Last week, while I was proctoring a test in Grade 8, Dara "casually" walked into the room and made polite chit-chat, but I could tell something was up. He asked me if I had free time after school. (Oh no. What do I say? Why is he asking me this?) I hesitantly said yes. He invited me to visit another private school where he teaches. (Oh dear. I hope this isn't like a date or something.) I decided to accept the offer. Anytime someone invites me to do something that sounds strange or uncomfortable, I always say yes. I love weird Cambodian experiences, and this certainly had the makings for one. Plus, it was only for an hour.
He picked me up on his moto at 5:00, and as we were driving along, Kim happened to drive by us on her moto. She asked, "Where are you going?" I said, "To his school." Kim smirked and raised an eyebrow at me. I know Kim well enough to know exactly what she was thinking.
The school was small, with about 8 classrooms, but it serves many of the poor people in our village, in all age ranges. The students pay $3 a month to attend whichever class they choose. Many students attend an English class for one hour each day.
I am often invited to attend outings such as this, and I'm never quite sure of the reason. Was Dara showing off his school to me? Or was he showing me off to the school? I don't know. Maybe a little of both.
His class had about 30 students, and I was surprised to see six monks. I knew some of them studied English, but I assumed they went to some special Monk school for that. I introduced myself to the class and told them they could ask me any questions they wanted.
Of course, the first question was, "How old are you?" Many of the students were shy, so I kept encouraging them. They also asked, "Do you like Cambodia?" "Why do you like Cambodia?" "How long will you stay here?" "Where in Mongkol Borei do you live?"
I asked the students to guess where I was from. Long pause. "England?" No. "France?" No. Longer pause. I think they ran out of countries they knew, so I finally told them I was from the United States.
One monk was particularly outgoing, and he asked me lots of questions including: "What is your favorite color?" "What is your favorite food?" "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" After I told them about Tahoe, the monk asked, "What do you feed your dog?" That was a good question because I got to explain that in America we buy special food at the store that comes in a bag, and it's called Dog Food. I drew a picture of it on the board and explained that the dog's also eat out of their own bowl like people.
One student asked if I was married. When I said no, there was an audible gasp. A 39 year old, unmarried woman, travelling alone in Cambodia - Whoa! Then, another student asked if I would marry a Cambodian man. (Uh oh. How do I answer this delicately? "Hell no," did not seem appropriate.) I replied, "Probably not."
After class, Dara asked me if I had eaten dinner yet. (Oh no. Here it comes. He's going to ask me out to dinner.) I relented and told him I hadn't. We went to a nearby restaurant that I like, and it wasn't as awkward as I thought. Dara is still shy, so I carried the conversation by asking him lots of questions about himself. I was glad to have the chance to get to know him better. His English is o.k., but sometimes he would tell me that he couldn't answer a question because he didn't know how to say it. When that happened, I would just tell him a funny story or something.
Overall, it was a good evening, and I'm glad I went. I have always considered Dara to be kind of lazy (which is true), but he is a nice guy, and he really cares about helping other people. And that is what I like most about all Cambodians.
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