Lethal Salads

My father taught us many things growing up, including that vegetables were bad for you. He doesn't like them, in fact he despises them. To this day the hides them in his napkin, mashed potatoes, under the table etc to avoid having to eat them. It's a miracle that my sister and I grew up liking vegetables eating with a parent who would say "don't touch them! They're poisonous!!" As we got older, Amy and I joined the fight of taking care of my dad. Now there's three of us at every meal putting veggies on his plate and sitting there watching him like a small child until he eats them. We also do terrible unspeakable acts like make him drink water and take his vitamins, pure evil things. I always thought he was silly and that no harm could ever come from eating vegetables... I was wrong.

Tonight we were served a salad with dinner. A sort of make your own with a plate of lettuce, a carrot, cucumber, tomato, etc. I put some lettuce into my bowl where I would then break it up. Out of the big pieces popped a giant centipede looking thing. It ran out of the bowl and onto my lap. Wayne quickly said "move! Don't touch it!" I instinctively jumped up but thought he was kidding. I said, half-jokingly, "should I kill it?" He replied with an urgent "YES! It's poisonous!"

All those years we thought poor Dan Bernoske was just being silly, it turns out he was right. Vegetables ARE poisonous. Nobody listened to him! I had it coming! Dad, I promise to never force another vegetable down your throat. You win.

Ruined

In Melinda's latest blog post, she describes how every few nights, the WatOpotians crowd around on the dorm porch for a DVD.  Their DVD collection is quite impressive thanks to donated movies and the plethora of cheap movie shops in Phnom Penh.  Cars, Shrek, and other animated movies were great for a while but now the kids are craving more action.  Recent showings have been of the Jurassic Parks, ET, Avatar, War of the Worlds, Fantastic 4, The Goonies, and the new Karate Kid among others.  A big crowd pleaser was the Indiana Jones trilogy.  It was so popular in fact that the kids decided to make it real life.

I have written before about trips to Phnom Chisor, which they love visiting.  There are ruins to explore, monkeys, temples… everything necessary for an adventure.  On a trip last week to Phnom Chisor, some of the boys maybe went a little too far in living their Indiana Jones fantasies.  In the middle of an intense treasure hunt in the ruins, which were empty of visitors making it even more fun, they had to twist round pegs to see which one held their prize.  They twisted the first peg- nothing.  The second- nothing.  On the third and last chance to find the treasure, Meng Ty reached for the peg, twisted, and it fell off.  He broke it.  These ruins have been standing there perfectly fine for a thousand years.  The Wat Opot kids come through for 10 minutes and leave a path of destruction.  Maybe we’ll go back to Disney classics and calm down their imaginations….

Below are some pictures I've taken over the months of our trips to Phnom Chisor.

Mr. Chai

Searching for treasure

Phanya and Somnang

Phanya and Somnang

Meng Ty, the leader of the adventure

The infamous Chisor monkey

Taking a break

Srey Mao taking a rest, treasure hunting is hard work!

I'm so lucky to be playing host this and last week to two of my best friends from high school, Whitney and Laura.  We traveled a little to major stops in Cambodia; from the beaches of Sihanoukville to ancient temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.  We got to do a little ruins exploration of our own, but unlike the WatOpotians, we didn't break anything!  Here are some pictures of us at the Angkor Wat complex.

Me, Laura, and Whitney walking into Angkor Wat

The complex is filled with insanely huge trees

One of the most famous parts, the trees of Ta Prohm where Tomb Raider was filmed

We climbed to the top of one temple to get an aerial view... you can faintly see a yellow hot air balloon in the sky

Laura and my failed attempt at horsemaning.  They're filling me in on all the American pop culture I'm missing.  If you don't know of horsemaning, google it.  Some of the pictures are really funny.

Laura and her elephant friend

This little man popped out of nowhere and took us to hidden places.  And he had a great beard.

Laura, me, and Whit outside of the main Angkor Wat temple

SFF 1: Teen day in Phnom Penh

The response to the Summer Fun Fund was slow but sure, and with the help of friends and family we were able to meet our goal!  Thank you so so much to everyone who donated :)

To kick off the festivities, Cora, Melinda, and myself escorted the 13 high schoolers (grades 7-12) into Phnom Penh for a day of exploring.  The only condition was that you could only go if you passed your final exams.  Everyone passed, so everyone got to go!  An organization in Hong Kong donated cameras at the beginning of the summer that the kids were able to borrow to get their own shots.  Most of these pictures are Cora's... thanks for sharing, Coca Cora!

We left bright and early in a rented mini-bus.  The boys were dressed in their nicest trousers and shirts, and the girls were dressed to the nines; makeup, heels, hair all done up.  They had all picked out their outfits the night before and spent hours primping before it was time to go.  The girls looked gorgeous but were warned that they better be able to keep up in heels!

First stop: Royal Palace.  Most of the kids had never been before and they were in awe over the architecture and décor.  It was especially great for Saman who just finished high school and will begin university this fall pursuing a career in architectural engineering.  While the others marveled over the jade Buddha, silver tiles, and rubies, Saman studied the building’s minute structural details.  The only graduating senior, he is an extremely talented artist and will be greatly missed when he leaves for university!  

Nak

Saman 

The whole group minus Melinda

Brother and sister: Pesei and Srey Leak

Van

Sombaht

Me and Pesei inside the Silver Pagoda

Part of the Royal Palace

Second stop: National Museum.  The tourist attractions are strategically located in Phnom Penh so that one could hit the Palace, then the National Museum, check out the art and handcraft streets, then hit the riverfront.  Everything is so close, and easily walking distance.  That is, of course, if you’re not in 4 inch heels.  I insisted that we walk, they insisted that we drive; and since I’m a huge pushover, we got the minibus drive to take us from one place to the next.  All quarter of a mile.  We toured the museum filled with ancient artifacts and statues, and exhibits on Khmer Rouge effects on the nations treasures among others.   It’s another gorgeous building and I think they all enjoyed learning something about Cambodian history, especially from the map that showed the Khmer territory hundreds of years ago.  The Khmer empire ruled most of Indochina and Thailand.  Even in the 60s and 70s Cambodia was a booming country, but after the genocide it is now decades behind its neighbors.  Phnom Penh in comparison to Hanoi, Bangkok, and other Asian capitals is a nothing city.  I wonder what it would be like, and the whole country for that matter, had it not been for it’s dark but recent past.

Long Dy photographing the National Museum

Back: Saman, LongDy, Chareya, Srey Aun, Srey Leak, Srey Lis, Srey Nich
 Front: Van, Pesei, Nith, Nhanh, Sombaht, Leak

Srey Nich

Cora and me

Third stop: lunch.  We went to a nice but modest Khmer restaurant near the Central Market.  They put us in a private room with our own TV (yay!  Khmer music videos!!!) and each person got to order a meal and a fancy drink.  The food was delicious and they ate every last bite (well, Long Dy ate every last bite).  We wanted to go to a special place, but also wanted to be careful not to spoil them in a way to make them feel uncomfortable.  We got exactly what we wanted.  

Saman documenting our feast

Me and LongDy

Nak enjoys his strawberry smoothie; LongDy, Srey Nich, and Srey Aun admire the fancy LokLak

Last stop: Sorya shopping center.  The finale of the day was an afternoon at the 6-story Sorya Shopping mall.  The mall has a grocery store, several Western-style fast food restaurants, a very pungent Khmer food court, levels of shops, and on the top a 4D movie, regular cinema, skating center, arcade, and upscale confectionary.  The building as a whole is very modern, with many old school Khmer twists thrown in along the way.  The one thing everyone was looking forward to was my big promise to let everyone do the 4D movie.  They went in to see/experience the Haunted House Coaster in groups of 4.  It was only a few minutes long but those watching from the outside had more fun than those actually participating thanks to a TV screen showing video footage of those inside.  The reactions were priceless, from attempting to fight the ghosts, to the boys screaming like girls, to hiding their eyes in each other’s laps.  Across the board it was the favorite part of the day for sure.  The movies were done and we hit the arcade.  They had all of the standards- ski ball, racing, the claw, etc. and a Japanese game where the player has to punch as hard as possible.  You get 3 chances and a total score.  Long Dy, not the most burly guy, stepped up and surprised everyone with a very high score.  A group of strong, tough guys were watching from a distance.  When Long Dy finished, the most macho one of them all walked up to outdo the score.  He tried, and failed, 3 times to produce a single score higher than Long Dy’s.  In the end, he was a few hundred points behind LongDy and absolutely mortified.  Victory for Wat Opot!

Leak, Sombaht, Nith, and Chareya brave the 4D movie

Srey Aun squeezed in the front so she could hold on to Srey Leak!  

They made fun of each others reactions for days 

Srey Lis, Van, and LongDy playing basketball against one another

Srey Leak

Srey Nich

Fancy footwear

LongDy and Cora playing basketball

Nhanh cheering on Sombaht

We ran out of arcade coins, piled back in the bus and went home.  On the way back, most of us slept including me.  I found out later that my head was bobbing so much that everyone (even the driver) was laughing at me.  I was in the front seat and visible to all from the mirror.  I’m glad I could provide some entertainment.

The Wat Opot teenagers have their groups and their problems, but for one day at least got to come together as one.  We got back and had a light dinner as a group and explained why and how the day was possible.  They were so appreciative of everything they got to do, and were so touched that people they never even met had donated money so they could do something special.  One day all about them where they didn’t have to compete with little kids for attention, where they could drop the issues within their own cliques, and where they could have the freedom to see and learn what they wanted.  It truly brought a sense of unity to the teenagers and though we went 3 weeks ago the effects have lasted. 

Thank you again to everyone who gave your money, your prayers, and your support to Wat Opot and our first Summer Fun Fund sponsored event!

Pushing buttons

Every night after the HIV positive kids take their medicine, the entire Wat Opot family gathers for a meeting and meditation.  We sit in rows, say a Sanskrit blessing, then sit quietly meditating and reflecting on the day to a soothing song.  Respecting the dual-Christian and Buddhist influence on Wat Opot, the meditation ends with a group thanks to Jesus, a short song that comes out like "sank you sank you Je-sa."  Everyone participates, even the little kids.  Sometimes they struggle sitting still and sometimes 2 year old Ratana gets up and pulls everyones hair, but usually they do fine.  The meditation is between 4-8 minutes long depending on the song and is followed by a snack.  Many people, including myself before I first came to Cambodia, aren't sure what meditating consists of.  It doesn't have to be some Eat.Pray.Love deep altered state of consciousness, but just a time to sit quietly with your thoughts.  It's a part of the day that I really look forward to and hope to keep doing it once I eventually go home (tear).

Every night two kids get to sit in front and then pass out snack.  It's a coveted role and the slots go by rotation with everyone getting an equal number of turns.  We have a big calendar with 3 months of rotations written out that they love to count down with until their turn comes again.  To give an idea of what it looks like, this picture was taken by Melinda in the kitchen.  Excuse the lighting, it gets dark at 6:30 and we don't start until around 7.

Meditation time is also great for announcements as everyone is in one place.  We introduce new volunteers, say goodbye to departing volunteers, discuss events, address issues, and resolve conflict together as a group.  We've used it to countdown for our trip to the lake, to remind everyone where the trash around campus goes (trashcan), to remind everyone where the spit around campus goes (not on others), to remind everyone who fills the motos with gasoline (so the little kids stop trying to be "helpful" by putting water in the tanks), and most recently to welcome back those who were hit hard by Typhoid fever.

In any family the little kids get picked on and there are fights.  My sister and I fought all the time and there were only 2 of us in the house.  Imagine a home with 56 kids.  They love and care about each other but of course they fight, they pick on each other, the big kids love making the little kids cry, and the little kids love crying to get the big kids in trouble.  Lately, however, it's gotten out of hand.  Wayne decided to do something about it, so naturally he used the nightly meditation time to address the problem.  He didn't just have a talk though.  He got creative.

Last night, Wayne came in with a piece of paper with two circles, one filled in blue and one white.  He sat up front and invited Thear to come push one of the buttons.  Thear pushed on the white.  Nothing happened.  He awkwardly looked around and went back to his seat while everyone perked up trying to figure out what was going on, including me who had no idea.  He next called on Mek Phan to come up.  Mek Phan hit the blue button, Wayne made a DING DING DING sound and Mek Phan was awarded 500 riel (roughy 12 cents USD).  He was ecstatic and everyone else shot up their hands, determined to be called on next.  Lan Krong was the next contestant; he walked up, pushed white, but nothing happened.  He walked away with great disappointment.  They all squirmed around with their hands up in the air, ME ME ME ME ME!!!  Meng Ty was the next lucky chosen one.  He confidently walked up and pushed the blue button like Mek Phan had, DING DING DING!  500 riel!  He was beside himself.  A few more were chosen, ran up to the blue button and claimed their prizes.

Wayne put the paper down and asked the crowd why they would choose the blue button over the white one.  Different kids gave their explanations: nothing happened with the white button, the blue one made them happy, the blue one had a prize, the blue button was fun!  He then told them that everyone of them had buttons of their own.  When someone picks on 5 year old Wey, he cries without fail.  When 14 year old Leak gets taunted, he gets upset every time.  When people pick on Wey and Leak, they push their blue buttons.  They get a response, they feel powerful, it's fun.  Why would they pick on someone who doesn't let it bother them?  Why keep teasing someone who ignores them?  If there's no reaction, what's the point?

The kids were then asked to turn off their blue buttons.  They were told that if they stopped giving the people who tease and pick on them a reaction, the teasing and the picking on would stop, or at least slow down.  I realize this is easier said than done, but today I've noticed a big improvement.  When someone gets mad or upset, they just hold their tongues and walk away.  I don't know if it will last, I hope it does, but at least they have a better understanding of bullying and how to cope with or get around it.  It was a great idea by Wayne and I look forward to watching how the kids apply it.



As of today, we are only $220 shy of our $1000 Summer Fun Fund goal!  Help us get that last bit by donating through paypal under the blog archives.  Remember, everything left over will go to health care and the medical clinic which is getting busier every week!  Thank you :)

"Kat tow Dentist t'ngai nih?!"

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little afraid to go to the dentist.  I've always had amazing dentists (Hi Dr. Bob!) and never had a particular traumatic event, but still something about it scares me.  Channy, 9, clearly had never been to a dentist before, as evidenced by a) her terrible teeth, and b) her begging me to take her.  Channy has been living at Wat Opot since September and before then had limited if any medical and dental care.  After a course of Amoxicillin for a tooth infection, and multiple complaints, today she finally got to go see a dentist for the first time.  She was ecstatic.  The HIV positive kids get to go to the doctor once a month.  They ride in tuktuks, eat lunch out, and get to leave and explore.  The HIV negative kids seem to think that they're really missing out, especially Channy.  She persistently asked "Kat tow dentist t'ngai nih?!" Kat, go to the dentist today?! for a solid week and was delighted when this morning I answered "yes!."

Melinda and LongDy drove us in the truck.  Cora came along, as well as Srey Aun, Srey Nich, and Sopheak who have all needed dental attention too.  It was difficult to get everyones schedules to align with school and weekend activities, but we finally made it work this morning.

Channy was up first.  Everything was old and basic, but you don't need much more here.  The chair really freaked her out and I think she instantly wondered what the hell she got herself into once she saw the tools and everything.  In this picture you can see her "you better put that camera down and get your ass over here to old my hand this instant, lady" look on her face.  I sat with her as she got a cavity filled and her teeth cleaned.  What was interesting though, is all of that was done without electricity, only tools by hand.  Our province is on an interesting power schedule.  We lose electricity from roughly 8:30am-11:00am, and then again from around 1:30pm- 5pm during weekdays.  The cause is unknown and many theories have been pitched from people in the community and the government, from "there isn't enough water during the dry season to run the plant," to "we get our electricity from Vietnam and they shut it off," to "they're working on the power lines and have to turn it off during working hours."  There are also many government theories behind it, but after blogspot was blocked here for a few months following someone speaking out against the government, I think I'll leave those theories out.  Anyway, we lose electricity a lot, which makes things difficult for local businesses and office workers.  We arrived at the dentist's around 9:30 this morning which meant no electricity but the dentist made it work.

Srey Aun was the next to go.  She had a little more of an audience.  Cora went in to sit with her, and LongDy and Srey Nich followed to see what was going on.  The dentists wife and little son also came in to watch.  Khmer people have a way of crowding, so I guess I didn't expect any different.

Who says you need expensive medical lights?  A wife holding a flashlight does the same job.

This was the extent of the dentist's office, which was the front room of his home.  He had an instrument sterilizer and took all safety precautions yet I have a feeling not too many Americans would jump at the opportunity to get in the chair.  I'm unemployed and without dental as of October 1 so this is looking like a great option!

Mixing up the girls' fillings while his baby sleeps nearby.  

The little boy was so cute.  He rocked the baby in the hammock and ran around entertaining.

Channy showing off her new filling.  A very satisfied customer. 

Melinda and LongDy hanging out in the waiting room watching the action.

The dentist decided that Srey Aun was in need of more than just a cleaning.  He flipped on his generator and got out the drill.  It sounds just as bad, no matter where you are in the world.  Srey Aun perked up and shot me a look like "you're not going to let them use that on me are you?!"  She was terrified but she did great.  This picture above is her watching him prepare everything, her eyes wide open and her hands clutching the chair.

Channy looked around and explored the office.  She was stunned to find the pile of molds on the bottom shelf and stared at them in horror for a few minutes.  I don't think she'll be begging to come back to the dentist any time soon!

Srey Nich is beautiful and sweet, but very insecure.  She has a false tooth in the front that often tries to hide.  In an effort to give her a boost, she's having a better tooth put in.  Todays trip was to remove the bad one and clean it out.  In two days we go back to have the new one put in, but until then she's missing her front tooth!  The dentist gave her a mask to wear until then to cover it up.  She has a great sense of humor about it, luckily, and is having fun with her missing tooth, but still Wednesday can't come soon enough!

Today sparked a frenzy of everyone deciding that they too want to go to the dentist.  Seeing all four of them today was only 50,000 riel, or roughly $12.50.  It's cheap and necessary so we will definitely keep taking those who need it.  Don't forget that the Summer Fun Fund excess goes to medical expenses such as these, so please donate!  The paypal button is on the righthand side of the page and again, every cent goes a long way!  On a related note, we had our first activity on Friday, the teen outing to Phnom Penh.  It was a huge success.  The pictures are being compiled and I can't wait to share it with everyone.  Stay tuned!