sweet november

Celebrating Thanksgiving in good ol' Cambobo turned out to be pretty great. Maria whipped up Cracker Barrel Chicken, green beans, cornbread, quiche, pumpkin pie, and stuffing. Lorinda and I contributed mashed potatoes, apple crunch, and decorating/cleaning up skills. Our friends sat around our humble little table and we all gave thanks. Maria had placed two corn kernels on our plates, and as the bowl went around, each person was to say two things they were thankful for and place the kernels in the bowl. It was a very special evening full of delicious food and wonderful fellowship. My "family" enjoyed it, as well!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Gore's and the Scott's

Wonderful roomies!

On Saturday, Lorinda and I took Maria to Daughter's for some early birthday celebrating! We got pedicures and ate lunch in the cafe. Sunday was her actual birthday, and we continued the celebration by going to the Italian restaurant of all of your dreams. It's that good. Afterward, we went to Brown, which is like Starbucks' distant cousin. 

One of Maria's friends sent her funfetti mix and icing, which 

reminds me, it's almost time for me to eat another one.

It's Water Festival time, which means we have the whole week off of school! Holla! The downside is that a lot of places around the city are closed. The biggest downside has proved to be the fact that our beloved tuk tuk driver is out of town. He's the one who removed our rat. He also knows us well, drives cautiously, knows all of our favorite places, and is just a very sweet man. He also doesn't charge us very much, which is greatly appreciated. Yesterday, Maria and I ate at The Shop and then went to see Breaking Dawn. It had been several years since Maria or I had read the book, so we were in for a few surprises. It was cool getting to see the last movie over here, where we have been spared all the hype. Bye, Twilight. I'm already over it. I was never even sad. 

I'm still not ok with the fact that there's no more Harry Potter, and I never will be. Maria just finished HP6, and getting to live with someone who is experiencing Harry Potter for the first time is quite interesting. She has never read the books before and hasn't seen the rest of the movies. I think she's the only person I know who hasn't seen or heard any spoilers. Therefore, I need to make lots of desserts to prepare for her imminent book 7 depression. It's gonna be a rough couple of weeks. 

Today! 

This afternoon, we decided to head to Oressay (?) market and hunt for fabric. We are both trying to Martha Stewart our rooms by getting curtains and pillows made. We didn't want to call the same driver we used last night because he tried to charge us $10. Let me think of how to explain how ridiculous that was...um...I don't think I can. Just know that it was. Anyway, we decided just to walk in the direction we wanted to go and pick up a tuk tuk on the way. After a few failed negotiations, we finally grabbed one. We stopped to pick up a few iced coffees, but they tasted...well, they tasted terrible. Like dark chocolate gone horribly wrong. And then we saw this:

Yes, that is 34356 balloons attached to one moto. 

We kept waiting for it to fly away.

We made it to the market and were dropped off at an unfamiliar part. No worries, we thought, we'll just go on inside and figure it out. Welp, we couldn't find the fabric, but we did find the meat section. I wish smells didn't bother me as much as they did, and I was trying just to breathe through my mouth and not seem incredibly rude/touristy, but I honestly could not help covering my mouth and practically running out of there. We then realized we were at the wrong market, so we hightailed it outta there and headed to Olympic. 

On the way there, we were stopped at a red light for what felt like five years. It probably felt so long because a man on the moto next to us was checking me out. Now, I'm totally used to being stared at. I'm really pale. I'm tall. It's cool, whatever. This dude, however, let his eyes go up and down about twelve too many times. Normally I would just ignore it, but I guess my Sonic past came rising up. See, I spent a lot of years working at Sonic, and I dealt with creepers all the time. I had no problem addressing it at home, but here I feel so awkward. Even after I had given him the, "I see you, so cut it out" look a few times, he was still looking. So then I looked him in the eye and said, "Hi. You can stop staring at me now." Doesn't that sound very Regina George? That's what it felt like. Anyway, say what you will about it, but I refused to just sit there and be subject to whatever he was thinking without doing something about it. Thankfully, the light turned green and he sped off through the intersection. 

We got some fabric fabric and called it a day. Java, a wonderful little restaurant near Independence Monument, was still open so we headed there next. My sweet tea was sweet, my grilled cheese was incredible, and the wifi password was "pecanpie." Java was a good choice. Also, at one point my bag of fabric resembled the wrapping of a McDonald's cheeseburger. I think I'm ready for a visit home. 

After Java, we walked to Miss Care spa and got foot massages. Foot massagesssss y'all! It was incredible. We also figured out how for the price one one massage at home, you can do all of these things in Cambodia: go out to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, go see a movie, get a pedicure, get a haircut, and get a massage. Everyone come visit me! One the way home, it started to pour. Water Festival is supposed to signal the end of rainy season (I think), so we are definitely looking forward to some dry weather. 

Trying (and failing) to unlock our gate from inside the tuk tuk and not get drenched.

Just another day in the life.

<3 M

get lost on the boulevard at night

This week, y'all.

Maria was flying home from Thailand on Monday (lucky), so Lorinda and I experienced the beginning of what would be the oddest week ever. On Monday morning, the power went off at school. I think it was off from 10:30 until after we had all gone home. I've tried to communicate the heat, but just try to think about the heat with no air con or fans. It's really not that bad, except when you're trying to keep 17 students focused on multiplication. It was rough.

Tuesday, we all arrived home from school only to discover the power at our house was out. Neat. A few guys came over to try to figure out the problem. We unplugged everything and it was finally determined that there was a short and that we would have to wait until Wednesday afternoon for an electrician to come fix it. So, we loaded up our electronics and headed for The Shop, which is a cafe/restaurant not far from our home. We plugged in all of our gadgets, ate pizza, and took in all the air con we could before they closed and we had to leave. Maria and I made it through the night ok, but Lorinda didn't sleep because of the heat.

Wednesday afternoon, we arrived home to discover that the problem wasn't a short. It was us not paying our bill. It's hard to pay your bill when it doesn't come. It's also hard to read the shut-off notice when it is taped to a pole across the street. At this point, we wouldn't have power until Thursday. Back to The Shop we went! I wonder if they cared how much electricity we used. We bought more pizza, so I guess they couldn't complain. Lorinda headed to a friends house to stay the night, and Maria and I held down the fort for night #2 in the hot house. A gift straight from Heaven came via Maria's brother sending her all of the goodies to make s'mores. Gas stove = s'more time! We sat on my bed around the campfire coming from our phone's flashlights and enjoyed the taste from home. The power was on Thursday when we got home from school. Praise the Lord! Last night, we were all good for nothing and went to bed early like little old ladies.

Then, we arrive at tonight. Oh, tonight. On the way to the movie theatre, we got caught in some gridlock traffic that was just cray cray, and since traffic rules don't really exist/apply here, you can only imagine how people were trying to get through.

"Merry Elfin' Christmas"

The three-mile journey took us 45 minutes. We got to the movie theatre only to discover Skyfall was sold out. Oh. A tear may have come to my eye. After the week it had been, I was looking forward to going to the movies so much, but my heart will have to wait to experience the awesomeness that is Bond. James Bond (and Craig. Daniel Craig.). Anyway, there hasn't been a decent movie playing in about a month, so all the yanks must have turned out and taken our seats before we got there. Disheartened, we decided to get some dinner instead. Maria was craving some potato wedges, so we headed down to the KFC. Side note, KFC and Dairy Queen are the only American fast food chains here. Cambobo doesn't meet the health standards for McDonald's to come, or so I read.

En route to KFC, the power goes out. Like, the power of the entire City Mall went out. We were about to surrender to the powers at be and just go home, but the power came back on. We went into KFC and then realized their computers were messed up from the power outage, so everything was chaotic. Sweet. After having to establish our dominance in line so no one else would cut in front of us (I was just denied James Bond. Don't mess with me!!), we ordered. We sat down and were brought our fries and potato wedges after a few minutes. That's cool, but where was our Kentucky Fried Chicken? Eventually, after some confusion with the worker, Maria and I got our nuggets. Well, "nuggets." Have you ever eaten a chicken nugget that tasted like water? We have. We saw a worker coming with Lorinda's popcorn chicken, only to watch the popcorn chicken take a lethal plunge to the floor.

Oh, peaches.

We gave up on chicken and decided to go get some ice cream. As we were walking out of KFC, the worker runs up and hands Lorinda her new popcorn chicken. Yay, right?

"This isn't chicken."

No big deal, we thought. We then went to Lucky supermarket to pick up a few things (all of this is still talking place within City Mall). While Maria and Lorinda were selecting some mangos, I witnessed a kid throwing up a massive amount of what looked like some just-eaten Lucky Burger. Oh, and I almost stepped in it. Thinking it was over, I went back over to the girls, told them what happened, and pointed. Guess what? The kid was still puking. So they also had the pleasure of witnessing it. Y'all are welcome.

How much better can this night get? Still counting on ice cream to make everything better, we head over to the stand. I'm trying to decide between vanilla and cheesecake (I'm an animal), and then a very loud American man starts voicing his opinions on the state of US politics to his friend. Lord have mercy. Just when I thought I had managed to escape all of that nonsense, there it was. Being shouted in my direction by a man with very strong opinions. Sir, I was just denied James Bond so I'm gonna need you to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

I chose cheesecake, and it was delicious. Now I'm sitting in my room with Maria, and we are cracking up about all of this. Because we live in Cambodia. And you just have to laugh.

<3M

dr. pepper

Every Sunday, I go to the grocery store. It's only a bike ride away, and it has a really nice variety of goods. This is where my Starbucks drinks and Goldfish can be found (unless there is a Goldfish drought, like there was for about three weeks in September). They have a lot of American food at outrageous prices, but I know it's there if I ever feel like I can't go another minute without a taste of home. One thing I buy every week is a cold can of Dr. Pepper. I'm not sure why this is, but today as I enjoyed the delicious combination of 23 flavors, I began to understand. Dr. Pepper, unlike Coke, isn't available on every inch of the planet. Maybe that's why I get one. But then I began to think about what Dr. Pepper means to me, what Sundays mean to me, and then I understood.

My whole life, Sundays meant driving to Springhill to see my grandparents. Both sets of them lived there, so it was really great that we got to see them so often. Going to my dad's parent's house meant sitting down to a home-cooked meal and enjoying a glass of sweet tea, or, if you were a grandkid, an ice cold Dr. Pepper. So there we have it. Somewhere in my subconscious, I am longing for those wonderful Sunday afternoons in Mamaw Frances' living room.

I guess with Thanksgiving coming up, I'm beginning to recognize all sorts of blessings. Blessings in memories, most of all. Blessings in knowing that, even though a person may be gone or a certain time in life is over, I have incredibly vivid memories that I can cherish.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, this will be my very first one away from my family. Who will be there to turn up their nose at all the gross Thanksgiving food? Who will be in the roll-eating competition with my brother, Ryan? Who will be the only person going to Dairy Queen because it's the only restaurant open that day? Obviously, I'm not a fan of the food, but I am a huge fan of the day itself. The weather is just right for putting on a sweater and going outside to throw the football. The other day, I was trying to explain to one of my students what the air feeling "crisp" meant. She will never understand that feeling unless she ventures out of Southeast Asia, even though sometimes they complain of being cold when the temperature hits 80. C'mon, kids. You don't know the meaning of cold!

Count your blessings, y'all.

Mere

love, I want to fall back in

So maybe the iced coffee after school was a bad idea.

It feels like all those nights in college (oh MY did I just reference my college years like they were long ago? Yes, yes I did) when I had to pull an all-nighter. I am just so awake. Like deliriously awake. Like I probably shouldn't use this awakeness to blog because who knows what I'll say. Oh well. 

Today, I wore my hair down to school. I don't expect you to understand what a monumental feat this is, because most of you have no concept of the weather here. Um, life here is a big sweat. I think that sums it up pretty well. I think I made it through the day because my classroom's air conditioner is finally working properly and (the Cambodian equivalent to) winter is coming. 

Did you know that saying "thank you" in Afrikaans sounds like you're saying "buy a donkey?" I have added a new language to my list. Because being able to say one word means you speak the whole language, right? Hopefully Lorinda doesn't mind me butchering her language in the name of learning : )

I'll leave you with this: the aftermath of a birthday party in class last week. Silly string. Silly string everywhere. Kids loved it. Ms. Gore's stress level spiked to an all-time high. Just another day in Grade 3.

<3M

p.s. If you got the GOT reference, then ten points to Griffyndor