Just about the time I learned how to spell Phnom Penh with out asking or looking it up, we are leaving. Tomorrow morning we are catching a bus to Siem Riep. The location of the famous Angkor Wat and other temples filmed in Tomb Raider.
So as a tribute to leaving Phnom Penh I thought I would share a few quirks and quotes from our month here.
Every one knows that Asians are little. They know it, you know it and we know it. But I’m not sure that they understand that we know we are bigger. So they kindly take the liberty of creatively reminding us that we are much larger than they are. Some of our favorite comments have been;
“Your face is nice, but what is wrong with the rest of you?”
” It is a good thing you are American, because there are no Cambodian men big enough for you.”
” It is nice to meet you, you are very Large.”
–See how little he is.
Many of the college students are learning English and love to practice speaking with us. So among many of our converstaions we have had some good laughs. Sometimes its a misunderstanding of their accent, other times we just get out of this world questions. Here are some of our favorites;
“Please everyone, take a shit here.” – supposed to be- Please everyone, take a sit ( or seat) here.
Annie– “Yum, this fruit is good, what is it?”
Them– “Oh yes, it’s sewer.”
Us– (wide eyed, looking at eachother) “It’s WHAT?!?”
Them- “It’s sewer, you know.”
Us– “Oh you mean SOUR. ” (Sighs of relief)
Then there were the famous questions our first night at bible study.
“Is lesbian and Tom boy the same?”
” Do you know what gay is?”
Some usual comments durring introductions are;
Them-“how old are you?”
Me-” I am 21 years old”
Them-” You are very large for twenty first.”
Me– “Do you have any other questions about me, my life or testimony?”
Them– “yes, are you single? Do you have a sweetheart?
Durring lunch on our last province visit we were informed that it is actually rude to talk durring meals. OOPS! Thats one of those things you wish you knew durring your first meal, not your last.
Some of them also really love to learn idoms. One of the students who we call Lucky, recently learned the phrase “Check it out now.” You might be suprised how many times that phrase can be used in one day. 
–One of the dishes is actually FROG.
That is just a little glimps of life in Cambodia. It keeps conversation interesting and gives us a reason to smile and laugh when other things are just a little hard.
