What an
adventure I had last weekend trying to get back to Mesang Village from Phnom
Penh city! I went to the city for MCC’s
monthly team meeting. It was a long weekend, so everyone was trying to get out
of the city and back to their homes in the provinces. The mini-bus driver to
Mesang apparently decided to take a holiday as well, so there was no way for me
to get directly back to Mesang. I had to wait an extra day in the city, with
nothing to do because everyone I knew was already out visiting other provinces.
I was so bored that I started to watch Bride and Prejudice by myself in the
office, eating a package of oreo cookies I found at one of the more western
supermarkets. But I did make it back eventually, in time to join my family when
they went to the wat Monday morning.
The holiday (Pchum ben) started
two weeks previously, this Monday being the final day. As far as I understand
it (and this is a very basic explanation I am sure), people give food and money
on this holiday to pay respect to the spirits of their deceased ancestors, and to keep
away bad spirits. Often families will visit several wats where the spirits of their
ancestors might be. The wat (like a Buddhist temple or pagoda) was very crowded
with families. There was a big roofed but open-walled area where everyone was
seated on mats on the floor. My host mother (ma) went to pray and light incense
at the front before coming to sit down. Then we went to give rice and other food
to the monks. Most families had brought a set of stacking bowls, all filled with
cooked rice. We each took one bowl and went to the back of the meeting area,
and put a spoonful of rice into each of 7 large bowls. Beside each bowl was a
plate where we put some money (equivalent to a few cents). I then walked around
outside with ma for a bit around the area where they are building a new temple.
There, people were building “mountains” upon
which they placed sticks of incense. Each person added a handful of sand and a
sprinkle of water and put a stick of incense into it, so the mountains grew
bigger as the day wore on. There was a net bag beside each for giving money. At
each of the “mountains”, ma prayed for good luck. When the prayers were
finished inside, many families started eating lunch. They ate rest of the rice they
had not given to the monks and other food they had brought. But some families
that lived close by (such as my family), went home to eat.
It was a fascinating experience going
there with my host family, and added to the uniqueness of my homestay. I think
it left me with more questions about folk-Buddhism than it did answers. It was
difficult for me to ask about the meaning of certain traditions and practices
due to language. As a Christian living with a Buddhist family, I have also had
to ask myself questions about what is right for me to do, and what is not. But
thankfully the Bible is very clear on this. It is OK to eat food that has been
offered to spirits; do not bow down to or worship other gods; and so on. Trying
to find the line between cultural curiosity and respect, and honouring God has
helped solidify what is essential, or “closed-fisted”, about Christianity, and
what is not. Living in a country where the overwhelming percentage of the
population is Buddhist and there are only a few Christians has helped me better
understand the words of apostles on this topic. I found out that there is a
church about 15 minutes away (which seems far here), but I am not sure if I am
brave enough to go there by myself for the first time, not knowing the language
very well. I did hear about another church mostly composed of students; I’d
love to find this group as they would be more my age, and are more likely to know
a bit of English.
Going back now to the topic of
food… you all know I eat a lot of rice, but a couple of people have expressed
interest in learning about what else it is that I eat with those heaps of rice.
Since I am living in the country, we eat a lot of fish. For breakfast, it is
often salted and fried, or dried salted and fried fish, or duck eggs fried with
a leafy-green vegetable. The latter is by far my favourite. Lunch and supper
are very similar. There is always a soup: fish and greens, beef and potato and
carrot, chicken hearts and greens, lily stems and fish… you get the idea.
Sometimes there is a fried vegetable, such as green bean, or morning glory, or
carrot, other leafy-green vegetables that I don’t know the English name of (I
really like the green vegetables), often with a bit of “meat” thrown in for
flavour. And often there is another meat dish, such as pork and fried ginger
(one of my favourites), or curried frog (surprisingly delicious), or more fish!
Most of the food is pretty good; I am certainly not going hungry. However, yesterday
we had a soup that was not my favourite. I call it the soup of chewy-rubbery
things. It had mushrooms, dried squid, cabbage, and pork skin. I am getting
pretty good at selectively scooping vegetables from soup onto my plate, as I’m
not a huge meat eater to begin with. I almost got away with yesterday until my
host mom dropped a large piece of pork skin into my plate. “Delicious!” she
says. On the weekends I accompany my host mother to the market as she buys food
for the day. We don’t have a fridge, so most of our food is bought fresh that
morning. When there are leftovers, they are re-heated and eaten at the next
meal. And anything we don’t eat, the dogs, the cat, and the chickens do. I found
out why sometimes we don’t have a lot of vegetables to eat… because there
simply aren’t any to be had. This past holiday weekend, the market had a
fraction of the people out selling things, and there were very few vegetables
or even fish to be had. A lot of vegetables are imported to Cambodia and I
guess the bigger cities get first dibs.
But enough about food. Work is
going well. I am meeting with some staff next week to come up with a specific
plan for research and demonstration on the farm. I am really excited to start implementing
this project! They seem to be happy to let me come up with ideas as to what we
should grow and what we should research. I really appreciate the independence and
responsibility… if only I knew more about what grows when in Cambodia! Hopefully
in our meeting next week they will be able to tell me what makes sense and what
is not practical. Friday was a lot of fun at work. The power was out all day,
so we all spent the day outside tearing down long bean and bitter gourd vines
that were finished growing, and replanting the beds with green onions. It was a
lot of fun to be out with everyone else, listen to the gossip and laughter
(though I couldn’t understand it), and get my hands dirty! I took a bike ride
after work in the hour before sunset, and was once again struck by the beauty
of Cambodia.
Yours,
Rebecca
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| Beautiful sunset behind the farm |
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| Admiring a job well done |
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