so fruity

this is the land of milk and honey -- and intriguing fruit!

when you get hungry, you just pick some fruit off a tree. what?! isnt it amazing?

below i have pictured two of my favorites: rambutan (the crazy furry one) and monkoot (aka mangosteen). you break both open by squeezing them, then eat the yummy fruity insides surrounding the seeds. 

here they are when they are opened up. arent they WILD-looking?!?

people are so generous with the fruit. if i found a ripe mango, id sneak it home and have it all to my lonesome. Cambodians, on the other hand, so giving with the fruit. 

i was waiting at this restaurant (poach-ak-nee-ah-taan) the other day for a friend (pook mah) to meet me for dinner and she was running late. i was sitting outside with my bicycle (kong), and the guy who watches the parked bikes/motos used this long stick to grab some mangoes out of the tree above and he carved them up and we sat and ate mangoes together until she arrived. so nice....

by the way, these thin people eat all the time - lots of small healthy meals. just as soon as i think that i might be getting hungry, theres fruit available. the caretaker at work makes the rounds every few hours with treats. sometimes, mid-afternoon, she comes upstairs to tell us that there is a snack laid out in the kitchen. everyone always shares everything -- its totally rude to eat alone or at at your desk. its all sharing all the time.

at meetings, there are plates stacked high with fresh fruit that we munch on while meeting. at one meeting, the caretaker had gone to the market and come back with this fruit snack in a tortilla shape that was fruit that had been pressed out and rolled flat. i took one sticky wrapper off the stack, and immediately (out loud and in english) proclaimed: "Fruit Rollup!!" i was so shocked. no preservatives, just plain old yummy sticky pressed fruit snack! it was just like the 80s! 

i think all the ladies at work get a really big kick out of feeding me little yummy things. there are little tiny sour fruits tossed with sugar and pepper, and lotus seeds boiled with salt and sticky rice that taste like the best boiled peanuts you ever had. i havent had anything that i havent liked, which has led them to tease me that im "easy to feed."

apaprently, when a Khmer child will eat anything and everything (think, 'Mikey likes it!), they say she is "easy to feed." this pleases them, and i am happy to oblige. 

everyday, some of my colleagues cook lunch and we eat together at the table or on mats on the floor before our group nap. today they laid out the ingredients for summer rolls (lettuce, spring onions, beef, chicken, sprouts, carrots, peanuts, herbs, seasoned glass noodles) and we all made our own. its all fresh from the market down the street. delicious!

then we split the cost and pay the office manager for lunch. bill for the last two days combined: 5000 riel (=US$1.25).

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Truth be told, there have been some days recently that i have been struggling a bit. a friend called me out on not being completely honest on the blog about the challenges of living here. its true - its not always easy. there are lots of little (and large) stressors that can add up to a bad mood, frustration, or a tearful interlude. what i have decided to do is use the blog to record the funny, interesting and strange things that i am experiencing. there is no good way to explain the trials, really, or the intense insecurities that can come with living and working in a new culture and being surrounded by so much poverty. in addition, because of client confidentiality, i cant really write about work-related issues. i have been about 90% upbeat and positive, but there are times that i just feel tired and frustrated and hard on myself. 

i have been repeating, like a mantra, 'Breathe, Relax, Take it easy on yourself." that helps.... and i know you are all rooting for me, even though you are far away. 

i am working, with Tara's help, on figuring out the best phone card system. that way, you can just call my cell phone and we can talk! theres a bit of a delay but its tons better than Skype. im so over that constant 'failed connection' bullshit. 

when i feel down, i tend to do something a little crazy to mix it up and snap out of whatevers bringing me down. this time, i made an impulse buy at the local market. first, heres what the local market looks like:

here is what i bought to make myself feel better: 

its boob-enlarging soap. i love the american flag theme on the package, but the best part is whats written on the back:

'Bust-Enlarging Soap consists of Pueraria natural herbal extracts with moisturizer and Vitamin E, This exclusive soap replenishes and nourishes bust effectively, and naturally develops the size of bust larger firmer,  and healthier.

Directions : During showering, use to breasts throughly. Gently massage from the base of both chests in an upward motion. Use both morning and evening, rinse off with clean water.'

[i hope you enjoyed this post, because this will be the last boob-related entry for awhile. im starting to feel self-conscious about how much ive been writing about breasts lately.]

actually, before i take a much-needed breast hiatus, i have to mention this:

i was eating with colleagues one evening last week at a chinese noodle house and saw a man walking, on a really busy road, on the raised median in the middle of traffic. he was drunk as cooter brown and had makeup and humongous fake boobies. he was singing to himself and gesticulating wildly and attracting all kinds of attention to himself. strange things like that happen all the time, where im like, 'what??... well, of course hes doing that. why wouldnt he be?'

ps - if you thought you were going to the first to come visit me, youre wrong!! mom and Leon are coming for TWO WEEKS in July! they win! you lose, suckah!