Sophert invited us to a picnic at a field near her house. She said to arrive at her house at 5:00, and we would follow her from there. It rained for over an hour at 2:00, so I suggested moving venues because the ground would be wet, but she wouldn't budge. She said, "No, it is all prepared." So, I just went with the flow like usual (but brought my poncho, umbrella, and a bunch of plastic bags). I asked Sophert what we could bring, and she gave the answer all Cambodians give, "It's up to you." They are too shy to ask for anything specific. I brought a bunch of rambutan and mangoes, and Cynthia brought a watermelon.
While we were at the market, I saw some snake fruit which I have read about but haven't seen yet. The vendor saw me eyeing them, so he peeled one and let me try it. (They often do this to show you that it is ripe and tastes good in hopes that you will buy some.) The outside skin is scaly like a snake. The inside contains a white pod that is juicy but very sour. One was enough for me.
When we arrived at Sophert's house, we noticed that my tire was going flat. It needed to be repaired and would take 30 minutes, so I had to leave it there. With a little rearranging of people and motorbikes, we managed to get everyone there minus one moto.
We arrived at a place that I have passed many times before because it is on the way to Kim's house. There are a bunch of rice paddies and two dirt roads intersect. On one side of the road, there is a small stream. This was our view as we watched the sunset on the longest day of the year.
Most of the people were Sophert's friends and relatives, but Bop cam along too. It's so nice to spend time with her again. When Tom was here, he kept her on a close leash, and we never went anywhere together. I'm glad to have my friend back. The food was typical: rice, eggs, some soggy onion rings. However, it was really nice to eat a meal outside with people I love.
When the meal was over, I carefully put all my trash into a plastic bag to take home with me. Everyone else just threw theirs on the ground of course. I went over to talk to Bop for a few minutes, and when I returned to my place, my bag was gone. I looked around and saw someone had thrown it one the side of the road with all the other trash. I knew it was my bag because it was pink, so I picked it up and announced, "I am not going to leave my trash here. I will take it with me."
It never hurts to plant a seed in peoples' minds. Sometimes, I do it purposefully. Other times, I don't realize that I've made an impact. For instance, one morning I sat down with Rana while she was eating breakfast. It looked like two fried frogs with rice, so I asked her. She said yes; she caught them herself. I told her that the word, rana, means "frog" in Spanish. We laughed, and I told her that she was eating herself. I didn't think anything more about it until then next few mornings, I noticed that she was eating fish with her rice. I asked, "No frog today?" She said, "No. I don't want to eat my babies." I had no idea my comment would change her eating habits. I don't know that eating fish is any better than eating frog, but it certainly was interesting that she took her namesake so seriously.
No comments:
Post a Comment