Mosquitoes think Greta is delicious!

Every morning, one of my first activities is to sweep dead mosquitoes off of my bed. They fly through my fan at night and die. I appreciate my fan very much.







Mosquitoes love to bite my feet. This is what my feet looked like after four days at my host-family's house. I used to wake up in the middle of the night because I was so itchy. I have since bought better repellent and I often wear socks even when it is hot.

February 2008 Newsletter

Hello friends!
Johm riab sua! Niak sohk sabaay te? This is the traditional Khmer greeting that Cambodians say while placing the palms of their hands together (as in prayer) with their finger tips near their noses. This is also one of the first phrases I learned after I arrived in Cambodia and began studying Khmer nearly 11 weeks ago.

Learning a new language is always an adventure. This is not the first time that I’ve learned a new language—I studied Spanish, German, and Swahili in high school and college—but this is the first time since I learned English that I have been immersed in the new language, forcing me to use it in order to get by. It is also the only language I’ve learned that I cannot read. Khmer script looks a bit like squiggles.





Because I decided to focus on speaking and not on reading and writing Khmer, I had to come up with a system to help me remember how to pronounce the words. Fortunately, I had some linguistics training at university, so I am able to write words down phonetically. This has been very helpful, but unfortunately, I only studied the English phonemes (vowel and consonant sounds). English has only 42 phonemes. In comparison, Khmer has 33 consonants and 24 vowels and diphthongs. I have, therefore, been using a code that is partly international phonetic alphabet and partly made-up. (I should point out the Khmer greeting above is written in the Lonely Planet guide’s version of Khmer transliteration.)



While I am far from achieving fluency in Khmer, I can hold a conversation with my host mother, Ming, now without relying on someone to translate. I haven’t had much success speaking Khmer with others, though, as many people speak very quickly and quietly. They can often understand what I am trying to say, but I usually only understand a few words of what they are saying. It’s frustrating, but also exciting as I can tell that I am making progress. Ming once said that my Khmer makes it hard for her to breathe. I think that was meant to be a compliment. She and most other people encourage me to use my Khmer, even though I make many mistakes.


Speaking of mistakes, I haven’t said anything too embarrassing yet, but I once told someone that it cost $250 to have my bicycle tire pumped instead of 25¢. I’ve told my Khmer teacher to sit down instead of saying thank you. And the words for “cold” and “ear” are very close, so I have frequently spoken of ear machines (instead of air-conditioning) and how it is hot in Cambodia but ear in Pennsylvania. (Learning Khmer is also helping me to remember my German. When I am trying to think of how to say something in Khmer, the German words often pop into my head. On numerous occasions, I have almost substituted German for Khmer.)

Learning a new language and culture is fun, but it is also very challenging. I am very thankful for all of your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement. Aw kuhn! (Thanks!)

In Christ,
Greta

Praises:
-- I was not hurt worse when I was struck by a motorbike at the end of January.
-- God sent some kind people to help me when I was hit.
-- My Khmer is progressing nicely.

Prayer Requests:
-- For safety as I ride my bicycle
-- For a smooth transition as I move to Prey Veng province on March 15th
-- That my remaining time with my host family would be meaningful
-- That I would continue to have the courage to speak Khmer

A Very Happy Birthday

I turned 23 years old this past week. Although it was strange not celebrating it with my family or with my close friends, I still had a very nice birthday. I cancelled my Khmer lessons ahead of time so that I could have a nice relaxing morning. I rode my bicycle to the market and bought myself a birthday present—a rechargeable electronic mosquito bat. It’s a fun new toy that allows me to more easily kill the mosquitoes that follow me inside my mosquito net. I also bought myself a piece of “decadent chocolate cake.” It was delicious, although I didn’t have a fork, so I ate it without one.

When Dany arrived home from school at 5:30 PM, she and a neighbor friend took me “for a walk.” Going for a walk in Cambodia probably does not involve much walking. It just means that you are going out to have fun. We went by motorbike (I always wear my helmet, Mom!) to the only shopping mall in Cambodia. I know that those who know about my “love” for shopping will find this amusing. We just walked around for about half an hour and looked at the big screen hi-def televisions. I thought we were going to eat at the mall because I had been promised a hamburger. I could smell the French fries—such a wonderful smell when you haven’t had any burgers or fries for almost three months. However, we left the mall and went to a Cambodian burger joint. My burger was delicious, although it tasted a bit different since it had cucumbers and chili sauce on it. I also had some pineapple ice cream.

Then the girls took me to what I will call a fun park. I would describe it as Cambodia meets a 1993 community carnival. There were several small rides—most were kiddie rides, but it did have a “train.” It was sort of like a very miniature Trailblazer. We went around 5 times. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I wasn’t thinking about how this ride probably hadn’t been properly inspected and that the ride attendant hadn’t even told us to put down the safety bar. Still, it was fun. When we got off, we threw a bunch of darts at balloons and then left.

We didn’t get back home until about 8:30PM (2 hours past my normal curfew!). I was then presented with a yellow gift box which contained some beautiful Cambodian silk. It was a nice ending to a very nice day.

Also, thank you for all of the cards and emails that I received for my birthday and Valentine’s Day। I had a lot of fun reading them.

I'm pretty sure that my birthday was not the typical birthday celebration in Cambodia. In fact, I know it wasn't. I found out yesterday that Dany's birthday was in January and I didn't even know it. Birthdays apparently aren't a big deal in Cambodia.

A House Tour

Hello friends! I thought that maybe it was about time that I gave you a tour of my current host-family's house. But first I'd like to thank everyone for their prayers.

As many of you know, I was hit my a motorbike while riding my bicycle two weeks ago. I was riding along, thinking about how it isn't that scary to ride my bike anymore when I felt an impact from behind. I actually never saw what hit me. I know that God was watching out for me, though, as three people in a van stopped and helped me off of the road. They cleaned my wounds and even drove me to meet Susan Caldwell so that she could accompany me to a clinic. One of the persons in the van spoke English (all of my Khmer temporarily left with the pain), and I later found out that he was also a Christian.

I am healing very nicely. Originally, the doctor believed that I had probably broken my tailbone, but I can thankfully report that that is not the case. I still have a little bit of pain at night and in the morning, but that is all. I have even started to ride my bike again. Thank you for your prayers!

Now for the house tour . . .

These are clothes drying.

This is the landing leading upstairs. We take off our shoes here. I don't like that cat.

These are fish drying on the roof outside of my window.

This is the "living room." As you can see, it is technically outside.

Here is my bedroom. It is very small, so I am living out of my suitcase. It also prevents the mosquitoes from hiding in my clothes.

Here you can see my tiny bed and my pink mosquito net.

A front view of the house

This is my bicycle being used as a drying rack.

This is the "yard". My host family are landlords for at least a dozen garment factory workers. Usually, there is at least one person in this area.

January 2008 Newsletter

January 25, 2008

Hello friends!
Greetings from Cambodia where it is hot even during the “cool” season। I have been in Phnom Penh for seven weeks. My main task for this portion of my internship is to learn the Khmer language and culture. This involves meeting with a tutor five days per week and living with a Cambodian family. I will save my adventures in language learning for another time. I would like to tell you about my host family.

My host family consists of a mother, whom I call Ming, or “Auntie”; a father who is only around about one day a week due to his job; three sons, one of whom is married and also away most of the time, as is his wife; a daughter, Dany, who is 18 years old; and a three-year-old granddaughter। They are a traditional Buddhist Khmer family, although the oldest son is a Christian.

I spend most of my time interacting with Ming and Dany। Both have helped me immensely in adjusting to this new environment. Dany taught me how to wash my clothes by hand. She also speaks some English, so when my Khmer is insufficient (frequently), I can go to her. She wants to know about my life in America and to practice her English. But she also makes me speak Khmer when she knows that I can. But since Dany is a university student who studies at three schools (yes, three!), she is also gone for a large chunk of the day.

Dany and Greta (A self-portrait)

Ming is a wonderful host mother। She is patient and speaks Khmer slowly and simply enough that I can often understand what she is saying, or at least get the gist of it। We have enjoyed getting to know each other, even though we can’t always communicate with words. She is already saying that she will miss me when I leave. Ming often says that she pities me because I have to live in such a different environment and eat strange foods. She is concerned that I might be lonely or bored. She is afraid I will waste away because I can’t eat the food she cooks, and then when I return home, my mother won’t recognize me. I keep telling Ming that although this is new food for me, I want to learn how to eat it. And I do eat it. I don’t always know what it is, but I eat it anyway.

Ming’s concern about food is valid। I had a rough introduction to Khmer food as I got sick the day after I moved into her home. I could barely eat anything for days (not even chocolate cake!), and it took me nearly 40 minutes to eat a plate of rice. And the language barrier made it difficult to convey to her that I was ill right away. But now I am starting to like some Khmer food and have little problem eating it. I don’t always know how to eat it, though. When Ming presented me with an entire grilled fish, she had to teach this meat-and-potatoes, Lancaster County farm girl how to eat it. (And if Ming isn’t there to tell me how to eat something, there is usually at least one person who is just standing there watching me. Greta eating Cambodian food is apparently very entertaining.)

Ming cooks

There are mosquitoes galore at my home, especially in my bedroom and in the bathroom। It was so bad that I dreamed I had chicken pox. I counted 81 bites less than five days after moving in. When Ming saw my poor, itchy feet, she immediately retrieved some medicine and began to smear the balm over each red welt. As I watched her, I was amazed that this Buddhist woman from a culture with so many taboos about feet would even think of stooping down and touching mine. It reminded me of a certain man who touched—even washed—the feet of others some 2000 years ago in Palestine.

I really like my host family, and although life has not been extremely easy during the past month that I’ve been with them, I’m glad that I have this opportunity. I pray that these last five or six weeks with them will be a rich experience for both me and the family.

Prayer Requests:
· For safety as I ride my bicycle
· For good health (I’ve been ill somehow for 4 of the 7 weeks I’ve been here)
· As I learn Khmer and for the courage to speak it
· That I would be a good witness to my host family

Praises:
· The mosquitoes are biting me less!
· I’m starting to sleep better at night.
· I have a great host family.
· 92% of my support is in place

Thanks for you prayers, Greta