The Talstras Speak Cambodian

[warning: the post is not for the faint of heart, perhaps only true amandaniel fans will be interested in watching our rudimentary khmei small talk skills!]

daniel & i have been studying khmei, the cambodian language, for the past three months. here are videos of us conversing in khmei with our teacher, socheat, on the rooftop of the MCC office.

(i've included a translation of our conversation below)

Daniel speaks Khmei

Socheat: Hello, Daniel.

Daniel: Hello.

S: Daniel, are you happy & well?

D: Yes, I am happy & well. And you?

S: Yes, I am happy & well. Are you busy today?

D: Yes, I am busy today, as usual.

S: What will you do today?

D: Today I will study the Khmei language, work on the computer, and work at the university.

S: This morning, what time did you wake up?

D: This morning I woke up at 7 or 7:30.

S: This morning, what did you eat?

D: I ate a banana, bread, and water.

S: Where?

D: At my house.

S: Good, very good. After we study, where will you go?

D: I will stay here, at the MCC office, downstairs.

S: Good, very good.

Amanda speaks Khmei

Daniel: Ok, 1,2,3.

Socheat: 1,2,3. Hello, Amanda.

Amanda: Hello, Socheat.

S: Amanda, are you happy & well?

A: Yes, I am happy & well. And you?

S: Yes, I am happy & well. Amanda, are you busy today?

A: Today I am not busy.

S: Where did you go last night?

[Loud noises from the house next door]

A: Last night we went to our friend’s house. Their names are David & Holly and we ate together. It is close to your house, Socheat.

S: What did you eat?

A: We ate rice & vegetables & pizza (Italian food), & chocolate cake.

S: Last night what time did you go to sleep?

A: Last night I went to sleep at 11:00.

S: What time did you wake up this morning?

A: This morning I woke up at 7:30. And you?

S: I woke up at 5am. I wake up at 5am everyday.

we're on our way

[photos taken from the back of a moto with our new mp3 player/super mario handheld video game/camera phone - a fake sony we bought for $20 at a local market!]

i'll take that to go

on the whole, i've found the coffee here in cambodia to be terrible.


however, all is not lost! cambodia has a wonderful tradition of drinking iced coffee with lots of sweetened condensed milk to mask the taste of the terrible coffee.

cambodia also lacks "to-go cups", so a "to-go coffee" here comes in a bag with a straw.

for the low price of $0.35 these treats are hard to resist!

drive by shooting

recently, i've taken to taking pictures "on the go" as i ride on the back of our moto around phnom penh.

here are a few glimpses of our city from a moving moto...

[street vendors]

[dogs + gate]

[motos on the move]

dance

cambodian photo of the day

[this "danger" sign is posted on the fence of our neighbors house.

beware of the dancing dog!]

when in rome...

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last weekend i had the opportunity to attend my first cambodian wedding. it was quite the experience, complete with hair, makeup, & traditional khmei dresses.

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[a traditional khmei dress or a blue, sparkly mermaid outfit?...]

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the wedding was very interesting. in the morning, i attended a special ceremony where all the guests lined up in a procession & presented plates full of food to the bride & groom. in the evening, there was a large banquet with several courses. there was a western style cake & after cutting the cake the bridal party drank champagne & the guests pummeled them (& the cake!) with silly string! (an attempt to incorporate more "western"wedding traditions.) some people also sing "Happy Birthday" when the wedding cake is cut!

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its difficult to describe the commotion we caused, a group of ba-rang women (the cambodians call all white people "ba-rang", their word for "french", since the french colonized the country) walking the streets of phnom penh in our camobidan wedding clothes!

frost

[ photo of the day ]

[ given that we are in the cold season, where temperatures average around 28-32 degrees (82-90 degrees fahrenheit), we see many people around town wearing wool hats & scarfs ]