Kramas and Villages

With the city largely closed last week in celebration of Chinese New Years, we all enjoyed relatively empty streets on which to bike. With many shops and markets closed, we decided to have our weekly group dinner out at a neighborhood Thai restaurant – yummy!! A highlight of the week was a lecture on Khmer culture from one of our awesome Khmer language teachers, Ms. Prum Sisophantha. She showed us dozens of ways to use the traditional Khmer scarf, the krama. We learned how to use it to cover our heads, as a face mask, as a wrap to bathe in, as a water bottle holder, as a way to carry a baby and as a money belt, to just name a few of its many uses. She also showed how to use the krama to play Leak Kon Saeng, which reminded us a lot duck, duck, goose. Want to see us play? Here’s your chance! She also spent time teaching us how to do traditional Khmer dancing. This definitely was a challenge to many – the right and left sides of our brains were working hard.

After a week of classes the students participated in the long-time SST tradition of the village study. In groups of 3 or 4, they headed out of Phnom Penh on Friday morning to other regional towns/cities. They made their own travel plans using local informants when necessary, and they found their own lodging. At their destinations, they spent time walking around the city, talking with people there and learning more about life there. The students will all report on their studies this coming Wednesday, as we gather for another P’teah Goshen night.  This will be the last meeting before they head out around the country for their service assignments. The students are all excited and a bit nervous to start this next chapter in their SST adventure. We’re excited for them, and are sure they’ll all do well.