My potato rescuer

This morning, as I do on many a Saturday morning, I set out to get groceries.  Today I had a special mission: to buy ingredients for mashed potatoes.  We have a pot luck at church tomorrow for Thanksgiving, so we’re making some solidly American comfort food.  (This church is English-speaking and most people either are North American or have lived there at some point.)  I was asked to bring a potato dish, so I picked mashed potatoes.

First, I went to the Western grocery store.  The recipe I found called for cream cheese, which seemed excessive to me until I was in the dairy aisle, eying it longingly.  Do you know how many months it’s been since I had cream cheese?   (OK, actually only one since I was home last month, but I think I’ve only bought it once before in Cambodia, years ago.)  I stood there looking at the packages: $5 for 8 ounces (250 grams)?  Wow, that’s painful. 

Then I spotted the giant packages: $11 for a whole kilogram.  That’s just over half the price per unit of a small package.  My mind began to calculate the possibilities.  Cheesecake.  Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Cream cheese cookies.  How long will it stay good?  Will it be grainy like the kind my roommate bought once last year?  How much do I care?  I decided to spring for it, ignoring the fact that I’ll be away next weekend with no time to bake, hoping my roommates could find uses for it as well.  Along with some oats and milk, I loaded it into my bicycle basket and headed to the market.

I parked in front of my usual fruit vendor stand and headed inside to the vegetable stalls.  The college girl that I always buy from laughed at me for setting potato after potato into the little plastic basket she’d passed me.  “I’m going to a party tomorrow,” I explained.  “In America this week is Holiday of Thanks.”  (I made up that phrase… I hope it made sense in Khmer.)  She helped me pick through and find the nicest potatoes, adding one to make it an even two kilograms.  “Ten thousand riel,” she told me.  Two dollars and fifty cents – good thing they’re cheaper than the cream cheese!

I still have some fruit at my house from last weekend, but I felt bad since the fruit girl had been watching my bicycle for me.  So I went for the “Christmas oranges,” which only appear around this time of year.  They’re like mini-Clementines, sweet and juicy, and they’re cheaper now than usual: 7000 riel ($1.75) per kilo.  Since my bike basket was full from the supermarket, I slipped the bag of potatoes over my right handlebar and the oranges over my left for the quick trip home. 

Just after I passed through the nearby traffic light, the potatoes’ weight burst through the flimsy plastic bag, sending them scattering.  I veered over to the shoulder and watched in dismay as big SUV’s came barreling through, potatoes bouncing under their tires.  Could they be salvaged?  I needed to leave soon for a Student Council meeting and didn’t have time to return to the market.  With a helpless expression, I groaned to the middle-aged tuk-tuk driver watching me from the corner.  “Two kilos of potatoes!  My bag broke!” 

He looked at the road thoughtfully, then darted out into traffic, scooping them up as hordes of cars began to part around him.  Good thing Cambodian traffic moves so slowly and drivers are used to interruptions like this.  Once his hands were full, he gestured to me to come pick up the rest, all the while holding out his potato-laden arms to direct the oncoming traffic around me.  Except for one that had been squashed under tires, we got them safely back to my bike, which of course had overwhelmed the kickstand and tipped over, dumping my remaining groceries.  He and the other tuk-tuk drivers laughed at me for that, but I didn’t care – I was just so glad to have my potatoes back and be spared another trip.  

I didn’t even know that driver, though I’m sure he always sees me riding past him.  I hadn’t expected he’d actually help me – it kind of seemed like a lost cause.  And I wouldn’t have been brave enough by myself to pick up all those potatoes, all over the road, with that much traffic.

I’m looking forward to mashed potatoes and other tastes of home tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to cream cheese delights in all shapes and sizes.  I have a lot of reasons to smile today, but my biggest one is that driver.

Sometimes Cambodians are really, really nice when they don't need to be. 

How to get to my house from school (using people as landmarks)

I wish you could see everyone on my route to and from school.  I love watching them and imagining their stories.  But since I usually feel intrusive photographing them, I'm giving you a glimpse of them this way.

You walk out of the building, past the neighborhood first graders clambering up the Logos slide before their Khmer class starts,

Along the soccer field where tall teens practice their goalie dives until their rides show up,

Ride your bike along the walkway with the Bangladeshi man selling sweets to help a friend in crisis,

To the gate with the soft-spoken guard who interrupts his news show to take your red tickets,

Out through a throng of neighborhood kids arriving in Merry Christmas T-shirts and white-and-navy school uniforms.

Turn right after the impeccable curled-hair mom sitting bored in her big black Lexus,

Veer to the middle to miss the family fishing on the edge of the street (which is, of course, still flooded),

And left after the construction crew of bare-chested skinny men, checkered krama scarves around their waists.

Curve around after the three laughing guys whose scooter is taking the corner much too fast,

And gaze at the sunset to your left, not the young guys on the right, abandoning their volleyball game in a grassy lot to make kissing noises at you,

Left again where a blonde-haired boy is walking his dachshund in front of his tall, narrow, pink house,

Around the bend where a small boy in red holds the elbow of a smaller girl in pink to help her miss the puddles.

Slow down at the market so you can spot the dogs darting out and the college girls cycling home with mango and chili salt,

All the way to the big road, where middle-aged men sit at child-sized plastic tables to enjoy their curry and noodles.

Wait there until you can merge into traffic with the young family in the rusty gray Toyota,

Past rows of girls in short skirts and long hair, attracting beer garden customers,

Slow down for the lady in the checkered pink hat, pushing her bike with a tall basket of baguettes for sale,

And squeeze in beside the bright blue truck whose bed is laden with weary welders heading home.

At the red light, take a shortcut through the gas station where attendants sit at their pumps so passing vehicles won’t run over their feet,

Left after the hotshot guys in suits standing around in front of the big flashy Karaoke TV place (read: brothel),

Past the businessman starting a moto, wearing a much-too-small Cinderella backpack that just might belong to the little girl on his lap.

Continue through the intersection with the lady who sells you cool fresh coconuts after your runs,

And left after the Korean family sitting outside the Blue Pumpkin shop with ice cream cones,

Where a couple flirts atop a parked moto in the shade of the trees.

Look out for the shaggy little dog meandering, 
wait while the Joy Water employees pause kicking around a colorful feathered hacky sack to let you through,

And come to a stop where a 17-year-old girl with an exuberant laugh opens your gate, impatient to chat with you.

Welcome home!

Student Sonnets

In British Literature (grades 11 and 12), students recently wrote sonnets imitating Shakespeare's Sonnet 130: 

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
   As any she belied with false compare.

Like the original, they had to contrast two things in the format of a Shakespearean sonnet: 

-14 lines
-iambic pentameter (5 pairs of syllables that sound like da-DUH)
-a rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

-the final couplet summarizes the sonnet or offers another way to look at the topic

I wrote a sample two years ago, the last time I taught this course.  I'd love to improve parts of it, but this is as good as it's getting for now:

Truth and Lies

The Word of God is nothing like a lie,

For lies deceive, distort, divide, destroy.

Enslaving us through shame, they terrify;

They promise hope, yet rob us of our joy.

Their father, satan*, whispers to our hearts,

“Your ways are right.”  We nod, puffed up with pride.

Soon after, our illusions fall apart;

Exposed, we seek in vain a place to hide.

Bright light, God’s Word, illuminates our deeds,

Obscene or pure.  It slices wrong from right.

Awakening us, it satisfies our needs,

Revealing Christ, our true Hope and Delight.

Since He’s defeated satan, lies must crumble,

But God’s Word stands forever – we won’t stumble.

*Jon Acuff refers to a lowercase "s" as a way to give satan "the middle finger of grammar."  I always got a kick out of that.*

I told students they could have fun with their topics of comparison, and they did!  Here are a few that I especially enjoyed reading - I hope you do too.  

The Oval and the Round (Monika and Dillon)

The toilet is not like the porc’lain tub.

The grimy toilet is a pain to clean.

And yet the tub is fun for all to scrub,

For when you’re done, the tub shall sparkle keen.

While water in the tub might scald with steam

And make you wish you'd cooled it down before,

The toilet’s frigid water makes you scream

If ever doomed to feel the water’s core.

Although the tub is luxury for all,

The toilet is a mandatory part

Of all our lives. The toilet will stand tall

When both are precious in the human heart.

The oval and the round ceramic bros

Are equal, as each frequent client knows.

Books vs. Life (Alice and Hasub)

A book is nothing like the life we have.

For life is tough, unfair, give me a break!

True happiness and joy are what we crave.

We look, we try, we hope, yet still we ache.

But books have my Prince Charming on his horse

About to rescue damsels in distress.

But life? What good can come of such a force?

It hurts, is dull, and is an ugly mess.

But wait. Hmm, maybe life ain’t all that bad.

I’ve made a lot of memories quite nice.

And boy do I have many friends to add!

The perks of life like ice cream, friends, and rice,

I guess they make it worth the pain and crap.

And yeah! the greatest perk of all: the nap.

LOVE Sonnet (Kailyn and Daehan) 
Inspired by The Hunger Games

The Baker’s son is nothing like Katniss

Her heart is cold against the ones who care

But he loves her because she brings him bliss

She can’t get close for inside she is scared.

His love for her was like an open book

While Katniss’ heart was with some other guy

His loyal heart is what she cruelly took

While hers was like a fire; sparks would fly

But he pressed on and gained the love he seeked

So, Cupid’s arrows hit and pierced her heart

Oh Man! She saw his strength though he was weak

Oh boy! He is the finest man on earth!

With two kids and a marriage bound to last
Try harder, men, or they’ll be stolen fast!

A Sonnet On Wifi and God 
(Gloria and Seung Hyun)

The wifi access? Nothing like our God!

It gives you wants but he gives you your needs

As you get close, connections are more strong

But you have no control with Him; He’ll lead!

The happiness the wifi brings is short

Yet God brings joy that lasts for your whole life

You waste your time online and ask, ‘what for?’

While God gives you a purpose; He’s the Light.

So what’s to learn, to say, to change, or do?

Connect with God and leave the wifi out?

The love of wifi is not real or true

But God’s deep love is what it’s all about.

God wins! Surprise! Pretend you did not know!

He’s never off (just on) and never slows.