In Khmer, you would never just say "I eat" (knom nyam). "I eat" must have a food or drink attached to it, for example coffee, or cake, or fruit. If you mean to describe eating a meal though you say "I eat rice" (knom nyam baay), because it's not really considered a meal if there's no rice (rice noodles sometimes count). Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are, respectively, morning rice, afternoon rice, and evening rice. Rice dishes are typical eaten with a spoon. If you have a fork it is used only to assist in putting food on your spoon, it is not put in your mouth. I have yet to be given a knife to use during a Khmer meal. Noodle dishes, though, especially soups, are eaten with chopsticks. I have no ability to use chopsticks, so whenever I eat noodle dishes I end up using them like a fork. I think I'm getting better at controlling them though!
 |
| Kuy teav, picture from Wikipedia |
For breakfast most days I go out to a haang baay (rice shop aka restaurant). Many people eat breakfast at restaurants here- because it's cheap and cooking breakfast is labor intensive. Common breakfast dishes include rice porridge, rice with pork (or chicken, or egg), ramen noodle soup, or a rice noodle soup (the soups can be with or without meat). I haven't gotten used to the idea of eating rice for breakfast, so I order the rice noodle soup, called kuy teav, without meat everyday. I told one of my Khmer teachers that I get it without meat and he told me that the staff at the restaurant must think I'm very strange. I really love this soup. It's a light broth, thin rice noodles, green onions, a little lettuce, bean sprouts, and something else that I haven't figure out what it is. Most mornings I add lime juice, sriracha, soy sauce, and fish sauce to it to add flavor. I've also seen people add hoisin sauce, salt, and pepper to it.
 |
| Lok Lak, picture from Joy Ceira Cooks |
I generally eat lunch at the MCC office, with the other service workers and staff. The housekeeper cooks all of us lunch everyday. Lunch normally involves rice, some stir fried vegetables with either fish, chicken, or tofu (most often fish), a soup, and fruit. I have been unable to get myself to like the soups that aren't based around rice noodles, but I do enjoy the rice dishes. One that we had earlier this week, called Lok Lak, included beef, raw veggies, french fries, and an egg, all topped with black pepper sauce. To add any wanted flavor to these meals there is always soy sauce, fish sauce, hot chili sauce, and fish sauce with extremely hot chilis.
My host mom makes dinner in the evening. Dinner usually involves one or two stir fried dishes, normally veggies with a little bit of meat (usually chicken or pork). Often my host mom will also serve some shrimp or small crabs. We all gather on the floor of the main room in the house to eat. Everyone has a spoon and a bowl (well, I'm always given a spoon, a fork, and a plate), and we serve ourselves food. Since I am a guest, my host mom always insisting on serving me rice (adult women normally get their own) and serving me way more than I could ever eat. I always smile and laugh and tell her that she has given me too much, then I either give some of it to my host sisters or return it back to the rice cooker.
 |
| Bubble (Milk) Tea |
Along with meals, I do a little bit of snacking. My host mom keeps fruit around the house and encourages me to eat it while I'm studying. The other week she was so concerned that I was hungry that she bought a bunch of banana's to keep in my room. There is also a shop around the corner from the office that sells deep fried bananas. I've also become a big fan of iced milk tea, with or without bubbles, so I end up buying it more than I probably should.
Back in senior year of college, when I was fundraising to go to Jordan, my lovely friend Tiffany was fundraising to go to Taiwan. For the past two years, Tiffany has been living, teaching English, and participating in the Church in Taipei. Since I moved to Cambodia last fall, the two of us have been trying to plan a vacation together, but we are both terrible advanced planners. So, we ended up last minute deciding that I needed to go visit her since she is returning to the States at the end of July. So, last month I took my last week of vacation time for the year (don't worry; my year restarts in September) to go hang out with Tiffany in Taipei, Taiwan. This was my first trip to an East Asian country other than Cambodia, I was amazed how developed and different Taiwan was from Cambodia. I had an amazing time running around the city with Tiffany, going on late night adventures, exploring the mountains that border the city, and learning about a new place and culture. I even had the opportunity to meet and catch up with a classmate from my study abroad in Northern Ireland while I was there. It was a joy and a privilege to get to see a bit of what Tiffany's life has been like for the past two years. While, I am very sad that she is leaving me as the only one of our friend group on this side on the world, I am excited to see what God has in store for her next and in the years to come.
A few weeks ago we were playing outside, so I offered to buy them ice cream. It was cheap and they enjoyed it, and really I bought it because I wanted ice cream. Last week, I was in my room reading, while Maac was outside, and the three children were in the living room. I could hear the children playing around and I kept hearing the words the word "eat" followed by a word I didn't know. A few minutes later, they burst into my room, and kept repeating this phrase. I told them I didn't understand. So they told me, "Go outside! Go down[stairs]!" I surrendered, grabbed 2 dollars out of my purse just in case, and allowed them to drag me down the stairs, thinking that we were going to sit with Maac. The two older ones took me hands, and the younger one held her sister's other hand, and they marched me out past where Maac was sitting, and down the street. At that point I realized what they were doing. They were taking me to the only store on the street that has ice cream. I was being forced to buy them ice cream. The ice cream was super cheap so I bought it for them ($0.25 per prepackaged cone), and chatted with the shopkeepers while they started eating. When we got back to the house, Maac had come inside and I'm pretty sure the first thing they said to her was "Look, Hannah bought us ice cream!"
