I visited the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, Pennsylvania before we left North America to find special gifts that speak to the Anabaptist identity. As globalization and consumerism have spread, it’s become harder to bring gifts from North America* that can’t be found here and harking back to older traditions is a way to ensure…
Category: Daily life in Cambodia
What are you having for Breakfast?
Yesterday, I asked the girls what they were having for breakfast. They were sharing rice and pork, a typical breakfast meal here that I’ll share a bit more about later.
Update on Charlotte’s Heel
I wanted to give you a quick update on Charlotte’s Bike Injury. We had a check-up at the Doctor yesterday and, as you can see, it has been healing well. There’s still some swelling around the ankle and one wound that’s still open. Charlotte’s been quite enthusiastic about physical activities since returning to school despite…
In Support of a Plastic Ban
This afternoon on a road near Charlotte’s school I got a photo that illustrates the need for a single use plastics ban. I think this one speaks for itself.
គុយទាវ | Kuy Teav
Kuy Teav is a Cambodian rice noodle soup similar to but distinct from Vietnamese Phở. It’s a popular breakfast item across Southeast Asia – with local variants like Hủ Tiếu in Viet Nam, Kway Teow in Malaysia, and Kuai Tiao in Thailand. It’s usually made with pork stock. It uses different spices and rice noodles…
ផ្លែទៀប | Sugar Apple
Also known as the Custard Apple or Sweetsop, I thought for the longest time that this was Milk Fruit but it’s actually Custard Apple. In Khmer, it’s called ផ្លែទៀប (plae tieb). It’s a sweet fruit with a mild citrusy taste. It has many large seeds that are smooth and quite solid. The outer shell peels…
Cambodian Spice Pack
This morning at the local market I picked up two of what I call ‘Cambodian spice packs.’ In traditional rural life, villagers wouldn’t buy these ingredients but would have them growing in their yards. Life is a bit different in the city – though many homes still have these growing in pots – so they’re…
Three Languages, None Khmer
Yesterday morning at the local market in Phnom Penh a boy asked me, in English, “Do you speak Vietnamese?” I know maybe seven words of Vietnamese so I answered with, “Xin chào.” He responded in Chinese with, “Wo hen hao.” I have to thank the bookshop owner in Prey Veng for teaching me enough Chinese…
Rain and Privilege
There are many things I love about Cambodia and I hope to devote blog posts to the fruit, the present-ness of people, the eagerness to celebrate and many more things. But I have to start with the rain. It’s rainy season here. 6 months of nearly daily rains that sweep across the tin roofs of…
A Conversation with Charlotte
It has been a hard week but this talk with Charlotte is why it’s good that the girls are here. Growing up in Brazil shaped me, growing up here is shaping them. Charlotte: The doctor said that my leg might get cut off if there’s an infection. Me: Yes, but that probably won’t happen to…