Khana's Birthday

Sokhana is my TA.  She goes by Khana for short.  She’s a great gal and a hard worker.  I’m not used to having someone working in my classroom.  This is the first time I’ve ever had a TA.  I don’t always ask her to do things but she will anticipate what needs to be done and do it.  She had a birthday last week and turned 23 years old.  I needed to go to the market and get little stuff for my good box so the kids could shop with the tickets they earned in class before we went out on break.  I asked Khana to go with me, so we went down to Orussey Market together.  It was really great getting to know her outside of school.  We caught a tuk tuk right after school.  I soon found out that this was Khana’s first tuk tuk ride, EVER.  I screamed.  Motos are a much cheaper way to travel so I can understand why she had never been in a tuk tuk, but it was hard to imagine for someone who has lived in Cambodia their entire life.

 

Khana's first tuk tuk ride

 

She also told me that she had only been to Orussey Market once before.  She went with her sister on a bike.  It took her an hour and a half to get there by bike because she rode her sister on the back, who was only a few years younger and about the same size.  It took us less than 15 minutes to get there on a tuk tuk.  It’s hard to imagine navigating all that traffic on a bike let alone riding another adult sitting on that little rack over the back tire.  I asked if her sister drove on the way back and let her ride.  She said no, because she was the older sister, her sister made her pedal the whole trip.  I screamed again.  I was trying to set aside my very American sense of fairness and social mobility so that I could understand or relate.  I definitely would have made my brother pedal the second half of the trip.

We got to Orussey a little late because we had to go afterschool and things were starting to close up.  Khana helped me shop around a bit and I got some small candies and school supplies for my good box.  When we were finished we waited outside for our driver and Khana asked if I wanted a sugar cane juice.  I have been wanting to try one so of course I said yes.  The sugar cane man took big stalks of sugar cane and ran them through a ringer, like something you’d use in the 50’s to squeeze the water out of your wet laundry.  He ran them through several times then poured the juice over ice and added a squeeze of lemon.  Mmm, it was utterly delightful and refreshing and it cost only .25 cents! 

 

 sugar cane going through the ringer

mmm, so sweet and refreshing!

On the way home I told Khana I’d take her out to dinner for her birthday, which was the following day.  I told her I would take her anywhere she wanted to go.  Anywhere in the whole entire city.  So we ended up at a little outdoor noodle shack right by our school. It was great and Khana was definitely a cheap date.  It was 10,000 Riel for both (that’s about 1.25$ a piece).  But I decided, the next time I go out to dinner with Khana I’ll choose something that’ll blow her socks off.  Some place indoors with AC.  You know, all the amenities.  And we’ll have to branch away from Khmer food, as delicious as it is.  Ahh, I’m looking forward to it already.

So the next day was Khanya’s birthday.  I bought a brownie mix from the store and whipped up a batch of chocolaty deliciousness.  I got to school early and decorated her desk with streamers and balloons and had an iced coffee waiting on her desk (and mine too of course).  At snack time we enjoyed Khana’s brownies.  Now Khmer desserts are not that sweet, at least for an American palate.  You know how we love our sugar.  So I wondered how the brownies would go over.  My doubts were unnecessary.  There was oohing and aahing, and a general moaning that often accompanies a wonderful chocolaty dessert.  I asked the kids how they liked it and they all cheered in unison.  Sentosa said, “Your cooking is number one Miss Carson!”  I did not confess at that point that I made them from a box.  Khana liked them too, and decided she wanted to learn how to make foreign food.  Khana’s birthday was fun and successful, and I think I’ve given everyone a new taste for American levels of sugar.