Christmas Curry

                                                   

 

Christmastime in Cambodia means time for curry!  Curry is a special dish served at holidays in Cambodia, so Christians here also eat it for Christmas. Curry is typically eaten with baguettes, not rice, thanks to significant French influence in Cambodia.  The ingredients for curry are listed below.  Don’t be scared off by the ingredients: Cambodian Curry is the most delicious curry I’ve ever had! Yum!

·         Meat (chicken or beef)

·         Potatoes

·         Long beans

·         Eggplant

·         Grilled chili peppers

·         Lemongrass

·         Coconut milk

·         Lemon leaves

·         Brown sugar paste

·         Chicken bouillon

·         Onion

·         Garlic

·         Peanuts

·         Fish Sauce

·         Shrimp Paste

·         Some other Cambodian vegetables that I don’t know how to translate to English J

-Katy

 

Extravagance

I moved to Cambodia with the assumption that I would be confronted by how many material possessions I have.  My expectation was met.  Each day I am made aware of how much I have compared to most people in the world.  Even though we live much more simply here than we did in the U.S., we still operate out of abundance. 

An expectation that I did not have is that my extended family would make me feel extravagant.  If I show a Cambodian some pictures of my extended family, I feel sometimes like I am showing off.  Here’s my grandma—she’s 99.  Here’s Alan’s grandpa—yes he looks like he could be Alan’s father.  Here’s my mother—yes, she’s aged so gracefully.  That’s right; I did grow up knowing all my aunts and uncles.  When asking a Cambodian about his or her family tree, there are always gaps.  The Khmer Rouge killed so many people and sent many people to take refuge in far parts of the world.  The people left behind carry the weight of survival in their faces and bodies, often making them look much older than they truly are.  Every Cambodian has a story.  Every Cambodian, regardless of age, has gaps in his or her family line.  I know that when it comes to material possessions, I can change my ways.  I can decide to live more simply and give more generously.  However, I know that I cannot change my family circumstances.  I can be grateful for this extravagance that I’ve been given and be thankful for the blessing. 

And I am so thankful.

-Katy

Thanks Cotton Babies!

This is a long overdue thank you.  Before Jonah was born, some friends of ours here told us about a cloth diaper missionary grant from the company Cotton Babies (www.cottonbabies.com).  We applied for the grant, and we got it!  Thanks to Cotton Babies and some gifts from friends, Jonah is a 100% cloth diapered kid.  Cloth diapers are especially nice in this hot, humid weather as they are less inclined to give a diaper rash.  Also, I’m happy to not be creating so much trash, especially while living in a developing country.  The Econobum and bumGenius Diapers are great.  Thanks again Cotton Babies!

(An Old One of Jonah, but so cute!)

 

 

-Katy

4 Jonahs

I feel that it is impossible to describe the street where we live.  I think on an urban street of comparable length in the U.S., there might be 30 homes.  A suburban street would have even fewer homes.  Lets be generous and say that on this urban American street there are 5 people living in each house.  This means that about 150 people live on the street.  I honestly think that on our street in Cambodia about 150 people live just at our end of the street.  There is so much housing on our street; there must be hundreds of people that I could call neighbors.  With so many people living on our street, it is no surprise that I meet someone new almost daily.  After Jonah was born, we started being more aware that our street was teeming with children.  We were surprised to find that the name Jonah is actually a pretty common name on our street.  There is a boys’ home a few doors down from us, and one of the boys there is named the Khmer version of Jonah “Yuu-nah”.  A few months ago, I met a German family that had recently moved to our street, and one of their sons is named the German version of Jonah “Yo-nah.”  Then a new multi-generational family moved in right next to us a few months ago.  The family is fairly large, and I still haven’t figured out how everyone is related.  They have opened a small store/restaurant, so there are often different people hanging out there, and I’m honestly still trying to understand who actually lives there.  All this to be said, until recently, I somehow forgot to ask them the name of the one-year-old boy who lives there.  So last week, I asked their son’s name.  They answered: “Yuu-nah.” Confused, thinking that maybe I had asked them if they knew the name of my son, I asked again.  I got the same answer: “Yuu-nah.” The confused look on my face pushed them to give further explanation: “You know like in the Bible, the big fish.”  I laughed and said that I definitely knew that story since my son also is named Jonah.  As I go out on the street, I expect to meet a lot of Pisets, Samnangs, or Sopieps (more common Khmer names), but I never expected that there would be 4 Jonahs living on our street!  Maybe there are even more whom I haven’t met yet!

-Katy

Anointed for Burial

We both just finished reading this incredible book by Tom and DeAnn Burke.  Anointed for Burial is a personal account of their time serving in Cambodia right before the Khmer Rouge took over.  There are so many books written about these horrifying years in Cambodia, but this book speaks of God’s power, miracles, and goodness.  If you’ve ever wondered where God was during this time, this book will show you.  This book reads quickly because it is so exciting.  It encouraged both of us to continue praying and to be confident that God wants to work in the lives of the people of Cambodia.

--Katy

What's in a Name?

Do you spend hours pondering what your name would be in Cambodia?  Well, today is your lucky day!  I will take you through a step by step process to figure out your Cambodian name.  To figure out your “last” name or family name, identify and write down your paternal grandfather’s first name.  For me the name is ‘Charles’ because my dad’s dad was named Charles.  In Cambodia, the family name actually goes first instead of last.  After this name, write your first name.  Okay, that’s it!  You’re done! It’s very simple. Just 2 names.  This is your name for your entire life whether you get married or not.  Your name does not change.

So my name in Cambodia would be: “Charles Katy”

It’s interesting how in the U.S. we put so much emphasis on first and last names.  People might refer to us there as “The Beringer Family.”  However, in Cambodia Alan, Jonah, and I would all have different family names (well, actually that’s not entirely true since Alan’s grandfather and father both have the same first name).  When we signed our lease for our apartment, our landlord got a little weird that we had the same last name until it was explained that we weren’t brother and sister but that I had changed my name when I got married! Family names aren’t used as frequently in Cambodia as they are in the U.S.  Instead of calling your teacher “Mr. Smith,” you would just call him “Teacher.”  Instead of calling my parents’ friends “Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so,” I would call them “Aunt and Uncle” and not use their names—just “Aunt and Uncle.”  I have also noticed something interesting about Cambodian nicknames.  I’ve observed that in English, we tend to drop the end of the name to create a nickname, so “Katy” would be “Kate,” and “Alan” would be “Al.”  In Cambodia people tend to drop the beginning, so I guess my nickname could be “Tea,” and Alan’s could be “An.”  No one calls us that though.  Our names are already complicated enough.  A few children who know that we go together but can’t remember who is who just call us “AlanKaty.”

-Katy

WWF

Since our son was born, I’ve had this conversation with a few Cambodian men:

Man: What’s your son’s name?

Me: Jonah

Man: Oh, like “Jon-Si-Naa”

Me: Who is “Jon-Si-Naa”?

Man: You don’t know who “Jon-Si-Naa” is?  He is from the United States.

Me: What does he do?

Man:  He is a wrestler.

Somewhere in one of those conversations, WWF came up, so I got curious and did a little internet research.  I discovered that there is a WWF wrestler named John Cena.  Here is a picture:

 

Apparently there is a media scandal going around that John Cena died, but don’t worry it isn’t true.  He’s still alive.

 Also, technically he is a WWE wrestler as the name was changed from World Wrestling Federation to World Wrestling Entertainment.  But I will be honest, I haven’t thought much about professional wrestling since I used to watch the Hulk Hogan cartoon on Saturday mornings, so I still think of it as WWF.

It’s amazing what I learn about American culture by living overseas.

 

--Katy