TIME: JULY
LOCATION:SVAY RIENG & PREY VENG, CAMBODIA
MODE OF TRANSPORT: PC WHITE LANDCRUISER, TREK BIKE & MUDDY FEET

Wandering around another PCVs local wat. We met the head monk who explained to us what the translation of 'seeing' a girl was in khmer. Turns out monks in Cambodia are down with the flirting lingo. He is a very intelligent man with a unique zest for life and his commitment to his job as 'head monk' really is seen in the happy vibe from other monks and the PCV that lives with them. This visit was followed by a quick visit to 'the best hostess in cambodia' where curry and veggies were served on a wooden balcony accompanied by great conversation and golden girls re-runs. RIP Estelle Getty. Although we had high hopes of waking up early the next morning to beat the heat and bike down to a PCV-run futbol tourney, we were finally able to reach the tourney and witness the local school team beat the local orphanage team in the final. Matches were well attended and players never faltered despite not having subs and the intense afternoon heat. A great tradition was started and hopefully will be continued in the future.


Girls out on a morning stroll watching over their family members work the field in the distance. The stretch of road from Prey Veng town to Neak Loung was bustling with oxen and cows being led to the fields to start plowing to prepare for the transplanting of the rice stalks from the smaller farm plots. Sometimes farmers will walk kilometers away to transport their bundles of rice stalks and transplant them into the more spacious fields where they can grow. July brings the season of plowing and preparing for the hard month of August where the manual labor of transplanting requires all family members to head to the field decked out in kromas wrapped on heads, long-sleeves, pants, overshirts and hats. This is the method of sun protection while they wade around in the warm water that coats the muddy, plowed fields planting by hand every individual rice stalk. One rice stalk will produce anywhere from 10-20 grains of rice. Think about it, every time a Cambodian bends over in the hot morning sun and uses their thumb to press the stalk of rice into the fertile, muddy field they are securing a spoonful of rice for the following year.


Coming back to site after the vacation at home was a comforting feeling. Turns out I missed out on a lot of drama while I was gone (story in another post). My 'nephew' pictured below is always one of my favorite people to pull funny faces on and accompany on the great adventures that eight year old boys get involved in. Right before I left he had just gotten back from the rice field where they were transplanting rice with a little bucket of small fish he had caught by hand. He took that bucket of fish and that pride in his smile and marched straight up to me to inspect the days catch. His proud puffed chest covered in mud (as was the rest of his body) made the juxtaposition of little man vs. playful boy very present.