New beginnings

So who else is still trying to get used to writing and saying 2012? I am sure I am not the only one having that issue.  The turn of the calendar has given me a nice boost of energy.  The difficult Christmas season is over, and I am extremely excited about the next 6 months here in Cambodida.  The beginning of 2012 has also become a period of transition.  I am currently living at the MCC Guesthouse getting ready to move into a new host family.  What, what, what!  That's right I am switching my host families.  My host father from my first host family recently left for Malaysia where he will be working for the next 8 months.  This past Sunday I moved out, but not before my host brother took me to wade through some lotus flowers on piece of land that the family owns.  Not sure why he waited this long to take me there, but I was glad he did because it was a lot of fun.  After multiple goodbyes, and promises to meet up again for dinner I made my way to my new home.  

The family with a lot of motto hair going on

As disappointing as it has been to move away from a place that had been my home for 4 1/2 months, I am looking forward to meeting my new host family.  Right now the plan is for me to move into my new host family in early Februaury, right around the time I start my second semester at RUPP.  It is funny that all of this is happening around the same time.  It reminds of my early days here in Cambodia, when I was living at the Guesthouse and waiting for my job to start at the university.  

On another note I was able to experience my first Khmer wedding last weekend.  One of my Khmer colleagues at MCC got married in her hometown of Kratie.  A crew of us from MCC rented a bus and headed out to Kratie Friday morning.  About halfway along we picked up our Prey Veng workers, and then continued on to Kratie.  We arrived for lunch which was the quiet part of the wedding.  In the evening we pulled up to music that could be heard blocks away.  The way it works at a Khmer wedding is that you find a table and once the table is full they start serving you food.  Our table took a while to fill up so we had to wait awhile as the other MCC table got their food.  After the food (probably the best beef I have had in Cambodia) a number of us partook in the dancing, both traditional Khmer and Western style.  My traditional Khmer still needs a little work, but it is coming.

The scene from our table

The next day Michael, Lisa, Ryan, Daphne, Grace, Mok and I all went to take in the famous Iriwatti dolphins.  I would love to put up a picture of them, but unfortunately all my attempts failed.  Because of that I have a whole album of  beautiful water photos.  There were some really neat moments when 3 or 4 dolphins came out of the water at the same time near our boat; It was certainly worth visiting.  That afternoon we all climbed back into the bus and made the trip back to the big city.  At that is my story of my first Khmer wedding.

Tip of the week:  When students ask whether you are married or not the right answer is always married.