the bottom of my laundry basket and other wonderful things

The last week at site has been great. At the health center I am finally doing more with actual health education. I have been using a mostly picture hand out to explain to pregnant women what they should and shouldn’t be doing while they are pregnant along with signs that it is time to come to the health center to have the baby! There was a particularly sweet couple that came in twice last week, first for an ANC check up, then to get the results of their HIV test. They stuck out in my mind because the husband almost never comes to the health center with their wife, unless they are giving birth. And most of the time when you do see husbands there they are just waiting outside until it is time to go home. This husband was so excited to be there, he was totally involved with the visit asking lots of questions and making sure they were doing all the right things. He walked around playing with all the babies at the health center even walking a little boy who was crying (because he was afraid of me, womp.) around while his mom had her check up. It was really refreshing and nice to see.

I kept myself busy at home too. I spent one afternoon taking everything out and reorganizing my entire trunk, it was a sweaty and time-consuming task but I feel so much better now that I’ve done it. I also made popcorn with my host mom, I had bought dry popping corn kernels from the western store in town a few weeks ago with the intention of whipping up some stove top popcorn. I’ve been pretty shy in the kitchen so far and hadn’t mustered the courage. One afternoon this week I pulled out the popcorn and my host mom immediately followed me into the kitchen to watch. I pulled down the pot, put in the oil, added the corn, covered everything and swirled it around until I had a perfect batch of popcorn! I was so glad I didn’t burn it because well, that would have just confirmed all of my host mom’s suspicions that I am unable to make anything other than instant noodles. I added salt to my bowl and then my host mom grabbed the bag and made her own batch. Of course she added 3 big heaping spoons of sugar, but at least there was no msg. She was so excited she was talking about all the things she could do with the popcorn next time. A few days later we made some more popcorn, this time after the corn was popped she made a quick sugar syrup with a little bit of salt and then tossed all the popcorn in, it was a lot like kettle corn and very good! My host mom seems to have a lot of fun making the popcorn and my little sister keeps asking when we can make it again, I see a fun new tradition forming.

I also perfected my oatmeal this week thanks to the cinnamon sugar shaker that I picked up last weekend at the western store. Makes my lunchtime that much happier!

One night this week while we were eating dinner one of my host mom’s friends came over bearing gifts, for me! In Cambodia a lot of people wear these long cotton drawstring shorts, almost like basketball shorts. The thing is that they are all in these crazy colors and have hilariously bad English sayings on them. When I was in Battambang a few weeks ago I picked up a pair because I was tired of my little sister making comments when I did my laundry with short above the knee and I’m guessing they will be a lifesaver come hot season. The first thing anyone asks when you buy something new here is “how much did you pay?” very few things have a set price and almost all interactions at the market involve bargaining. My host mom and her friend thought I paid too much and went on and on about how I need to tell them when I want to buy things because they will help me get a good price and on top of it all the friend sells these shorts at our market 3k away! So in walks this friend during dinner with two new pairs of shorts for me (bright orange and bright red with things like ‘sleeping wiht bear!!!!!!’ and ‘one’s daily’ written on them) and a sparkly t-shirt with Gucci written all over it. I was blown away by how sweet the gesture was and I have been happily wearing the shorts to do my laundry but I’ll need to find an occasion to wear that shirt.

Yesterday I went into town in not quite the jolliest mood despite the great week I had. I knew I had mail that I was looking forward to picking up all week but I didn’t know what it was. Turns out it was a batch of the most wonderful letters from Ms. Shea’s 7th graders at St. Timothy Middle School in Hartford CT!!! There is a kind of Peace Corps pen pal program where PCV’s are matched up with classrooms back in America and you write back and forth about your experience and tell them about the country. It has some fancy name but I’ll just call them my pen pals. Anyway, these letters were so sweet, they totally turned my mood around and made my day. I spent a long time reading them all and writing back a big long letter.

And then today, for the first time in a long time, I saw the bottom of my laundry basket! Yes, that’s right. 4 loads and two mornings full of laundry later it is all hanging out to dry. Even the things I have been avoiding washing like that towel that was covered in mud, my jeans (have you ever tried hand washing jeans?!), and my sarongs.

All in all, a great week! I hope you all had fabulous weeks as well. I’m off to rinse the mud off my feet and take a needed nap, and it’s not even 11am!

Love and miss you all! Write me emails!

B