Fruit, Veggies, and a Lady with a Braided Rat's Tail

Sometimes the positive reinforcement comes in strange ways like fruit, veggies, and a lady with a braided rat's tail, as those of you who have transitioned to a new country, or those who have cognizant while going through any transition well know. One thing I have noticed when moving to a new culture is that sense of helplessness and not feeling able to 'contribute.' Since arriving in Cambodia, we have pretty much just gone around with our groupmates that have been here longer. We get in a tuktuk (small trailer with two bench seats that connects to a motorcycle) and get out when we are told to do so. Then, off to the next destination. Don't get me wrong, I SO appreciate the support of our community and their willingness to do everything from grocery shopping to basic language training with us but jumping in alone, today (on our day-off-of-structure), was like standing on the edge of the high dive, knowing that the ladder was taken away, and the only way down was to dive into the water.


My tasks were: 1) walk to a place with internet; 2) walk to the market, as we were nearly out of veggies/fruit; 3) figure out a running route (AKA how to get to Olympic Stadium where people workout in the mornings on my own, on foot).
Step one, check all expectations at the door.
Step two, remind self constantly that this is like being a child on my own for the first time – not speaking the language nor fully understanding traffic patterns, street signs (or lack of street signs), etc.
Step three, walk to internet.
Internet errand was successful, talk more about how to 'walk' in another blog.


Step four, walk to the market and successfully buy fruit and veggies. I, literally, had to drag myself out for this. I walked to the market and wandered to the center-ish where an older lady sat in a stall surrounded by veggies and she smiled at me. Done. I stopped and pointed to carrots saying how much (one of three or so phrases I know in Khmer). She said something and the word Kilo (I do not pretend that she understood my terrible use of her language but think she is used to foreigners point at things and mumbling). Thus, I knew she was giving me a price per kilo. She could tell I had no idea what she said so held up her fingers showing one and said the thing again with the word kilo. ALLELUIA! I thought, "I've got this game." I selected some carrots, put them in the weighing bucket, she put them on the scale so I could see two kilos. She, then, said something and held up two. Knowing the approximate cost of things (from our previous experience at the market) I assumed this meant 2,000 riehl ($.50) so tried my luck... SUCCCEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS! We then played this game again with eggplant. Unfortunately, she didn't sell fruit, so I said thank you (another of my three words) and went to a fruit vendor. From this experience, I learned that women gave me better deals than the one man I went to but it was a good learning experience - bartering will have to wait until I have more words. And, beyond holding up fingers, we employed the calculator and them showing me the appropriate amount of money techniques.

I got all this for about $3.30. Trust me, the produce was far less important than the experience. I could get myself food. Yahoo!


Step five, of the day, was walk to the Olympic Stadium. As I said, I will explain walking later. Yes, I realize that sounds humorous but it is definitely worth a blog. I may even need some diagrams... So, I didn't make it to the stadium (I wasn't sure what time the sun set, didn't want to be out after dark, and wasn't sure if there was 'commuter traffic' which would add to my walking time). I turned back after 30 minutes – "Acknowledge the little victories" – I didn't get lost once. As I was walking back, I saw a lady with a braided rat tail and her husband with a guidebook. "Miss," she softly asked as I approached, with a strong accent, testing English as a possible mutual language. "Yes," I responded. "Do you know where this museum is..." she attempts to say name and points to guidebook. "Let me look," I respond, she of course has no idea I have been here less than three days. At this, as I am grabbing out my own map which I had been studying before my adventures today, her words gush out, "We are trying to find this but don't know where we are. We can't find a street sign and we don't know if we went too far..." I recognize the name and know where it is on my map, and know where to find the sign for the the cross street to figure out where we are standing. With some deductive reasoning, I am able to point them in the correct direction including blocks to go, etc. Success again, from a lady with a rat tail. She gave me the gift of: 1) feeling useful; 2)feeling capable; and, 3) you are only the new kid as long as no one else has come more recently. I may be the new kid, but I could figure it out with the skills I bring and the many our Maryknoll Lay Missioner guides have provided over the last few days. You never know in what form the positive reinforcement will come... Thank you braided-rat-tail lady.