We are almost a week into our month in Cambodia, so I thought I would give you another “5 senses” blog since y’all seemed to enjoy it last time.
What does Cambodia taste like? Our food is amazing!! We have a wonderful host who makes lunch and dinner for us. She is a fantastic cook! She is from Thailand so we eat a lot of Thai type food. So I can’t really tell you what Cambodia tastes like…all I can tell you is that I am excited for Thailand. I can tell you however, that Cambodia is infamous for cooking weird things. At a truck stop on our way into Phnom Penh a member of my squad tried a mini, bat-looking animal. Tarantulas are another popular novelty food item. I have yet to try those…
What does Cambodia smell like? It smells a lot like BO and paint. We have been sweating a lot while we paint a preschool room. The only other time we are really our of our room is when we go to the market to get breakfast. The market smells….bad. I’ll say it. It just smells bad. There is a lot of raw meat and fish being sold. The streets are pretty muddy. Everyone is sweating…it’s a good time. Everyone should experience a slum market at least once in their life. It will give you a huge appreciation for HEB and TomThumb.
What does Cambodia feel like? HOT. HOT. HOT. It is currently about 95°F with about 60% humidity. The heat index yesterday was 109°. Praise the Lord for fans!! I think the hardest thing about it being so hot is that it makes it near impossible to get a good night’s sleep. Our room is the hottest right when we go to sleep because (this is my own conjecture so take it as you will) the building we are in is in the sun all afternoon and by the time the heat actually works its way through the walls (because no insulation) into our space it is after sundown and it is then significantly cooler outside than it is in our room. Again, praise the Lord for fans!
How does it sound? Cambodia sounds like a bumping party all the time. This week is the Cambodian New Year so the parties start at like 7:00pm and go late into the night. I’m talking karaoke, club bass from down the block, cars driving past with music thumping…the whole nine yards. Then the roosters start around 5:00am. Birds chirp throughout the day which we can hear through our open doors and windows. The neighborhood dogs usually get into it once or twice around dusk. And then there is the ever present hum of oscillating fans.
Sight: Well…for me, it is the inside of a pre-school class room. The room is a very pale yellow with two, soon to be three, murals. The country itself looks a lot like central Texas, just replace crop fields with rice patties and our trees for palm trees and you’ve got it. Other than that I see a lot of the market that is near our room. There are vendors selling various vegetables, fruits, river fish, live slimy fish, frogs, crab looking things, bread products, meat stalls…etc. There are still a lot of motorbikes around. There are a good amount of children running around without pants on (I don’t blame them with this heat!)
Thank you all for reading!
Until next time, Gig’em and God bless.
P.S. I am only $995 away from being fully funded!! Y’all are amazing! My last deadline is at the end of April so I still need your help!!
