the family and all guests walk the body to the family's wat. Had I know this I would not have sported never before worn closed toed mary-jane shoes from the states (it was finally cold enough to wear closed toed shoes). After walking about 3 miles I had bleeding blisters on both my feet. My co-teachers FLIPPED. I believe the exact statement made was "OH Meghan, I am soooo sorry I have made this happen to you!" While I certainly appreciated their concern, I was also exceedinly amused by the level of concern shown for an occurance all too commonplace to any high-heel loving woman in America.
6) Favorite text of the past couple weeks: "I loath wedding season. And whoever brought stereo systems to Cambodia- whatn an ass-hole." I could not agree more.
This weekend we were fortunate enough to have our language IST in which about 18 of us (mostly K3s and a few K2s) all gathered in Battambang town. In a thoughtful gesture, Peace Corps planned this to coincide nicely with Thanksgiving. Thanks to the efforts of our two provintial town volunteers, we were all able to celebrate the holiday together at a local restaurant complete with American football, smoked turkey, mashed potatos and gravy, sweet potatos, string beans, pie and ice cream. It was a phenomenal mean by all accounts. What was most surprising to me however, was how entirely content I felt. I certainly miss my family and would have loved to be with them for the holidays but felt no lament or regret to be exactly where I was. There was something great about being able to celebrate an American holiday in a traditional way here with so many people sharing this common (yet varying) experience. I also find it amusing that my first experience with sweet potatos was in Cambodia.
